CHAPTER 8

(1112 B.C.)

SAMUELS SONS

¹And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons Judges over Israel. (Samuel was probably about 60 years old at this time. As godly as Samuel was, the Text reveals the fact that he wasnt perfect. There is no hint that he asked the Lord for guidance as it regards putting his sons in places of authority. Simply put, they were not spiritually qualified.)

²Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were Judges in Beer-sheba.

³And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre (money), and took bribes, and perverted judgment. (This sin was expressly forbidden by the Law [Ex. 23:6, 8; Deut. 16:19], and it marks the high spirit of the nation that it was so indignant at justice being thus perverted.)

⁴Then all the Elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah (because of the corruption of Samuels sons),

⁵And said unto him, Behold, you are old, and your sons walk not in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. (Israels sin was twofold: 1. They wanted their own ways instead of Gods Ways and 2. Their desire for a king to be like other nations was a work of the flesh and not of the Spirit. It would, thereby, bring untold sorrow.

A king whom they could see, although he would be only a feeble, foolish, and dying man, was preferred to an unseen, Almighty King, Wise and Eternal.

The nation wished to be like the surrounding nations, forgetting that their glory and happiness consisted in being unlike these nations.

It was Gods Will for them to have a king, but not at this present time. To be sure, there was no way they would correct the wrong that was then being done in Israel by committing another wrong. In other words, by not looking exclusively to the Lord, proverbially speaking, they were jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.)

A KING

⁶But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD (Samuels displeasure had nothing to do with them rejecting his sons, but rather because of the rebellion and impatience of the people in not waiting for the king whom God had promised [Gen. 17:7, 16; Num. 24:17; Deut. 17:14-20]).

⁷And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you: for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. (Oftentimes, when it is thought that a particular man is rejected, and for reasons which some think are valid, in reality, it is God Who has been rejected. This is a sobering thought that we should deeply contemplate. To reject God is simply the most serious thing that a person can do, and for a Believer to reject Him presents something even far worse.)

⁸According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken Me, and served other gods, so do they also unto you (to reject Gods man is to reject God!).

⁹Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. (God, in His Tender Love, would plainly tell them the treatment they would receive from the king of their own choice. Six times the fact is repeated: he will take, and referring to this particular king. Oftentimes, through a work of the flesh, we can bring things into existence which are contrary to Gods Will. No matter the face that we put upon it, it will only bring troubles and difficulties.)

¹⁰And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people who asked of him a king (so they had no excuse!).

THE WARNING

¹¹And he said, This will be the manner of the king who shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

¹²And he will appoint him Captains over thousands, and Captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground (plant the crops), and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

¹³And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries (makers of ointments and scents, i.e., perfume), and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

¹⁴And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

¹⁵And he will take the tenth of your seed (a tenth of the harvest as a tax), and of your vineyards, and give to his Officers, and to his servants.

¹⁶And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

¹⁷He will take the tenth of your sheep: and you shall be his servants.

¹⁸And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. (As with Israel, so in many cases, God permits self-will to have its own way. But how much happier would it have been for Israel to have placed themselves and their difficulties in Gods Hands and asked Him to plan for them! As stated, it was Gods Will for them to have a king, but in His due Time. In fact, that first king was to be David, but Israel wasnt prepared to wait.)

THE DEMAND

¹⁹Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, No; but we will have a king over us (Williams says, Just as impoverishment and servitude resulted as predicted by Samuel from Israels self-willed establishment of a human government, so spiritual poverty and loss of liberty follow in the Christian life when there is subjection to the commandments and doctrines of men, instead of to the authority of the Word of God);

²⁰That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles (it is true, because of the corrupt judgment of Samuels sons, that Israel had problems; however, taking matters into their own hands, instead of being led by the Lord, did not make the matter better, but rather worse).

²¹And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the Ears of the LORD (prayed about what was being said and done).

²²And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go you every man unto his city. (We find from this example, and scores of others in the Bible, while the Lord will speak to us, deal with us, move upon us, all with the effort of bending us to His Will, He will never force the issue. If we are determined to go in a wrong direction, He will let us go, but the end results will never be good.)