They Wanted a Single King to Rule Them

Mike Hosey, Elder

God's people once yearned for a singular human king. Sadly, this was a rejection of God (1 Samuel 8:7).

It's like this, when the Hebrews were in their infancy as a people they were not led by a single human leader.  Instead, God was their singular king, and He administered His government through multiple leaders in the form of prophets, priests and judges (1 Samuel 8) and (Judges 2:16-17).

But when the sons of Samuel the prophet did not live up to their moral duties as judges, the people used this bad behavior as an excuse to pressure Samuel to appoint a singular king (1 Samuel 8:5). Their motive, however, was not to eradicate bad judges.  Instead, their motive was to point to a single man and say "we have a king just like the nations around us do" (1 Samuel 8:5, and 1 Samuel 8:19-20).

It was an attitude born from worldly hearts.

Strangely, they also wanted a mere man to go before them and fight their battles (1 Samuel 8:20). The reason this is so strange is because prior to this point God had gone before them and fought their battles - not any single man (Joshua 10:14, Joshua 10:42, 1 Samuel 7:10). In effect, they wanted to replace God as their point person.

God predicted this eventuality. Way back in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, He foretold that Israel would obtain a king, and He laid out the things a king should not do.    

When God told Samuel to warn the people of what a king would be like, they didn't listen to the warnings. So God told Samuel to obey the people and appoint a king (1 Samuel 8:22). He did.

Not one king lived up to God's requirements from Deuteronomy. Not even David or Solomon. In fact, their very first king, Saul, was rife with pride.

They had some glory initially. But after their third king, they began to fracture, and the people eventually ended up in the Babylonian captivity and bondage.

Their yearning for a king was a yearning to be like those around them, and not a desire to be what God wanted them to be. And this led, as it always does, to a kind of slavery and disunity.

But it didn't stop there. When Jesus entered the world as Messiah, the Hebrew culture did not recognize him for who He was. They were blinded by a worldly view of kingship, and a new fixation on religious tradition.

They yearned for a King to rule them, and God gave them what they yearned for ...and more.