1 Samuel 8:1 When Sh’mu’el grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Isra’el. 2 His firstborn was named Yo’el, while his second son was named Aviyah; they were judges in Be’er-Sheva. 3 However, his sons did not follow his way of life; they turned off it to pursue riches, so that they would take bribes to distort justice. 4 All the leaders of Isra’el gathered themselves together, approached Sh’mu’el in Ramah 5 and said to him, “Look, you have grown old, and your sons are not following your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 Sh’mu’el was not pleased to hear them say, “Give us a king to judge us”; so he prayed to Adonai. 7 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them. 8 They are doing to you exactly what they have been doing to me, from the day I brought them out of Egypt until today, by abandoning me and serving other gods. 9 So do what they say, but give them a sober warning, telling them what kinds of rulings their king will make.”
Is having a king a good thing?
Depends.
We begin here with the spiritual leadership falling to the selfish demands of the flesh and the people recognize its disastrous effects.
And since the religious leaders that were to be guided by the Torah failed, then the choice to empower a civic leader seemed like the next best worst choice. Better to have someone that represents man to be corrupt than those that are supposed to represent God.
Besides, corruption in the House of God means severe judgment is coming. And no one wants that.
Perhaps Abba knew that those that were to represent His Name would fail in the eyes of the people so in Deuteronomy 17, we are given a standard that must be met if His people were to survive:
Deuteronomy 17:8 “If a case comes before you at your city gate which is too difficult for you to judge, concerning bloodshed, civil suit, personal injury or any other controversial issue; you are to get up, go to the place which Adonai your God will choose, 9 and appear before the cohanim, who are L’vi’im, and the judge in office at the time. Seek their opinion, and they will render a verdict for you. 10 You will then act according to what they have told you there in that place which Adonai will choose; you are to take care to act according to all their instructions. 11 In accordance with the Torah they teach you, you are to carry out the judgment they render, not turning aside to the right or the left from the verdict they declare to you. 12 Anyone presumptuous enough not to pay attention to the cohen appointed there to serve Adonai your God or to the judge — that person must die. Thus you will exterminate such wickedness from Isra’el — 13 all the people will hear about it and be afraid to continue acting presumptuously.
The original plan is that the cohen would judge in accordance with the Torah. By doing so, life and justice would come forth. And ignoring their counsel would result in your death.
But what do you do when God’s representatives are more concerned with their own ways than the ways of God?
By rule, you should die if you ignore their counsel. (Well, at least you’ll be kicked out of church.) Isn’t this what the Pharisees did? The rule of kings had been removed so the decision making reverted back to Abba’s representatives. A good thing, right? Well, sure…at least until their own ways became the priority.
This was the healing Yeshua brought to the leadership 2000 years ago. Humbling them and correcting them so they would then begin to judge righteously. But boy, losing power and control is such a tough task. It can even drive someone to murder.
(Don’t believe me? What kind of hatred manifests within you if your paycheck is withheld? Ok, enough of that…let’s get back to our story.)
Fast forward a few thousand years…
You’d assume the example of Yeshua addressing the corruption of power would rattle the halls of even the mightiest of ministries. It seems all who proclaim to be leading His people would dig heavily into a humble lifestyle out of fear that He may return and correct even them.
But…
Here we are, the ways of the “king” have been the source of life well over the Ways of God. What’s more disturbing is that it’s delivered with a violent declaration, “Here is what YHVH has spoken”
But there is a warning here:
Ezekiel 22:23 The word of Adonai came to me: 24 “Human being, tell her this: ‘You are a land that is neither cleansed nor rained on in the day of fury. 25 There is a conspiracy of prophets in it like a roaring lion tearing up the prey; they have devoured people, seized wealth and valuables, and widowed many in it. 26 Her cohanim have done violence to my Torah, profaned my holy things, made no difference between the holy and the common, not distinguished between unclean and clean, hidden their eyes from my shabbats, and profaned me among themselves. 27 Her leaders in it are like wolves tearing up the prey to shed blood and destroy people, in order to benefit unjustly. 28 Her prophets have “plastered” for them with whitewash, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says Adonai Elohim,” when Adonai has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have extorted, robbed, wronged the poor and needy and unjustly oppressed foreigners.
