A King for Israel?

[00:00:09] Our Heavenly Father, we pray to you now and we ask for your blessing as we come to the reading and preaching of your word. You have revealed yourself to be mighty and glorious in the vision that you gave to the Apostle John. [00:00:25] You appear to him as one who is seated on a throne, having the appearance of Jasper and carnelian, surrounded by a throne. Surrounding your throne, a rainbow, beautiful and strong, with the 24 elders bowing down before you in all of your power and all of your glory. [00:00:47] You have in the midst of your throne the Lamb of God, our Savior, through whom we are able to come before you and bow before you and join with him in victory over sin and death and the devil. We ask that you would give us confidence in him and in his work. [00:01:09] To whom the angels sing. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. Give us insight and growth and healing and power through your word. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. [00:01:31] Please remain standing. As we turn to First Samuel, chapter eight. [00:01:43] I'm noticing we've got kind of a flashing light there. I wonder if someone who knows something about the lights might be able to help us work on that a little bit. [00:01:54] First Samuel 8. [00:01:59] As I mentioned last time, we came to the end of what you might call, some commentators call the first act, chapters one through seven of Samuel. And we enter into a new phase in this great history. [00:02:16] And now we find Samuel old. Things have changed and are about to change in some big ways. [00:02:27] Let's give our attention to God's word. First Samuel, chapter 8. [00:02:33] When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. [00:02:38] The name of his firstborn was Joel, the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. Yet his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. [00:03:10] But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them according to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods. So they are also doing to you now. Then obey their voice only. You shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. [00:03:47] So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, these will be the ways of the king who will reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. [00:04:06] And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of 50s and some to plow his ground and. And some to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the 10th of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves. But the Lord will not answer you in that day. [00:04:55] But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, no, but there shall be a king over us that we may also be like all the nations, and that our judge may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. [00:05:10] And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, obey their voice and make them a king. Samuel then said to the men of Israel, go every man to his city. [00:05:25] May God bless his word to us. Please be seated. [00:05:56] Some of you have reached or are about to reach a certain age where people come to you at work and say, hey, I wonder if you could help us find the next guy. And you go, what? [00:06:13] You can see why Samuel might have felt rejected, right? [00:06:17] He was old. He was told Samuel became old. He had appointed others to work, his sons in particular, who we are told are not doing a good job. [00:06:32] The elders, right? The leaders of all of the tribes of Israel come together for a meeting, and they meet with Samuel. And they use this word, behold, which is a way of sort of saying, like, you need to see this thing that's in front of you. You might be surprised by this, but perhaps you shouldn't be. You are old and your sons are not following in your ways. We Want a change, and they ask for a change. And they ask in particular for him to appoint a king. [00:07:08] You can see why then it would be easy to see this and this whole thing as a rejection of Samuel because of all of these things and our experiences in our lives. But the Lord corrects that, and he says, that's not what's going on here. And they're not rejecting you as much as they are rejecting me. [00:07:32] There's something deeper going on here, even a pattern of rejection. [00:07:38] Notice how the Lord puts it in verse eight, according to all the deeds that they've done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, which is to say a day of salvation, a day of redemption, a day of exodus and movement to the promised land, which they are now in to this day. [00:07:57] What has Israel done? [00:08:00] Israel and her leaders forsaking me and serving other gods. So they are also doing to you. [00:08:12] So this is what is the fundamental problem. The Lord tells us the fundamental problem here is a rejection of him and his rule, his domain, his kingship over Israel. [00:08:28] The Lord allows it. However, there's different reasons that the Lord allows it. [00:08:34] One is the Lord is not opposed and does frequently let us have what we want when we sin. Getting what we want is often one of those. We talked about this a few weeks ago. Natural. I'm putting in quotes. Natural consequences. [00:08:52] One of the ways that the Lord works in disciplining us and helping us to see the errors that we make. [00:08:59] There's something else going on though, as well, and that's that wanting a king in Israel was not necessarily a bad thing. The Lord, even back in Deuteronomy, had said that there would be a king in Israel and had given descriptions for it and how the kingship should be run. It would be what we might call a constitutional monarchy. It's not whatever the. Goes. Whatever the. Whatever the king says is the