This is a very important chapter. It's a very great change in the
history of Israel that occurs here. So let us notice, as I
read 1 Samuel 8, the whole chapter, And it came to pass when Samuel
was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of the first was
Joel, and the name of his second, Abiah, and they were judges in
Beersheba. and his sons walked not in his
ways, but turned aside after Lucre, and took bribes and perverted
judgment. Then all the elders of Israel
gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, thy sons walk not in
thy ways, now make us a king, to judge us like all the nation. The thing displeased Samuel,
but when they said, Give us a king to judge us, Samuel prayed unto
the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel,
Hearken unto the voice of the people, and in all that they
say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have
rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to
all the works which they have done since the day I brought
them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have
forsaken me, have served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore, hearken unto their
voice. Howbeit, yet protest solemnly
unto them, and show them the manner of king that shall reign
over them. And Samuel told all the words
of the Lord unto the people that ask of him a king. And he said,
this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint
them for himself, for his chariots to be his horsemen, and some
shall run before his chariots. And He will appoint all captains
over thousands, and captains over fifties, to ear His ground,
and to reap His harvest, and to make His instruments of war,
and instruments of His chariot. And He will take your daughters
to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And
He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive
yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servant. And he will take the tenth of
your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and
to his servant. And he will take your men's servant
and your maid's servant and your goodness young men and your asses
and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your
sheep and ye shall be his servants. And you shall cry out in that
day, because of your king, which we have chosen you, and the day,
and the Lord will not hear you in that day." Nevertheless, the
people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay,
but we will have a king over us, that we may also be like
all the nation. that our king may judge us and
go out before us and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all
the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears
of the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel,
Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel
said unto the men of Israel, Go every man into his city. Now, there are two very great
and important alterations that were made in God's dealing with
the nation of Israel over the course of time. And they came
during and after the days of Moses, as to guiding them and
governing them, and the Lord being their God and directing
their worship. Now, the first one I'll only
look at briefly because it is in Deuteronomy chapter 18. And
this alteration concerns the institution of a prophetical
ministry among them. It was when God would no longer
speak to them directly and in the way that He had done at Sinai,
which, by the way, greatly terrified them, and made them fear that
they would die, so majestic was the manifestation. First they
desired that God would convey to them His revelation by Moses. Don't speak openly anymore lest
we die. And they would that Moses might
go and receive the revelation of God and bring it unto them. In Exodus 20 and 19, they said
unto Moses, You speak with us and we will hear, but let not
the Lord speak with us lest we die. You see it also in Deuteronomy
5 and verse 27. You find it over in Hebrews chapter
12 and verse 19. Then as Moses came near to his
own demise, out of this world, and if God would no more speak
to them openly, orally, and directly, then how would they hear from
the words of the Lord? How would they know the Lord's
will and hear the Lord's word revealed unto them? Thus, there
was instituted here the ministry of prophets among the people
of Israel. Not only would there be one great
prophet that would be sent, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ,
as we learn from Acts 3 and verse 22 and 23, and Acts 7 and verse
37. But there would also be prophets
that would be raised up among them out of their midst Men like
themselves who would speak in the name of God. And of course,
the most illustrious one of them all probably was Elijah and Elisha
the great prophet. They would speak by inspiration. They would come and say to the
people, thus saith the word of the Lord. And as Gil said, they
would be used of God to make discoveries to them of the mind,
the will, and the purpose of God. What Matthew Henry called,
