that Jeremy was able to fit the entire chapter for our reading this morning in the bulletin, which comes from 1 Samuel 8, verses 1-22. When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. His sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. And 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. 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 and 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, or you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. 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'll take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties and some to plow his ground and 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 tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to 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. the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And 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. But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, no, there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, 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. Let's pray Father we do. Thank you for your word It is a compass in this life, and we need to hear from you So we pray your blessing upon the preaching of your word give us ears to hear and Bless us, we pray. Amen. 1 and 2 Samuel is actually one book in the Hebrew Bible. It all goes together, one story. This book of Samuel tells the story of the beginning of Israel's monarchy. After Moses died, Joshua led Israel into the promised land of Canaan. Foreign nations oppressed Israel while they were in Canaan. but God sent judges to deliver them. Judges were essentially military leaders. We think of Samson and Jephthah. And the last of these judges was the man Samuel, for whom this book is named. The book of Samuel begins with Samuel's birth and God's call of Samuel as judge over Israel. However, as we see, the people of Israel wanted more than a judge. They demanded a king. Their hearts were rebellious in this demand as God lays out in this passage. So this chapter teaches us that all who reject Yahweh's kingship will suffer judgment. And we see this in three points from our text. The first, Israel rejects Yahweh as king. It's the first nine verses. Second, Yahweh warns of a tyrant king. Verses 10 through 18. And third, Yahweh grants Israel's request, verses 19 through 22. So let's begin with our first point. Israel rejects Yahweh as king. Samuel was a good man. We see this from the earlier chapters, 1 through 7. They recount Samuel's birth, the Lord's call of him, his leadership in Israel, his victory over the Philistines, And in fact, there's many similarities between Samuel and the prior judge, Samson, and also John the Baptist. All three of these men in scripture were Nazarites. They all had barren mothers that they were born to. Samuel and Samson specifically were both judges that delivered Israel from the Philistines. But we specifically see a connection between Samuel and John the Baptist. Both of these men prepared the way for a king. Samuel for David, and John the Baptist preparing the way, of course, for the Lord Jesus. However, Samuel made a mistake, a serious mistake. As verse one tells us, he made his sons judges over Israel. These two sons, Joel and Abijah, were judges in Beersheba, the southernmost city in Israel. We often hear this phrase, Dan to Beersheba, which refers to all of Israel from north to south. And Samuel's sons, as verse three tells us, did not walk in his ways, Samuel's ways, but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. These were wicked men. Samuel's sons were thus like the sons of Eli. The priest who comes up earlier in the book of Samuel, chapter two, actually recounts the wickedness of Eli's sons. These sons were said to have treated God's offerings with contempt, and they were even having relations with the women who served at the entrance of the tabernacle. So this comparison is being made here in chapter eight with Samuel's sons. In chapter 2, God rejected Eli as judge. God rejects Eli. But here in chapter 8, in contrast, we see that Israel rejects Samuel as judge. Now, Israel had reason to be concerned over Samuel as judge. He showed that he failed as a father. But worse, Samuel exercised poor judgment in appointing rebellious sons to a position of leadership. He made them judges in Israel. So let this be a warning to us all. We must raise our children in the fear of the Lord. Moses commanded this in Deuteronomy 6 and Paul in Ephesians 6. God tells us we are responsible in some sense for how our children turn out. And sadly, this is a theme. These rebellious children is a theme in Samuel. It was the case for Eli, Samuel, and even the great King David. And we don't know exactly how Samuel failed in his parenting. It does not tell us. But this at least lets us know that even the righteous can err in this regard with their children. So let us take heed. But let us also be careful in whom we appoint to positions of leadership. There was no hereditary judgeship in Israel. It was God who appointed the judges. Yet Samuel appointed his sons as judges and we can be sure this was because of familial ties. But family or other connections do not make someone qualified for the job. Whether it be for appointing elders and pastors or hiring someone to take over the We must put qualified people in charge, lest we incite rebellion and discontent." So Samuel should be faulted here. The text makes that clear. However, the text also makes clear that Israel was not without their own sin. In verses 4 and 5, the elders of Israel came to Samuel at his home in Ramah, and they said, You are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. But they didn't stop there. The elder said, now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. The role of judge which God had given Israel was not enough for them. They wanted a king to carry out the role of judge and they wanted this king to make them, to make Israel to be like the nations. We learn more about this request towards the end of the chapter, verses 19 and 20. After Samuel's warning, the people said, no, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and here it is, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. So Israel wanted a king to lead them in battle like all the nations. Of course, the problem with this is that Israel already had a true judge and a true king in Yahweh. The judge Jephthah in Judges 11.27, he described Yahweh as the judge. So though there's human judges in Israel, ultimately God is the judge. And scripture says throughout that it was Yahweh who fought for Israel and gave them victory in battle. That phrase is used throughout