Israel Rejects God as Their King

1 Samuel 8:1-22

Key verse 7  

And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you;  it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.

The recent movie "Lincoln," directed by Steven Spielberg topped the nominations for the annual Academy Awards last Thursday, bringing home 12 awards, including best picture. The success of this film shows us that people are easily captivated by powerful human leaders. In today’s passage, the people of Israel was asking for a powerful leader when they asked Samuel for a king to lead them. So God instructed him to listen to the people. However, they will pay a high cost of asking for a king. Let’s learn what is wrong with God’s people as they demand a human king. I pray that we may accept Jesus as our shepherd King and live under his rule with peace and love. In this way may God bless us to commit our hearts to our King Jesus!

Part 1, Such as all the other nations have (1-8)

Look at verses 1-3a. When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. Although Samuel was a good father, Samuel’s sons did not follow in his footsteps. As an old man, Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel in his place. However, his sons were not like him, for they were greedy for money, accepting bribes. In this way they were corrupt. His sons were old enough to be on their own. Despite Samuel’s good influence in his family, why did such things happen to his beloved sons? There could be many reasons. But one thing is clear; each person should meet God as their personal Savior and the true King in person, for those who grow from childhood in the awareness of God will become great servants of God while those who grow up without God in their hearts are unfaithful and sinful. Simply Samuel’s sons’ family background couldn’t be better. But they did not develop their own personal faith before God. Their lives in God were relative, superficial, and habitual instead of deeply accepting God’s sovereignty and holiness. They were just going through the motions. So when they were tempted by bribes, they easily stumbled and could not grow as good shepherds. Honorable position or title like judges did not change them because nothing is more important than having a meaningful momentum before God with a personal decision to establish his or her intrinsic relationship with God and serve him as his or her true master. May the Lord bless each of our Children!

Look at verses 4 and 5. “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. Finally the leaders of the Israel met in Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." They might fear having poor spiritual leadership that was present in the time of Eli. They did not want to go back to the days of Eli’s sons. So they came up with three major reasons. 1. Samuel was getting old. 2. His sons were not qualified to lead the people. 3. The truth of the matter appeared to be the last reason that was, they wanted to be like their neighboring nations. We understand their fears and excuses, but it was a mistake to envy the kings of their neighboring nations.

God knew that one day Israel would have a king. Four hundred years before this, God prophecied and gave instructions to Israel about their future king (Deut. 17:14-20). Yet, the reason Israel wanted a king was wrong. With a request to God for a human king, they rejected God’s direct rule as their king. They wanted to be exactly what God wanted them not to be, “like all other nations.” It was a real problem behind the scene. In fact God had chosen Israel out of all nations of the earth to be his special representatives. He had taken them into a covenant relationship with himself, placed them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation above all the nations. God wanted them to lift other nations to their level by setting a good example for them. So they were not supposed to sink to the level of others. We often get into trouble by wanting to be like the world, when we should instead be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ by renewing our minds (Rom. 12:1-2).In reality this is the very danger that threatens Christians today. Many cannot bear the thought of being different from those among whom they mingle. But God wants Christians to be like Christ. We should not have a desire to be like our neighbors. We have to be different from the world because we are the salt and light of the world. But these days many Christians and even some churches want to follow the values of the world and often times run business or commercial oriented ministries. As a result they lose their distinctive mission to bring people to God through repentance. But the living word of God brings spiritual revival and many young people obey God’s world mission command instead of being cultural Christians. We can serve all nations with the power of the gospel! So we pray to give our whole hearts to expand Jesus’ kingdom.

How then did Samuel feel about this, and what did he do? Look at verse 6. “But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.” Here Samuel grieved that they should seek a king, for God who had redeemed them from Egypt to be his people, was their king. Samuel was not happy with the people’s demand. His blood pressure must have gone through the roof. But he did not overreact, much less argue with them. But by praying he was able to let go of the problem itself, reassure himself of his standing before the Lord, and receive a new perspective on the situation. This spiritual crisis brought him to his knees and prayed to the Lord to seek His advice only.   What then was God’s direction to him? Look at verses 7-8. “And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.” “Out of Egypt until this day” means the times of the judges. As you know in the times of the judges, we can see a repeated pattern of Israel’s history. After conquering the promised land of Canaan, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel through Moses and Joshua. They did evil before the living God of their fathers and followed various gods of the people around them. Then the Lord handed them over to their enemies around them. They were in great distress and cried out to the Lord. Then the Lord raised up powerful judges like Gideon and Samson without fail and saved them. However, whenever the Israelites were not facing any immediate trouble, they quickly turned from the way of God and served other idols. This was their repeated vicious cycle.

