1 Samuel - Odessa, Missouri Community of Christ

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34 Dr. Constable's Notes on 1 Samuel 2007 Editionthe irony was that such a ruler was precisely the man whom Israelrejected, as chapter 8 will show. Political unrest may mirror inadequate oroppressive leadership; on the other hand, it may well demonstrate the fatalflaws in human nature. Exactly the same may be true of unrest within anyhuman community, including a local congregation." 98Samuel's personal faithfulness to God qualified him for spiritual leadership and resultedin God blessing Israel. He was God's man calling the people back to faithful obedience toHis will so they could experience His blessing.B. KINGSHIP GIVEN TO SAUL CHS. 8—12"Clearly these five chapters constitute a literary unit, for they areimmediately preceded by the formula that marks the end of the story of ajudge (7:13-17) and immediately followed by the formula that marks thebeginning of the account of a reign (13:1; . . .). The divisions of the unit. . . alternate between negative and positive attitudes toward monarchy(not as contradictory but as complementary): 8:1-22, negative; 9:1—10:16, positive; 10:17-27, negative; 11:1-11, positive; 11:12—12:25,negative . . ." 99In this section and the next (chs. 13—15) the writer skillfully contrasted the blessing thatcomes as a result of obeying God's will with the cursing that comes from disobedience.Chapters 8—12 are generally positive and record Saul's successes. The section opens andcloses with Samuel giving a warning to the Israelites.1. The demand for a king ch. 8The occasion for requesting a king 8:1-3The people would probably not have pressed for a king at this time had Samuel's sonsproved as faithful to the Mosaic Covenant as their father had been. However, Joel("Yahweh is God") and Abijah ("My [divine] Father is Yahweh") disqualified themselvesfrom leadership in Israel by disobeying the Law (Exod. 23:6, 8; Deut. 16:19). Eli's sonshad done the same thing. Parental influence is significant, but personal choices are evenmore so in determining the outcome of one's life.The reason for requesting a king 8:4-9God had made provision for kings to rule His people in the Mosaic Law (Deut. 17:14-20;cf. Gen. 1:26-28; 17:6, 16; 35:11; 49:10). The request in itself was not what displeasedSamuel and God. It was the reason they wanted a king that was bad. On the one hand itexpressed dissatisfaction with God's present method of providing leadership through98 Payne, p. 39.99 Youngblood, p. 611.
2007 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on 1 Samuel 35judges (v. 7). On the other it verbalized a desire to be "like all the nations" (v. 5). 100 God'spurpose for Israel was that it be different from the nations, superior to them, and a lessonfor them (Exod. 19:5-6). The Israelites had requested a different form of governmentduring Gideon's judgeship (Judg. 8:22-23), so this was not the first time the people hadvoiced this desire. God saw this demand as one more instance of apostasy that hadmarked the Israelites since the Exodus. He acceded to their request as He had done manytimes before—by providing manna, quail, and water in the wilderness, for example.However, He mixed judgment with His grace. 101God purposed to bless all other nations through His theocratic reign over Israel. This wasa rule that God chose to administer mediatorially, through divinely chosen individualswho spoke and acted for God in governing functions and who were personallyresponsible to Him for what they did. These vice-regents were people like Moses, Joshua,the judges (including Samuel), and the kings, but God remained the real sovereign downto the end of this kingdom in history (1 Chron. 29:25). The Shekinah cloud visiblyrepresented God's presence as the divine ruler. This glorious cloud entered and filled thetabernacle at the inception of the kingdom (Exod. 40:34-38). It led the nation into thePromised Land and stood over Solomon's temple (2 Chron. 7:1-2). Finally it departedfrom Jerusalem spectacularly as the kingdom ended at the Babylonian captivity, whengovernmental sovereignty passed from Israel to the Gentiles (Ezek. 11:23; Dan. 2:31-38).God will restore this mediatorial kingdom to Israel when Jesus Christ returns to earth inpower and great glory. He will then (at His second coming) serve as God's vice-regentand reign over all the nations as the perfect mediatorial king (Mic. 4:1-8). This earthlykingdom is different from God's heavenly kingdom, over which He reigns directly fromheaven. This heavenly kingdom includes all objects, persons, events, activities, naturalphenomena, and history (Ps. 103:19; Dan. 4:17). The earthly kingdom is a part of thislarger universal kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:24)."The rejection of Samuel was the rejection of godly leadership; the choiceof Saul was the choice of ungodly leadership. In many ways Saul was thefoil for the godly David, just as the sons of Eli were a foil for Samuel." 102Samuel experienced rejection by the people he led just as Moses, Jesus Christ, and somany of God's faithful servants have throughout history (cf. Luke 19:14). 103100 Wood, pp. 21-76, provided helpful background material on Israel's fear of enemies, her developingdesire for monarchy and rejection of pure theocracy, the political and ideological world of Samuel's day,and the Israelite elders' request for a king. He reviewed the types of kingship that existed in the ancientNear East at this time, what the Israelites wanted and did not want, and what they got.101 See J. Barton Payne, "Saul and the Changing Will of God," Bibliotheca Sacra 129:516 (October-December 1972):321-25; J. Carl Laney, First and Second Samuel, pp. 36-37; and Gordon, p. 109.102 Heater, p. 139.103 Scott L. Harris, "1 Samuel VIII 7-8," Vetus Testamentum 31:1 (January 1981):79-80, suggested that theend of verse 8 should read, ". . . so they are also making a king." Even though this translation minimizeswhat seems to some to be a contradiction between verses 7 and 8, it requires tampering with the text.
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