the Old Testament, that God fought for Israel. Here's a good example of this, Joshua 10, 42. It says, And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because Yahweh, God of Israel, fought for Israel. Now, to make matters even worse, God had fought for Israel under Samuel's judgeship. If you turn to the prior chapter, chapter 7, For Samuel 7 verse 10 says, as Samuel's offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. So the Philistines are fighting Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion. And they were defeated before Israel. You can go down to verse 13. So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. So we have a situation here where Samuel's actually very successful. His judgeship is a success. And during it, God is delivering his people from the Philistines, from Israel's enemies. But lest we think Israel is just a wicked people unlike us, we Christians can do this too. Wanting to do things the way of the world, instead of God's ways. Whether it be the way we run our families, constant activities for the children, the way we run our businesses, cutting corners for profits, or the way we want to run a church, endless programs and entertainment, which seems to be the way of many churches today, we lack faith in God and His ways. And we may find success in the ways of the world, But we will also reap the consequences that follow. And that's what happens to Israel here in this passage. Israel's request for a king displeased Samuel. It literally says that it was evil in the eyes of Samuel. And so he prays to Yahweh in verse 6. And God instructed Samuel to obey the people. He says, for they have not rejected you, Samuel, but they have rejected me from being king over them. God's words reveal that the primary problem was Israel and not Samuel. God continues, he says, according to all the deeds that they have done from the days I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. All right, Israel is just like the book of Numbers, Exodus with the golden calf, the book of Judges, it's a constant theme in the Old Testament. is that Israel was a rebellious people constantly rejecting Yahweh and constantly serving false gods. Of course, it shows God's grace, His mercy, His patience that He did not just destroy them but continued to show them mercy. But here in our passage, we see that Israel rejected Yahweh by rebelling against Samuel. In our second point, Yahweh warns of a tyrant king. God spoke to Samuel. He said to solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who would reign over them. That's verse 9. So Samuel spoke God's warnings of a king to the people of Israel. We see this in verses 11 through 18, these warnings. It says here that a king will take their things. The word take here is actually used six times in the passage. And even where the word is not used, it's kind of communicating that concept. So let's walk through these, right? Verse 11 says that this king that Israel wants, he's going to take their sons for his army. Verse 12 says that the king will appoint some men as commanders, others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and others to make his weapons and chariots. Verse 13, the king will take their daughters, Israel's daughters, as perfumers and cooks and bakers. Verse 14, the king will take the best of their fields and vineyards and olive orchards for his servants. Verse 15, the king will take a tenth of their grain and vineyards for his officers and servants. Verse 16, he will take Israel's male and female servants, or could be translated slaves, and the best of their young men and donkeys for his work. Verse 17, he'll take a tenth of their flock, and 17, to kind of cap it off as if it wasn't bad enough, and he will take the Israelites as his own, and you shall be his slaves. You will be the slaves of this king. Of course, Yahweh warns that all of this will lead Israel to cry out because of the king, but God will not answer them on that day, as verse 18 says. So the point of this, These harsh warnings is that this king that Israel wants is going to be a tyrant. The king will take everything he wants from Israel including a tenth of their goods. And a tenth is actually mentioned, a tithe, a tenth, same thing. It's used in verses 15 and 17. Referring to a tenth of their grain and vineyards. And 17, a tenth of their flocks. Basically a tenth of their goods, all that they own. This raises a point of application for us today. How much more tyrannical are our rulers who take far more than a tenth of our money? America has an income tax up to 40% in the highest brackets. This is in addition to a 15% payroll tax. which is Social Security, Medicaid, split between employee and employer. And that's just federal. You can add in property taxes. I'm sure you're all familiar with these things. State sales tax, state income tax, excise taxes on things like gas and other fees and taxes, things they don't call taxes, which are really taxes. And many of us pay, it's hard to estimate, but could be paying somewhere around half our income to the government. And I realize many other countries do the same thing, especially in the West. But really, this is a modern anomaly. It's only enabled by the increase in wealth under capitalism. People used to revolt over far lower taxes, including our American forefathers in dealing with Britain. That's how this country was founded. Americans did not like taxes. Yet, in 1913, they instituted a federal income tax. It was not allowed prior to this. And of course, this first income tax was only 1% and only on the rich, and that's probably how it was sold. It won't affect most of us. But like a frog boiling in water, we've slowly let the government heat things up, and now we live in an oppressive situation of taxation. And I know that many of us don't speak like this, but we should. Our government has put itself in the place of God by demanding far more of us than God ever did of his people. We have become slaves to our rulers. God himself says that a 10% tax is oppressive. So this should guide our rulers. This should guide us in how we view government and politics. But sadly, we, even as Christians, often put up with it. We think it's just our duty to pay our taxes and yet we don't criticize it. But the people who tolerate tyranny are often getting what they deserve. And that was the case exactly for Israel here. They requested this tyranny. God said this is what's going to happen and they said bring it on. So this transitions us to our third point from the text. Yahweh grants Israel's request. He gives them what they want. Following God's warnings of this tyrannical king, Israel still insisted on a king. The