Rejecting God as King

Rejecting God as King

The Israelites originally lived in a theocratic society, with no central government. There were only judges that God raised up from time to time. Samuel was the last of the judges. But the Israelites decided they had a better idea.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” (1 Samuel 8:4-7)

In God’s omniscience, He surely knew that Israel would reject Him as king. Still, I’m sure it was a painful thing for God to have to go through – much like the pain when we reject God on a day-to-day basis. Yet, even in His sorrow, God gave a clear warning to the nation of Israel as to what they could expect from a human head of state.

So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” (vv. 10-18)

This warning is also for us today – in fact, we bear many of the same burdens:

1. Standing armies and conscription: “[H]e will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties…” And for those who think conscription is a thing of the past in America, for your own sake, please read up on the Selective Service System.

2. Industries based on war: “[S]ome to… make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.” How much of our engineering and manufacturing capacity today is engaged in manufacturing weapons of war? Glad you asked: $79 billion from January through May of 2010 alone!

3. Oppressive Taxation: “He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.” The Israelites gave 10% to the king and were considered slaves. Don’t you wish you could have only given 10% to Uncle Sam last year?

4. “And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” Because mankind has rejected God as King, He has given us over to our own faulty version of government – until He decides to reestablish His rule.