Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

I Samuel 8

What should we learn from this chapter?

• Personal Application: Each child is responsible for his or her own righteousness.
• This is the end of the time of the Judges.
• Samuel was the last recognized Judge before the time of the Kings.
• Samuel was a Judge, a Priest, and a Prophet.

Israel Demands a King

I Samuel 8:¹ Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.

I Samuel 8:² The name of his firstborn was Joel (Yᵊhōvâ is ‘ēl), and the name of his second, Abijah (‘āḇ Yâh Father God); they were judges in Beersheba.

I Samuel 8:³ But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

https://www.complete-bible-genealogy.com/names/

I Samuel 8:⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,

I Samuel 8:⁵ and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations (Gentiles).”

• Since it is an abomination to God, who chose them, Fathered them, who made His covenant with them; who gave them all His promises – now they want to replace His ways with Gentile ways … a king like the Gentiles, a word associated with “heathen”. They want a Jewish King like a heathen system.
  
  God is a God of distinction and separation. In the book of Genesis He divided the night and the day, the waters and the dry, the clean from the unclean, and the common from the uncommon. He created boundaries. He created everything “after its kind”. He does not mix species.
  God chose the Jews to serve Him and to deliver the Gentiles. In return, they received all of His promises.
  
  To have a Jewish King with a Gentile System is not only to mix the two but to enter into uncleanness. The borders are broken down. The walls are breached. The meaning of the Hebrew word “Holy” is to be separated.
  
  A Gentile system with Jewish Laws is a “chimera”.
  
• A “mixing” is one of the reasons God sent the great World Wide Flood upon the world:
  • Genesis 6 The sons of God took the daughters of men and made wives of them. And there were giants in those days.

I Samuel 8:⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

I Samuel 8:⁷ And the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

I Samuel 8:⁸ According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also.

I Samuel 8:⁹ Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

I Samuel 8:¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) to the people who asked him for a king.

I Samuel 8:¹¹ And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots.

I Samuel 8:¹² He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

I Samuel 8:¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.

I Samuel 8:¹⁴ And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants.

I Samuel 8:¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants.

I Samuel 8:¹⁶ And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ^{[LXX cattle]} young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

I Samuel 8:¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants.

I Samuel 8:¹⁸ And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) will not hear you in that day.”

• God steps out…in rejection. He will not hear them in that day.
  God steps out many, many times throughout history.
  When Titus conquered the Jews in 70 AD and burnt down the temple, he is quoted as saying “It is no great accomplishment to conquer a people who have been abandoned by their God.”

Big Government makes Small Citizens

I Samuel 8:¹⁹ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us,

• They openly declared their rejection of God’s leadership, even though Samuel told them openly that God would not hear them “in that day”.

I Samuel 8:²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations (Gentiles), and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

I Samuel 8:²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

I Samuel 8:²² So the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

Beware of What You Ask For: God Hears.

There is no vacuum with God. When God leaves, Satan steps in.

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