Appoint a
king to lead us, such as all the other nations have. (1 Samuel 8:5)Israel was unlike any other nation, enjoying a relationship with God unlike any other nation. But falling for the first rule of coveting: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, Israel decided it didn't want what it had. Israel wanted what everyone else had. Remember Judges 21:25? In those days Israel had no king. They wanted a king – someone they could see, hear and touch.
The truth is, Israel had a king since the days on the Plains of Moab, waiting to cross the Jordan. They had made a covenant acknowledging God as their king. The Deuteronomic Covenant between Israel and Yahweh was modeled after treaties made between a king and his vassal (subject nation). God was the king and Israel was the subject nation.
In verse 7, God speaks to Samuel: They have rejected me as their king. Did Israel have any idea what it was giving up, and what it was getting itself into?
Deuteronomy 17 serves as a warning to Israel regarding the dangers of choosing a king over God and provides guidelines for kingly behavior. 1 Kings 10 and 11 paints a picture of Solomon depicting a mirror image of everything the nation had been warned against.
When's the last time you were tempted to trade what you have for what your neighbors have? How'd that work out for you?
What is the difference between a judge and a king?
ReplyDeleteGod would raise up a judge to deal with a specific threat against Israel. The word that describes these leaders is "charismatic." They were gifted by God, and acclaimed by the people as leaders. Judges probably exercised more influence among certain tribes (like the tribe from which they came) than across the entirety of the 12 tribes.
DeleteKings (at least from the time of David) were dynastic rulers where the throne was handed down father to son. Kings ruled over the entire kingdom (even though that was tested under the reign of Rehoboam during which time the kingdom separated in the Norther Kingdom - Israel and the Southern Kingdom - Judah).
God hand-picked each individual judge, whereas with kings he picked the family (the line of David).