Fundamentally speaking, this is also all human beings’ sinful nature. Why do human beings try to forsake God? It is because we have the blood of Adam. Our God is a Holy God. To follow our Holy God, we should deny our sinful nature.  We do not want such struggle though. We just want to enjoy the world by satisfying our sinful desires; seeking comfort and pleasurable things. Instant gratification is the basic and fundamental issue here. Surprisingly enough we often times find ourselves being rebellious against God and His servants. Instead, we seek other gods, who do not demand such self denial or holiness.

God said to Samuel that it is not you they have rejected. Let’s think about Samuel as a last judge who had served the Israelites faithfully from his boyhood to his retirement age. His whole life was a total dedication to God and His flock. Samuel was hurt at their surprising demand. Samuel must’ve felt that they rejected him as their leader. But God comforted him by saying, "Samuel, don't take it personally. They are not rejecting you, but Me." It is easy for God's servants to take such rejection personally when we should not. One day in the same way Jesus warned His disciples, he who rejects you rejects Me. (Luke 10:16) 

What then is wrong with rejecting God and choosing a human king in place of invisible God? The Israelites envied the Philistine Kingdom and the Egyptian Kingdom. Those kingdoms were impressive. They were unified under one king with a united army while Israel was scattered with 12 tribes and did not have any standing army. They depended on their judges for their security. In the previous chapter God brought victory by a thunderstorm. But now the Israelites prefered a human leader as their visible king rather than invisible God as their king.  They also wanted to have a visible army commanded by a king. They anticipated future problems with the Amorites and their diagnosis may have been correct but their prescription was wrong. Their human king could not solve all their problems. This is like a doctor who diagnoses cancer in his patient and then gives him or her flu medication. The people demanded a king, thinking that a new system of government would bring about a change in the nation. But because their basic problem was their lack of trust and disobedience to God, their other problems would simply continue under the new system. What they needed was obedience to God and commitment to serve him only. External change would not solve their security problem. Had the Israelites submitted to God’s leadership, they would have thrived beyond their expectation. In the same way we have to depend on the promise of God for our security. We need to walk by faith, not by sight.

Part 2, Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people(9-17)

Look at v 9. “Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” Almighty God knew that the Israelites were rejecting him as their king, but he still granted them what they requested. He knew the fact that they rejected their shepherd king and chose a human king instead. But we can learn here that when we, like Children, insist of having something bad, God will allow us to have it, and then inevitably we will  learn the consequences. In the same way God was going to teach Israel through this.

What then did God warn about the costs of having a human king? Look at verses 10-17. “Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.  Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.  He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.”

Samuel told them the problems of having a king. The king would draft their men into his army, having the young men run in front of the king’s chariot, making them slave laborers, taking the best of their fields and vineyards, using their property for his personal gain, and demanding a tenth of their harvest and flocks. Samuel carefully explained all the negative consequences of having a king. Take notice of the phrase “He will take . .” It’s repeated six times. Likewise it should be known that most kings are takers, not givers, and they come to be served, not to serve. If the Israelites want a king, they must realize he will be a taker, not a giver, and they will be his servants. Human kings can be easily prone to abuse power and privilege and may become false shepherds who come to steal like a thief, kill, and destroy as a servant of the devil like Herod or many dictators throughout history. But not every king is a mere taker or the devil’s instrument.

In great contrast, let’s think about who our true king the Lord God is. Our Lord God could’ve become a cruel king who takes everything because he is the most powerful King ever existed on earth and in heaven. But he isn’t. First of all the basic and fundamental issue for this Israelite generation in the passage is asking for a human king in desperation because they do not have personal knowledge about who the Lord God truly is. Who then is He? Psalm 100:3 says, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” The Lord God had been constantly their shepherd who’s slow to anger and faithful to keep his covenant no matter how long or no matter what happened. And he’s a graceful God. He’d provided them sincerely with manna in the desert for 40 years without skipping even one day. That being said, our faithful and graceful God will also provide the Israelites with everything they need continually. By faith they would know that God also had a sure plan in his own time to give them a king after his own heart, like David. King David is a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. Down the road according to God’s will, He had already in mind to send his one and only son Jesus Christ as our ultimate king to give himself for us.

