1 Samuel 8:1-18 – God Grants Israel a King

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

God grants us the free will to choose how we live. However, as 1 Samuel 8 shows us, the price of free will is heavy for those who don’t heed God’s warning about living under sin.

Introduction

You can choose to live however you wish to live, as God gives all of us that freedom, yet God warns us about our living, and one should certainly heed God’s warning.  

In last week’s lesson – God’s Mercy in History – we saw that Joshua desired for the children of Israel to continue in faith.  However, the Book of Judges shows us that faithfulness was truly an obstacle for the children of Israel, as they constantly forsook the Lord.  An overarching theme shown throughout Judges was the need for spiritual leadership amongst the people so that they would live faithfully rather than sinfully.

In our lesson this week, we’ll see Israel’s desire for new leadership, but there was a problem in the kind of leadership they sought.  We will also see how the Lord reacted to their desire, which gives us insight into how God reacts when our desires move against His.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover scripture from 1 Samuel 8:1-18. 

What we will focus on learning in this week’s Sunday School commentary:

1. Free will.
2. The spiritual consequence to the choices we make.
3. Why God give us a choice rather than dictate faith.

Israel’s Desire for a King

Our lesson this week opens with us seeing Samuel, who served as judge, prophet, and priest, making his two sons judges over Israel (1 Sam. 8:1).  The scripture highlights that Samuel was old and sought successors.  However, I will point out that Samuel naming his sons as judges was not how the judges came forth.  

Throughout the book of Judges, it is made clear that God ordained the judges.  One man, Abimelech, tried to make himself a judge and the man was completely wicked and tried to reign as a king.  God raised the judges often to serve as military leaders who led Israel out of oppression at specific times during that period.  Aside from Samuel, Deborah was the only other judge who held the title of being a prophet, or a prophetess, in her case.  

Samuel tried to pass down being a judge to his children like it was a business, but that was certainly not how it worked.  Moreover, 1 Samuel 8:3 points out that his sons were sinners who perverted justice and gained wealth through dishonesty.  Samuel’s sons would have been terrible judges, and the people recognized that!  

So, as 1 Samuel 8:4-5 shows us, the people came to Samuel demanding that he put a king over them to judge them.  1 Samuel 8:6-7 shows us two different reactions to Israel’s demand for a king.  Samuel was displeased, but God told Samuel to heed the voice of the people even though they had rejected Him.

Samuel and God’s response raise questions, don’t they?  Why was Samuel displeased?  Why would God tell Samuel to heed the voice of the people if their demand was in rejection of Him?  How was their demand a rejection of Him?  These are questions that I certainly want to answer.

Israel’s Rejection of God

To point out how Israel’s desire for a king was sinful, I will point back to 1 Samuel 8:5, and I want you to pay close attention to the wording of their request.  Again, the elders said to Samuel, “Make us a king to judge over us.”

Let me first point out that this wouldn’t have been a bad thought had they actually left it at this.  Having just completed a bible study series on Judges, I can tell you that of the twelve judges of Israel, they really only had five that were truly good.  Jephthah would be the last good one, and before him, I would say Deborah, as Gideon had a good moment but ended up leading Israel into sin.  

After Jephthah, there were four other judges before Samuel, one of whom was Samson.  Samson is often painted as a great biblical hero, but his story actually shows us that he was a selfish man who used his anointing for himself rather than to help others.  I share that history just to say that if the people desired fresh leadership, there would be nothing wrong with the desire.

However, the problem with the people’s desire is what they said at the end of their demand for a king.  The people said, “Make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”  They desired to be like all the other nations.  The problem with this desire is that all the other nations at that time lived sinfully.

IF they desired to have a king to be over them, the Lord said in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 the kind of king that they should desire.  They should’ve desired the kind of king who wouldn’t be selfish, seeking only to enrich himself.  They were to set a king over them who would write for himself a copy the law, so that he may know it and live by it.  In other words, they should have desired a king who would heed God’s way, rather than seek to lift himself above God, as other kings, like the Pharaoh, had done.

The fact that they desired to have a king who would be like the kings of other nations sat in disregard of what God had instructed them to desire for.  And to be even clearer, Israel desired to be just like the other nations, suggesting that what God had done for them up to that point wasn’t satisfactory.

God Warns Against Sin

Now, if this desire truly was sinful, one is right to wonder:  Why did God tell Samuel two times to heed the voice of the people?

Let me first start by making it clear that God was not telling Samuel to be tolerant of the people’s sinful request.  We should never think that the Lord is tolerant of sin. As scripture repeatedly shows, God does not, and will never dwell in fellowship with sin.   Had God been tolerant of this sinful desire, it would have made pointless the countless rebukings of the people’s forsaking Him throughout the book of Judges.  

Rather than letting Samuel immediately rebuke the people’s sinful desire, God was going to put a choice before them.  I want to highlight this point because I want all of you to understand that God does not demand nor dictate faith.  The Lord desires for one to believe and to walk by faith freely by their choice.

