We Want A King!

Introduction

For those of you who might not know, this is a presidential election year here in the US! Of course, we're not the only country experiencing, anticipating or hoping for changes in top governmental positions. My experience in the US is that the election process can be extremely contentious. However, it has never led to all-out deadly rebellion as it has in other countries. In any event, whatever your political affiliation, how we are governed has been a passionate pursuit by many for millenia.

For Americans, the quest for independent governance began in 1776. The signing of the Declaration of Independence still stands as the foremost significant event in American history. Specifically because it inaugurated "American" history. However, the second most important event in American history occurred in 1787. That's when the founding fathers gathered to draft the United States Constitution. The Declaration of Independence is the instrument documenting our freedom while the United States Constitution is the instrument setting forth how that freedom would be maintained.

A story is told that one day, as the founding fathers were finishing their work on the Constitution, a woman was said to have stopped one of them, Benjamin Franklin, in the street. “Well, Dr. Franklin,” she supposedly asked, “what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”

Ben Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

The founding fathers didn't want a democracy. Democracies, they believed, were not sustainable because the people governed could be persuaded through bribery. Furthermore, they foresaw the dire possibilities resulting from corrupt human behavior. Finally, they wanted to avoid the real possibility of mob rule when majority passions were inflamed. Without such safeguards, they believed the people would ultimately elect a tyrant...and tyranny ended in monarchy.

Beginning two short years later in 1789, the founding fathers' fears of a tyrannical government would play themselves out in the bloody French Revolution where the governmental compliance instrument of choice was the guillotine!

Can anyone dispute that there is a deep and burning desire within humanity to be free, to strive for liberty. This is a desire of all people not just Americans. We were created to be free! Freedom is a clear and vast biblical motif (in case you doubt me, “free” or its derivative words are used 101 times in the Old and New Testaments)—we were never intended to live in forced servitude to anyone for any reason. We were created to be free to serve one another willingly and free to serve and worship God wholeheartedly. Although freedom and liberty might be defined differently around the world, no person desires or strives to be oppressed by anyone and especially not by their own government. By “oppressed” I mean having the government involved in governing the areas of our lives that we are perfectly capable, able and gifted to govern ourselves as God’s highest and greatest creation. The intent of the United States Constitution was to establish the limitation of the government's power over its citizens. Maximum liberty was the ultimate objective. The ability for a person to do all and be all that God created them to do and be without unnecessary intervention by the government. However, 225 years later, American government is involved in virtually every area of American life. How did such limitation of government represented by the United States Constitution go so horribly awry? I would like to postulate that many have turned their backs on God for guidance, strength and wisdom to care for themselves, their families and their neighbors and instead look to the government to feed them, house them, clothe them, educate them, give them their medicine and provide countless other services that they are usually perfectly capable of providing for themselves. You might think this tendency to look to the government as protector, provider, or even as savior is a recent phenomenon. Well, you'd be wrong. The desire to have the government take care of us is hardly new. Thousands of years ago, Israel had the perfect leader. God himself governed his chosen people through his appointed Prophets and Judges. So how did the people respond to this ideal arrangement, just the way humanity has always responded, they turned their backs on God and said, "We Want A King!" And here is where we'll pick up with this week's lesson which comes from 1 Samuel 8:1-22.

1 Samuel 8:1-22

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. ² The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. ³ But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. ⁷ And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

¹⁰ Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day. ”

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. ²² The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”

Context

            From the very beginning, God has governed his people. Adam and Eve received instruction in the Garden, Abraham was instructed and guided to the Promised Land, Moses was instructed on how he should lead Israel out of slavery and thereafter received God’s laws and commandments that were to govern the lives of the nation of Israel. Of course, Israel needed leadership after Moses died so God appointed Prophets and Judges to govern Israel. Keeping in mind, however, that there was no comprehensive governance of Israel until the first Kingdom of Israel was formed. Until then, the 12 tribes were a loose confederation that generally supported one another militarily in times of crisis. Otherwise, Israel was governed by God’s laws and commandments. Up to and including the time of Samuel, Israel never lacked God ordained/appointed leadership. However, at this particular point in time, the text leaves us with the impression that the various tribal leaders (referred to as Elders) seemed to think that God’s provision for leadership was going to end with the eventual death of Samuel. However, the text reveals their hidden motive when they insist that Samuel give them a king so that they could “be like the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” (v. 20)

