1 Samuel 8:1-22 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 8:1-22. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 8:1-3 (NIV)
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel.
2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.
3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
On verses 1-3: Samuel was a respected prophet and leader in Israel. He was known for communicating God’s Word to the people and living with integrity. But his sons were corrupt. We don’t know what Samuel’s relationship with his sons was like or what kind of father Samuel was. Based on the information available to us about Samuel and his sons, here are a couple lessons we can learn:
– It’s a sobering thought but it’s true: just because a person walks with God does not mean that their children will automatically follow in their footsteps;
– Every person is accountable to God for their own choices and actions.
1 Samuel 8:4-6 (NIV)
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
On verses 4-6: The people wanted a king just like the nations around them had a king. They also didn’t see Samuel’s sons as fit successors to lead Israel after Samuel. So they demand that Samuel appoint such a king for them. Samuel is hurt and offended by this request. So he takes this request to the Lord and prays about it.
What can we learn from this? When you are hurt or offended by what others do or say, bring the situation to God and ask God to give you the right perspective to see the situation and respond to it.
1 Samuel 8:7-9 (NIV)
7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
On verses 7-9: When Samuel goes to God with his burdensome situation, God speaks to Samuel and gives him another perspective by which to see the situation: it’s not so much that the people are rejecting Samuel as they are rejecting God.
When you experience rejection, remember that to this day no one is rejected on a daily basis more than Jesus. No one’s name is more carelessly and disrespectfully used as a curse word. No one’s commands are more disobeyed than Jesus’. No one’s love is more taken for granted than Jesus’. So when we are rejected, we’re getting a taste of what Jesus experiences every moment of every day. Yet amazingly, despite the rejection he constantly faces, Jesus remains sweet, loving, kind, patient, merciful and compassionate toward people.
1 Samuel 8:10-20 (NIV)
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.
11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
On verses 10-20: In obedience to God’s command, Samuel tells the people what they can expect once they get the king they have asked for. Samuel warns the people that having a human king over them won’t bring them the happiness that they expected but rather the opposite.
What can we learn from this? Sometimes the thing we want is not the thing we really want or really need. Rather than believing that a certain person or thing is the answer to all your problems, realize that no one but God can satisfy the deepest longings in your soul and that He is the only one you can’t live without.
1 Samuel 8:21-22 (NIV)
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.
22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”
On verses 21-22: Samuel was not pleased with the people’s request for a king. God was not pleased either. Yet God let the people have what they wanted, and so did Samuel. Why? One reason is because God respects our freedom to make choices, even if we make the wrong choice. God wants a world where people can freely choose to love Him, choose Him and do good, but a corollary of that is that with that same freedom people can also choose to do evil and reject God. That’s the risk of having freedom: making the wrong choice.
A second possible reason is that God knew that the hearts of the people were so stubborn that they could only learn the hard way. So God lets them learn the hard way. Sometimes the only way a person will learn is the hard way.
Jesus, thank You for every lesson we can learn from Your Word today. Thank You that You are the One I truly need, no one else. I love You, God. Thank You for loving me first. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
