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When God Gives You What You Want: Israel’s Demand for a King · Wetumpka Church of Christ Online

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Good morning. I don't know if you realize this
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or not, but I am not Dwayne Bryant.
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So Dwayne is teaching this quarter, going through lessons
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from the Kings. However, he is going to be out
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both this Sunday and next Sunday due to doing some traveling for
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spring break, going to visit family and various other things.
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And so he asked if I would be willing to fill in for him for
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both this Sunday and next Sunday in his in his class.
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So what I'm going to endeavor to do today, especially is I'm
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going to try to get adjacent to some of the things that he's
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going to be talking about without necessarily stepping
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into his particular area. So this morning I'd like you to
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open your Bibles to First Samuel chapter 8.
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First Samuel chapter 8 is going to be our primary text that
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we're going to look at today. Of course, when you're talking
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about the kings and you're talking about all of the things
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that that are going to happen in Israel as a result of Israel
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having kings and, and Dwayne started the class by going
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through and talking about the fact that that God is truly the
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king of Israel in all of this. He is the one who is in charge.
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He is the leader who is seeking to guide and to direct the
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people of Israel in the way that they need to go.
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But first Samuel chapter 8 is really the the change of
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direction for Israel in this particular regard.
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You know, you come out of the judges and you've got a a nation
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that from the outward eye looks to be in chaos in a lot of
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different ways. How is it described in the book
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of Judges as to the way that life is amongst the children of
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Israel in those days every. Man did.
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What was right? All right?
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It is written that there there was no king in Israel in those
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days, for every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
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And you know, it doesn't take very long, reading and thinking
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and considering people's actions to realize that when man gets to
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decide everything for himself without any help whatsoever, he
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usually makes the wrong decision.
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Not always, but quite often. And these people in the days of
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the judges, you have the generational cycle that we talk
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about, but many times they're not listening to anybody.
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They're not going to anybody for advice.
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That includes God, and especially includes God.
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They're not listening to what the law says.
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They're going through and doing the things that they want to do
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without regard for anything else.
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And so you have this constant ebb and flow.
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They'll be, they'll be disobedient for a generation.
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Then God will bring up a, a conqueror against them who will
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bring them under their heel for a period of time until they
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remember who God is. And there will be a generation
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that turns back to God, and they'll be good for a little
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while. And then the whole cycle is
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going to start all over again. As you come into First Samuel,
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you're still actually in the days of the judges.
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You know, we often think it's a new book.
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It's got a new title to it. We're talking about Samuel.
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We're not talking about the judges anymore.
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But you know, if you go through the song that the kids learn on
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the list of the judges, guess who's one of the judges?
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Samuel. Samuel is going to be the last
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of the official judges as we generally look at them in
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Scripture. But Samuel is an interesting
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story. We're not going to go through
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everything that happens in Samuel's life, but as you come
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to First Samuel Chapter 8, Samuel has gotten old at this
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particular time. Now, old in this particular
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sense does not necessarily mean that he is ready to die.
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As a matter of fact, the indication is Samuel is not
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going to die for another 25 to 30 years after the events of
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First Samuel Chapter 8. However, he is old enough that
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his children are grown and he is probably what we would call late
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middle-aged. At this particular time.
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He is beyond the age where men would normally serve as a priest
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or as a particular leader among the people.
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He would have been of the age of the elders of the people, but
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not necessarily at the age of general practice, which in the
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time of Israel was the age of 50.
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So he is likely over the age of 50, but not yet at the age where
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he cannot function and he cannot do what needs to be done.
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But there's going to be some changes that take place.
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And I want us, our study, to kind of go in two different
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directions today, or two different parts.
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I want us to contrast what happens at the start of chapter
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8 with Samuel and his sons with what happens a few chapters
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earlier in first Samuel chapter 2 with Eli and his sons, because
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there are some similarities, but there's also some differences in
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what takes place. And then I want us to look at
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Israel's reaction to Samuel and how God lays things out to his
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prophet and priest about what it is that's going on and how
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things are going to look as we start in first Samuel chapter 8
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verse one says now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he
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made his sons judges over Israel.
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The name of the first born was Joel in the name of the second
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Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.
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But his sons did not walk in his ways.
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They turned aside after dishonest game, took bribes and
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perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel
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gathered together and came to Samuel at Rhema and said to him,
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Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways.
