Title: Israel Demands a King (1 Samuel 8:1∼9)
Contents
Israel Demands a King (1 Samuel 8:1~9)
Samuel was Israel's judge, priest, prophet, and absolute leader in Israel. But what about the passing of time? Samuel, the hero of Ebenezer, has also become a powerless old man. 1 Samuel 8 begins with Samuel growing old. Even this great Samuel had no choice but to grow old. When Samuel grew old, he made his sons and his judges in Israel. Unfortunately, the two sons did not resemble their father and were living a life of condemnation as judges and leaders. So all the elders of Israel came to Samuel. We came to say that it seems that the time has come for us to appoint a king like other nations.
Focusing on today's text, I would like to share a few thoughts with you.
1. The Israelites' request for a king was wrong.
This was the Israelites' betrayal of God. When they said, 'Let us set up a king to rule over us like the nations,' they had a shallow plan to abandon the theocracy and establish a humanistic country in which humans are the masters. Of course, not all of the wishes of the people of Israel who demanded a king could be defined as evil. The problem is that (1) humans demanded ahead of God, and (2) the motive was humanism, which stemmed from resistance to God.
In fact, it was a dirty coup d'etat by Israel to drive out God and establish a man-dominated nation. Today, when we ask God for something or ask for a new change, we need to be careful that it is not the leading thinking of man pretending to be God.
2. Nevertheless, why did God grant their wrong requests?
It was so that they could realize their own suffering and turn around by letting them do what they wanted because God had taught them that their wishes were wrong, but they were hard-hearted, unrepentant, and stubborn. To say that an answer is given even though it is an erroneous prayer has the character of rather than an answer, and it is called in theological terms.
In the parable of the prodigal son, the second son repeatedly beats his father. My father, who was exhausted while trying to appease me to ask for my share of the inheritance to be given to me in advance, gives me the inheritance. How could he not know that the money would never make his son happy? Nevertheless, they gave it all. After squandering all his possessions, his son returns home as a laborer. Do you want to wait for your son to come home after he leaves home? Have you been waiting to come back from your career? no. The father who waits with the door open every night is waiting for his son who fails and comes back in rags.
concluding remarks
I experienced how happy the people of Israel under God's rule were. And yet, how do you ask for a king? It is because they were tempted by a dirty world without giving thanks for God's blessing and love.
Why God Made Israel In order to create a nation under God's rule, Israel nevertheless demanded a king to establish a nation where men reigned. Am I a people of God ruled by God? Are you Satan's people, ruled by the world?
From now on, Israel will appoint a king as they have asked, and after paying the price, the kingdom is divided, sons are conscripted, they have to pay a lot of taxes, they work hard for their king, they become slaves for the king they have appointed. You will pay tithes to God, and then you will become a disgrace and return to God.
Are there people who cannot have God as their king today and are trying to depend on what in the world? Give me another king of this land whom I can trust and rely on like the people of the world! Does anyone have a request like this? So, is there anyone who thinks they have received an answer? Who will rule and rule over me? Let's live with Jesus Christ, who came into the world as the King of kings, as the King in our heart, the King of our family, the King of our church, and the sovereign of world history. To live with Jesus Christ as king means to depend on him in everything, praise him, thank him, and glorify him.