quote, a succession of prophets in Israel, unquote. And from
this time forward, God did flood with many prophets to speak unto
them. Until the great prophet himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ, appeared in the flesh." Now, in the interim,
you have a period of judges, and then came the great prophet. Now, the second great alteration
is set forth in our text in 1 Samuel, the 8th chapter. And it was the
establishing of the reign of kings over Israel. It was the putting of the reins
of government in the hands of a monarchy, a king over them,
which was established through the mediation of Samuel at the
direction of God. But it was approved by God on
this particular occasion, even though it was a desire of the
people that was not for their best benefit. Now before we consider
these things today, let's take notice that in both instances,
the institution of prophets, now the institution of kings,
the prophets and the foretelling of the kingship in Israel, the
Lord our God did readily fall in with both ideas, that of prophet
and that of a king. In the first, the Lord said to
Moses, Deuteronomy 5.28, and again, Deuteronomy 18 and verse
17, that the people have well spoken in requesting or desiring
one of their own, a man out of their own midst to speak unto
them directly rather than God. So God approved the prophet as
a ministry among them. Now, as for the case of the institution
of the kingship, we read here in 1 Samuel chapter 8 and verse
9 that God tells Samuel, Harken unto their voice. That is, grant
them their desire. Give them their wish, let them
have a king." Now, Methinks, that Joseph Hall, in his very
spiritual book by the name of Contemplation, is right in saying
that it was God's intention all along, and not that God can be
so easily persuaded by the desires of men. that the Lord would raise
up Moses, that He would raise up judges. He would also give
them prophets. He would also give them kings
to minister among them. Now another point to be garnered
here is, let us note what inclined the people in both cases to desire
a change, in desiring a prophet like them. They were motivated
by that great and awesome display that they saw at Mount Sinai. It was the day that God literally
terrorized Israel. The overwhelming majesty of God
in the giving of the law. In Exodus 19, 18-20, Hebrews
12, verse 19-21, listen to this, "...they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken
to them any more, for they could not endure that which was spoken. And if so much as a beast touched
the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake." Now that's the text in Hebrews 12, verse 19
through 21. And what inclined them then to
ask for a king rather than good Samuel who had directed their
way when they had been guided by the prophet Samuel? He is a good man, a servant of
God. You have it in 1 Samuel 8 verses
1 through 3 that Samuel had grown old in his service unto the Lord. Many years he had been in that
position, and now old age had crept upon him. But he had started
very young, and was used mightily of the Lord even as a young child. You may remember the unusual
circumstances of Samuel's birth and his devotion unto the Lord's
service. His mother Hannah had been barren. She had a husband but no children,
for the Lord had shut up her womb, 1 Samuel 1 and verse 5. And as she went about, her adversaries
provoked her because she was childless. She was a barren woman. Wherefore, one day Hannah went
to the temple, or the tabernacle door, and she prayed before the
Lord. And in that prayer, she vowed
a vow unto her God from the very depths of her soul, that if the
Lord would but grant her a man-child, that she would give him up or
devote him to the Lord all the days of his life. 1 Samuel 1
and verse 11. The Lord granted her prayer.
She bore a son, Samuel, which means ask of God. And when weaned, she gave him
to the Lord's service." Or 1 Samuel 1.28, it says, "...lent him unto
the Lord." And the Lord made revelation through him. He became
a judge. And in 1 Samuel 7 and 15, he
judged Israel all the days of his life. And he resided in Ramah
where he judged Israel and built an altar there he did unto the
Lord. He had been a good and a faithful
servant of the Lord and a spiritual man, and he loved God. But now
in chapter 8 of 1 Samuel, the years have passed by. Samuel
has succumbed to the ravages of the years. Samuel has grown
old, being restricted by age. now from the rigors of it, judging
the people, or being a circuit judge here and there about the
country. His being old is given by the
people as a reason for the action of Samuel in appointing his sons
to act as judges. He was old. His sons, he made
judges in his place. Now, this teaches us something,
and we don't want to miss a lesson here. And that is that old age
as well as youth and middle age has its pitfalls, which some
that have long served the Lord may fall into some disgrace in
the end of their life. There are the sins of youth,
Psalm 25 and verse 7, so there are the sins to which the aged