30 “‘I sought for a man among them who could build a barricade or stand in the break to oppose me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I am pouring out my fury on them, consuming them with the fire of my rage, bringing their own ways on their own heads,’ says Adonai Elohim.”
Has He in fact spoken?
He’s seeking someone, anyone, that will oppose Him on behalf of the land so that He does not have to destroy it.
Where are they?
While we love kings, we despise the title of king.
In our culture, a “king” is archaic and insulting so we decided it best to relabel this person as a “president”. Not just governmentally, but in every corner of our existence.
The system of man gives the title of “president” to practically any organization that pops on the planet. Even a single-member LLC has a president. But worse still, the church has jumped into this game just the same. Or maybe it’s been there all along and the culture is just following our lead. We are the example for the earth, right?
In this type of system, there is a key decision maker that everyone under their care tends to tread lightly -- and most of the time, fearfully.
The fear of what man can do sways us in a measure we can’t even begin to comprehend. In business, sure. A powerful leader driving us into the promise of profits is welcomed with open arms. We embrace this fear because by doing so, we win.
But in the church? Well…
Let’s get back to Abba.
We are so predictable.
In His infinite wisdom and foresight, He went ahead and defined what is required of this non-cohen and (eventual) secular leader:
Deuteronomy 17:14 “When you have entered the land Adonai your God is giving you, have taken possession of it and are living there, you may say, ‘I want to have a king over me, like all the other nations around me.’ 15 In that event, you must appoint as king the one whom Adonai your God will choose. He must be one of your kinsmen, this king you appoint over you — you are forbidden to appoint a foreigner over you who is not your kinsman. 16 However, he is not to acquire many horses for himself or have the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses, inasmuch as Adonai told you never to go back that way again. 17 Likewise, he is not to acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart will not turn away; and he is not to acquire excessive quantities of silver and gold.
This man is to suppress the temptations that will most assuredly be encountered when one has infinite power and resources. And this suppression is more than most (or nearly all) men can withstand.
What then does Abba say to the people that beg for a kingly leader?
1 Samuel 8:10 Sh’mu’el reported everything Adonai had said to the people asking him for a king. 11 He said, “Here is the kind of rulings your king will make: he will draft your sons and assign them to take care of his chariots, be his horsemen and be bodyguards running ahead of his chariots. 12 He will appoint them to serve him as officers in charge of a thousand or of fifty, plowing his fields, gathering his harvest, and making his weapons and the equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters and have them be perfume-makers, cooks and bakers. 14 He will expropriate your fields, vineyards and olive groves — the very best of them! — and hand them over to his servants. 15 He will take the ten-percent tax of your crops and vineyards and give it to his officers and servants. 16 He will take your male and female servants, your best young men and your donkeys, and make them work for him. 17 He will take the ten-percent tax of your flocks, and you will become his servants. 18 When that happens, you will cry out on account of your king, whom you yourselves chose. But when that happens, Adonai will not answer you!”
19 However, the people refused to listen to what Sh’mu’el told them, and they said, “No! We want a king over us, 20 so that we can be like all the nations, with our king to judge us, lead us and fight our battles.” 21 Sh’mu’el heard everything the people said and repeated them for Adonai to hear. 22 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Do what they ask, and set up a king for them.” So Sh’mu’el told the men of Isra’el, “Each of you, return to his city.”
We love being God. All of us. So why would we expect any other person to fly above the storm with vision that sees far beyond what we can see -- for our own good?
The worship we pull from those that are seeking themselves to become kings makes us feel as though we have true value. As believers, we know this to be utterly false. And yet…
What on earth could possibly be done to prevent the unwinding of a culture? Glad you asked.
Deuteronomy 17:18 “When he has come to occupy the throne of his kingdom, he is to write a copy of this Torah for himself in a scroll, from the one the cohanim and L’vi’im use. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read in it every day, as long as he lives; so that he will learn to fear Adonai his God and keep all the words of this Torah and these laws and obey them; 20 so that he will not think he is better than his kinsmen; and so that he will not turn aside either to the right or to the left from the mitzvah. In this way he will prolong his own reign and that of his children in Isra’el.”
There is a guidebook that keeps us on the path to life, and it isn’t reserved solely for our own personal walk. It’s there for us to show the world the path to life.
And if you begin to lose your way, hunt down that perfect King. Read what He reads and learn to think what He thinks.
The world certainly needs it.