The People's Desire
Book of 1 Samuel Chapters 7 and 8
The one message we see in these Books of Samuel and throughout all the Bible is that only when we are obedient to the Lord can we expect God's blessings. Not before!
God has the power to control human events in this world. Sometimes He intervenes but most of the time He allows our mistakes to take place so we can learn from them.
Which we rarely do learn from our mistakes.
There is even a push today to remove the evidence of our mistakes from history, so that we can forget them, which will never work. Even if it did work, a new way cannot be made using corruption and wickedness.
The only new way that works is the same old way and it is by a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!
When the sons of Eli removed the Ark from the Tabernacle located in Shiloh, it would never return to that Tabernacle, which showed the glory of the Lord no longer shined upon Israel at that time.
The Ark remained in the possession of the Philistines for seven months and we could say that God showed out until the Philistines had enough and they sent the Ark back to Israel but not back to the Tabernacle, which they had destroyed.
Some few of the Israelites celebrated the return of the Ark, but a few violated the Holiness of God by opening the Ark and looked into the Ark and immediately they were struck with death.
Some seventy men died that day because they showed irreverence to the things of God.
These same things can happen today, and they probably do.
This certainly put the fear of God into the hearts of these Israelites.
The Ark was sent to Kirjathjearim into the house of Abinadab and Eleazar his son to care for the Ark and it remained there until the time of David, some eighty years.
It seems that the Lord was silent for twenty years before He spoke again to Samuel.
When the Lord is silent, those things He was already given to us are still in effect and He expects obedience to those things!
We should clearly understand that there are certain ways to approach God and He gives us those ways.
Any other way that is attempted will result in death and eternal damnation.
*****1Sa 7:1 And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.
1Sa 7:2 And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
The men of Kirjathjearim came and by God's Law undertook the caring to the Ark and no further calamity occurred at this time.
They placed the Ark in the house of Abinadab which is later said to be Gibeah.
2Sa 6:3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.
It is likely that Abinadab was a Levite, and his son Eleazar was ordained and sanctified to care for the Ark.
Because this house was located on a hill and easy to defend, it was actually used as a place of worship.
We should consider that the Tabernacle at Shiloh had been destroyed.
Jer_7:12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
We do not have to ask why God would allow such a thing to happen, because God the Holy Spirit said to Jeremiah that it was because of wickedness.
For twenty years, God was silent for His glory was removed from Israel and the Philistines ransacked most of Israel.
All these years Samuel was working behind the scenes going from place to place teaching the Word of God and insisting that Israel repent.
Without repentance, Israel would remain in the hands of the Philistines as slaves.
This same thing could happen to America unless America repents and returns to the Lord.
We can say that to lament, as used here, would mean to mourn for the Lord who remained silent for these twenty years.
This was the first time that Israel was missing the presence of the Lord and gradually a change of heart came over these people.
It is a good thing that God looks into the heart for our outside actions reflect what our heart dictates.
The Philistines were like tyrants at this time, and they also took away Israel’s means to make weapons to defend themselves.
Sounds increasingly like America all the time, as our own nation tries to take away our weapons to defend ourselves from the tyranny of government.
I do not know if we have twenty more years to come to repentance before the Lord.
Samuel began reaching out to the leaders of Israel.
*****1Sa 7:3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
1Sa 7:4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.
Repentance is a complete change of mind from a sinful, wicked state and a complete submission to the Lord.
Mar 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
What is the sign of the end just before the return of Jesus Christ?
Rev 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
The main purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ to leave Heaven and come to this earth was to call for repentance!
Mat 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Mat 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
If Israel would repent God would save them from the tyranny of the Philistines.
In fact, there was no other way to defeat the Philistines without the Divine Power of our Holy God!
Repentance can only come from a believer!
The unbeliever must first answer the call of God and then the Holy Spirit will move in to begin His work that leads to repentance.
There must be a whole-hearted return to the Lord!
We must put away the idols of the soul!
The help which brings deliverance comes through a covenant sealed with blood!
It was that same covenant with Abraham that brought deliverance to Israel if they would repent.
It is also true that for anyone to be delivered from the bondage of Satan, then it is through the covenant of Grace that is sealed with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the joyful acceptance by a sin-oppressed soul.
This help for deliverance comes by prayer and prayers must be heard in Heaven.
It is that repenting soul whose prayers are heard in Heaven.
This was the message of Samuel to Israel.
This is the message of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Most of Israel then put away their false idols and their hearts returned to Jehovah.
This is what America needs to do today!
The Philistines were defeated by Israel because of answered prayer that had come through repentance.
And time moves on.
*****1Sa 8:1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
1Sa 8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.
1Sa 8:3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
After a revival in Israel and the fact that Jehovah had allowed Israel to defeat the Philistines, Israel was quiet for the time of Samuel which was about eighty years
Samuel would be the last human Judge of Israel.
