The Bible: 1 Samuel Chapter 8

In 1 Samuel Chapter 8 Israel wants to be like the other nations, but God had always wanted them to be different to the other nations. The “if” game is never possible, but what if Israel had truly followed the law from the beginning, how could this have been a unique nation unlike any other? Firstly poverty in Israel would have been minimal, the economy would have been strong, the land would have been healthy and produced continual harvests because of the sabbath rests, effectively fertilising the land. Other nations would have become jealous and it would have demonstrated that the fertility cults of other nations were false. Even without active evangelism, the nation would have become a witness to the power of God. Other nations would have wanted to have become like them. Instead with narrow minds they want to be like the other nations. From God’s perspective Israel not only has a king, but has a “real” king. They felt like they had no king, and even from our twenty-first century perspective we feel like God was only a “virtual king” of some type, but we don’t feel his realness. The problem was that God’s kingship and rule had not been followed. He had given them the most wonderful law, outlining how everything was to be done in Israel, but they didn’t follow it, and then felt that they needed a king believing they had none. It was a far greater tragedy that we imagine. Samuel tries to warn them, giving God’s words saying what will happen if they have a king. The people refused to listen. Remember when this happened previously at Sinai. They didn’t want to hear God speaking. Here though, they heard the words and refused to accept them. Finally God tells Samuel to listen to them. So even though they have not listened to God, he listens to them and gives them what they want. This also happened to the Israelites in the desert when they craved meat, but it killed them. God can answer prayers sometimes giving us things we shouldn’t have... be careful.