The King Israel Asked For

What Israel Actually Asked For

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The sad ending on Mount Gilboa goes back to a request made many years before. In 1 Samuel 8, Samuel was old, and his sons did not follow God. So the elders of Israel came to Samuel and asked him for a king to judge them, like all the nations had.

Like everybody else. Those words, like all the nations, show what was in their hearts. They already had judges, and they had God as their King. They wanted to look like the countries around them, with somebody out front who looked the part.

Samuel prayed. The request upset Samuel, so he took it to the Lord. God told him that the people had not rejected Samuel. They had rejected God as their King (1 Samuel 8:7).

The warning. Samuel told them exactly what it would cost. A king would take their sons for his army and their daughters to work for him. He would take their best fields and vineyards and a tenth of their grain and flocks. One day they would cry out because of the king they had chosen (1 Samuel 8:11-18).

We want him anyway. The people heard the whole list, and they still said yes. They wanted a king to go out in front of them and fight their battles (1 Samuel 8:19-20).

Exactly what they asked for. So God gave them Saul. 1 Samuel 9 introduces him as a handsome young man, a head taller than anyone else in Israel. He was the man you would pick if you were picking by how someone looks.

A good start. At first Saul did well. He rescued the town of Jabesh Gilead (1 Samuel 11), and the people celebrated. But looking like a king is not the same as having a heart that follows God.

The kingdom torn away. Saul would not obey, so Samuel told him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today” (1 Samuel 15:28). Mount Gilboa was where that word came true.

A different measure. Then God sent Samuel to find the next king. Samuel looked at a tall son of Jesse, and God said, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature” (1 Samuel 16:7).

How God sees. God went on, “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (16:7).

God still cared. Even after the people turned from Him, God did not leave them. He kept working toward a better King, one with a heart that loved Him.

What we learn. Wanting to be like everyone else can pull us away from God. Israel got the king it asked for, and it did not make the people happy.

What to do. This week, think about one thing you want just because everyone else has it. Talk to Jesus about it, and ask Him whether it is good for you.

God calls the request of 1 Samuel 8:5 a rejection, and He says so plainly in 8:7: the people had not rejected Samuel, they had rejected God from reigning over them.

Kings were not the problem. Deuteronomy 17:14-20 had already looked ahead to a king and given rules for one. He must be the man God chose, he must not pile up horses, wives or silver, and he must copy and read God's law all his life. The problem in 1 Samuel 8 was the reason Israel gave.

Like all the nations. Israel was called to be set apart from the nations, a special treasure to God (Exodus 19:5-6). Asking to be like them turned that calling upside down.

The cost (8:11-18). Samuel's warning is a long list of what a king would take: sons, daughters, fields, vineyards, olive groves, servants and a tenth of the grain and flocks. The verb take comes again and again. The list ends with a warning that they would cry out because of the king they had chosen.

The reply (8:19-20). The people heard every point and repeated the request. They wanted a king who would go out before them and fight their battles. That was the very thing God had been doing for them since the Red Sea.

Introduced by his looks (9:2). Saul is described as choice and handsome, taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. When Samuel presents him, he says there is no one like him among all the people (10:24). By chapter 31 those words sound very sad.

The kingdom torn (15:28). After Saul's disobedience Samuel said, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.” Gilboa was where that word was finished.

The heart (16:7). When Samuel looks at Eliab, God says, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.” Saul was chosen the way people choose. David was chosen the way God chooses.

Levav (say: leh-VAHV). The Hebrew word for heart in 16:7 is levav (say: leh-VAHV). In the Bible the heart is not only feelings. It is the center of a person, where thinking, choosing and loving happen.

Grace inside judgment. God gave Israel what it asked for, and He let the people feel the cost. Yet He did not abandon them. Through Saul's failure He prepared the way for David, and through David for Jesus.

Application. It is possible to ask God for something good for the wrong reason. Before you ask, look at why you want it: to be like everyone else, or to follow God more closely.

A Row of Empty Thrones

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Again and again in the Old Testament, a king rises to the throne, and then he dies and is buried. God was teaching His people something through all those graves.

Saul. Saul died on Mount Gilboa. The king Israel asked for was gone in a single day (1 Samuel 31:6).

David. David was a much better king, a man after God's own heart. But David grew old and died too (1 Kings 2:10).

Solomon. Solomon was the wisest king of all. He died too, and soon after his death the kingdom split in two (1 Kings 11:43; 12).

King after king. After that came king after king, and most of them were worse. Every single one of them died and was buried with his fathers.

Not a better Saul. The next king was never going to be the answer. Israel did not need a better Saul. It did not even need a better David. It needed a King who does not die.

God's promise. God told David, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you” (2 Samuel 7:12).

Forever. Then God said, “Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Forever is a long time for a family of kings who all die!

Not taken away. God promised that His mercy would never be taken from David's son, “as I took it from Saul” (2 Samuel 7:15).

A Child is born. Isaiah looked ahead: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder” (Isaiah 9:6).

The promise kept. The angel told Mary that her Son would sit on David's throne: “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:33).

He always lives. Every other king had to be replaced when he died. Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and then He rose again. Now “He always lives to make intercession” for His people (Hebrews 7:25). Intercession means praying for someone.

What we learn. Saul's armor ended up in an idol's temple. Jesus' tomb ended up empty. Our King is alive today.

What to do. This week, thank Jesus each day that He is a King who never dies, and ask Him to rule your heart.

Samuel and Kings end reign after reign the same way: the king dies and is buried with his fathers. The repeated pattern teaches that no earthly king lasts.

The line of graves. Saul falls on Gilboa (1 Samuel 31). David dies in 1 Kings 2:10. Solomon dies in 1 Kings 11:43, and the kingdom splits under his son. The pattern continues through both kingdoms until there is no king left in Jerusalem (2 Kings 25).

2 Samuel 7:12-16. God promises David a descendant whose kingdom and throne will be established forever (7:13, 16). Verse 12 begins with David's own death: “you rest with your fathers.” The promise is made to a king who will die, about a King who will not.

Mercy that stays. Verse 15 sets the promise right beside Saul: God's mercy would not depart from David's son, “as I took it from Saul.” The Hebrew word for mercy there is chesed (say: KHEH-sed), God's loyal, covenant love.

The prophets. For centuries no king in David's line fulfilled it. The prophets kept the promise alive: a Child on David's throne with a government that never ends (Isaiah 9:6-7), a righteous Branch raised up for David (Jeremiah 23:5-6), and “a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people” (Isaiah 11:10).

Matthew 1:1. The New Testament's first sentence calls Jesus the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. Gabriel says the same thing to Mary: “the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David” (Luke 1:32).

Hebrews 7:23-25. Hebrews explains why the old pattern ends with Jesus. The old priests had to be replaced because death stopped them, but Christ holds His office for good because He continues forever. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him” (7:25).

Revelation 22:16. At the end of the Bible Jesus says, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David.” He is both David's source and David's Son.

Two endings. Put 1 Samuel 31 beside the empty tomb. A crown is lost, a body is fastened to the wall at Beth Shan, and the reign Israel demanded is finished. God's answer was not a better candidate from the same list. It was His own Son, who died and rose again.

Application. People look for a leader, a friend or a hero who will never let them down. Every human one eventually fails or dies. Only the risen King can carry the full weight of your trust.

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Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.