            Chapter 7 tells us that Israel lived under the constant threat from the Philistines. R. P. Gordon writes, “The background is Israel’s subservience to their Philistine rivals and the ever-present threat of further indignities from hostile neighbors—a threat which runs through chs 8-12 as well and which was largely responsible for driving the Israelites to the political expedient of monarchy.”[1] However, what makes the matter even more insulting for God is that while Israel was gathered together at Mizpah as recorded in Chapter 7, they were attacked by the Philistines and it was through God’s divine intervention that the Philistines were beaten. Guess who was leading Israel on that day…NO KING! It was God who led them in victory! The theological function of this chapter demonstrates that the “Old theocracy of the period of Judges was as capable of dealing with Israel’s military emergencies as of directing its social and religious life.”[2] Nevertheless, at some point after the events of Chapter 7, what they had relied on God to do for them and what they did for themselves to this point, they now wanted a human king and formal government to do for them.

Text Analysis

            Vv. 1-5 introduce us to the perceived problem. Samuel is old and his sons, whom he has appointed as judges over Israel, are self-serving and corrupt. Consequently, since Samuel’s sons have disqualified themselves from succeeding Samuel, it is not unreasonable for the tribal leaders to make plans for Samuel’s successor. “The problem arises in the nature of their suggestion…When the elders ask Samuel to appoint a king to ‘lead’ them (lit., ‘judge’ them), they clearly have in mind more than a simple change of leaders. They want a change in institutions, they want a fundamental change of national constitution.”[3] This is no insignificant request. As previously noted, Israel was comprised, to this point, of a loosely related confederation of tribes. Nevertheless, the socio-political structure afforded the nation, as a whole, the maximum level of freedom and liberty without fear of anarchy, in large part because Israelite society functioned against the backdrop of God’s laws and commandments.

            Vv. 6-9 tell us Samuel’s reaction to Israel’s request for a change in leadership. Imagine committing your entire life to faithfully and sacrificially leading, teaching and guiding others just to have them come to you one day and ask for a leadership change. It shouldn’t surprise us to find that Samuel is upset, disappointed and probably hurt. However, God reminds Samuel that Samuel has been faithful and it is in fact God that Israel has rejected. As is always the case when we sin, the one that is hurt the most and the deepest is God himself.

            In vv. 10-18 Samuel attempts to paint a picture of what life will look like under the rule of a king. Samuel describes a society ruled by someone who will take the very best for himself, someone whose interest is only in the advancement of their rule and not what’s best for those who are governed, someone who will take, by force if necessary, when its citizens will not freely give. “The portrait of kingship that Samuel paints appears to be an authentic description of the semifeudal Canaanite political structure as it existed prior to and during the time of Samuel. He objects that having a king like ‘all the other nations’ is not what Yahweh has in mind. Such an unchecked human institution will become militaristic, conscript Israelite men (even women!) into military service, confiscate property, and lead ultimately to enslavement.”[4] Israel’s future would be littered with parasitic kings that would take more than give. Nothing would be beyond the reach of the king—children, property, wives and even life itself (See previous post—Title: With Great Blessing Comes Great Responsibility, Label: Pastoral Care, Date: 7/18/12). “Kings take and take, and then when everything is gone, they force you to serve. The final indignation, ‘you yourselves will become slaves.’” Ultimately, the cost to Israel for demanding that they have a king is their freedom! Nevertheless, the people want a king because they want to be “like the other nations” around them. “They are not content with what…was their proper sphere in life. They are motivated by a perverse and self-destructive urge to rise above themselves. As Adam and Eve in the Yahwistic primeval history desired to be ‘like gods’ (Gen 3:5), so their desire to become ‘like the nations.’ The people are naïve, almost childlike…We have here a reflection of a traditional pattern, found more than once in the Hebrew Bible, which presents men striving to exceed divinely appointed boundaries and holds the tragic consequences up to view.”[5] The end of this section of verses leaves off with a dire warning from God that should strike fear in the heart of all who have ears to hear. God warns Israel that when everything goes wrong after they get what they want and they come crying Him about how bad it is, He will refuse to listen to them!