are also susceptible, such as 1 Kings 11, And verse 4, Solomon,
when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other
gods. Wise old Solomon, old now, a
daughtering old man, and his pagan wife turned his heart away
after other gods. We remember the case of Eli the
priest who grew old and lost his sight in his son's We are
very evil in the sight of the Lord. Now Samuel has grown old
and has made a poor appointment of his corrupt sons to judge. From these examples we may learn
that good men and servants of God may have evil sons rather
than good. That it is very possible that
good men who serve the Lord may yet have evil sons to issue out
of their loins, as did David with his wicked son, as did Eli. And in 1 Samuel chapter 3 and
verse 13, and also Samuel, as we remember, for his sons the
judges. And in the third verse, They
walked not in the ways of their father Samuel, but they turned
aside from their father. They turned aside for the reward
of filthy lucre, and they took bribes. And they perverted judgment. They were corrupt men who were
in the office of judge. And they enriched themselves
by perverting judgment. By the way, Samuel had not done
this. 1 Samuel 12 and verse 3. He had not acted in the fashion
of his son. And evidently their corruption
was known far and wide among the people. And in verse 4 and
verse 5, we read that the elders out of all of the various tribes
of Israel met with Samuel to request that he might make unto
them a king. A king like all the nations that
were around about them. They confront Samuel to expose
not only his age, but also the corruption of his sons. And if
you look at verse 5, you are old and your sons walk not after
your way. Make us a king to judge us like
all of the nation. Now this is an amazing request,
is it not? And would be a new thing in Israel. And in a way, it would become
a rejection of God and a rejection of the order of God, it is said
so in verse 7. Now this makes us wonder, why
did they call for a king? Why did they not call for a reformation? Why not call for the replacement
of the wicked sons of Samuel that good and decent and honest
men might hold the office? Are there no honest men in Israel
that might act in this capacity? What possessed them to call for
a whole new form of government? Government with power concentrated
in the hands of one man. Why not call for others to replace
the wicked magistrate with men honest and true who would do
that which is right? Why must Samuel be cast out also? They desired a change. And what
a change do they desire? A change of the whole form of
government as it has stood. And which is best for the people? Religion and the economy. We will not at this time decide
that issue or look into it. But which is best as a form of
government? Is it a monarchy, a person who
has the rule concentrated in his one self? Is it an oglearchy,
where power is in the hands of but a small few? Is it a totalitarian
government, where leaders have absolute unshakable power? Is it a dictatorship, where one
who might be wicked directs the people? Or is it a republic,
as we have known in the history of our country? But they would
have their government patterned after the nations round about
them. Look at verse 5, "...make us
a king to judge us like the other nation." Verse 19 again, "...we
will have a king over us." Verse 20, "...that we may be like all
the nation, and that our king may judge us, and go out before
us, and in, and fight our battle." Now, let's notice the reaction
of Samuel. In verse 6, it is totally to
be expected. He was displeased. The margin
has it that the thing was evil in the eyes of Samuel. What they
had requested, Samuel looked upon as an evil request. He thought it a wicked request.
And he lay it open before the Lord in prayer to see what the
Lord would mean. I think we can say Samuel took
it very personally, for the elders had made it personal with him,
in verse 5, him and his son. They preferred a human king to
the rule or the theocracy of God over their nation. Now, pardon
the digression here, if you will, but in Judges chapter 8, verse
22 and verse 23, after Gideon, who was one of the judges, had
delivered the people from the danger from Midian, in their
gratitude they offered Gideon the reins of government, saying
to him, Rule over us, then your son and your grandson." In other
words, your family have a perpetual rule over us. Gideon declined,
saying in verse 23, I will not rule over you, neither shall
my Son the Lord shall rule over you." Matthew Henry made a very
astute observation on the case of Gideon as he wrote this, that
perhaps he discerned in the people a dislike of the theocracy they
had been under, and a desire for a king like the nations round
about them, and would appeal to his merit to more for the
change in government." Perhaps at that point it would be a good
time to make such a change. But let's go back to 1 Samuel
chapter 8. And the Lord gives direction
unto Samuel, first assuring him in the 7th verse that their request