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Now make us a king to judge us, like all the nations.
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So Samuel is now old. He is of an advanced age.
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We've followed Samuel's life over the 1st, 7 or 8 chapters of
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First Samuel from the time that he was born with Hannah in First
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Samuel chapter 1 and the things that surround his birth, the
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things that are are going to happen.
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But now his sons are of age and he is going to make his sons
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judges over Israel. Well, I thought Samuel was the
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last judge. So what's going on here?
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OK, there's the distinction. Samuel was chosen to be a judge
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by God. Now there are going to be other
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judges throughout the people and amongst the people.
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You know, when Moses was leading Israel, his father-in-law is
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going to come to him on one occasion, Jethro, because Moses
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is trying to do all of the judging.
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He's trying to do all of the decision making and all of the
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legal argumentation for everybody amongst the people of
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Israel all by himself. And you know what's happening?
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It's not working out well. You think there's a log jam in
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our court system? Try getting being the only one
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who is doing any kind of judicial work for. 6,000,000.
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People, that's exactly right. It's not going to end well.
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So what does Jethro tell Moses to do?
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You need to create a system with judges over all of these
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different areas. And they do.
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And that means that Moses is only brought in in the areas
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that he's really needed to make the determination.
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Well, there's still the same type of system in place amongst
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the people. It may not be as formally laid
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out now that the people are spread out throughout the
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region, but there are others who serve as judges.
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And the term here that is used in chapter 8, verse one, carries
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with it the idea of being a governing official.
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So Samuel is going to make his sons judges.
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They are going to be, for lack of better term, governors.
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They are going to be those who are overseers in matters of the
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law and of government for the people of Israel down in
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Beersheba. Well, what's the problem?
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OK, Just because they're judges doesn't mean they're good
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judges. The issue with these sons of
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Samuel is that they did not walk in his ways.
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They turned aside verse 3 after dishonest gain, took bribes and
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perverted justice. So these are judges who do not
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judge righteously. If you can grease the wheels a
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little bit, you can get the judgment that you were looking
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for. With Samuel's sons, they are not
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averse to being underhanded in their determinations.
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And it doesn't take very long before you get a reputation for
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those kinds of things, right? They know how to deal with it.
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Well, the elders are going to go to Samuel and they're going to
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say, listen, no offense, but your boys aren't like you, so we
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need somebody else. But it's only been a few
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chapters since we've read about another set of sons who were not
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like their father. And God came down really hard on
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Dad in this particular setting. So I want to take just a few
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moments to contrast some things between what happens in First
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Samuel chapter 2 with Eli and his sons, Hofnai Infinihas, and
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what happens here in First Samuel chapter 8.
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Because there are many people that will look at it and they'll
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say, listen, you know, we hear a lot about God being a righteous
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judge and, and, and God not giving preferential treatment of
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one person over another person. But here he really socks it to
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Eli and we don't read about anything like that when it comes
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to Samuel, what's the difference?
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Let's look at a couple of things.
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Go back to first Samuel chapter 2.
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And in verse 12 we begin to read now the sons of Eli were
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corrupt. They did not know the Lord and
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the priest. Custom with the people was that
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when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest servant
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would come with a three pronged flesh hook in his hand while the
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meat was boiling. Then he would thrust it into the
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pan or kettle or cauldron or pot, and the priest would take
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for himself all that the flesh hook brought up.
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So they did in Shiloh. To all the Israelites who came
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there also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant
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would come and say to the man who sacrificed, give meat for
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roasting to the priest. For he will not take more boiled
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meat from you, but raw. And if the man said to him, they
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should really burn the fat first, then you may take as much
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as your heart desires. He would then answer him, No,
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but you must give it now, and if not, I'll take it by force.
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Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the
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Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.
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What are Hofnay and Finnehas doing?
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They're. Violating.
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Worship all right? They're stealing from God.
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They're stealing from God. They serve.
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The difference #1 between Samuel's sons and Eli's sons is
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the office that they hold. Eli's sons are priests.
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As priests, they are directly responsible for the worship that
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is being brought before God. Samuel's sons are not priests,
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even though their father is a priest.
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Samuel's sons are judges, therefore their responsibility
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are in areas of a civic nature before the people, not
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necessarily a worship nature before the people.
