Dissatisfaction With God

Transcript

GRS 2-63
4/1/2007
Dissatisfaction With God
1 Samuel 8
Gil Rugh

We are studying the history of Israel and we have come to first Samuel and the eighth chapter, so if you would turn to first Samuel in your bible, we have the five books of Moses, then we have Joshua and Judges, we have the little book of Ruth and we have first Samuel, but I don’t move through these Old Testament books, we are only dealing with the books that moved the history along. So we skip the little book of Ruth for example because that didn’t move the history along, it told a very beautiful account of an event that took place during the time of the Judges, but it did not move Israel’s history along.

The first seven chapters of first Samuel have basically been about the life and ministry of Samuel. Samuel was a prophet, he was a priest and he was a Judge in Israel. Chapter eight is a key chapter because it begins the transition from the period of the Judges to the time of the monarchy. In chapter eight Israel will clamber for a king and God will say that he is going to give them a king according to their wishes. So we are coming to the end of the time of the Judges and the establishing of the monarchy in Israel. We are reminded a couple of times in the book of Judges that during this period of time, Israel had no king and everymen did what was right in his own eyes. Judges17:6, Judges 21:25, there was no king in Israel, everyman did what was right in his own eyes, there were Judges, Samuel being the last of them, but there was no king that unified the nation and solidified his power and authority and control in the nation both by his position as king and his position as commander of the armies of Israel.

So we come in chapter eight to that time at the end of the period of the Judges which remember, lasted over 300 years, where Israel now demands a king. This will lead to the appointment of Saul as the first king of Israel, but it comes at great expense for the nation, their desire at this time is contrary to the will of God and what God gives them in yielding to their demands, he gives in his anger. That we will see and it results in a loss of blessings for Israel. Israel is acting in a continuing line of rebellion, a refuse of the trust of God and submit to his will and trust him and what they are really manifesting in their demand for a king is their dissatisfaction with God’s rule over the nation. Sad thing when the people of God declare themselves dissatisfied with what God is doing. Disconcerted an unwilling to live any longer under his authority, doing things his way. That’s what we come to in chapter eight.

Look at the first three verses; it reveals something of the background. Samuel is now an old man, he has two sons and he is appointed as Judge over Israel, but they are not men of godly character, it came about that when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons as Judges over Israel, now the name of his firstborn was Joel, the name of his second, Abijah, they were judging in Beersheba. His son’s however did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. They did not walk in the ways of Samuel. They were not godly men. They are like the sons of Eli back in chapter two verse12, “now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord”.

Remember, Eli was the judge who preceded Samuel in verse 22 of chapter two. Now Eli was very old and he heard all that his sons were doing in Israel, how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And now we come and read that Samuel’s sons had failed, but there is no indication in this case that Samuel is held accountable for what is going on in Israel and with his sons at this time. Remember Eli was severely judged not for the sin of his sons specifically, but for a failure to rebuke his sons and deal with them as their sin would have required. There is no indication on God’s part of dissatisfaction with Samuel or rebuke of him for unfaithfulness. Now in spite of this you know psychology has so permeated the thinking of even the Christian world today that even commentators that generally you would say you would turn to and are reliable cannot get away from bringing psychological thinking into the interpreting of scripture, let me read you what one commentator that would be among those that I would recommend has written on this. These verses right here were Samuel’s sons did not walk in his ways, he says “perhaps Samuel like Eli was too involved in his ministry to give priority time to his family”. You know everybody wants to focus on the family and the priority of the family and so this writer can’t resist saying perhaps Samuel like Eli was too involved in his ministry to give priority time to his family and this man is wrong on both counts, his work perhaps indicates that he is just making a guess and why he chooses to make this guess I don’t know except that’s what psychology and the psychological thinking of our day say you should say, you know you can go off now on the family and see what would happens when a man gets too busy with his job and even too busy with his ministry, his kids don’t turnout. I may make great preaching, but it’s a lousy theology because it’s not what the bible says.