way it goes. But he serves as an under king, an under shepherd of the Lord, obedient to the covenant that God had made, the rules that God had made. One way that this was emphasized, as described in Deuteronomy, is that the king was to copy out for him himself, by himself, God's law. [00:09:51] He was to copy this out so that it might. So he might learn it, know it, so that it might be impressed upon him. He was called to govern not according just to his own ways, his own decisions, but according to God and the covenant that he had made with Israel. Now, this was different than other kings because Israel was different than other Nations. Israel was intentionally a theocracy, a carefully covenanted, organized nation under the authority of God. [00:10:24] Now all nations, as we Read in Psalm 67, are under the authority of God. There's nothing in creation, in heaven, on earth, visible or invisible, that isn't under God's rule. But God established a special government, a special government in Israel, didn't he? He gave them special promises, special commands, distinct institutions, leadership, priesthood, and a king as well. Israel was distinct from the common kingdoms of this world. And there were signs and all kinds of things pointing toward that. And for that reason, the king had to be devoted to the covenant that God had made with them and the laws of that covenant in very particular and special ways. This was God's design. [00:11:17] So all that to say Israel was not the thing that they were asking for was not exactly wrong. It's not exactly bad. [00:11:27] The problem was their reason for asking for it and what they were expecting out of this king. And we know it. One, because God says, they rejected me. Which they wouldn't be doing if they were saying, Lord, in Deuteronomy 17, you told us that this would happen, and here's how we do it. How can we get to work? Right? That's not what they're saying. They're rejecting him and his kingship because they want to have a king like the other nations. [00:11:58] They don't want to be special and unique. They don't want to live under the covenant and under the rule of God. They want a different kind of king, a different kind of way. [00:12:11] And this is common in their behavior, as the Lord says, not just in this moment. All along, they've been rejecting his prophets, his servants, his judges, His Word. They've been serving other gods, going after other ceremonies and sacrifices, and all kinds of things, both not doing what he's commanded and doing those things he has forbidden. [00:12:40] If you put it in that sort of simple way, not doing what God has commanded and doing the things he forbids. You might say that sounds kind of like my problem and all our problems. This is not something that's distinct to Israel. This is a problem in human beings, in mankind that is fallen. It's a problem in ourselves. It's a problem in our leaders. It's a problem everywhere. [00:13:11] The fundamental problem here in Israel is a problem that we all share. [00:13:16] A rejection of God and a rejection of the things that he promises to us, especially in his kingdom, which Israel was a type and a shadow of something that was much, much bigger. [00:13:33] How big. We could call it new creation. [00:13:38] The things that are promised in revelation. The things that are so expansive, you could call them cosmic in proportions, touching on both the spiritual and the material realms in such a way that we often way, way, way underestimate the kind of kingdom that Israel pointed forward to. [00:14:09] You could think of it a number of ways. You know, Israel, the way that Israel and God working in Israel pointed to a defense from enemies, for example, particularly the Philistines who were attacking them in these moments and in these times. This was representative of something so much bigger that God would accomplish and has accomplished in Christ. A kingdom in which we are freed not just from this or that enemy, or this or that nation, but completely and entirely and forever protected from all enemies, including Satan himself. Thrown ultimately into the lake of fire, the evil ones and all who would be with him forever banished and put under God's wrath, never to torment again. [00:15:02] In Israel, we have these pictures of blessing based upon their righteousness, all temporal and picturing and models of these things. But what is the picture? It's like Eden, you know, Land flowing of milk and honey. Not just protection from enemies, but joy within, peace between bro. Prosperity everywhere within the land. A picture of the new heavens and the new earth that Christ would eventually gain for us. The new heavens and the new earth. This kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God as Jesus talks about it in the Gospels, right. A kingdom in which there is no suffering, in which there are eternal pleasures at God's right hand. Not just a fig tree, not just a nice. A few extra sheep that year, but everything that you could ever need for all eternity, perfectly filling you, perfectly meeting your needs. [00:16:08] The beauty of this place as well, the beauty that is described of the Lord who reigns in the heavenly places, of the fellowship and unity of all of the creatures in heaven, of the places of the streets of the city. As we read these descriptions in Revelation, our jaws drop. [00:16:31] We say, that's a kingdom I want to be a part of. A kingdom that is perfect, a kingdom that is eternal. Again, pictured here in this sort of temporary earthly way. But it helps us to understand the things that God was doing and the things that he would do, these greater things to come. [00:16:53] Sadly, just as Israel rejected God and his kingdom, here in this moment, in this way that pointed forward to the