people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, verse 19. As we've already said, this kind of shocking language, the response, they say, no, right, no. But there will be a king over us that we may be like all the nations and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. Though Yahweh was already judge and king of Israel, And even though God just tells them, this king is going to oppress you and make you kind of miserable, Israel still demanded the king. This is a shocking response. Samuel then goes to Yahweh, he tells him the words of the people, and God says, obey their voice and make them a king. He says, do it. So Samuel told the men of Israel to go to their cities, and he eventually anoints Saul as king. Saul is the first king of Israel, and he's basically the worldly king that Israel wanted. He was tall and handsome. Of course, his kingship ends up a miserable failure, and he's later rejected by God. We have seen that in demanding a king, Israel rejected God as king. This raises a challenging question from the text. Why was Israel's request for a king sinful? Sometimes it's thought that the very concept of kingship in Israel was bad. But I don't think that's the case here in this passage. It seems certain that Yahweh would have given Israel a king at some point. We can think of prior passage as to this reasoning. God promised kingship to the patriarchs. If you're familiar with the story of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God promises a king. He says, kings will come from you. He says that to Abraham, Genesis 17, verse 6 and verse 16. So that's part of the Abrahamic promise. Kings are going to come from you. It doesn't say exactly how or when that will happen. Same to Jacob, Genesis 35, 11. Kings will come from you. Another passage, more explicit, Deuteronomy 17, 14 verses 14 through 20. You may want to turn there. God gave instructions for the king in this passage, Deuteronomy. So, let us look at the language here. says Deuteronomy 17 14 when you come to the land that Yahweh your God is giving you and you possess it and dwell in it and then say I will set a king over me and all the nations that are around me you may indeed set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose one from among your brothers you shall set as king over you you may not put a foreigner over you who is not your brother so there's This passage expects a king over Israel at some point, but it gives limitations, right? This king must be an Israelite, not a foreigner. And then there's further restrictions, verse 16 and following. These three kind of famous restrictions. The king must not acquire many horses, nor many wives, nor excessive silver and gold. Of course, if you know the story of Solomon, he breaks all three of these, right? He's the paradigm of a bad king. But this passage also says that the king is to write a copy of the law that he gets from the Levites and he is to read it all his days that he may fear Yahweh. So, I take from this passage that kingship was not a bad thing. And it was actually expected that God would have given Israel a king in due time. So, what was the problem then with Israel's request or demand that they make for a king in 1 Samuel 8. The problem here seems to be Israel's motives as well as their timing, the timing of their request. As for motive, Israel wanted a king in order to be like all the nations. Now, that language is actually used in Deuteronomy 17.14. But the emphasis in 1 Samuel 8 seems to be on Israel wanting a king so that they may be like the nations, not just have a king like the nations have. They seem to be jealous of the nations. They want to be like them, rather than a holy people, different from unbelievers. This is particularly clear in chapter 8, verse 20. where Israel wanted a king to fight their battles, despite, as we point out, Yahweh fighting the battles for them. So the timing was also wrong. So you have the motive, but also the timing. As Yahweh would have given a king in due time, the Lord Jesus Christ. This was always God's plan to send his son. But it would have come at the right timing. Israel lacked patience, and they were rebellious people, and they wanted to be like the unbelieving nations. Israel's sinful demand meant that the kingship would be a judgment on them for rejecting Yahweh. There's some irony here. In asking for a king who will judge them, God gave Israel exactly what they asked for. An earthly king who would seek his own. He would be a judgment on them. He will judge them. That is certain. And this is what we see in the history of Israel's monarchy, kings who were out for themselves. Outside of a few exceptions, Israel's kings were evil and oppressive. And this is a bad history we read in the books following 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Even David, the ideal king of Israel, had moral failings quite early in his reign. So in many ways, the monarchy was a judgment upon Israel, and it starts here in chapter 8. There's a transition in their history. However, Israel's monarchy also makes clear that Israel needed Yahweh as king. It makes it even more clear than it already was. Israel rejected Yahweh, and he gave them exactly what they asked for. And the same is true for us. If we reject God as king, he will give us over to our sinful desires. He will let you have your way, but it will bring destruction and ruin upon you. Of course, there's good news in this, but for all who trust in God will find peace with him and forgiveness of sin. Yahweh did not leave the kingship to man, But he came to earth as the true king of Israel in the form of man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. But he is not like the king that Israel wanted. He is not like the king of the nations. He is not a tyrant. Yes, Jesus places demands on us, but they're not burdensome. He does not take from us, but gives gifts to us, and he asks us to give to others for his purposes. And He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. Jesus died for our sin and was raised to life, and He reigns over this world in righteousness. So this is the good news from this passage, that we who trust in Him will not face judgment, but we will enter into His kingdom both now and ultimately in the new heavens and earth. Let us pray. Our Lord and God, You know our hearts, our sinful and rebellious hearts, just like Israel, seeking to do things the way of the world, other than the way that You've set down before us. But Father, we thank You that in You we have a King, and that the Lord Jesus reigns, and it's to Him that we submit this day, and trust in Him. Grow our faith, O Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.