He compares Samuel to Eli and says perhaps Samuel like Eli was too involved in his ministry to give priority time to his family. He was wrong twice because nothing is said about Samuel giving too much time to his ministry and further more that was not Eli’s problem. He just made it up, God never says that the problem of Eli’s kids was Eli gave too much time to his ministry and failed to give priority time to his family. So all of a sudden we are just reading something in the scripture that’s not there. Back up to chapter two of Samuel. We read verse 12 that the sons of Eli were worthless men, they did not know the Lord, down on verse 17 we are told the sin of the young men was very great before the men despised the offering of the Lord. We just read verse 22 few moments ago, when Eli was very old he heard all that his sons were doing and he said to his son, you shouldn’t be doing this and you could bring the judgment of God, in verse 25 by sinning against the Lord like this, but we are told again in the verse 25 that the lord intended to put these young men to death for their sin, they had sinned unto death. Now, what is Eli’s problem here? Well, verse 29 says why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering which I have commanded in my dwelling and honor your son’s above me by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of my people? Eli told them that they shouldn’t do it, but he evidently went along with it, when they brought back the parts of the offering that did not belong to them by right as priest, verse 29 says that even though Eli said you are doing the wrong thing, he accepted it, you honor your sons above me. It doesn’t say anything about you spend too much time in your ministry, spend too much time in your service, at your job and you have neglected your family. No, your problem is you honor your sons above me and in doing so, you lightly esteem me.

Come over to verse 13 of chapter three, God says concerning Eli, “I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the inequity which he knew because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them”. There is nothing said here about Eli neglecting his family because he is too busy with other things, he knew what they were doing, his sin was that failure to deal with it as he was responsible to deal with it before the Lord. So we need to be careful even in reading “good commentaries” that we don’t get drawn into some psychobabble that supposedly give insights beyond what the scripture says. Well, let the scripture say what it says, Eli’s sin was he knew that his sons were sinning and as the priest and judge in Israel he was responsible to rebuke them and put a stop to their sinning with the sacrifices, but he didn’t. Now we come and find out Samuel’s sons don’t turnout, but we make a connection and say, well this is the bad pattern, but the fact of the matter is sometimes godly parents have ungodly children and sometimes ungodly parents have godly children.

I am not saying parents don’t have responsibility, Eli had responsibility, he did not carry out appropriately, his judge coat could not put his sons above the Lord, he could not honor his sons above the lord and not put himself in opposition to the Lord. The Lord said he would not be lightly esteemed. Any time I put anyone, even my closest family above the Lord I am saying I lightly esteem the Lord and that was Eli’s sin.

Turn over to the book of Ezekiel, we have been here, but I want you to come back to Ezekiel chapter 18, there was a sin and we have to assume, well that must be caused by someone, kids just wouldn’t sin, if they had godly parents, they would be godly kids. You know that shows we fail to appreciate and understand the depravity of each individual human being, I want to be a godly parent, I want to model godliness for my kids, but the fact of the matter is they are ungodly little sinners and I cannot change their heart, only God can change their heart and the most godly parent may have the most ungodly children and that’s going to be the cases, we are going to see with Samuel, he becomes a model that God uses later in Israel’s history as a uniquely godly man. In spite of the fact both his sons turnout or don’t turn out, they turnout wickedly or we might say they didn’t turnout as they were like.

In Ezekiel 18 God reveals this whole idea, you know modern idea of victimization is not new, fallen man has always tried to blame someone else for their sin and its consequences. Look at verse two, “what do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel saying the fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge” you know what that proverb means? The children are being punished for the sins of the parents, the kids are just victims, the parents ate the sour grapes, but it’s the children’s teeth that are set on edge, they are paying the price for it. God takes that personally, he takes that as an attack on him. Verse three, “As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore.” I am going to put an end to that, you are accusing me of being unjust and unfair in the use of such a proverb, “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.” That’s the point, each individual is responsible for his own sin, accountable to God for his own sin. “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul that sins will die.” It’s not that the son was innocent, not guilty but the father was so the son had to die.

It’s not the way God is operating, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some consequences for those around us when we sin, but each individual is accountable personably to God. If a man is righteous and practices justice and righteous, in verse five and does all the right things, in verse nine and he walks in my statues and my ordinances, so as to deal faithfully. He is righteous and will surely live, declares the Lord God. But note verse nine, “and if he walks in my statutes and deals faithfully”, verse ten, “then he may have a violence son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother, though he himself does not do any of these things, the father was a godly man, but the son doesn’t do any of the godly things and all the wild things that the son does, in contrast, so what does godly father did? Verse 13, the second statement there, he will not live, he has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death, his blood will be on his own head.