As Samuel got to be an old man, he had his sons to help him, and his own sons proved to be unjust and corrupt, and the people demanded that Samuel change the way Israel was governed.
Israel wanted to be like the other nations around them that had kings to rule them. How foolish.
They had their reasons:
1) They never had enough qualified judges to lead them. Even Moses found this to be true.
Their biggest problem was that they refused to follow the Word of God and crime ran rampant just as we see today.
2) Israel had suffered greatly from the Philistines and marauders from other nations, especially during harvest time.
Again this was because Israel refused to obey the Word of God.
3) They suffered Spiritually because they failed to lead righteous lives. They had separated themselves from God many times. They lived sinful and wicked lives departing from the truth of God!
Israel decided they needed a king. They felt a king would solve all their problems. They were wrong again!
This was just another rebellion from the truth of God!
****1Sa 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
1Sa 8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
Israel admitted that they wanted a king to be like the other nations around them and this is not a particularly good reason.
In fact, it is not a good reason at all.
God had allowed Israel to be given the land and homes of these nations because of the wickedness of those nations.
They should have never had the desire to be like them.
We are to be like the Lord Jesus Christ and this should be our goal.
We are wronging ourselves and our families when we want to be like the world!
All Israel had to do was to be obedient to the Law of God and they would become a great nation.
Samuel, like we all do, had gotten old and he no longer had the strength to do all the things he knew he needed to do.
His sons had been of no help to him because they just took advantage of their position and became corrupt.
We see that corrupt governments have always been a major problem in this world, and I never thought our own nation would get caught up in corruption, but it has.
Israel had corrupt leaders and corrupt judges just as we see in America today and we can be sure it is probably the same in all nations that reject the truth of God!
The sons of Samuel accepted bribes and perverted justice.
They ruled in favor of those who were lawless. Those that did what was right in their own eyes.
We see these same things today.
Solomon wrote that there is nothing new under the Sun.
Ecc_1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
These words of wisdom have held true in every Age so far.
Humans do not want to live righteously because we all have that sin nature!
It is in our nature to sin against God, but this is no excuse.
Today in America we want new leadership and a righteous leadership just as Israel wanted in the time of Samuel.
Is this even possible? Not in any nation that rejects the truth of God!
Not under capitalism, not under socialism, not under communism, and certainly not under some monarchy!
Israel wanted a king like those nations around them, they did not want a king "after God's own heart"!
Just speaking for myself, I do not see a leader of any nation that I think is truly suitable, and I certainly do not like the leadership of America today.
Jehovah is noticeably clear on these things!
Deu 27:19 Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Why did Israel spend so many years in captivity?
Mic 3:10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Mic 3:11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
Mic 3:12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Is America so bold to think that God will not allow similar things to happen here?
Of course Samuel was displeased.
We should also be displeased and vote for a better government and insist that there be no corruption in it!
As the people we have this power today but this power is slowly being taken from us.
We do not need to be like Europe or any other nation.
People seem to forget it took a war to separate us from the ways of Europe.
We must avoid the ways of the world.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
We must not become a part of this world!
*****1Sa 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
1Sa 8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people 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.
Samuel had done his best to lead Israel according to the Word of God all the days since he was a young man.
He had always judged according to the Word of God.
Samuel would have been broken-hearted because he had spent his entire life doing what was right in the eyes of God.
At first Samuel was surprised at God's answer when He said give them a king.
God also told Samuel to tell them all the things that a king would require from them.
When we forsake our Holy and Righteous God we are just asking for severe trouble.
People will do what they think is right in their own eyes, just as we see in our own nation today.
When we reject the providence of God, then we also reject the Divine favor of God!
If the Lord Jesus Christ is not everything in our lives, then He is nothing in our lives!
One day soon the Lord Jesus will be the true King of all this world!
If our desire to be like someone else and that person is not Jesus, then we have failed our own self and have chosen wickedness.
God cannot look upon evil.
God will have nothing to do with the sinful, wicked ways of this world.
When we claim the Lord Jesus, then we claim to be obedient to all the Word of God.
If we reject any part of the Word of God, then we have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords!
Deu 28:20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Psa 81:11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
Psa 81:12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Psa 81:13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
Psa 81:14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
*****1Sa 8:8 According 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 thee.
1Sa 8:9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
Keep in mind that Israel did not want to develop their own government and perfect the judicial system, they looked at other nations and wanted to do as they did.
Today, I hear many politicians say we need to be like Europe when in fact, we need to stop the corruption of our own government and make our judicial system as perfect as we can and that will never happen until we remove the politics from the court.
We must remove politics from the DOJ, the FBI, and the CIA and write righteous laws and enforce without politics.
Our government must be for the people and the people must never be seen as the enemy of government by the government as we see today.
We cannot claim that we accept God's Law and then, begin removing the parts with which we do not agree.
Many churches are doing this today.
A nation governed by God is a Theocracy.