Although Jesus is the King of kings, he is not a "taking" king but a giving king. In reality it’s not easy to give. But God is a giving God. God is love, not a cheap love but a sacrificial love. Such perfect love drives out all anxiety and fear. God’s love is giving. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus came to this world to destroy all the enemies of mankind, that is, the power of sin and death. Jesus came to this world to restore everything in heaven and on earth that has been cursed with sin and death. Jesus came to bring men and women back to his eternal kingdom. So Jesus is God's ultimate expression of his love for us. God's love is the best gift because it's what we really need. That is why every year we celebrate Christmas meaningfully and joyfully to remind us of God who loves us first by sending his only Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

The world we live in is a tough, cold, and heartless place. These days everything seems to move so quickly. And either you keep up or it passes you by. Living in this world seems to be a struggle itself. We struggle to get through college, we struggle to find jobs and pay our bills, we struggle in our relationships, and we struggle in our health. Every time when I watch the news, all I can see is pain and suffering. We are constantly and inevitably worried and fearful. What will happen after we’ve barely escaped this fiscal cliff? Why is there so much corruption? Why are we so divided? Why are there so many killings and shootings? There seems to be little love in this world. Sometimes I wonder, "Why does life have to be so hard?" If the truth be told, we live in a cursed world. So what we need most is Jesus who becomes the ultimate answer, solution, the expression, and climax of God’s love.

But still people have many expectations about what visible human ways or a human leader like president can do for us. Our reelected president Obama was being selected as the person of 2012 on the cover page of the time magazine. But he is still overwhelmed with so many issues and people’s expectations that, according to my personal observation, his face shows a lot of agony; with more gray hairs and wrinkles on his forehead. But our true King is the very answer to our prayers for God's love is so patient, kind, and eternal. He loves unlovable people, even those who become his enemies. God is like a loving parent who loves his or her children so much more than we can imagine and understand.

A lot of people don't realize just how much God loves them because they don't know him personally. Much less, they don't have a relationship with him. Jesus came to us as the exact representation of God himself. Now we come to know God through Jesus. Again Jesus as the good shepherd, laid down his life for the sheep. He has come to give life to the full. So when we receive God's love through his only son Jesus, our life can be enriched and totally changed. We will not be the same person that we once were. For Jesus gives new meaning and purpose to our lives. Jesus as the Son of Man, did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mat 20:28). Praise Jesus who is a giving King! Jesus even says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) Jesus wants to give everything without any reservation. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Co 8:9) Praise Jesus who totally sacrificed to enrich us and save us from sin and death! We would like to imitate him rather than just enjoy his sacrificial story. That’s why so many people among us would like to become disciples, shepherds, and even missionaries to learn of him in our lives.

In short Jesus is God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Eph. 1:22, 23) We then are His glorious saints, honorable coheirs of our elder brother Jesus Christ. Likewise God chose the people of Israel and gave them the best blessing and privilege as His chosen priesthood nation. In his great and higher wisdom, God did not give Israel a mighty empire like Egypt. Instead, God gave them a special mission to be the shepherds and the Bible teachers for all people of all nations with a certain boundary in order that they may sustain their humble status as God’s chosen people. To Israel, their blessing was the best, and theirs was the most blessed privilege. But they despised spiritual blessing by rejecting God as their King. They envied visible kings and their armies.  As a result they were not grateful to God for his blessing to them. They did not accept God’s blessing as the best blessing of all. They were bitter toward God. They should have sought first His kingdom and his righteousness with all their hearts because God knows all they need for his Holy purpose and will provide for them faithfully. But they were not happy about God’s spiritual blessings at all. They only saw their rich and powerful neighboring nations and became fatalistic due to their lack of having a visible human king. Nothing is more foolish than to ask for another king and to replace what is best with what is not!

Part 3, Israel’s choice(18-22)

Look at verse 18. “When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.” Wow! This is God’s solemn statement. Imagine buying a nice looking used car without knowing it has a major defect; this is a pretty scary thing because serious trouble will surely come. Likewise the Israelites would have trouble that they can’t possibly handle with a human king.   

Have you heard of “informed choice”? It means making purchases only after gathering information about what to buy. The amount of information available for a given product reduces the “perceived risk” associated with making a wrong choice in purchasing the product.  Consumers fear negative or unexpected consequences that may occur as a result of making a wrong purchase decision. A high-priced, complex durable good such as a refrigerator has a higher perceived risk in purchasing than a low-priced, consumable one like a gallon of milk. So a consumer purchasing a refrigerator will seek out more information before making a purchase than a consumer buying a bottle of milk.  In a situation with high perceived risk, the consumer is also more likely to purchase the same brand repeatedly or to purchase a leading brand or one with performance guarantees and warranties; new products or brands will be avoided. Here the number one leading brand for the Israelites was God himself who proved himself throughout their history.

But what was their final choice? Look at verses 19 and 20. “But the people refused to listen to Samuel."No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” Now what they wanted was the visible image of a king. Their desire for a king was really the desire for someone to look at with their own eyes that looked like what they thought a king should look like; just as their neighbors. The Israelites fixed their minds on having a human king. They refused to listen. They were blinded with their selfish desires. After hearing God’s direction, Samuel granted their request and everyone went back to their own town.