So, we’ll see in 1 Samuel 8:9 where God instructed Samuel to forewarn the children of Israel of what they were wishing for.  God, I want you to understand, will permit you to live however you choose to live, but before doing that, He will, and has, warned of the consequences of living in opposition of His word.

Have you realized that scripture serves both as hope and a warning?  Scripture brings hope to those who heed God’s word and turn to Christ.  However, scripture brings a grave warning to those who choose to disregard its call for repentance.  God does not hide from anyone the consequence of living sinfully, making it clear that He will one day cast sin from His presence for everlasting life (John 3:18; Rev. 20:11-15).

Let us keep in mind that God is a just God, which is to say that He is fair in His judgment.  God puts forth the choice of righteous living or unrighteous living so that when the day comes, no one can make excuses for how He judges their heart.  The faithful will be rewarded for heeding His word and putting forth their best effort to live obediently.  

However, as Jesus often put it, the wicked will weep and gnash their teeth because they will have knowingly missed out on the opportunity to dwell in glory.  God will not be the doom of the sinner.  The doom of the sinner is their choosing because they chose to live sinfully.  As the Proverb makes clear, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Prov. 14:12).

Living Under a Sinful Ruler

1 Samuel 8:10-18 is the warning that God had Samuel share with all of Israel so that they could understand what they desired.  Let us notice the behavior that Samuel describes in a worldly king.  

The worldly king, Samuel told the people, would take their sons and appoint them to his chariots; in other words, their sons would be made to serve in the army of the king.  Samuel warned the people that the worldly king would appoint captains over their sons, and they would be made to serve the king, plowing the field, harvesting the crops, and making his weapons.  Samuel warned that their daughters would be used by the king to be cooks and bakers.

Samuel then warned that the worldly king they desired would take the best of their crops, while giving a tenth of the rest of their crops to his officers and servants.  On one last note, Samuel warned the people that it wouldn’t just be their sons and daughters who would be made to serve, but they would also be the king’s servants.

Does it sound like, at any point in time, they would be living freely under the kind of king they desired?  Does it sound like there would be any joy in living under such a king?

What few of us realize today is that many of us are already living in such a manner under a sinful ruler.  Now, many of you will think of a person in the flesh; however, I speak of one who lives under sin itself.  You see, Jesus likened sin to being a “master/ruler”.  

In Matthew 6:24, we will see that Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Mammon is material, that which one can gain of the world.  In other words, mammon is sinful, not of the Lord.  

In John 8:31-32, Jesus made it clear that His word makes those who heed it free.  Now, what does the word of Christ make one free from?  Sin.  

Sin is a master, and as a master, sin will take and appoint – sin is a heavy-handed ruler!  Sin has an army as well, and in that army, one works against the Lord.  When you’re in the army of sin, going against God, you’re fighting a losing battle.  Let me be clear, there is no reward in sinful living, and in the end, it will have taken your best and drained your soul of all its life.  So, one has to wonder, what would be the benefit of being under the rule of sin?  

After hearing Samuel’s forewarning of being under such a king, the children of Israel should have been wondering, what would be the benefit of living under such a king?  What is the benefit of living under one whose goals would be inward rather than outward?

The Greater Consequence

The last warning that Samuel gave to the children of Israel was one they needed to pay the most attention to.  In 1 Samuel 8:18, Samuel warned, “You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”

This was a word of warning to Israel that speaks of the consequences when one commits to carrying out their sinful choice.

Consider this:  When you were a child, your parents warned you not to touch the hot stove, but you chose to touch it anyway.  That hot stove would sting your hand before you could snatch it back, right?  In that case, your parents wouldn’t be able to take back the burn you felt from being hardheaded, would they?

Essentially, what this statement from God is to the children of Israel is that He was going to permit them to suffer the consequences of their sinful decision.  

Saul became the first king of Israel, and he was not a good king.  After his first year of leadership, Saul began to move selfishly, enriching himself.  Saul also fought aimlessly against the Philistines, costing the lives of many in Israel. 

When God moved to have David anointed to be the king of Israel, it wasn’t because of the cries of the people.  God moved for Himself to have a king over his people who would be humble and follow after Him; He sought to have a king after His own heart.  

 In this lesson is certainly a warning about who you would choose to have govern over you.  Now, of course, we live in a land where the thought is that there is supposed to be a separation between church and state (or government).  However, if you pay any attention to politics, you will know for certain that it is not the case.

IF you’re going to vote based on your belief, make sure that the leadership you elect is leadership that is humble and heeds God’s instructions.  I will warn all of you, especially in politics, many politicians use the name of God in vain; they speak of being of God, but their actions speak against being of the Lord.

Our politics has really become, if it wasn’t already, a hot mess when it comes to the use of God.  The best thing that those who govern can do is move according to a principle where their love is for all of those whom they govern.  When governance creates an “us vs. them” system, that does no good for anyone.

All of that being said, be cautious with whomever you look to for leadership, by assuring that their walk follows in the way of God.  I will also add that you must assure for yourself that your walk is also patterned after following God because there likely is someone who is studying you as an example for being a Christian.