I Samuel 8:7-8
“The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. “Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day–in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods–so they are doing to you also..”
In I Samuel 8, the nation of Israel took a major step towards being like the nations around them. The Israelites had deviated from being faithful to God many times, but with this decision, they formally rejected God as their Ruler. Historians place this event between 1100 and 1000 BC or roughly 350 years after the original making of the covenant. After the deaths of Moses and Joshua, Israel had leaders or judges who did right in the eyes of God. With the beginning of the kings of Israel, the Israelite’s would have very brief periods of “doing what was right” coupled with overall spiritual harlotry. The spiritual harlotry would continue unabated until God formally divorced Israel, sending Israel and Judah into captivity, at the hand of the Assyrians and Babylonians.
It is clear from Genesis 17:6 and Deuteronomy 17:14-20 that God anticipated Israel would want human kings to rule over them. Having a king was not the real issue, because God had already planned for Israel to have kings. God, actually, laid down instructions as to how the leader should conduct himself in office, long before Israel demanded human kings to rule over them. Those instruction were designed to ensure that the king did not elevate himself above the people and rule as a despot. Instead, the king was to be thoroughly familiar with and guided by the attitudes and laws of God. The king was required to know that his own nature was just like those he served and he was to be humble.
The significance of Israel’s demand in I Samuel 8 is that Israel desired a king, like the other nations. Spiritually, their demand confirmed whorish desires, and God told Samuel to describe the national effects of their demand. The Israelite’s completely rejected their vows. The issue between God and Israel is the same issue that it is between God and mankind; sovereignty. As the Bible has recorded in great detail, mankind has shown that it wants to retain this authority to itself. Entrance into the spiritual Kingdom of God requires that we are submissive to God’s will and not our own will.