Israel was rejecting a theocratic government and demanding a monarchy.
This was a sad step downward in the History of Israel, when they rejected Jehovah God.
Why was this true? Because the Priests and the Leaders of Israel did not teach the truth of God.
Israel claimed God, but they did not really know Him! This is the same for them today!
The same things happen in the Church today!
Those men behind the pulpits do not teach the truth of God, knowing that God does not change His ways.
What is the truth about kings?
*****1Sa 8:10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
1Sa 8:11 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, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
What is the job of all Priests, Preachers, Pastors, Evangelists, and Elders? To tell the truth of the Word of God to the people in the pews.
My question is, why are so many not obedient to God and just give their own thoughts to the people when God has said not to do that.
2Pe_1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Moses was instructed to make the Tabernacle after the pattern shown to him in the Holy Mount.
Jeremiah was told to go to all to which He was sent.
God said: If any man speaks, let him speak the oracles of God.
God said to Peter: It is required of stewards that a man be found faithful.
God expects His chosen men to be faithful to the Word of God which never changes!
Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people.
God's chosen men must not allow the fear of the people, nor the fear of government, to alter the Doctrine of the Lord.
God's love for us does not make allowances for sin!
God still has that same call to repentance.
If we remain what we were after salvation, then we have not repented.
Every preacher is to declare all the council of God!
The Lord said to Samuel to tell the people what a king would do, not what a king should do because the Lord would take care of this in His Word and a king should never deviate from the Word of God. This includes all leaders of all nations!
Samuel explained to Israel that there would be consequences if Israel was to be ruled by a king!
1) They would lose many if not all of their liberties.
A king would require a professionally trained standing army to defend his nation.
A king might lead a nation to war, but those dead bodies as a result of war would be their own children.
Other men would be needed to care for all the things that an army would need.
Israel was male dominated society, with the man providing the income for his family and working the animals and the food supply for the family.
There would be many widows because of this king.
The sons of these families would have to serve in the military when it was the son that these widows would need to remain in their homes and survive.
2) Under a king there would be many who would be demanded to serve at the whim of a king.
Laborers would work in the fields of the king rather than their own fields.
Weapons of war would have to be massed produced.
3) A king would also require the women and the daughters of the nation to be cooks and bakers instead of cooking for their own families.
4) A king would confiscate property. He would take the best fields, the best vineyards, the best groves, to supply his own needs and the needs of those who would work for him and for the military.
5) A king would have a system of taxation to take from the meager people to supply the needs of the government and those that supported his government.
6) A king would take the best animals, the best crops as taxes.
7) A king would raise taxes as needed or as he decided.
8) In reality under a king, the nation of Israel would become a nation of slaves.
This is what socialism is all about, and so many Americans think socialism is so great, it is not great and has failed in almost every place it has been used to govern.
Under a king, a day would come when the people would rebel, seeking deliverance from all these things.
Oppression, lawlessness, and the violent ways of the world, would become embedded in the king and his subjects.
This is the same under socialism.
This is the same under communism.
This is the goal of the Democrats to make people totally submit to the whims of government.
What would be God's response? God would not answer because the people chose this rather than the truth of God.
Notice we see these things in America today.
God said you cannot escape the consequences of your actions!
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
The message to the Christian is to hold on and not be weary.
Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
What happened after the people were told all these things?
We might ask, what happened to common sense?
*****1Sa 8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
1Sa 8:20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
Notice these people did not believe anything Samuel said and America does not believe in common sense today.
The desire to be like other nations, nations that were wicked and evil nations with false gods, overcame common sense.
Israel demanded a king!
How can progressive ideology believe any nation could afford all the things they ask for? Who could pay for all those things?
**Israel wanted a king that would be their savior and deliverer.
There is no such human being who can do all these things.
The power of kings is in their nation.
The power of any nation is in its people, if those people can believe the truth and have common sense.
No government will continue to take care of its people as the people wish because it is unsustainable!
**Israel wanted a protector and a provider.
No king, or ruler possesses the ability to do these things!
This will be the theme of the Antichrist when he shows up and he will be found to also be a liar!
Again, the power of any king or ruler is in its people even when they are tyrants.
No people will live in fear of its government forever!
Today hardly any true American wants to be in the military because of the politics of this government.
This military may fail when it is needed!
Samuel did all he could to tell Israel how foolish they were, but they would not be denied.
Again, this sounds a whole lot like the America we are seeing today.
God said:
*****1Sa 8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.
1Sa 8:22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.
God gave us a thing called choice and God will not ever force His will on any of us!
God presents His truth, and it is up to us to believe or to not believe what God says.
I am a believer of the truth of God!
I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
If we choose the truth of the Lord Jesus, we will never die and spend eternity with Him in Heaven, no matter what happens upon this earth.
If we choose to not believe the truth of God, we will die and spend eternity in Hell and the desires of this world are meaningless to a righteous God.
Amen
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