Despite being constantly provided for by God, Israel demanded a king (1 Samuel 8:1-9). They didn’t want to be judged by Samuel’s wicked sons. Nor did they desire to continue listening to the aging prophet Samuel. Instead, they now desired a physical king who sat on a throne and reigned over them.
This was a deeply troubling request! By demanding a physical king, the nation of Israel had rejected God as King. They demonstrated a lack of faith and trust in God’s ability to continue delivering them from their enemies (1 Samuel 8:19-20).
Israel rejected God’s plan.
- God did plan to one day give the nation a physical king (Genesis 49:8-12; Deuteronomy 17:14-20). How were they to recognize the kingship of the Messiah without one?
- God’s problem with Israel on this occasion was their motive. God was not pleased with why they wanted a king.
- Israel wanted someone to judge them like all the other nations (1 Samuel 8:5). They were no longer satisfied with God’s way of delivering them from their enemies (1 Samuel 8:7). They wanted a king to go out and fight their battles and do all the heavy lifting (1 Samuel 8:20).
- They were no longer satisfied with having to cry out to God, trust Him, and patiently wait on Him to raise the deliverers at the right time to save them from their enemies.
- They were no longer satisfied with not having a man who could immediately send an army to their aid at any time.
- If we are not careful, we can develop the same kind of hearts! We can begin to view God’s plan for the church’s work as outdated, old-fashioned, and needing to be replaced with something we believe to be a better plan.
Israel resisted being different.
- It is hard being different than the majority. The tempting thing to do is blend in and conform to the crowd. Israel desired to be like the other nations (1 Samuel 8:5, 20).
- God did not want His people to be like everyone else! He created them to look, think, and behave differently. He wanted them to be holy and set apart from the other nations.
- Christians are also responsible for shining and being different (1 Peter 2:9-12; Ephesians 5:7-12). The Lord’s church is different. The lives of true disciples are different.
- We must embrace God’s will for us to stand out in a spiritually dark and sinful world.
Israel would face the consequences.
- While God would give Israel a king, He would first warn them of the consequences (1 Samuel 8:10-18). Having a king would not be as great as they imagined.
- Saul would be Israel’s first king. He would ultimately be a disaster! He would be a disobedient man full of jealousy and bitterness. He was not a man of faith and would be fired by God.
- Israel thought they had a better way of doing things, but they did not. They should have trusted God and been patient.
- They should have realized that God is faithful and that rejecting Him is never the right thing to do.
Conclusion:
Do you trust in God’s plan of salvation (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38)?