future, they also, in rejecting God, rejected that future as well. At least some of them did. And many people still do that today, which is why this is still very applicable. [00:17:19] Sure, we are not members of the theocracy. That time has come to an end. We God is not trying to establish his kingdom in Israel in this special way, because Christ has come and fulfilled these things. But that doesn't mean that the rejection is still not happening. It happens all the time. [00:17:43] It happens all the time. [00:17:46] We reject God's rule, His laws, his commandments. We reject God's dominion, His authority, which expands over everything. We reject his preeminence as worthy of worship and honor and glory above all creatures, all societies, all governments. We even reject to our own hurt. [00:18:10] Not that the others aren't to our own hurt, but this one as well. His privileges and the peace and the joy and the fruits that come from belonging to the kingdom of God. [00:18:23] The kingdom of God is beautiful and peaceful and perfect and permanent. [00:18:31] That's what they were rejecting when they wanted the kingdoms of this world, kingdoms in which were based not on complete and entire dependence on God, but a certain amount of independence for me, maintaining a little bit of my freedom my way. [00:18:56] Think about the relationship that God describes with the king, the warning that Samuel gives. [00:19:04] What does he say? [00:19:06] It's kind of an exchange, you might put it that way. That's the relationship with the king that he describes here. An exchange, not entirely free exchange, right? The king takes these things for himself, but it is an exchange in which I give my flocks, my servants, my sons, my wealth, extra taxes, even beyond those that were required in the tithe, right? Extra taxes. I give them to the king. And then what does he do? He does a few things. One, he builds his house, his household, his servants, his vineyards, his strength, his power, his chariots. So basically my wealth and my household's wealth goes to him so that he can be wealthy, he can be strong, he can be powerful. [00:20:00] That's one of the things that I get. I get a strong king, if we could put it that way, I get a wealthy king, I get a king who has more than me, potentially. [00:20:13] The other thing I can get, I get, which they describe, is a king who can go out before them in battle, a king who can lead them, who will appoint commanders of thousands and of 50s commanders to rule, who will go out and exercise and win these battles. [00:20:38] There's a few different problems with this thing that they want. [00:20:45] One of the fundamental problems of this exchange is that one is that the king, human kings are always failing. [00:21:00] You might imagine the best possible scenario, right? I give my flocks, I give my wealth, the king gets really strong and then he protects me. Great, that's good, right? But as we look in the history of Israel, as we look at the history of the nations of the world, what do we see of all but one? And I'll let you think about who that one might be. All but one human king. [00:21:22] They all fail. [00:21:24] They all take too much. They take. They don't do a good job at protecting. They fail in various ways. And sometimes they don't just do kind of a bad job. [00:21:36] They intentionally hurt the people that they're called to protect. And Israel had some of these as well. They lead them astray. They, like Samuel's sons, take bribes, they pervert justice. And why, why did Samuel's sons do it? For gain is what the Scripture says, which is a way in which Samuel's sons rejected the gifts of the kingdom of God for the gain of this world. They said, I don't want the kingdom of God. I don't want those things. I want stuff. [00:22:11] I want power, I want honor, I want respect, I want flocks, I want money, better food, whatever, right? I want gain in this world, right here, right now. So instead of putting my faith in the kingdom of God, I'm going to do what I need to get here and now. So that's one problem that we have with this arrangement, is that the kings are subject to corruption. Not just subject to corruption. They are corrupt because we're all corrupt born fundamentally with not just the ability to sin, but sinfulness in us that produces sin. That's a problem. [00:22:54] The other problem is, of course, the subjects, the people. [00:22:58] The people who don't give what they're supposed to do, don't follow how they're supposed to follow. [00:23:04] And there's this exchange in which it's, you hope that, okay, if it all works out and everybody does what they're supposed to do, maybe things will go well. But it never goes well because of this fundamental problem of corruption inside of us. Now, of course, there's sometimes that it goes better than other times, as we'll see. David is a great king, but not without failure. [00:23:32] Solomon, after him, his son, is a great king and rules well over Israel, but not without failure. [00:23:39] There is this problem of sonship in which the sinfulness of the fathers, like we see with Samuel, keeps getting passed on to these sons that are supposed to rule and maintain justice and rule under the authority of God. [00:24:00] Well, this problem and this corruption, which is sort of a fundamental problem and also creates problems as well, is a problem that God solves, which is why rejecting him is a bad idea. [00:24:17] God solves it by establishing a king, eventually by establishing a king without corruption. [00:24:30] That's an amazing thing. [00:24:32] In Revelation, this king, king Jesus, is Called, very interestingly, the root of David. [00:24:42] He's also described in the scripture as the branch of David, right? A branch makes sense in terms of