Now verse 14, “Now behold, he has a son who has observed all his father’s sins which he committed.” Now we have a sinning father, but the son observes the sins his father does, but he doesn’t do those, so you go on to see how the son lives righteously in spite of the fact his father is ungodly. Toward the end of verse 17, “he will not die for his father’s iniquity”, but the father, verse 18, he will die for his iniquity. Verse 20, “the person who sins will die, the son will not bear the punishment for the father’s inequity nor the father bear the punishment for the son’s inequity. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. Important principle here, again we are not saying that it’s not an advantage to have godly parents, to have godliness modeled in the home, but you don’t have to be clear and understand that does not guarantee a change of heart in the life of a child.

I mean this is not something automatic going on here. Each of us have our own sin, my parents could both be believers, both be godly people, that cannot save me. Their righteousness is not passed on to me, it may be a model to me, but it is not passed on to me and as a fallen deprived being I must turn from my sin and cast myself on the mercy of God trusting him for forgiveness and cleansing and vice versa if I have the most ungodly parents, that’s not an excuse for me. What else could I do? You don’t know what kind of parents I have. All drunk, all this all that, so what? You are accountable to God for your sin, so you need to be careful, this whole kind of thinking begins to permeate even the thinking of believers, it doesn’t come from the scriptures, it comes from the psychobabble of men who have rejected the scriptures, someone was to come and say, I want to tell you what my parents were like, just say don’t waste my time, I can’t do anything about your parents, you can’t do anything about your parents, the only issue before you is what will you do of Jesus Christ. So we come to Samuel back in first Samuel eight and we read that his sons did not turn out, it just bothers me greatly to read even about a common figure’s name things like well he was probably too involved in his ministry to give priority time to his family and he is like Eli in that and God never said that was Eli’s problem, God never said that was Samuel’s problem. In fact the problem with Eli and the problem with Samuel are not comparable, the only similarity is they both had sons who did not turn to the Lord and their sons paid the penalty for their own sin. God never said Eli was responsible for his son’s sin. Eli was responsible for his own sin in not rebuking as a priest and judge in Israel the sin that was going on in the worship and service of the Lord on his watch. Samuel doesn’t come under any such rebuke and to the very end the indication is Samuel is a godly man, but as a result of the kids and the two sons’ behavior as ungodly men, the elders of Israel in verse four gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “behold, you have grown old, your sons do not walk in your ways, now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations” and this demand is presented by the elders of Israel and it seems to be a unanimous desire and the elders and all the leaders from the various tribes and so on come, they have agreed we need a king.

I mean you are old, there is not much future for us in your sons, now I won’t, in this study, but in our next study we are going to see the appointment of Saul. Saul will be appointed king of Israel in 1051 BC, it gives an idea about where we are, we are shortly before that period, that time. Now we are right there at 1051 one thousand and fifty one years before Christ. Samuel would have been somewhere around 65 or 70 years old and the elders point out in verse five, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways and now there is no question about Samuel’s godly character here, nothing indicated on God’s part, there is no question on the part of the elders of Israel about Samuel’s godly character, but there is about his sons, they are concerned about the future leadership of the nation, what will happen after Samuel is gone, they want a king, a king like all the nations of the world have.

You know back in Deuteronomy chapter 17, why don’t you turn back there? I was just going to tell you about it that you might as well see it. Deuteronomy 17, God told them before they entered land, there will come a time when they want a king. In Deuteronomy 17 verse 14 When you enter the land which the lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it and you say, I’ will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me, most pervade to live in it, we want a king like the nations and God said when you get into the land, you settle down, pretty soon you are going to want a king like all the nations, and about God’s people, you want to be like them, God calls them out to be a holy people, a people set apart for himself, unique among all the nations of the earth and they are going to say, we want to be like the nations and God called them to be unique and apart and it tells them about the setting up of a king on chapter 17 of Deuteronomy.

We come back to first Samuel eight, just a reminder, nothing catches God by surprise, he has taken everything into account and working it all into his plan even the rebellion and sin of his own people. They take the initiative. Now, Eli had problems with his sons, it didn’t cause God a problem, did it? Eli and his two sons were both doomed to die, they were all three doomed to dies at the same time. That means God did know what to do. No, he raised up Samuel. God does not need his people to tell him what to do, he does not need his people to tell him when the time is right for him to act, he does not need even his people to tell him what will be best for the people. I mean when you stop and think what audacity that Israel here is telling God in addressing Samuel that your sons won’t make the judges, so God doesn’t know this? And so they need God to bail them out here? Sad spiritual condition of the nation, the thing verse six was displeasing in the sight of Samuel, when they said give us a king to judge us, you might say well Samuel’s feelings are probably hurt, he feels rejected and then we can go off into a whole psychological analysis of Samuel and what happens to a person when they feel rejected by people around them, but we know that would be foolishness because it’s not personal here with Samuel. This is something Samuel realizes is an offence against God.

