During the time of Samuel, why did the people of Israel desire a king?
“Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations."” 1 Samuel 8:5 (ESV)
It is amazing what God's people (Israel) want it, the desire to be governed by human guidelines and not through the divine hand of God. When this terrible mistake happened, the people of God put press on the prophet Samuel to search for a king like the other nations have. The result was that God in His sovereignty, grace and mercy instructs the prophet to listen to the people, and the results were that the hand of the enemies of God was upon them.
One thing to be careful is not to ignore what has been established by The Almighty God; sooner or later the actions committed by humans will have its outcome, either the blessing or sadly a divine judgment. Such was the case of the people of Israel that despite being the chosen people of God, they sinned against Him, and this was what led God's people to experience the divine judgments.
Disobedience was the main cause of the divine judgment, because although these people know God, they even did things that were detestable in the sight of Him, and the result of their disobedience was the great calamities that came not only to the people in general, but also to individuals that experienced the judgment of God in their own lives.
However, one of the events that led the people of Israel to want to be ruled by a king was the fact of the war that the people of the Philistines had with them. “God reminded them through the prophet Samuel that He was their king, but that wasn’t enough.” This somehow was what lit the diabolical desire to have a king like the other nations, who was to fight their battles for them, and also to no longer be go...
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...As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshiped only the LORD God.” (CEV)
There is no doubt that ignoring the divine, it brings disastrous consequences, and that's exactly what happened to Solomon. It is sad to note that although this man was loved and chosen by God, and having witnessed the grace and mercy of The Most High, he put aside the divine promises of God, “Unfortunately, Solomon lost most of God’s blessings in the duration of one short chapter due to covenant disobedience.” In the division of the kingdom which brought more problems was the creation and implementation of a new system of worship in which God was not the center of it. From here today’s Christians should take a lesson that there is only one system of worship that has not been established by any man, but by God Himself.
The book of 1 Samuel is introduces key characters in the Old Testament of the Bible that allows for a great demonstration of God’s divine love and power. This influential book introduces the characters of Hannah, Samuel, Saul, David, and Jonathan. The book of 1 Samuel begins with Samuel’s birth and rise as a holy prophet of God. Samuel was not only a prophet, but also held the titles of priest, and judge. Samuel brought a vast amount of influence to the people within Israel. The life of Samuel started around 1100-1010 B.C. Samuel was born to serve the Lord all of his days. Samuel’s mother Hannah conceived, and donated him to the high priest Eli. Samuel received a call from the Lord where God revealed the coming destruction of Eli’s reign
The Bible clearly explains the role of government in society and the framers of our nation built America on Biblical principles. Since economics is the science that deals with production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, Christian economics entails how men use God-given resources, ideas, and energy to meet their human needs and to glorify the Lord. Christianity produces internal liberty in man, which is the foundation for a Christian economy. The internal change of heart that Christ brings produces Christian character and self-government which is necessary for an economy to be prosperous. Christian character and self-government produce people who do not steal, who have a strong work ethic, and who save and invest to
The story of the state of Israel began with a man named Abraham, and a promise that God made to him. God told him to leave his homeland, promising Abraham and his descendants a new home in the land of Canaan, known as present day Israel(Rich, 1). Abraham was a firm believer in God, and decided to carry out his commands, since he knew God would be able to fulfill His promise to him. It was here, that God gave Abraham a unique homeland for his descendents to form a model nation. In the Torah, The Land of Israel was claimed to be the only place on the earth where the Jewish people could create the model nation(Spiro, 1). Jews desired to fulfill God’s plan to create the model nation, forming a strong connection between the land and the people for all eternity. Nonetheless, the Jews have not always been in political control of Israel; foreign nations had always been attacking the land...
...hard to understand fully because of its comprehensive metaphoric language and the difference in culture from present day. It is also sometimes hard for us to understand God's actions because we think of him simply loving and caring rather than ruthless and violent. We need to understand that the creation of mankind is taking place in the recordings of these scriptures and so things may not be as customary as we would like to think. I believe that God has a plan for everyone. And, in the case of Saul, he had a plan to take away his kingdom in order to pass it on to David so the formation of history could continue. I also think this passage, like many other passages from the Bible, has a message linked to it, a lesson to the story if you will. The lesson is to prove that God's unlimited power must never be taken for granted or there surely will be hell to pay.
After creating a pure and perfect world which he declared “good,” God experienced His first disappointment in humans. When He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and instructed them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve made the decision to disobey God and eat from it. According to the Old Testament, this decision gave Adam and Eve’s descendants (all humans) their sinful human nature, which as a result separated those who did not repent from God’s grace. Eventually the world was full of wickedness and a new side of YHWH came out. The God of unconditional love who is often thought of tended to be a God ...
