Lesson 1 – Israel Demands a King
For a small-group leader or a student who wants to check their answers.
Our study begins at a critical pivot point in the life of ancient Israel. The people had grown weary of their government structure. Judges and prophets didn’t offer the same kind of continuity that they desired. So they came to Samuel with a new demand.
“Give us a king!”
1In making this new demand the people of Israel expressed a desire to more closely align to the nations around them. Kings were the common form of national structure and the people were tired of being different. They were also unhappy with their current leaders. Samuel was God’s choice and that was ok. But his sons were wicked and corrupt leaders. What good was a leadership model that only lasted for one generation?
2Samuel was a prophet, selected by God to speak to the people of Israel. Because of God’s evident hand on his life, Samuel was also considered a judge – a God-appointed leader who provided for a period of instruction and guidance for the nation. Samuel was selected by God as a small child when he lived with Eli the priest and helped out with the worship of God in the tabernacle.
3Samuel had been around the people and their kingdom neighbors to know the deeper impact of the ask for a king. At some level it was a repudiation of his own leadership, and judgment on his family. God had used Judges to lead His people for 400 years. Having that change in his watch couldn’t have been pleasant.
4God, however, had a different perspective. He did not see this request with human eyes. God saw with spiritual eyes. He knew that ultimately the people of Israel were rejecting Him. He had led them out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. He had sustained them in the wilderness for 40 years. He had set them apart from all other nations through His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had given them His law through Moses, and the people had agreed to follow Him. The people were trading in an invisible God for a visible king.
Despite the gravity of the request, God told Samuel to let it happen. Sovereignly this would not hurt any of God’s plans, even though it was a lesser form of government than direct divine rule.
5God knew how the king program would play out. He knew that the king would take the best of their sons and daughters to serve him and fight for him. He would levy taxes and compel the people to pay part of their wealth and property to finance his royal household in appropriate opulence. The people would gain a king but they would give up much of their freedom to do so. Ultimately it would lead to their tears.
6It’s clear that God did not think this was a good long term solution. In the moment it’s what the people said they wanted. But they weren’t thinking of the cost that they would ultimately pay. And God promised that when the burden of the king grew heavy, He would not rescue them from this oppression like He did from the foreign oppressors. They would be stuck with what they got.
7Samuel shared all these details with the people. But he could not persuade them that it was a bad idea. The people maintained their demand that he give them a king.
It is interesting that the people expected Samuel to provide them with a king. They did not go off on their own to make a king. They wanted the last Judge and prophet to officially endorse the king and pass on the mantle of his authority to the new king.
8Samuel seemed genuinely distressed by this turn of events. But God told him to give them what they wanted. So Samuel agreed and sent the people away while he started the process of selecting and installing a king.
10The first man that God picked to become king was a man of the tribe of Benjamin. Saul, the son of Kish, was a handsome and tall man. In other words, he looked the part of a king. He came from a well-to-do family mad seemed to have a lot going for him externally
11We first meet Saul out and about looking for some lost donkeys. They must have wandered off from the main herd and he was sent to find them and bring them back. It seems that he did not have a very good idea where to search because he was out for a long time looking for the donkeys with no success.
12Finally, Saul realize he had been gone so long his family might be worried about him. Saul’s servant suggested that they stop by and talk to Samuel, the man of God to see if he had any guidance. He lived nearby and that might help them find the donkeys and not return home empty handed.
13Samuel was ready for Saul when he arrived. God had told him about the visit from a young man of Benjamin. When Saul arrived, God told Samuel this was the man he should anoint as king.
14Samuel anointed Saul with oil, confirming his selection as God’s choice to be king. At first Saul was hesitant to accept the news that he would become king. It was too far outside his own expectations. Samuel established his authority by answering questions Saul hadn’t even asked. Samuel told him that the donkeys had been found and Saul’s family was getting concerned about him. Knowledge of Saul’s mission and its true status demonstrated to Saul that what Samuel said was from God. Then Samuel told him about the experiences he would have as he returned home none of the events would have been considered normal. So that made the prophecy even more powerful.
Of course, Saul’s journey home unfolded exactly how Samuel said it would. Unlikely event after unlikely event happened and Saul had to know that if God spoke through Samuel about these experiences then He also spoke true about becoming king.
15Despite these assurances, when Samuel called the people together to select the king by lots, Saul wasn’t in the crowd. After the process narrows the search to his tribe and family, Saul was nowhere to be found. When his name was drawn, the people looked for him and found him hiding among the baggage.
Saul knew that he would be selected, but clearly wasn’t excited about the prospect of becoming king. While the people shouted, “Long live the king!” Others were less than impressed at his first impression.
Samuel gave everyone instructions about the role of the king and then sent everyone home. Saul also went home. We do not see anything about his royal actions until the next session.