Read 1 Samuel 8:4-20
4 Then all the leaders of Israel met
together, went to Samuel in Ramah, 5and said to him, “Look, you are
getting old and your sons don’t follow your example. So then, appoint a king to
rule over us, so that we will have a king, as other countries have.” 6Samuel
was displeased with their request for a king; so he prayed to the Lord, 7and the Lord said, “Listen to everything the
people say to you. You are not the one they have rejected; I am the one they
have rejected as their king. 8Ever since I brought them out of
Egypt, they have turned away from me and worshipped other gods; and now they
are doing to you what they have always done to me. 9So then, listen
to them, but give them strict warnings and explain how their kings will treat
them.”
10 Samuel told the people who were
asking him for a king everything that the Lord
had said to him. 11“This is how your king will treat you,” Samuel
explained. “He will make soldiers of your sons; some of them will serve in his
war chariots, others in his cavalry, and others will run before his chariots.
12He will make some of them officers in charge of a thousand
men, and others in charge of fifty men. Your sons will have to plough his
fields, harvest his crops, and make his weapons and the equipment for his
chariots. 13Your daughters will have to make perfumes for him and
work as his cooks and his bakers. 14He will take your best fields,
vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials. 15He
will take a tenth of your corn and of your grapes for his court officers and
other officials.
16He will take your servants and your best cattleq
and donkeys, and make them work for him. 17He will take a tenth of
your flocks. And you yourselves will become his slaves. 18When that
time comes, you will complain bitterly because of your king, whom you
yourselves chose, but the Lord
will not listen to your complaints.”
19 The people paid no attention to
Samuel, but said “No! We want a king, 20so that we will be like
other nations, with our own king to rule us and to lead us out to war and to
fight our battles.”
14And Samuel said to them, “Let us all go to Gilgal and once
more proclaim Saul as our king.” 15So they all went to Gilgal, and
there at the holy place they proclaimed Saul king. They offered fellowship
sacrifices, and Saul and all the people of Israel celebrated the event.
Think
When Israel escaped slavery in Egypt they were led by prophets like Moses,
and then the judges. But they never had
the discipline to keep the rules for freedom that God gave them through Moses.
When Samuel (the prophet / priest / king) is getting older the people ask
for a King to rule over them. Samuel
warns them of the consequences...
Pray
Pray for those in power. Pray for
your country. Pray for people in
positions of leadership.
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