What did Samuel immediately do? Defend himself, go into a pity party, I am rejected. So they are ready to give up on me, Lord – No, he just goes and prays to the Lord, I got to go talk to the Lord about this, Samuel has a real sense of the seriousness of what is taking place here. Look at verse seven and this become a pattern that we will see in Samuel in a few moments, of the pattern of Samuel, he becomes a model for prayer in the Old Testament and as a unique example, here the first thing he does, go and talk to the Lord, the Lord said to Samuel, listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, that’s not good, sometimes the judgment of God comes in giving people what they want. Remember Romans one, God turned them over to the lust of their heart, turns them over to a deprived mind so they can do the things they really want to do, that’s a judgment of God. Here God is going to respond, I am going to give them what they want, but he does it in his anger and it will bring his judgments, what have they done? The end of verse seven, they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

Israel has a king; Samuel just acts on the king of Israel’s behalf. The king of Israel is the God of Israel. What God says is Samuel, you are not the one rejected here, you are just a judge acting on my behalf, they have rejected me from being king over them. Now you see something of the seriousness of the situation, it might seem humanly speaking wise Samuel is old 65 – 70 years old, he has got two sons that you wouldn’t want to assume the leadership of the nation, we have got to act, we have got to do something and what is Israel forgotten? They have taken their eyes off of the king of Israel, they have a king, they have a sovereign who is acting for the good of the nation and has everything under control, but that is not good enough, they want a king like the nations, a king I can see. God doesn’t manifest himself, I want a king with a robe and an army and a palace and a throne, that like this world that’s real. In other words, I am not happy having God as king of Israel, it’s what the elders are saying. Verse eight, God continues, they have rejected me from being king over them like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I have brought them up from Egypt even to this day and not they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they are doing to you also.

They continue the pattern that has characterized the nation since the day I brought them out as my nation from Egypt, they pursue other Gods, they forsake me, that’s what they are doing now, they are using you as the focal point Samuel, but that’s not the issue. The issue is their rebellion against me. And so why would they got a point here? Samuel is old, his kids are ungodly, I mean we have to practical, something is going to have to be done, I am always in trouble when I think I am going to help God out. I serve God, I don’t help him out and Israel is doing what it wants that will please it because if we have a king, we will be just like the world, just like the nations of the world, we will have a king that everybody can see, he will have power, he will be – I mean right now we are stuck with a king you can’t see. That’s not like the nations, we want to be somebody, we want to be like them. Now listen, now then listen to their voice, however you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will rein over them.

You know it doesn’t change and remember, it will go down, we are over a 1000 years before Christ. When Jesus Christ walks the earth, what will he say to the nation Israel? You are just like your fathers, they rejected the prophets, they killed the prophets, continue that line of rebellion - rebellion – rebellion. So Samuel is instructed to warn the people of what is going to take place because of the stubbornness of their hearts, so verse 10 Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked him for a king and he warns them of the consequences, what the king will do, he will reign over you, verse 11, he will draw your sons into his armies, he will appoint for himself commanders, make weapons, verse 12, he will take your daughters to serve him, to be the perfumers, the cooks, the bakers, he will take control of the best of the fields and the vineyards, he will take a tenth of your seed, verse 15, I mean you got to support this king. I mean if you are going to have a king, you have to be regal, a king doesn’t live like everybody else, he has to have more lands, he has to have more servants, he has to have more possessions, he has to have an army and you have to provide it all, you have to pay for it all. That’s what God tells them, he will - verse 16 – take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, your donkeys, he will use them for his work, he will take a tenth of your flocks, you yourselves will become his servants and you know what? You aren’t going to like it.

Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, there will come a day when Israel is going to realize something of their condition, but the Lord will not answer you in that day. They reject the word of the Lord, they reject the lord, they are going to have it their way, there will be consequences and you can’t just say down the road, oh I changed my mind, when you cry out because of the king you have chosen for yourself, there is a king in Israel’s future in the plan of God, but it has to be at his choosing, this is the king they want to choose for themselves, the Lord will not answer you in that day. Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voices of Samuel and they said, no but there shall be a king over us that we also maybe like the nations, then it happens, are corrupted, the reason God said in verse eight that this rebellion has been from the day that I brought them out of Egypt, they worshiped me, they served other gods, I mean what is it to say I want to be like the nations, it’s not good enough what you are telling me, it’s not good enough that God is our king, we want to be like the nations, I mean we talk about our kids and say oh there is such peer pressure, it’s not just for our kids, it’s for us. We want to be like everybody else, we want to be normal. Why did everybody always look at us? Why did they criticize us? Why did they think like that? We want to be like them, and we try to tell our young people, our junior, I would say, don’t give into peer pressure, but we want to be like them. We want to have a church that fits in, that’s all Israel is saying, we want to fit in, we want to be like them, not so different than what goes on today, is it? We like the cruel of the nations, the peoples. Well, they won’t listen, we want to be like all the nations that our king may judge us, go out before us, fight our battles.

What can you say? When Samuel heard all the words of the people, he repeated them and the Lord is hearing. Now, see, there is the godly character of Samuel, he keeps going to the Lord. Lord, here is what they have to say, what would you have me do? The lord said to Samuel, listen to their voice and appoint them a king. So Samuel said to the men of Israel, go everyman to his city, go everyman to his city, it’s done, you are going to get your will. Chapters nine and ten will be about the appointment of Saul and he will be the king that they want, he is going to be head and shoulders above everyone else, he is going to be the most handsome man, the most striking figure, he will bring a group of men together, every eye will be on Saul.

Now, this is the man you think would be king, he looks like a king and he is going to be a fearless warrior. So wow we are going to get what we want, but it’s not what we really wanted. You know he has to be impressed with Samuel, I want you to look at two passages, go to Psalm 99, the chapter begins, “The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake! The Lord is great in Zion, and he is exalted above all the peoples” and so on, come down to verse six, Moses and Aaron were among his priests and Samuel was among those who called on his name, they called upon the Lord and he answered them”. You see the unique company that Samuel was in, Moses and Aaron and Samuel stand out as the examples of men who called on the name of the Lord, priests who had that unique privilege, he is a man to be honored, it should be appended, if someone ought to write and say that well Samuel was too busy about his ministry to give attention to his family, when God holds him up the example along with Moses and Aaron, Samuel owes a call and here is a man you can learn about forever and see his godly character, come over to Jeremiah 15, verse 1 “Then the lord said to me, even though Moses and Samuel were stand before me, my heart would not be with these people, sent them away from my presence and let them go, tell Jeremiah that I am so determined to bring judgment on Israel for their sin” even if Moses and Samuel were to come and intercede for them, they couldn’t turn away my judge.

I mean that’s a high honor to be recognized that way, that kind of prayer, that kind of intercession, two men that – here we are 500 years before Christ. Another 500 years after Samuel and God says, select two individuals who has special power with God in prayer, if you will and they are Moses and Samuel. I mean, select the men that would have the greatest potential to intercede with God and turn away his anger and God says Moses and Samuel. So Samuel is a godly man, an example of a man mighty in prayer. Sadly his two sons did not know the Lord, godless men having a godly father, does not guarantee godly children. It’s sad to say, these children had a great opportunity, but Samuel could not change their heart, he could be a godly man, but they had to make their decision. While you are here, go to Hosea, we are this far along in the prophets, keep going from Jeremiah through Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea. Go to chapter 13, God instructs Samuel to appoint them a king according to their wishes, I mentioned earlier, God does this in his anger, how did I know that? The bible tells me so because the prophet Hosea says that God appointed them a king in his anger. In Hosea chapter 13 verse four, “I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt” in one sense, he had been the Lord their God from the days of Abram, he became Abraham and had called him, but Israel comes out of Egypt as a nation, so their identity as a nation comes in connection with the Exodus since the land of Egypt where they were formed as a nation.

You are not to know any God except me, verse four, for there is no savior besides me, I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of drought, they had their pasture, they became satisfied, being satisfied their heart became proud, therefore they forgot me and that is a pattern that we are warned against a number of times in the scripture, they had their pasture, they became satisfied, being satisfied, their heart became proud, they forgot me. Very hard for the people of God to maintain their passionate devotion to the lord in the context of their prosperity and in their prosperity they forgot the lord, so God will bring judgment, come down to verse nine, it is your destruction O Israel that you are against me, against your help. Where now is your king that he may save you and all your cities and your judges of whom you requested, give me a king and princess. I gave you a king in my anger and took him away in my wrath, referring to Saul.

