1 - 22 The People Ask for a KingSamuel becomes old and his sons (Joel and Abijah) become judges in Beer-sheba. It's the same problem Eli had - his sons "don't walk in his ways," take bribes, and pervert justice.
The elders of Israel gather and confront Samuel. Samuel is upset that they want a king to "govern them." He prays to the Lord and the Lord tells Samuel that they haven't abandoned Samuel but the Lord. The Lord tells them to warn them what having a king will really be like.
Samuel tells the people a king will take their sons and daughters and make them work. He will take a tenth of everything and make them slaves. The people don't listen to him and say again ask for a king to "govern us and go before us in battle." The Lord tells Samuel to do what they say and anoint a king.
1 comment:
Saul was judge over Israel and, when he grew old, appointed his sons to take his place but they were corrupt so the people asked Samuel to appoint a king.
Well, once again, Israel didn't like their ruler so they whined for another. Samuel was a mediary and honestly expressed feelings and instructions between God and the nation but the nation would have none of it.
God said that they rejected him because they didn't trust God in time of poor rulers, they only saw the immediate inconvenience of the poor rulers. This should be a warning to us whenever we have a bad boss, mayor, governor, or president. The whole point of our whole life is to seek God in spite of all else; all people and all circumstances.
Considering what God told them will happen, I'm not looking forward to the next chapters. It really is like warning children who ignore you and have to "find out the hard way".
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