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Hofnay Infinihas are acting in such a way that they are
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destroying the sacrifices that the people are seeking to make
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to God. They are making it impossible
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for the people to actually be able to offer these sacrifices
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according to God's commandments, the way that he said to do it.
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And on top of that, do the people know that that's what
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they're doing? Yes.
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They're not ignorant of this particular command and of what
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it is that God expects in the way that God tells them to do
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it. And they're trying to do it
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right. But these two sons of Eli will
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not allow them to do it. And it gets to the point it's
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stated in First Samuel chapter 2 and in verse #17 that men
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abhorred. Another word that we might use
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in some translations is despised.
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It got to the point that the people absolutely despised going
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to offer sacrifices to God because they knew that they,
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number one, were going to be cheated and that the sacrifices
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were not going to be what God wanted them to be.
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But under the Old Testament law, guess what?
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They didn't have the freedom to just say, well, the priests
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aren't doing it right, so I'll just do it myself.
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We've already had the discussions about Saul and what
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Saul did when he offered sacrifices himself.
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Not because Samuel wouldn't do it right, because he didn't wait
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for Samuel to arrive. But they didn't have the option
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that if the priest was negligent or if the priest was, as these
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men were corrupt, to just be able to take on the mantle for
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themselves and do it the right way by themselves.
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Because by doing it themselves, they were doing it the wrong
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way. They're violating another area
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of the law. So the children of Israel in the
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days of of Eli and Hofni and Finnehas, they're they're put in
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a catch 22 situation. If they offer go to the priest
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to offer sacrifices, the priests are going to cheat them and
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their sacrifices aren't going to be what God wants them to be.
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But they can't go offer them themselves because they don't
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have the right according to the law to do it.
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So they come to a point where they despise even coming to
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offer sacrifices to God because they know that no matter what
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they do, it's not going to come out right.
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There's a big difference between putting people in the situation
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where they cannot worship God acceptably and being ones who
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are corrupt on the civil side of things where you're willing to
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take bribes in order to put a judgement in somebody else's
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camp instead of the other guys. Now, does that mean that either
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one of them was right in what they did, or acceptable in what
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they did? Nope.
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But you know, I I often hear people talk about the fact that
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sin is sin and all sin is the same.
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There is a sense in which all sin has the same effect in
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pulling us away from God, but not all sin functions the same
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way and has exactly the same consequences.
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And it never has, as far as God is concerned.
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But there's one other fundamental difference between
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what happens with Eli and his sons and what happens with
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Samuel and his sons. Where are Eli's sons doing these
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things and what would you? Call the church, but it's in.
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Them all right, so so they're at the Tabernacle as far as that
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goes. And it's not just the things
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with the sacrifices they are going to force themselves on the
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women that are outside the Tabernacle that have come for
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for worship. According to chapter 2 verses 22
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and following. They are going to do every
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conceivable thing that is against the law of God.
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But guess who's present when all of these things are happening?
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Eli. You see, it's not just the fact
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that they did them. Eli is there when all of these
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things are going on. He's in the exact same place and
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nothing ever happens to Hofnay and Finneas.
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He basically looks at them and says, now, boys, you shouldn't
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do that. But according to the law, what
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was supposed to happen to priests who acted in such a
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manner? They were supposed to be stoned.
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Were Hofni Infinity has stoned? No.
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Not only were they not stoned, they weren't even removed from
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their positions. It's allowed to continue on and
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on and on. And the high priest and the
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judge is sitting right there while it's all happening and
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does absolutely nothing about it.
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Now take that and contrast it with Samuel and his sons.
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Samuel's sons are given a location where they are going to
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be judges. Where is that?
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According to First Samuel chapter 8 and in verse 2,
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Beersheba. Where is Beersheba?
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Beersheba is considered to be as far South as you can go and
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still be in the land of Israel. It is the far southern region.
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It actually is going to be on the border with Egypt for for
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much of the existence of of Israel.
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And so it's as far South as you can get.
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Well, where is Samuel? If you go back to Chapter 7, in
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Chapter 7, verses 15 through 17, it says, but Samuel judged
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Israel all the days of his life. He went from year to year on a
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circuit to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and judged Israel in all
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those places. But he always returned to Rhema,
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for his home was there. There he judged Israel, and
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there he built an altar to the Lord.
