1 Samuel 8:4 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Samuel 8:4

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‘Behold, thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king to judge us’ – and here is the key phrase – ‘like all the nations.’ This is an excuse. Samuel’s sons are not running the temple like Eli's sons, years earlier; there are only regional judges. If they have gone wrong, they can be replaced. Surely they don't want to overturn the entire theocracy of Israel, for the sake of two underlings? But that is what they did. They picked on the sons as a means of getting the entire method of government of Israel changed, and the sons were made an excuse. What a tragedy this was going to be! How would this help them? If what they wanted was to put a stop to the taking of bribes by subsidiary judges, how would having a king help them? They were surrounded by Canaanite kingdoms which were as corrupt as the day is long. None of those kingdoms exactly advertised the merits of monarchy; they were terrible places. So what do they mean, ‘Make us a king like the nations round about us’? Had they thought about this? Oh yes, they had. But unfortunately the issues they were looking at were not the efficiency of a king, or whether or not he would be likely to take bribes. What they were thinking about was how much more liberty they would get, not in personal and civic terms, but in terms of religion. They didn't want this judge Samuel, who went about the country preaching against idolatry. They were idolaters. He was unpopular with them in spite of all his wisdom, his care of them, and his upright judgements. He is able to say in chapter 12, I have never taken a bribe, never been subverted or anything of that kind, and no one could bring any charges against him. What they really wanted was flexibility to cheat against the Lord, and to carry on doing so. They were lusting after a king like all the surrounding pagan nations, with pomp and ceremony and greatness of that kind. They were the elders, and perhaps they were thinking to themselves, ‘Being an elder isn't much; it’s just a matter of representing people. We want to be in charge. If we had a king we wouldn't be mere elders, we would be officers of state. We would have much greater significance, and we would have splendid houses and retinues of servants.’ Maybe all that was in it too – ‘like all the nations’ – as well as the fact that Samuel was getting on. And he had two wayward sons: that was the excuse for the whole venture. All this is predicted in Deuteronomy chapter 17. Moses prophecies that this very time would come, and this very event would take place when the people would say, ‘Give us a king like all the nations.’ There in Deuteronomy God isn't saying, ‘I wish to give them a king. That's my first intention for you people.’ No, he is speaking predictively: ‘The people will ask for a king, and I will give them one.’ It's not an approval of the monarchy.

Application

The significance of this for us today is that this is what Christians often say. ‘Give us a method of government in the church like the world has. A company has a CEO; the denominations have their superintendents and their chiefs and their bishops and their archbishops. All that splendour and pomp and security and extensive organisation: that’s what we want. Why, we would show the world a thing or two. The Archbishop of Canterbury gets on the television. Where are all the independent churches? They never get on the television. We want to be like the Anglicans; we want to have influence in society, and some splendour and some significance. You believe in local churches, but you know that is so insecure, so weak. Every church has crown sovereign independence before the Lord? Is that what you believe? Don't you believe in having a strong central control or coordination, able and qualified central office bearers, something cohesive and strong?’ Well, look at it! Look at the history of denominationalism, where people like the children of Israel of old have desired a kind of human organisation, and once they have got it, for nine tenths of its period it has been godless and carnal, and impossible for spirituality to flourish. God's ways are not our ways. He intended for Israel to have judges and prophet priests; that was God's perfect plan. Even in the period of the Book of Judges, it was far, far better than anything they subsequently had. But they wanted a king because they wanted order without godliness, and they wanted the nations round about them to admire them.

Of course, the same attitude is found in other directions too. There are people who say, ‘I want to represent the Lord and the work of God, but I want to look like a popstar and I want applause, and we want bands and show, things you can look at, things that impress people: strobe lights and the lot. We want all the performance and the adulation.’ It is the same thing – ‘like all the nations’, like the people around us. We don't want to be distinctive. We don't want to be simple, biblical, honouring the Lord, reliant on the word and the Holy Spirit, following his plans. The devil tempts churches constantly to go down these alternative roads. These are the lessons of the Old Testament. It's a disaster.

Questions

Some writers say, no, it wasn't wrong, because, after all, God gave them a monarchy, and he wouldn't have given them one, had it been wrong. What was wrong was just the way they wanted to push Samuel to one side. But there is no question that the desiring of a king is condemned through this book and elsewhere as being absolutely wrong. They wanted a king because they wanted to be like the other nations. They wanted to have a sort of cohesion and greatness and national identity with a proud figurehead. They wanted the carnal trappings of a kingly state. Then again, because they were largely unredeemed people, they naturally preferred the visible to the invisible; they wanted things they could see and have and possess. They preferred carnal security to faith. ‘What is going to happen when Samuel dies? His sons are not designated to take over from him. Whatever is going to happen? We need a king.’ They weren't in a mind to trust God; that weren’t ready to look back and say, ‘We have never been without a leader; we have never been without judges. God has always sent prophets, priests, leaders, warrior judges. He has always provided us with an abundance of leadership.’ Ever since they had come out of Egypt, they had had an abundance of leadership. You notice after they had a king, most of the kings were godless and did evil in the sight of the Lord, and caused great tragedy and heartache. They were never lacking a strong lead before the monarchy, but after the monarchy the thing was chaotic. Most of the kings were terrible, and yet they were landed with them; they had to suffer them.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

1 Samuel 8:4 Commentary and Bible Study