| THE FIRST KING |
| page 2 |
 |
| name only. They had no central government at all. Since conquering Palestine, they had worked together only during emergencies, when inspired "judges" - military heroes like Gideon, Deborah, and Samson - came forward to lead them into battle. In Samuel's time, though, the Philistines' military threat wouldn't go away. Israel needed superior leadership, but Samuel was an old man. His sons made unappealing successors. What could be done? Looking around them, the tribes noticced that virtually every other country had a king. A king offered two advantages: first he provided central government; second, since his sons would normally succeed a king, the nation did not have a crisis of leadership every time its leader got old. So the leaders of Israel asked Samuel to appoint a king (8:4-5). Against God's Will The idea seems to have been popular with everyone except Samuel and God. Samuel may have been displeased that he and his sons were being rejected. God had a deeper objection: Israel was rejecting his leadership. God told Samuel to warn the elders that a king would oppress his own citizens. Samuel warned of the military draft, of high taxation, of the king's power to make people into slaves (8:10-18). Was God against a king? Some scholars see the monarchy as a marvelous example of God's using a choice made against his will. God counseled Israel against the very institution that ultimately produced King David, and through him Jesus, King of Kings. Others suggest that God only opposed the motive behind the request. (Deuteronomy 17:14-20 had assumed that the Israelites would eventually want and get a king.) The key is the phrase the elders used: "Then we will be like all the other nations" (8:20). God did not want them to be like all the |
 |