King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 7 notes
1And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.
2And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
3Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
And "before his anointed" - was that not in reference to king 👑 Saul?
4And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand.
5And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
6And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
7Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.
8When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
9And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
10And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
11And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.
12And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.
In the text 1 Samuel 8:1 to 6, it is clearly stated that they wanted a king to judge them like the other nations, because Samuel's sons were dubious and not at all like their father.
No mention was made of the war with Nahash the Ammonite, but Dake's suggests it seemed that war was pending.
We see here that the fear of Nahash was also a contributing factor to why they wanted a king like the other nations.
One to lead them to war like the other nations.
13Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.
14If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:
In other words, you will not prosper just because you have a king.
It will not be an automatic endorsement of God for victory ✌️.
You still must keep the commandments of the Lord your God in order to continue in prosperity.
Not merely the selection of a king over you.
15But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.
17Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.
18So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
19And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.
Is it not interesting that they did not change their mind about the king after this?
Needless to say, they were already too deep into the kingdom, and God had given his approval, so there was no turning back.
God was displeased with the people's desire for a king,
but there was no turning back... The people were one, and their hearts yearned for a king.
God knew that when a people are one, there was no telling what they could do, and indeed it would prosper, whatever their intent was.
Except God intervened, as was the case in the tower 🗼 of Babel.
Genesis 11:6 KJV
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
So this time the Lord allowed the people to prevail, and even aided their desire.
20And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;
21And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
22For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.
23Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
24Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
25But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.
Well said: submitting to a king 👑 was no guarantee of victory without submitting to the King 👑 of kings.
He made it clear: the king was not going to be a guarantee or surety of anything, or of victory in war. If they disobey the Lord, they will still suffer loss regardless of their king.
Could it then mean that secretly they were hoping their king would be a guarantee of victory even if they strayed away from the Lord their God and did follow after other gods?