1 Samuel 8
McGeeCHAPTER 8THEME: Israel rejects God and demands a kingHos_13:11 can be written over the remainder of 1 and 2 Samuel: “I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.” Samuel was a great judge and a man of God. He was brought up in the tabernacle where he saw the wickedness of Eli’s sons and how God judged them. Yet notice what Samuel does.
1 Samuel 8:1
Samuel made his own sons judges to succeed him, although they were unworthy and incompetent for the job. This act was a mistake. Samuel was a great judge, a wonderful prophet, and a great man of Godbut he was a failure as a father just as Eli had been.
1 Samuel 8:2
These were Samuel’s sons. They were totally dishonest. Strange, isn’t it? Today we see so much of that. Many pastors have said to me, “Why is it that you can have a godly family in your church and the son or daughter can become a dissolute vagrant or go on drugs?” Many times there is no explanation for it. Well, Samuel was a great man, God’s man, and look what his sons did.
1 Samuel 8:4
The people of Israel ask for a king. They are influenced, of course, by the surrounding nations. They give as their reason Samuel’s advanced age and the waywardness of his sons.
1 Samuel 8:6
The fact that Samuel had made his sons judges gives these people an excuse to ask for a king. Undoubtedly this was a heartbreak to Samuel. God comforts him with the assurance that Israel’s rejection is not of him but of God himself. Samuel’s sons are the excuse, but rejection of God’s sovereignty is the real reason. Then Samuel warns Israel what it will be like to have a king. He tells them that a king will reign over them, take their sons for soldiers, their daughters for cooks and maidservants, and part of their fields, vineyards, oliveyards, and animals for himself. He warns them that eventually they will cry out in their distress and that in that day the Lord will not hear them.
1 Samuel 8:19
The children of Israel are gong to have their way. God is going to give them a king. What was true of Israel in the days of Moses is still true. “And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul” (Psa_106:15). God will grant Israel’s desire for a king, but it will not be to their advantage. God’s guidance of the nation will be indirectly through the prophet. As we shall see, God will not speak directly to the king, but still through the prophet who will convey God’s word to the king. The king will accept it or reject it as he chooses.