imageries, of sonship, right? You have the trunk and then like a family tree, right? And then a branch comes out from that trunk. And that's true of Jesus. He is the Son of David. This is traced in his genealogy and known in other ways. A fulfillment of prophecy. [00:25:05] But the Scriptures also tell us that he is the root of David. [00:25:10] Well, how can the David come from his Son? [00:25:15] How can a father come from a son? What happens when the Son of David is also the Son of God? [00:25:27] And this is also how Jesus could be a king without corruption, a king who could rule, a human king who could rule perfectly over his people and over his humanity and establish a kingdom under the authority of God that is permanent and perfect and forever. [00:25:53] There are these two different paths then, that we have to choose from when we consider ourselves in relationship to God and to his king. [00:26:03] We can choose to receive all that he gives to us, receive this beautiful, wonderful, perfect kingdom that he establishes for us through his grace. [00:26:16] Or we can reject it. [00:26:21] And when we reject it, we reject all those things that we say we want. [00:26:27] Freedom, protection, beauty, holiness, glory, wealth, name it. [00:26:37] And that's what we reject. All the good things of God, all the power of God, the glory of God. When we reject him, we don't get like a nice enough substitute. [00:26:49] When we reject the Lord, we come under his judgment. [00:26:54] We come under his wrath. [00:26:56] We find punishment and death and all kinds of terrors. [00:27:03] Now, why do people reject the kingdom of God? Why do they want the things of this world instead of the things of God? [00:27:11] Well, we can examine our own hearts and answer some of those questions. [00:27:16] Let me name a few. [00:27:19] One is that we're blind. [00:27:22] We're just so blind. Some people are so blind that they just simply do not see. [00:27:30] Their own rebellion, their own sin has so calcified their hearts, has so covered up their minds and their ears, that when they hear clear invitations, clear promises of the hopes that we have in Christ, they just don't believe it. [00:27:49] Jesus talks about this, right? Sending out invitations to the wedding. And people are like, I'm busy. I got things to do. I don't want to go. All kinds of things. It's just blindness. [00:28:00] But it's a little more than blindness. [00:28:03] It's a rebellious blindness. It's not just, I can't, I couldn't see. It's actively fighting against God. And in that of becoming and having blindness, some of you, I hope none of you. But some people will all say, and you can examine your own hearts on this. Live in open, dangerous rebellion against the Lord. [00:28:32] Some people have made their decision to say, I just do not want to follow him. I reject him. I reject the Christ. I reject the kingdom. I reject the hope. I reject the forgiveness. I want things in my own way. I want the things of this world more than I want the kingdom of heaven. [00:28:55] And all I can say to you is that you will suffer greatly because of it. You will suffer now and in the life to come, forever under the wrath of God. [00:29:07] Do not go that way. Do not let your hearts become so hard that you are unable to hear of the good promises of God, the call to you to repent of your sins, to put your trust in him and to believe in Him. [00:29:26] Do not be blind when there is light shining on you, when you are hearing, even this morning the promises of hope. [00:29:38] Because here's the promise of hope. And maybe I'll connect that with this second thing. [00:29:45] Another reason people reject the kingdom of God is because they're waiting to become worthy. [00:29:56] Maybe they see. Maybe you see a certain blindness in your eyes and a hardness in your heart. And you say, okay, once I get this fixed, then I'll go to the Lord and I'll submit myself to Him. [00:30:12] Here's the problem with that. [00:30:14] It doesn't work like that. [00:30:17] You're never going to be worthy enough. [00:30:20] You're never going to get it fixed enough. If you feel like I've been trying and I'm having a hard time. Yeah, and you're going to keep having a hard time. [00:30:29] There's no point in this life where you're going to get your life finally in order, where you feel like you can go present yourself before the God who is surrounded by a rainbow and thousands and hundreds of thousands, millions of angels worshiping him in all of his glory and say, oh, Lord, I did it. There's no point in which you are going to find in yourself that so much perfection and holiness and godliness where you can go before the Lord confidently and say, all right, give me my reward. [00:31:06] It's not going to happen and you know it. [00:31:11] You will never be worthy enough. That's the first problem. The second problem is that God is not expecting you to be worthy enough. This is not the way that he has provided. [00:31:23] The kings of this world say, give me your stuff and I will do this thing for you when it works out at its best. [00:31:37] That's not what Jesus says, but he says It's a fundamentally different thing. And he says, basically, give me your death and I will give you your life. My life. [00:31:52] We don't give Jesus, you know, 10 extra sheep and a little extra money and, you know, five more good deeds. [00:32:02] We give him all of our unrighteousness, we give him our failures, we give him our dying, and we say, I have nothing. [00:32:15] I need everything from you. [00:32:19] You could put it another way and say, we don't just give them a piece of our lives, we give them all of our lives. But not as an exchange, not as a fair exchange in which we say, here's all my good stuff, now you give me your good