Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 8 - 1 Samuel 8

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January 8 - 1 Samuel 8 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is a Monday.
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  It is the 8th of January and you have joined me for another day
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  in the glorious word of our glorious God in this chapter.
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  A day podcast so good that you could find some time in your
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  day. I don't know if like me, you are
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  heading back into normal life to normal what is not.
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  You are heading back into life as it was before the Christmas
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  break. If you're with me, friend,
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  welcome back to normality. But here we are, just for a
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  moment, before normality takes over, we are going to do the
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  other thing, the other thing which is part of our normal
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  rhythm, which is read a chapter of God's word together.
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  And this is the day when when we hear that actually God hears his
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  people. This week is all about the
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  people saying we want a king and God saying I don't want you to
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  be like the other nations, I want to be your king, and the
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  people saying no, no, no, no, no.
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  We just want a king and God complying.
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  And this week we will hear all about this journey with the
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  people, and then their first king, and then him, leading into
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  the early part of his reign, which was actually quite
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  successful before it all turned to pot.
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  But we will get to that in due course.
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  Today we hear Israel tell God that they actually want a king.
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  So let us put down the world that awaits us and read God's
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  word together, reading First Samuel, chapter 8.
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  As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over
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  Israel. Joel and Abijah, his oldest
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  sons, held court in Beersheba, but they were not like their
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  father, for they were greedy for money.
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  They accepted bribes and perverted justice.
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  Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Rama to discuss
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  the matter with Samuel. Look, they told him You are now
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  old and your sons are not like you.
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  Give us a king to judge us, like all the other nations have.
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  Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for
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  guidance. Do everything they say to you,
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  the Lord replied. For they are rejecting me, not
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  you. They don't want me to be like
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  their king any longer. Ever since I brought them out of
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  Egypt, they have continually abandoned me and followed other
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  gods. And now they are giving you the
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  same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly
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  warn them about the way a king will reign over them.
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  So Samuel passed on the Lord's warning to the people who are
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  asking for a king. This is how a king will reign
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  over you, Samuel said. The king will draft your sons
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  and assign them to his Chariots and his charioteers, making them
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  run before his Chariots. Some will be generals and
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  captains in his army, Some will be forced to plow in his fields
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  and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and
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  chariot equipment. The king will take your
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  daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make
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  perfumes for him. He will take the best of your
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  fields and vineyards and olive Groves, and give them to his own
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  officials. He will take a tenth of your
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  grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers
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  and attendants. He will take your male and
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  female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and
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  donkeys for his use. He will demand a tenth of your
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  flocks, and you will be his slaves.
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  When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king
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  you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.
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  But the people refuse to listen to Samuel's warning.
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  Even so, we still want a king, they said.
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  We want to be like the nations around us.
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  Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.
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  So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said, and
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  the Lord replied, do as they say and give them a king.
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  Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.
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  Ah, Lord, it so often feels like we know what's best.
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  We know what is the best thing for us, and we want to see that
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  happen. But you see far into the future,
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  and you see the way things will unravel and unfold, and you love
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  us and guide us away from those disasters.
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  And sometimes we persist, and you allow us to do that in your
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  grace, knowing that in the fullness of time we will be LED
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  back to you. You are magnanimous and wise and
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  all seeing and almighty, and we just praise you, our God.
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  And we pray that you would give us some of your wisdom, that we
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  would have the wisdom to listen to you and to heed your warnings
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  as we read them in Scripture and feel Your Spirit prompting us.
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  Thank you that you take an active part in our lives,
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  leading us always back to you, because for a reason that is
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  beyond us, you want to be with us.
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  And so we thank you and we praise you, and we pray all
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  these things in the name of Jesus.
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  Amen.