A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

when they would cry out to God because of the king they longed for, but that would happen too
late. But as much as he tried, Samuel could not dissuade the people from their decision. “No, but
we will have a king over us,” they insisted, “that we also may be like all the nations” (vv. 19-20).
God was prepared to meet the people halfway. He would give them a king, but Israel
would never “be like all the nations.” They were unique in that He had formed an eternal
covenant with the nation and its father, Abraham. “Then the Lord said to Samuel, `Heed their
voice, and make them a king.’ And Samuel said to the men of Israel, `Every man go to his city’ “
(v. 22).
THIRTY-FIVE
SAUL:
The Beginning of the Monarchy
(1 Samuel 9:1-16:23)
Israel’s demand for a king so that it might be like the other nations brought the nation
into a new era of its history. Initially, God had governed the nation through the patriarchs or
heads of families. With the Exodus out of Egypt (which became the historic birthday of the
nation), God began using judges to govern the nation. Moses was the first man to hold the office
of a judge; Samuel was the last. Now Israel was moving into an era in which God would lead the
nation through a king.
While some commentators argue Israel should never have had a king and, therefore,
claim the age of the judges should never have ended, the teaching of Scripture suggests
otherwise. It was always in the plan of God to someday govern the nation with a king, but as is
often the case even today, the people ran ahead of God’s plan and demanded a king before God
was ready to give one to them. The people demanded a king ten years before David, God’s
chosen king, had been born.
In blessing his sons, the patriarch Jacob had identified Judah as the tribe, which would
produce the king. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Gen. 49:10). Certain
events which had occurred may have delayed the birth of God’s chosen king. The first of these
was the incestuous relationship Judah engaged in with his daughter-in-law Tamar. Under the
Law, this disqualified any descendant from becoming king until the tenth generation. The fact
that Ruth was a Moabitess explains the importance of “the generations of Perez” (Ruth 4:18-22).
According to this reckoning, David was not only the tenth generation following Judah and
Tamar, it was also at least ten generations from Lot’s incestuous relationship with his daughter
that Ruth was given access into Israel. David was the first one in the line which God could make
king and not compromise His own high standard for that high office.
That David was the intended first king of Israel in the mind of God is emphasized by the
royal genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:1-17). Though several men identified in that genealogy
held the office of the king, only one is so identified—David the king (v. 2). Those who recognize
a special significance in biblical numerology argue that the very order of the genealogy in
Matthew, dividing the list into three groups of fourteen, also serves to emphasize the importance
of David as the king. The Hebrew script for the number fourteen is also the Hebrew spelling of