People asked for a king and they would learn costly lessons. It reminds me of a loving father in the parable in Lk 15 who had the prodigal son. He was allowed to have inheritance in advance and went into a foreign country and wasted all his money in pleasures. His father knew this would happen, but he honored his son’s demand. Later the son experienced a miserable life and longed to come back to his father’s house. Likewise God knew that his people would experience hardship under human kings and wanted them to return to him.

God’s people rejected their shepherd king at this time and later they would reject their humble shepherd king Jesus by saying, “we have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15) These days young people have an ambition to be popular. We see many teens doing drugs in order to be accepted and recognized by their peer groups. Many young stars and young talented people sacrifice their purity to be picked up as the main character in Hollywood. These are a few examples of rejecting Jesus.

How long can we reject our king Jesus? Not too long. He is surely coming anytime like a thief to judge the living and the dead. He is knocking at the door of our heart now and it is high time for us to open the door of our heart and come into his domain. Let our King Jesus rule us with love and peace. (Rev. 3:20) It is not a mere a utopian dream of Christianity in the future. But it is a real transaction here and now for everyone who accepts Jesus as his or her personal Savior and King. Before it is too late, let’s worship Jesus as our true King and newly surrender our life to Jesus through deep personal repentance so that we may enjoy perfect peace and security provided by our true King Jesus.

What is the practical way to serve our king Jesus? In God, time order doesn’t matter. What really matters is our heart and clear devotion to God. As a example, we learn from Joshua who set a good example. Joshua 24:15 reads, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua was a war-general, fighter, and spiritual leader. But he was also a father and a husband of a family. He made a spiritual decision to serve God alone throughout his generation. Likewise no matter what generation we are in, it is quite possible for us to serve many idols of wealth, success, prosperity, self glory, etc. But the Biblical family must make a personal decision of faith to serve God alone. So is the case with unmarried individuals. Each person must decide to serve Jesus only without divided devotion. God is the Living God; when He blesses, it becomes a true blessing. May the Lord bless America to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation by raising up many disciples and house churches for Bible America and World mission.

This passage reminds me of my own salvation once again. When I grew up as the eldest son in my family, my father used to show me my family’s genealogy.  He told me that I must glorify the Lim family by becoming a prime minister. But I did not know the absolute meaning and purpose of my life, and wandered in the darkness. One day when I was a freshman on campus, God sent me a Bible teacher. When he and I studied Genesis, I was struck by one key verse saying that God called one man named Abram who was as good as dead without any meaning and purpose. God commanded him to leave his family and his own country where he used to serve idols of prosperity without a sense of history, and promised to bless him greatly. “You will be a blessing and I will make your name great!” When he obeyed God’s command and live according to God’s covenant, he was truly blessed with great meaning and purpose. Likewise I personally accepted the promise of God in my life and pursued a shepherd’s life like Abraham instead of seeking human recognition. And then God richly blessed my life and in his own time and sent me as a missionary in the USA to serve world campus mission. But lately due to unpredictable times and circumstances I have been afraid and naturally I become like others who are struggling for material success and an early retirement plan, I lost my identity gradually, coming close to being a statistic like others in this world.   

However, I was recently shocked by the news that my first Bible student developed a malignant tumor. In 1985 UBF summer Bible conference, he repented of his sins and prayed to live by faith. But he could not overcome his desire to marry a cute girl and pursue his own dream in this passing world like other worldly friends. Since then his life seemed to be successful and he became a professor in UNC-CH(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Next year he expected to be a Board Certified Radiologist. But he found a cancer in his stomach and is now struggling to survive through chemotherapy as well as a serious surgery.

I also read about a young missionary named John Gibson Paton.  He was a pioneer missionary to the New Hebrides, a group of islands off the coast of Australia. The name of the island was Tanna, an island inhabited by vicious cannibals. One of his senior pastors strongly encouraged him not to go there because of the danger of being eaten by cannibals. John Paton replied, “You are pretty old, aren’t you? Soon you will die and be eaten by worms. I would rather serve the Lord and be eaten by cannibals. What difference does it make, to be eaten by worms or by cannibals?” Soon after they arrived in Tanna, his beloved wife died of tropical disease. His eldest son Peter died soon after. John’s heart was broken. But he said, “I will not run away from God.” He believed in God’s absolute sovereignty; ruling over man’s life and became loyal to his personal Lord and King, Jesus.

These two real life stories reminded me of how short my earthly life is and how important it is to serve my King and eternal Father by repenting my tedious sin of making financial matters my priority and resuming my desire to be a true missionary to live a blessed and fruitful and the best God given life in Him who is my true King and eternal Father. May the Lord help me to repent of my sins and continue to honor God’s holy name and be a source of blessing like Abraham for many young students. And quietly I may serve Him only with a sense of mission to raise up disciples through one on one study. Amen. 

One Word: No, I will serve the Lord only.

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