was not first and foremost a rejection of Samuel, Only they used the
situation of him and his sons as a ploy to mash their evil,
but it was actually a rejection of God. God said, they haven't
rejected you, it is a rejection of Me. And then in verse 8, the
Lord in effect tells His servant Samuel, their request should
come as no surprise since they have been a disobedient people
since the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they had, as Matthew Henry
said, been rude to their governors." How often had they mutinied against
Moses and against Aaron? How many times had they tried
to overthrow Moses' rule among them? Thus their desire for a
king was their old sins, again showing their apostate disposition,
which had been evident time and time again in their history. This had been a constant with
them. God says, since the day that
I brought them out of the land of Egypt, even until this day
or time. They had been a disobedient and
a gainsaying people. Paul says in Romans 10.21, quoting
Isaiah 65 and verse 2, a disobedient and again saying people. And their present requests amounted
to a forsaking of God and a despising of the sovereignty of God and
the theocracy of God. And the two words are used, verse
7, rejected me And in verse 8, they have rejected me and forsaken
me. Still, God tells Samuel, you
go ahead and grant them their request to have a king like all
the nations round about them. Verse 7, hearken unto the voice
of the people. Verse 9, hearken unto their voice,
let them have a king. And what have they said to Aaron
in Exodus 32? In verse 1, they said to him
when Moses had gone into the mount, quote, Make us gods that
will go before us, unquote. Or as the margin there has it,
a god to go before us to lead us out. So then they crave a
man-king, in verse 1, who would judge them, in verse 20, go before
us and fight our battles. That's what they desired their
king to assume as king. Before we move along, let's consider
a passage found in Hosea, chapter 13, verse 11 and verse 12. I have no doubt it refers to
the incident we're studying today. Quote, I will be thy king. Where is any other? that may
save you in all your cities. And judges of them you say, Give
me a king and a princess. I gave you a king in my anger
and took him away in my wrath." Back to 1 Samuel chapter 8 and
verse 9. Samuel is to give them a king. But notice, first, or not before
he protested solemnly unto them. Note the alternate reading in
the margin. When thou hast solemnly protested
against them. Let them have their king, but
first make a strong protest against them. Bear witness to them. Lay before them. Frankly open
unto them. Give them fair warning. Make them to know. In verse 9,
"...show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them."
And again, in verse 11, the first part, "...this will be the manner
of the king that shall reign over you." That is, this is what
you can expect. This is what a king will do. This is the treatment that you
may most assuredly expect to receive from him, his hand, and
his power, that kings have absolute power to make whatever arbitrary
laws they desire or will. And they maintain themselves
at a very great cost and sacrifice unto the people. It is very costly. Many sacrifices must be made
to keep up the king. And he will at some point abuse
his power And you will come to regret the desire to have a king
after the fashion of the heathen nations round about you. Now, in verse 10 through verse
18, here's a summation of what Samuel warns them they may expect
when they are under a king. Look at verse 11. He will conscript
your sons, that is, He will take your sons by force and make them
His own servant. He will force them to be chariot
drivers for Himself, and horsemen, and groomsmen, and some of them
will be runners on foot before the chariots as the King goes
out and about and on His way. He will take many of your young
men. You will lose many of your brightest
and strongest and most promising men to the service of the King. Then look at verse 12. He will
set captains over them, force them to work in His fields and
to make His instruments of war and to manufacture His chariots
and to keep all of His furniture going. Look at verse 13. He will
take your daughters and make them supply his table with sumptuous
dainies, with rich and opulent goodies, forcing them to serve
as confectionaries in his house and in his kingdom." Confectionaries,
that is, mixers of spices and makers of sweet aromas and sweet-smelling
perfumes, and others He will take and make cooks and bakers
in His house, mansion, and service and kingdom. Then look at verse
14, not only so, but He will take away your fields, your vineyards,
and your olive yards, your means of making a living. And the very
best of such will He conscript from you, And He will give them
into the hands of His favorites. He will take your land, your
orchards, He will give them to His princes and unto His favorites. He will arbitrarily confiscate
