1 Samuel 8:1 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Samuel 8:1

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The eighth chapter is introducing a tremendous shift in affairs in the Old Testament already. In the eighth, ninth, and tenth chapter you have the overlap of the period of the judges and the monarchy. Samuel is the last of the judges; that period is coming to an end, and Saul will be the first king. What lay behind this change and what happened through it; these things are most important to us, not because we are students of history only, but because there are spiritual lessons to be learned.In chapter 8 there is a solemn warning. It's a warning against covetousness, and then from verse 5, it’s about their wanting a king. ‘And it came to pass, when Samuel was old’ – actually he was about 60 – ‘that he made his sons judges over Israel.’ Samuel’s sons were nothing like as bad as Eli's sons. They were not like Eli’s sons judging in the capital, and acting as priests, Levite priests, but they were guilty of taking bribes. They were sent down to Beersheba, about 60 miles south. Probably Samuel was of such an age that he could no longer travel that far, and go all the way down to Beersheba at regular intervals. So he sent two of his sons instead. He didn't lay too great a burden upon them, because if they were to exercise this ministry of judgement in the deep south. We are not told much about the background to this, but we may assume that Samuel, who was a man of God – not with a neglectful careless side as the genial Eli appears to have had – and is commended in the letter to the Hebrews as a man of exemplary spiritual faith and insight; we must assume that he brought up these sons well, and that while they were with him – this is a reasonable assumption – they behaved well, and they gave good promise. So when Samuel sent them down to Beersheba to relieve his travels somewhat, he had every hope that they would be good, faithful, honest judges, and they would be successful. But they failed him. It appears, perhaps over time, that they fell into making money for themselves, taking bribes which would have been offered by the wealthy. They were probably seemingly innocent favours at first which would embroil a judge, and then perhaps monetary favours that got larger and larger until the two young men were completely swamped by them. How young were they? Probably thirty to forty. But they let him down. There is no indication that there was any intention that they should succeed Samuel; in fact, there is a curious silence about it. The difference between the problem of Samuel’s sons and Eli’s sons is that Eli knew what his sons were doing, whereas Samuel did not. What Eli’s sons did, of course, was much more serious. They wrecked the very worship of God. They bludgeoned their way into high and holy things, and they stole from the sanctuary of the Lord, whereas Samuel’s sons, though guilty of a great sin, were guilty of taking bribes, and it would appear that they were displaced as the result of this. So there is a big difference, but nevertheless it is very serious, and it is mainly a warning against covetousness, that these sons with such advantages and such a background, could fall to this. So Samuel was let down.

Application

When complaints were brought against his sons, it was not, ‘Samuel, you need to replace your sons; you need to send other judges down there. They are misbehaving. Here is the evidence.’ Instead this was a tremendous excuse for the elders of Israel to make a pitch for what they wanted anyway: a king. There was a great groundswell among the people, a desire for a king, which comes shortly. It is very tragic, that these sons who probably were initially keen, and faithful, or appeared to be so, should turn out badly. But it happens. It can happen to some degree, even among us. When you study church history, you see it. You see some great preachers and theologians, and their young men go through college, and lo and behold some of them become leading liberals, denying the essentials of the faith. What a tragedy! Yes, we don’t want it to happen; we want the best for our children, but they can let us down.

We have seen people who, when they were young, were zealous young men and young women. But by the time they reached middle-age they were a little bit cynical. They rather looked back on that energetic and fervent phase of their twenties with faint amusement now. Now they have made it in the world. They have got big jobs, big incomes. They have gradually, over the years, spoilt themselves with many fine acquisitions, better than those which other people have, and their first love and their first ardour has died away, and so less and less are they any use to the Lord and his church. So there is this horrible picture with Samuel’s sons, who it is fair to say would have been sent off to their work with high hopes, but in their case they let their father down. Satan and his hosts will bring favours across your path. Perhaps in your employment: certain compromises, certain benefits, certain promotions, certain advantages, a certain degree of acceptance that you will have if you will bend a little, your values and so on. It will happen in all sections of life. It's part of the plan to bring you down. Beware of the world's favours. It maybe Satan is behind them; he's the architect of something. Be careful.

In the Preachers Homiletical Commentary the writer cannot resist bringing forward as an example, the great Lord Bacon the father of modern philosophy. No man wrote more in praise of virtue than Bacon, and yet he was impeached by Parliament, because he was the most unscrupulous lawyer and disreputable judge of his day. It was found that his great wealth had largely been amassed by the taking of bribes. Yet no man wrote more – and in early on in life, sincerely so – about righteousness, in praise of virtue. So here it is: the great vulnerability of men in any position to covetousness. The Scripture warns against it constantly.

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1 Samuel 8:1 Commentary and Bible Study