Within The David Story, the Hebraic code of justice revolves around retributive justice and how it is administered by God. Simply stated, talio is the law of God. This law is a form of retributive justice, more so a punishment identical to the crime committed. All Kings of Israel must be chosen by God, and undergo a number of steps to ascend to the throne. The first king, Saul, loses the divine favor of God after his disobedience is showcased. His predecessor, David, acts out unjustly and also loses divine favor. Once God's scornful words come to fruition, both David and Saul bear the brunt of their wrongdoing. This justice creates a sense of equilibrium weighing one's offenses against one's punishment, and balances them. Within The David Story, the law of talio is defined by God, and once Saul and David disobey God's commands, the law of talio is used in a manner in which fits their crimes and sets out for justice, and like punishments for their crimes.
This phrase is later repeated three more times, in Judges 18:1, 19:1, and 21:25. Since the phrase is repeated several times, it emphasizes the need for a king to govern the people and lead them in better ways. The Davidic covenant also exemplifies this positive view, since God showed favor on David and his descendants. God said that King David’s descendants are God’s sons, and that the LORD will establish a “royal throne forever”, as in a line of kings until the end of time (2 Sam. 7:13). God also promises to give David “rest from all your enemies” (2 Sam. 7:11) and a place for his people to live (2 Sam. 7:10). Just like Abraham, King David is promised descendants, blessings, and land. Hezekiah, another good king of Judah, was also viewed favorably. In the LORD’s sight, Hezekiah did what was right, just like David (2 Kgs 18:3). 2 Kings 18: 5 also states that “and neither before nor after [Hezekiah] was there anyone like him among all the kings of Judah.” Unlike Solomon, Hezekiah observed the commandments and thus, “the LORD was with him, and he succeeded in all he set out to do” (2 Kgs 18:7). Therefore, the Deuteronomistic History looks favorably upon kings, since the need for a king is stated multiple times in Judges, and kings like David and Hezekiah are looked upon with favor by God and the people
...rinciples of law that were founded outside of his or her own opinion. They are not the source of what is just or unjust, but rather they merely apply the rules already established from years of social progression and political influence. Thus, when Divine Command theorists argue that they have successfully conquered the Euthyphro Argument, they must be reminded that the opposite is true, and the age-old dilemma has actually reduced their deities to magistrates of morality.
The history of the Hebrew nation is told through the lives of the Israelite and Judean kings as representatives of the nation, because the fortunes of the king and the plight of the people were entwined. Rebellion and disobedience in the form of idolatry and social injustice on the part of the king brought divine retribution on the nation in several forms, including oppression by surrounding hostile powers, overthrow of the royal dynasties, and ultimately exile into foreign lands. Conversely, the blessing of Yahweh’s favor in the form of peace, security, prosperity, and deliverance from foes rested upon the people of God when the king was obedient to the L...
Prior to the establishment of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) religious justice was a muddled picture. In the polytheistic religions, gods each had their own interests, which often conflicted with the interests of other gods. “The belief in one god allowed the Abrahamic religions setup a fundamentally different dynamic in ethics; the dichotomous distinction between right and wrong.” (Stark, 2001). Human actions no longer served one god or another’s interests, they were now judged by the embodiment of all that was perfect and sacred; God.
All throughout the Old Testament there is a cycle: sin - judgement - cry/prayer - deliverance - reject God again. Think about it. It is almost in any Bible story that you have ever been told. Even in creation, Adam and Eve sinned, God brought judgment, they both cried out in shame and despair, God delivered them and removed them from the garden, only for their son Cain to reject God by killing his brother Abel and the cycle begins again. Think about the story of Jonah and the big fish. Jonah ran away and did the opposite of what God had sent him to do, then he got swallowed by a fish. Jonah realised what he had done and he cried out to God, God delivers him and he gets spat back out of the fish. He does what God tells him to do and the cycle continues. Just like we disobey our parents, the people of Israel disobeyed God. Then they would bring judgment upon themselves and get themselves into trouble, they would cry out for deliverance. God saves them once again and they are happy with God and themselves, then they disobey again.
Samuel, a prophet anointed to speak of God’s word to the nation, represents one way of governing. God works through the prophet’s words to remind the people of Israel to be faithful to the terms of the Covenant. A second ...
In Judaism, God is seen as having a contractual relationship with the Jewish people where they must obey his holy laws in return for their status of the chosen people. God rewards or punishes Jewish people based on whether they obey or disobey his will. In parts of the Old Testament, however, God does show mercy or forgiveness, and in later interpretations God’s laws such as the Ten Commandments are followed not only out of loyalty to God but also because of their high moral character.
When Saul and his servant came across Prophet Samuel’s path they caught each other’s attention. The day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel that a man from the land of Benjamin will come to him and the man will be anointed as ruler over God’s people of Israel. That man will deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines. Prophet Samuel anoints Saul as king, even though Saul never wanted to be king in the first place.
First Samuel 8:5; 19-20 records Israel’s request for a king developed out their desire to be like the nations around them, thus placing them on the “broad road.” They desired a king to fight their battles, to establish a government, and to rule over them. During the time of the Judges, there was no central government, no one to fight for them, except God of course. To make matters worse the