            In vv. 19-22 we get the impression that the people are almost mob-like at this point. As though they heard nothing God was warning them about. Now, they are insisting; “We Want A King!” So because God never forces us to love him or to be in relationship with him, he concedes and instructs Samuel to give them what they want. The demand to have a king in order to be “like the other nations” reveals something deeply troubling within the DNA of the people of Israel. Their desire, in light of the dire warnings given by God, seems almost irrational. They reveal “A profound dissatisfaction with who they are as a people. They have been constituted as the people of God, established in covenant at Mount Sinai, informed by Torah instruction, and led and protected by divinely ordained religious judges. Now this very identity is in doubt. They seek a status on the level with their new neighbors, the Canaanites. They have lived among them for at least two centuries, and now they want to become like them. They have grown weary of being unique, they seek conformity and security. But as the passage makes clear, they are grasping for something they fail to understand and will lose the very things they hope to ensure by having a king.”[6]

            We read these verses and shake our heads in amazement as we wonder how Israel could be so thick-headed. We wonder how they could insist on something that will eventually destroy them. It really is like dealing with a petulant, immature child. However, before we quickly condemn Israel for their foolishness, we had best take a close look at our own attitudes first.

Application

            The lesson from these verses can be difficult to apply in our modern/postmodern age. A return to a biblical theocracy in practice is unlikely and probably unrealistic—in large part because so many in our culture do not believe in the God of the bible if they believe in God at all. Nevertheless, as I outlined in the introduction to this lesson, there is a common desire for all humanity—freedom! First and foremost, we must be honest about the things we have traded for our freedom. I’ll name just a few for you to consider. I’m sure you’ve already thought of some very specific areas in your own life and society that I’m sure I’ll fail to mention here. What freedoms have we forfeited as a result of personal and national debt? What freedoms have we forfeited because we allow or maybe even insist that the government feed people, clothe people, house people, educate people and insure people’s health? What freedoms have we forfeited because we want others to believe the way we do—by force if necessary? If these matters are too abstract to you, let me get a little more personal. What freedom have you forfeited because of your dishonesty? What freedom have you relinquished because of your addiction? What freedom have you relinquished because of your anger and hatred? What freedom have you relinquished because of your unforgiveness? You see, freedom is both corporate and personal. Freedom is essential for us to be able to live as we were created to live—in a loving relationship with God and one another.

            Nevertheless, whether you believe in God or not you must be willing to concede that anytime we borrow from anyone or insist that someone do for us what we are capable of doing ourselves, we relinquish part of our freedom. If you do this often enough in enough areas of your life over an extended period, you will find that you have no freedoms left at all. You will then find yourself fighting the very difficult, and possibly deadly, uphill battle of recovering your lost freedom. During this season of political choice, unrest, upheaval and violence, before you insist that your position is the best position, be honest enough to consider whether or not your position advances corporate and individual freedom or relinquishes such freedom all in the name of freedom!

Where To Start

            It is maddening, this desire to be free by giving away our freedom! At the root of this schizophrenic behavior is that age old problem—sin (not believing in God does not absolve you from this problem—sorry). As previously noted, we first relinquished our freedom in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, they forfeited their freedom to live the same as they had prior to sinning. Thereafter, sin imprisoned and enslaved humanity. Throughout history, we have forfeited our freedom in exchange for money, sex and power—all in the quest for freedom—freedom to make money at all cost, freedom to have sex on our terms and freedom to wield power for our own self-satisfaction. Yet we do not have to be slaves to sin—ironically, because of a King—Jesus Christ! Unlike humanity’s kings (governmental structures) Jesus is the King of kings (Rev 17:14). Jesus has come to give us back what was lost as a result of sin—our freedom! Freedom to be in a loving relationship with God and one another. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, sin has been defeated and we have been set free (Rom 6). So when we say, “We Want A King!” Jesus is the King we should be seeking. Not some earthly king (governmental system) that can do nothing but enslave us. Instead, Jesus is the King who has come to set us free (Jn 8:36). Once we have returned to God through Jesus Christ and received our free gift of salvation and have been set free from sin, we can then begin the long and difficult process of returning the corporate freedom to our culture. True freedom is only possible by trusting in God’s wisdom, guidance and provision for our lives. True freedom is only possible when we are in a loving relationship with God and one another. True freedom is only possible if we will assume the responsibility to serve one another sacrificially. Trusting in an earthly government to set us free and do for us what we can and should do for ourselves is certain folly and will only lead to our enslavement.

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” – President John Adams, (2^nd President and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States)

---

[1] R. P. Gordon, 1 & 2 Samuel, Old Testament Guides, (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998), p. 41.

[2] Ibid.

[3][3] Bill T. Arnold, 1 & 2 Samuel, The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), p. 149.

[4] Ibid., p. 151.

[5] P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., 1 Samuel, The Anchor Bible, (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1980), pp. 160-161.

[6] Arnold, 1 & 2 Samuel, NIV, p. 150.