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So Samuel's home is in Rhema. Rhema is in central Israel,
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almost 60 miles north of Beersheba.
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Hofnay. Infinehaz are destroying the
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ability of the people of God to worship, and they're doing it in
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the very presence of Eli, and Eli does nothing about it.
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Samuel's sons are corrupt judges.
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They do not do what is right. They do not follow after their
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father's deeds, but they are living and working in a place
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miles and miles away from Samuel.
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Now, that doesn't mean that Samuel cannot and and should not
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exert influence over his sons, but it does mean that there are
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levels that Samuel can't necessarily do from Rhema.
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There are things that he cannot function.
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You know, he can't call them up on the phone and say, hey, we
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need to have a chat. There are questions as to
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whether or not the things that happened when the elders of
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Israel come to Samuel in verse 4 are the first time that Samuel
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has heard about the things that are going on down in Beersheba.
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It's a different set of circumstances.
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They hold different offices. Their sins are just exactly
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that. They are sinful.
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The things that they are doing are wrong, but the impact that
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they have both on the people and on their relationship with their
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Father is different. Eli is going to be brought down
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by God because Eli had sin and wickedness standing right there
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in front of his face and would not do anything about it.
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And yet he's supposed to be the spiritual leader of the people,
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and he was allowing the worship of the people to be distorted
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and to become abhorrent before God, and he would not take a
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step to stop it. Samuel is seeking to do God's
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will in judging the people. He has set up his sons to be
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judges, but his sons are not good judges, and when he hears
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that the sons are not good judges, the people have a means
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of rectifying the situation. Just give us a king because a
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king will fix everything. A king will make everything
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better because then he can judge us.
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Notice the statement in chapter 8 verse 5.
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Like all the nations roundabout Cliff Evan, I don't know
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whether. You want to cover this or not,
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But I wonder why the the sharp difference between and the sun,
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you know there's more time given and so on.
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So my only thought on that is, is this.
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I draw a comparison between what happens with Nadab and Abihue in
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Leviticus chapter 10 and what happens with Ananias and
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Sapphira over in Acts chapter 5 and that comparison is this.
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Both of those events occur right after the establishment of the
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law, and God is going to set the precedent that these actions
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will not be acceptable under the law.
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And with that precedent, He is not saying everybody who does
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these things I'm going to strike dead immediately, but He's
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showing the severity of the judgment for those actions and
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that the consequences will not just be the immediate death of
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the individual, but the eternal consequences that go along with
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it. Nadab and Abihu are struck dead
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immediately for offering strange fire because not a couple of
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days earlier they had been given the orders as to what it was
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they were supposed to do and how they were supposed to do it.
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There is nothing that should have been more fresh in their
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minds than what their responsibility was and yet they
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still made the choice to do it incorrectly.
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And I say the choice because when you examine the statement,
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and I think we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, what are
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Nadab and Abihu convicted of? They offer strange fire before
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the Lord notice it. It's not strange incense, it's
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strange fire, which means they got the fire from the incorrect
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source. Within the confines of the
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Tabernacle, there is only one place that you can get fire
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sufficient to burn incense. You know where it is, The altar
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of burnt offering where God commanded them to get it.
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If you're going to offer strange fire before God at the
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Tabernacle, you literally have to walk right past the place
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where you're supposed to get it to leave the Tabernacle grounds
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to get it from somewhere else. Which means, guess what?
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You didn't do it by accident. You did it intentionally.
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This was not Nadab and Abihu made a mistake and God went off
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the Cliff in his judgement to them in order to make a point.
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They intentionally with purpose went to the wrong source to do
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something and God says we're not doing it that way.
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Well, what did Ananias and Sapphira do over in Acts Chapter
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5? Lied to the holy.
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They lied, but, but it wasn't an accident.
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They, they didn't accidentally misspeak in what they said, did
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they? They saw what was being done in
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in giving honor and in recognition for those who were
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giving of the things that they had sold.
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And they wanted that same notoriety, but they didn't want
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to give everything. They wanted to keep a bit.
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Now, we've all discussed this many different times.
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Was there anything wrong with them keeping some of the
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proceeds of land that they had sold and not giving all of it to
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the apostles? No, they had every right to do
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that. They could have sold the land
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and not give it anything and it wouldn't have violated the law.
