Israel’s First King

I Samuel 9:15-21; 10:25-27; 11:12-15

GOLDEN TEXT: “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”—I Peter 2:17

THAT period in Israel’s history when the nation was ruled by the judges came to an end in the days of the Prophet Samuel. It began following the leadership of Joshua.

The Prophet Samuel was a judge in Israel. He was in fact, the last of the judges whose authority was respected by the people. When he was stricken with age, he appointed his sons to be his successors but unlike their father, they did not rule in righteousness. They permitted their judgments to be influenced by bribes, being more, interested in obtaining lucre than they were in administering justice to the people.

The Israelites, as could be expected, rebelled against such perverting of judgment and complained to Samuel. At the same time they took the opportunity of demanding that a change be made in their form of government; that they be given a king to rule over them in order that they might be like other nations. This was a blow to Samuel, partly, no doubt, because he realized that the wickedness of his own sons had given the people the justification they wanted to ask for the change, and partly because he realized that they were asking for something that would not prove to be for their best interests. And in asking for this change they were, in a sense, rejecting him as well as God’s arrangements.

The Lord comforted Samuel in this crisis by explaining that the people, in asking for a king, were rejecting Him as ruler over them, that it was not merely a rejection of him as prophet. God then suggested to Samuel that he accede to the wishes of the people, but, first of all, to solemnly warn them of the dire consequences of such a change. Samuel sounded the warning (I Sam. 8:11-18) but the people still insisted that they desired a king, so the Lord said to Samuel, “Hearken unto their voice and make them a king.”—I Sam. 8:22

While the Israelites had rejected the Lord’s arrangements, yet He was gracious unto them and took a hand in the selection of Saul, their first King. In fact, He co-operated with Israel throughout the entire period of kings by having His prophets anoint their rulers as His representatives. Because of this, Israel’s kings were said to “sit upon the throne of the Lord.”—I Chron. 29:23

The Lord has also used the kingdom form of government in Israel as an illustration of Christ’s Kingdom. Jesus is to be the “King of kings” and the members of the true church in glory are to reign with Him as kings. Thus He has used that which He did not directly initiate as an illustration to further enrich our understanding of all that is involved in our hope of partnership with His Son in the Millennial age work If faithful, we will reign with Him as priests, judges, prophets, and kings.

In the case of Saul, the Lord not only arranged to have Samuel anoint him, but also providentially directed in his selection. Asses belonging to Saul’s father, Kish, were lost. Saul and a servant were sent to search for them. The search failed to locate the lost asses but through the suggestion of the servant, Saul went to the home city of Samuel to seek out the prophet and obtain information as to the whereabouts of the lost possession of his father.

Meanwhile, the Lord told Samuel to be on the lookout for Saul, explaining that he was one chosen to be Israel’s first king. There can be no doubt of the Lord’s overruling providence in connection with the loss of the asses. What a valuable lesson this is for the Lord’s people today! We do not always know why certain experiences are permitted to come into our lives but we can be sure that there is a divine providence directing the outcome, and that no matter how hard the trials may be they will lead us to kingship with Jesus if we are rightly exercised.

Samuel anointed Saul to be king and, eventually, presented him to the people as the Lord’s choice. Seeing how Saul towered in stature above his brethren and how goodly he was to look upon, and having had their wishes thus granted, the people’s response was both hearty and enthusiastic. They shouted, “God save the king.” (I Sam. 10:24) Samuel then outlined to the people how their new government was to function, and he wrote it down as a permanent record. This was to be their constitution under kingly rulership.

For a time, however, Saul’s authority as king was not universally recognized by the Israelites. There were some who held out against him. It was his brilliant leadership in the defeat of the Ammonites who were besieging Jabesh-gilead that strengthened his position of authority over the people. Following this incident, some of the more enthusiastic suggested to the king that those who previously opposed him should be put to death. But Saul, very wisely, ruled against any such drastic action and by so doing doubtless endeared himself to the Israelites more than had he resorted to the ruthless dictatorship methods of eliminating open and avowed opponents.

At Gilgal the kingdom was firmly established and the Lord was recognized by the offering of a sacrifice to Him. Thus, with the one small nation of Israel, was established the only kingdom of all history that was actually recognized by the Lord as His, and over which He exercised a protectorate, an overruling providence.

QUESTIONS:

Who was the last judge during the period of Israel’s judges?

Explain the manner in which God overruled Israel’s desire for a king?

In what way was the kingdom of Israel different from the “kingdoms of this world”?

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