your possession, even the inheritance that you receive from God, and
put you out of your property, leaving you no recourse to His
course of action. Then look at verse 15. He will
confiscate by force the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards
for the support of His servants. He will glean your fields. He
will rape your fields and take by force that that you have in
your field." Now, this is in addition to the tithe that the
Lord required of all of the firstfruits of their good. then the government
or the king would take another 20% until finally 20% of what
they have goes out of their hands. Verse 16, He will take your servants
for Himself and the goodliest of your young men. Verse 17,
He will take a tenth of your sheep, that is, of your herds,
your flocks and such like. Verse 18, the day will come when
you will cry out to God because of the oppression of the king
that you have wanted. But God will not hear you in
that day. You will rue the day that you
desire the king instead of the oversight of God Himself. God will not hear you. What a word is that! We have
the same thing in Proverbs 1 and 28. The day will come, you will
cry, I will not hear. We have it again in Micah chapter
3 and verse 4. Now, should we expect them after
hearing these things, after hearing these horror stories of a king,
would we not expect them to fall down in sackcloth and ashes and
in repentance? Would we not expect them, after
hearing this, to repent of their design, to see and hear the error
of their way and ask forgiveness? Would we expect that? Oh, we're
sorry. May the Lord God lead and purify
our government. Nay, in verse 19, they persist,
give us a king. They wanted a change. They wanted
a king, and they got Saul. They wanted a king, and they
got Saul, who turned out to be every bit as bad as Samuel had
foretold. He was rebuked by Samuel and
rejected by God as being a king. He was jealous of David, and
he died by his own hand, or the sword, of his armor-bearer. Now, there seems to be a parallel
between this and what we have recently in our country. What a foolish choice America
has made in spite of all of the warnings the people fell for,
quote, chains that you can believe in, unquote. And they have handed
the presidency to a socialist at best and a Marxist at worst. And the consequences, brother
and sister, will be bad. Already the country is bankrupt. Taxes will go sky high. Freedoms will be lost. The government
will take over practically every aspect of public life and private
life. The Constitution will be further
trampled upon underfoot. Christianity will find the government
is its enemy. Homosexuality and abortion will
have special protection under our government. Christians will
be guilty of hate crime and hate speech if they oppose homosexuality
and abortion. And churches possibly be taxed
out of existence and property seized, and it will be unlawful
to preach the fullness of the truth of the word of God in the
land of liberty and the home of the free." Yes, people desired
a change and they got Saul. And America desired a change
and it will rue the day. Now some application. Some of
the kings of Israel were exceedingly evil and idolaters, and sin increased
with their reign. And they set up groves to worship
and brought in idols. Some were exceedingly wicked. It is all but impossible to keep
anything pure that a man has authority over. Power and authority
bring out the ego and the pride and the corruption of most men. Give authority to most men, and
it displays their corruption. They can hardly exercise authority
in humility and in honesty. They enrich themselves and pervert
law and pervert the judgment and trample upon the people.
Then again, let me remind you of this point. When the people
think that it cannot get any worse, it can get worse. The people thought it was bad
with Samuel and his sons, and no doubt it was. There was perversion
of the law, unrighteousness in the courts. It could have gotten
worse, and it often does. The yoke of God is easier than
the shackles of a tyrant, however. The yoke of God is easier than
the shackles of a tyrant. And let us place very little
confidence in men and the government. Trust not in chariots and horses,
for such is the slight, and reject the power and the way of God,
and may bring His judgment upon them." In a way, the granting
of them kings was a judgment upon the nation. A tyrant at
times ruled them, took away all of their goods, had absolute
power and they none, and so it is sometimes that Men trust in
the wrong thing, and the change is not that which they expected. And it was not so with Israel.
It was judgment. And I'm not afraid to say that
perhaps we are under the judgment of God in America because of
the foolish thing that we have done. And the corrupt people
that now bear authority and power of government in our nation.
May God help us. May God be merciful and gracious
unto us ought to be our prayer. All right, let's bow our heads
together please for a closing prayer.