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The problem is not with what they sold or how much they gave.
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It is with the fact that they intentionally lied about what
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they did. And God says we're not going to
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do this. Actually very similar situations
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in similar settings at the very beginning of the institution of
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the law, and it was done by God in order to prove a point.
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Not to say that every time this happens this is going to be the
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consequence, or that I abhor this more than anything else
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that you could possibly do, but to make the point that God is
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serious about the commands that He gives and that His justice,
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while it may not always be swift, we'll be there.
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Hofnay Infinihas have done these things, and everybody knows that
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what they are doing is wicked. Who's supposed to step in and
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stop them? Did God have a plan in place for
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this? Sure, the high priest is
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supposed to step in and stop them according to the law, but
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what's the problem? The high priest is Dad, and
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Dad's not going to discipline his sons.
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And you know what God does? Step in and take care of the
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problem. Hofnay Infinehas in chapter 3
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are going to be killed and chapter 4 the Ark of God is
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going to be captured. Adam.
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Might be a fault for us and talk about the rich Madame Lazarus in
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Luke 16. In verse 29, Abraham says to him
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they have moles and problems to let them hear lean.
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You know, today we've got the word.
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That's right. Well.
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In verse 31 Jesus said he said to them if they hear not Moses
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and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded the one rose
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of the dead. You know, the rich man want to
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bring someone back to the dead, a miracle.
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And some people might say today, well, if I could see a miracle,
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I would believe or I would go like, you know, I, I haven't
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seen that evidence. We've got the evidence here.
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That's right. You know, there's a lot of
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people that that say, you know, well, well, if we could just see
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God just lay it on somebody and really bring justice out, that'd
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straighten a lot of people up. Well, it would straighten a few
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people up for a little while, but you know, even when God is
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the one bringing justice, if your heart's not what it's
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supposed to be, if your desire to serve God isn't what it's
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supposed to be, there's no amount of judgment that God is
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going to bring that is going to actually cause you to change
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your mind. It's proven over and over again
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in Scripture. And that goes back to the
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passage that Cliff read for us just a moment ago.
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You've got the Scriptures in front of you, but if you're not
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willing to listen to them, it doesn't matter what else
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happens. Ultimately, you're not going to
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be obedient. And even if you do the right
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things by your actions, because you know that's what's expected,
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what does God look at? Can we do the right things on
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the outside and still be just as ugly and rotten on the inside?
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Yep, sure can. That is why Christianity is
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designed as a heart first law. Does God care what we do?
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Yes. But He cares just as much and
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understands that the motivation for why we do it is going to be
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central to how we do it. If our heart isn't right, our
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actions aren't going to be worth a hill of beans.
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While there are areas where there are similarities between
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what happens with Eli and his sons and what happens with
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Samuel and his sons, there's also some very distinctive
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differences. And God treats it differently
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because of those differences. But we've got just a few minutes
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left this morning, and I want to get back into Chapter 8 to look
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at a couple of other things from this request.
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Because when you understand the background of this, there is a
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sense listen very carefully to what I'm about to say.
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There is a sense in which you can see the point that the
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elders of Israel are going to make to Samuel.
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Do you think they remember Eli and his sons?
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Somebody talking about their age, right?
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They would have been young men at the time, but they know what
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happened with Eli and his sons. And I believe what you have in
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First Samuel 8 is a sense of here we go again.
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You know, we've got the judge that God put in place, but now
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his sons are starting to be in charge.
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And here we are. These are areas where the apple
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really did fall a little bit further from the tree.
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Now, that doesn't mean that their solution is right, because
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their solution is motivated by wanting to be like the other
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nations. That's the statement of verses
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4:00 and 5:00. They say, look, your ways are
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old and your sons do not walk in your ways.
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Notice they don't cast aspersions on Samuel.
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They don't say Samuel, you're not doing your job.
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Samuel, you're not really that good of a judge.
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No, they say your sons aren't like you.
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They recognize and they acknowledge the character of
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Samuel. They also don't say.
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And Samuel, you're not taking care of your job and you're not
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taking care of your sons. That's why it's many times
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thought that maybe Samuel didn't even know what was going on
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until the elders come before him.
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But your sons do not walk in your ways.
