1 Samuel 8:1-22
Lesson Focus
Israel demands a king to be like other nations, rejecting God as their true King, which leads to unforeseen consequences and serves as a warning to rely on God rather than earthly substitutes.
Lesson Outcomes
Through this lesson, students should:
Understand the significance of Israel's request for a king and its implications on their relationship with God.
Recognize the differences between God's covenantal promises and the earthly kingship Israel desires.
Reflect on their own lives to identify and resist modern "kings" that can take the place of Jesus as their true King.
Catching up on the Story
Sometimes, we get what we want. Other times, we don’t. There are times and situations when we get what we want, but the consequences are nothing like what we expected.
We tend to be rather short-sighted when it comes to our desires. Most of the time, we believe that getting what we want will bring us happiness, fulfillment, and contentment. That is, to a certain extent, the nature of desires to fulfill a perceived need. Perceived is the operative word here.
As we move through the Story of God’s good creation, Israel has a perceived need. Israel thinks she needs a king. To this point in the story, from Abraham to the taking of the Promised Land, God has been Israel’s true king. Or, at least, that has been the plan. God has created for himself a people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation through which God plans to bless the whole world, bringing about peace, reconciliation, and wholeness. For their part, Israel has not lived up to expectations. Several times already, God has almost destroyed Israel so that God could begin again with a new set of characters. Israel’s continual testimony about God is that God is steadfastly loyal and loving. God is faithful even to the unfaithful. God will not start new with other people, even when Israel rejects God. No, God is faithful.
We Want a King!
If the story of the Judges teaches us anything, it is that Israel continually rejects God as their true King. As Israel’s true King, God was a good and just King. God has freed Israel from slavery in Egypt so that she might serve him faithfully. God has provided boundaries and rules for Israel to follow so that she might grow and prosper. God has fought Israel’s battles for them so that she might be free from oppression. As King of Israel, God has provided for all of Israel’s needs. God has fed, clothed, and given Israel a land to live in and generations of children. God, as true King in Israel, has abundantly given so that Israel might live. But, Israel has a short memory, is stubborn to boot, and fails to believe that God, as the true King in Israel, has their best interests in mind. If we remember the story so far, this is the same failure that leads Adam and Eve to believe the snake, taking and eating the forbidden fruit.
Toward the end of the time of the Judges, Samuel is a prophet and judge of Israel. Samuel is a true man of God. He is faithful, dispensing God’s word to the people of Israel. He leads Israel well, but his time is drawing to a close. He has two sons, to whom he turns the duties of Judges over Israel, Joel and Abijah, but they are not the same type of godly person Samuel is. They care more for their personal gain than leading Israel toward obedience. So, Israel's elders gathered with Samuel and asked for a king. “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, five and said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” - 1 Samuel 8:4-5
Israel’s pattern of rejecting God as King continues as they approach Samuel to ask for an earthly king. Israel is once again rejecting God as King, but this time, they are asking to be just like everyone else (I Samuel 8:5). For a moment, Samuel is upset with the people because they desire a king. But God reminds Samuel that Israel is actually rejecting God as the true and rightful king. Somehow, Israel has forgotten how God has acted on their behalf in the past. Somehow, Israel has forgotten the covenant that God made with them, a covenant to be their God, to provide them with a good and plentiful land filled with all of the necessary things needed to sustain life. As we see in Deuteronomy 6. “10 When the LORD your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, 11 houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill, 12 take care that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:10–12).
The covenant and promise weren’t temporary and about to expire. No, they were permanent. As long as Israel remained faithful to God, God would remain faithful to them and be their protecting, providing, and sustaining king. When our memories fail us, we are more easily enticed to seek protection and sustenance in the power schemes of our broken world.
“Give them what they want…”
So, God tells Samuel to give the people what they want. Even though God agrees with Samuel that the desire for a king will not be life-giving for Israel, he grants their wish anyway, but he does so with a warning. God paints a picture of how life will be for Israel under the leadership of an Earthly king. “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; 12 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. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 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” (1 Samual 8:10-18).
Notice in these verses the dominant word used to describe Israel’s future kings –they will take. Everything that Israel has held as a community of faith following after God will now belong to the king. The people want a king because they think he will provide for them and make life better. God warns that this is a false hope. The king will not give; he will only take.
Contrast this against the covenantal promises that God has made to Israel. God promises to make Abraham a mighty nation, with a fruitful land, a blessing to the whole world (Genesis 12). God promises to give and sustain. A king is ultimately a rejection of that promise and will lead Israel down a path to destruction and exile.
Samuel warns the people that a king will only ever take from Israel. Israel assumes that having a king like all the other nations will be good for Israel. They believe that a king will provide for them. Like all other nations, a king will keep them safe, fight their battles, and provide for their food, land, and shelter. But Samuel knows, and God knows that this assumption is false. A king will only take.
So What…?
Despite the warning that Samuel gives, Israel insists on having a king. So, God led Samuel to become Israel’s first king. God gives Israel what she wants. It isn’t what is best for Israel, but it is what Israel has chosen. Israel has had a perceived desire for a king. But Israel already had a King, and she rejected him. Israel thought that having a king like all the other nations would bring them happiness, fulfillment and contentment but it does not. Even a quick reading of what follows from this particular point in the Story will reveal that most of Israel’s kings led Israel on a path toward destruction. Israel gets what she wants, but the results are nothing like she expected.
What does this mean for us as Characters in this Story? While we are not Israel, we are not a nation chosen by God; we are a people called by God. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are subjects in the Kingdom of God. Our true King is Jesus.
Like Israel, all too often, however, we demand that we have our own king just like everyone else. We reject Jesus as our true King and place something else in his place. We pay homage to the kings who only take kings like money, power, sex, nationalism, and sport. Perhaps most of the time, we bow to the only king we really want to serve, ourselves. We reject Christ as our King and serve ourselves. But we are not bound to follow in Israel’s footsteps. You and I can listen to Samuel's warnings. We can remember the faithfulness of God, our true King. With the power of the Holy Spirit, we can resist the temptation to serve kings who are not Jesus. With boldness, we can stand and declare, “We will have no king but Christ!”
Discussion Questions
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
Why did Israel want a king, and how did this request signify their rejection of God as their true King?
How did Samuel react to Israel's demand for a king, and what did God tell him in response?
What warnings did God give Israel about the consequences of having an earthly king?
In what ways did God act as Israel's true King before they asked for an earthly king?
How does the story of Israel's desire for a king reflect our own desires for earthly substitutes in place of God?
Can you think of modern "kings" (e.g., money, power, fame) that people serve today? How do these compare to the earthly kings described in the passage?
What does it mean for us to declare, "We will have no king but Christ" in our daily lives?
How can we remember and rely on God's faithfulness when we are tempted to follow other "kings"?
How does the role of Jesus as our true King differ from the earthly kings that Israel desired?
In what ways can we encourage each other to resist the temptation of serving kings who are not Jesus?
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