stuff. [00:32:34] No, we give him, as I said, are deaths. In a way. [00:32:40] We give him our sin, and he gives us his righteousness. That's a fundamentally different way of receiving a kingdom and a king, isn't it? It's a very different way. And that's why, if you're waiting around to be worthy, it's not going to work. Because that's not how the kingdom of God is received. [00:33:02] The kingdom of God is received when we act like those who acted in the gospel, who just cry out from the side of the road and say, lord, please heal me. Have mercy on me. [00:33:16] And the thing is, that's what he does throughout the Gospels. He says, the kingdom of God is at hand. Be healed, be forgiven, be released of the demon, the man who is possessed by the legion of demons. [00:33:36] He didn't start, like, reading his Bible a lot and then go before Jesus and say, there, I'm living well now. Will you help me? [00:33:45] Jesus just pitied him. [00:33:48] The man who was let down through the roof, you know, by his friends. He just dropped there in front of Jesus. And not only were his limbs healed, his sins were forgiven. [00:34:01] There are so many other examples. [00:34:05] God gives to us a kingdom that we could never earn. [00:34:10] And that's why we call it a kingdom of grace. In addition to a kingdom of glory. It's a kingdom that is a gift which is really hard to comprehend when you think about how awesome the kingdom of God is. How could something so wonderful be achieved with nothing on our parts? [00:34:34] How can something so wonderful be achieved? [00:34:38] And how could we receive something without earning it or doing a certain number of things? [00:34:45] Well, it can be achieved in such a great way by such a great God. [00:34:51] Jesus gave his life in payment for our sins. Jesus took care of the problem of sin and death and rebellion and demons and all the rest by enduring the wrath of God that we deserve. For us, it Makes God sound very loving, doesn't it? [00:35:18] And that's because he is. It's hard to believe. I know it's hard to believe that he could be that gracious, that loving, that good, that he could give something so wonderful so freely. But that's what he does. That's who he is. And if you have any doubts about it, you have a whole Bible to read to see it happening over and over and over again. [00:35:48] You see here in First Samuel, God gives them this king, despite their bad motivations, despite. Despite their bad intentions, despite their rejection of him. [00:36:00] And he turns all of that and uses it to eventually bring forth David and the son of David and the root of David, who will save us all and establish a kingdom that is forever. A kingdom that's perfect. A kingdom that's perfect. A king Jesus that does not rule like the kings of this world, who sets us free from every disease, in our resurrections, every sin, every trouble, every trial and wipes every tear from our eyes. [00:36:37] Do not reject that king, but hold fast to him, trust him and believe him when he says, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [00:36:55] Let's pray. [00:37:02] Our Heavenly Father, how our hearts hurt us so much when we consider the double mindedness in ourselves, when we consider the ways in which in our lives we reject you functionally and practically from day to day. So many ways in which we don't enjoy your privileges, in which we don't obey your laws, in which we unclamor after the things of this world and are anxious about this and that thing. [00:37:30] When we have. When we have you, Lord, help us hear the warning that Samuel gives and seek to have your king over us indeed, but a king of your own choosing. [00:37:52] And of course the one true and final king of the people of God, Jesus, our Savior and our Lord, as our Lord, who is so perfect and wonderful and glorious, who has given us everything so freely, we are happy to belong to you, to be slaves of you, to be children of you, to be your bride, to be your house, to be your temple in which you dwell. [00:38:25] Lord, we ask that you would strengthen us in who we are, in this new life that we have. [00:38:32] As those who are no longer bound to a dominion of darkness, enslaved under the fear of death and the lies and murder of the devil, but who have been set free to live in peace and righteousness and holiness before you. [00:38:52] Lord, we thank you for your goodness to us. We praise you for the glories of your kingdom and that this has come to us in such a gracious way. [00:39:03] Lord, for those who may be here this morning or who are in our families and are in our neighborhoods, who do not yet belong to the Kingdom of God, to the kingdom of Heaven, we ask that you would move in their hearts that you would, as you have, that you would remove the blindness from their eyes, that you would cause them to raise from death to life, that they might worship you and praise you as the savior of mankind. [00:39:38] Lord, for those of us who are waiting to come to you, hoping that somehow we will gain a righteousness that we can be proud of, we ask that you would destroy that pride, that you would break it down. Though it be painful in our lives, Lord, we ask that you would help us to learn that there is no hope in ourselves, but only in you. [00:40:05] In this way, Lord, we ask that you would help us to accept you and hold you and submit to you and enjoy you as our king. [00:40:14] Not through our righteousness, but through faith in you. [00:40:19] Lord, we ask that you would strengthen us in all of these things and help us to learn and to grow of your goodness, of your wisdom, of your justice, of your fairness. Help us to learn and to grow in your holiness and in the beauty and splendor of it. [00:40:37] We pray this all in Jesus name, Amen.