You will see in the coming chapters God giving them Saul, God taking him away in his anger. I gave you a king in my anger, You go back, remind you, your constant rebellion, - rebellion - rebellion – rebellion, I gave you a king in my anger. So when God tell Samuel go ahead give them what they want, its in the context of their open defiance of God saying we won’t have you to be our king, they want a king like the nations, that’s why God give you the king, but as like Romans one, the wrath of God is poured out upon the sin of man, they have rejected him in Romans 1:18 and the following. So God turned them over to the desires of their heart, three times you have that expression, remember God gave them over - God gave them over - God gave them what they wanted and it brought about their own destruction, and that’s the course Israel’s arm here, the Judgment of God. Alright let’s draw several lessons from what we have looked at in this chapter.

Number one, and I don’t want to repeat myself endlessly, but I will remind you one more time, godly parents sometimes have ungodly children. God doesn’t give any indication that Samuel was at fault for the condition of his children, that doesn’t mean I am not responsible for the disciplining of my children, the rebuking of my children, the directing and all those things, but ultimately my children are responsible before God, and accountable to him for their condition.

Number two, it’s difficult to walk by faith, how would that come out? Well Israel prefers a visible king, a visible man who can serve as a king rather than the invisible God as king. They were drawn to the visible, the tangible, movement among evangelicals to go back to the relics, to the visible concrete forms, the ceremonies. Turning to things like Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy, Russian orthodoxy because here they have the icons, they have the statutes, we want something visible and Israel wanted a king that was visible, so they didn’t want to walk by faith, they wanted to have a king a physical king in whom they could trust, a physical king that they could follow, a physical king they could see when they went in the battle and we need to be reminded, it’s hard to walk by faith, we tell that was foolishness of Israel, but how often we have the living God, the one who promised to never leave us of forsake us, the one who dwelled within us, we think oh if I only had something to hold on to. But what do I want then other than God? Oh I know God is with me, but. But, what? That’s not enough, that’s not good enough.

Number three, sin makes us blind to its consequences. In verse 19, after God graciously through Samuel tells Israel all the negatives consequences of getting a king like they want, their response in verse 19 is nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, they said no, but there shall be a king over us. Sin blinds us to the consequences, we have made up in our minds, this is what we want and I will hear all the things that are going to happen, the negative because I don’t want to hear that. I don’t want to know that, sin always blinds us to its consequences, but number four, we do have to live with the consequences of our sin. Verse 18 you will cry out that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the lord will not answer you in that day. That doesn’t mean God has rejected Israel, through the prophets just earlier that God graciously calls Israel to himself, about the consequences they will bear because of their decision. Number five, we must resist the desire to be like the world, at the end of verse five of chapter eight, appoint a king to judge us like all the nations, verse 20, that we may be like all the nations. Do not be conformed of this world, but be transformed, we walk by faith, not by sight.

Number six, under attack we must go to the Lord, that’s Samuel’s pattern and that’s what he has held up as an example for in later history, verse six, the Israel is complaining about Samuel’s family, about what the Lord is doing and Samuel prayed to the Lord. Down in verse 21, after Samuel heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the Lord’s hearing. Lord I bring this to you, here is what they say. Lord, I lay it before you, create a great example for us.

And lastly, as we have mentioned several times, God in anger sometimes allows our sinful desires, he never causes our sinful desires, God is not causing Israel’s rebellion here, but in his anger and in his judgment he is giving them what they have determined they want, what they have determined they will have, they won’t be turned away from this. No, there shall be a king over us. It was God’s intention to provide a king for Israel, but it was to be done in his time according to his plan with a man who would in effect represent God in leading the nation as a king. Israel do endure pain and suffering because they weren’t willing to do it on God’s time schedule and according to God’s plan.

Lessons for us to learn, so we as the people of God are reminded we walk by faith, not by sight and it is enough for us that we serve our God and accomplish his will, let’s pray to God. Thank you Lord, for your grace, thank you for the record of Israel and Lord the amazing thing in it all. Hundreds of years of rebellion, thousands of years of rebellion and yet you are the God of mercy and kindness and grace, all the suffering, difficulty and hardship that rebellion has brought on the nation, but they belong to you, they are yet your people and yet in your gracious plan they will be restored to the place of blessing. Thank you Lord for your grace upon us as the church, Thank you Lord that you are our God, you are our savior, you are our father and you dwell in us and you are our sufficiency. Lord, may we draw upon that every day and find you to be our joy, our blessing, everything we need, how blessed we are to have such a God. We praise you in Christ’s name, Amen.