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So make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
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What's Samuel's response? He is not happy.
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Verse 6 says he is displeased when they said, give us a king
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to judge us. And so you know what Samuel
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does? Samuel goes through and he
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preaches the most fire and brimstone sermon about having a
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king that any man had ever heard, right?
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No, he goes to the one who's really in charge because Samuel
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knows it's not him. The only reason he's in this
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position is because God put him here.
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Samuel is not arrogant. Samuel is not proud.
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Samuel is humble as a servant, and the 1st place that he goes
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is to the one who's really in charge.
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And Samuel knows it and acknowledges it, and he prays to
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God, verse 6 or verse 7 rather. And the Lord says to Samuel,
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Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you, For
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they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I
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should reign over them according to all the works which they have
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done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt,
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even to this day which which they have forsaken me and served
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other gods, so they are doing to you also.
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Now therefore heed their voice. However you shall solemnly
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forewarn them and show them the behavior of the king who will
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reign over them. God tells Samuel They've not
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rejected you and they hadn't, had they?
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They acknowledge that Samuel is very good at his job, that he's
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righteous, that he's honorable, says they've not rejected you,
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they've rejected me. But let's face it, when you've
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spent your whole life trying to be there for your people and
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they say we want someone else, would it sting for you?
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Sure. It stung for Samuel.
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God says this isn't anything new.
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They've done this ever since they came out of Egypt.
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This has been hundreds of years and dozens of generations of the
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people of Israel that have wanted to be like everybody
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else. You know, in the New Testament,
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we often like to talk about the parable that Jesus gives about
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the woman who keeps coming before the magistrate because
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she's not gotten what she wants. And eventually the magistrate
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gives her what he wants, what she wants, just so that she'll
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leave him alone. You know, there's a lot of
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people that take that particular parable and they say that's the
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way we're supposed to be with God.
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We're just supposed to pester God until he gives us what we
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want. That's not the point of the
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parable. This is it's one of the few
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parables that's actually the It's not this, it's this.
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If this wicked judge will do it just to get you out of your way,
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how much more does God love you and is willing to give you what
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you want and what you need because he loves you and cares
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about you. However, this is one of those
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instances where God tells the people of Israel, I'm going to
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give you what you want and you're not going to like the
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ultimate results. You know, there are times when
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we get belligerent with God about having to have it this
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way. God is going to give us exactly
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what we asked for and it's not because it's what's best for us.
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It's to teach us a lesson about being willing to listen to him
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and to let him lead. God tells Samuel, you know what,
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Samuel, we're going to do this. But he says, I want you to
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forewarn them and show them the behavior of the king who will
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reign after them. So Samuel is going to go and
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he's going to tell all of the words of the Lord to the people,
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and he says verse 11. This will be the behavior of the
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king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and
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appoint them for his own Chariots and to be his horsemen,
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and some will run before his Chariots.
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He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over
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his 50s, and will set some to plow his ground and reap his
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harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for
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his Chariots. He will take your daughters to
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be perfumers, cooks and bakers, and he will take the best of
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your fields, your vineyards, and your olive Groves and give them
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to his servants. He will take a tenth of your
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grain and your vintage and give it to his officers and servants.
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He will take your male servants, your female servants, your
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finest young men, your donkeys, and put them to his work.
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He will take a tenth of your sheep, and you will be his
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servants. And you will cry out in that day
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because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, and
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the Lord will not hear you in that day.
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Samuel says, Let me tell you what this King's going to do.
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This king is going to do whatever he wants.
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He's going to take your crops, He's going to take your fields.
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He's going to take your flocks. He's going to take your herds.
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He's going to take your sons. He's going to take your
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daughters, and he's going to do with them whatever he wishes.
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And you're going to come crying back to God saying the King's
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not doing what we want him to do.
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And God's going to say tough luck.
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You asked for him. And you know what's going to
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happen in Israel, just exactly what Samuel said was going to
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happen in Israel. And that's how we got Saul.
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There's a lot of pretext to the kings that are coming.
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And First Samuel chapter 8 is a fascinating discussion of how
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God will sometimes give people what they want, even though He
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knows it's not what's best for them, and they're going to have
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to learn the lessons of their own greed over the course of
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time. Thank you so much for your
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attention this morning and your participation.