That Time When Israel Demanded a Human King

It didn’t end well…

The situation

The Israelites were fed up. They were done with the old ways. Neighboring nations and territories had kings. They wanted a king, too.

But there was a problem. God was already their king.

In fact, he’d been their king for centuries.

What happened?

Samuel was a highly respected prophet and priest in Israel. He was also a judge. A judge was a divinely selected spokesperson who led the people, heard their cases, and administered justice throughout the land.

When Samuel grew old, he chose his two sons — Joel and Abijah — to also be judges. But the brothers weren’t honorable like their father. They corrupted the justice system. They accepted bribes and refused to administer justice in a fair manner.

A group of elders eventually confronted Samuel about his sons’ conduct. They’d had enough of Joel and Abijah playing at being judges.

And now they wanted a king. A human king. Right now.

Samuel wasn’t happy about the peoples’ demands. They were supposed to follow God and not some fallible human. After all, God was their true king and leader. He’d always had their backs:

Who rescued them from 400 years of brutal Egyptian bondage?

Who made sure that they walked away uber-rich — with Egypt’s wealth in tow?

Who split the Red Sea so that they walked across dry seabed?

Who drowned Israel’s enemies in that same Red Sea?

For forty years God’s people walked through the desert and never wanted for food or water. Who made that possible?

Who parted the Jordan River so they could walk across dry riverbed into the land God promised to them and their ancestors?

And just who did they think had protected them all those years and saved them from their all of enemies?

And now — -after all of that and much more — — they wanted a king?

Samuel was unhappy with the people’s demands. But they were an adamant bunch. So, he approached the Lord.

Not surprised

God wasn’t caught off guard by the people’s request. In fact, centuries earlier, he provided guidelines in the book of Deuteronomy. They included:

• The people were to choose the man God tapped to be king.
• The candidate had to be an Israelite. No foreigner could ever be king in Israel.

• The king was not supposed to collect a large stable of horses — -especially Egyptian horses because God ordered the king to stay out of Egypt. Period.

• Multiple wives weren’t allowed because they would turn the king’s heart away from God and lead him into idolatry.

· Nor was the king to supposed to horde silver and gold.

· The king was commanded to copy God’s Law with his own hand in the presence of the priests.

· Plus, the king was commanded to always keep a copy of the Law with him and to read it every day. It ensured obedience and cultivated a healthy fear of the Lord. It also served as a deterrent to disobedience. Adherence to the rules would ensure that the king’s descendants would rule for multiple generations.

Give them a head’s up

So, God said yes. He told Samuel to give the people what they wanted. But he also told the old prophet to warn them about the consequences of their choice. Samuel, ever-obedient to God, went back to the people and ticked-off the consequences of being ruled by a human. The people could expect the following:

• The king would draft their sons into the army. Saul, Israel’s first human king, was the also the first to fulfill the prophecy. He constantly waged war with the Philistines and needed able bodies to fill the ranks.
• The king would make their sons run in front of his chariots. Wanna-be king Absalom fulfilled that prophecy.

• Their children would be become manual laborers and harvest the king’s crops, make his royal chariots, and weapons of war.
• Their daughters would be drafted into the royal kitchens as cooks and bakers. After Solomon’s death, some of the people complained about the brutal workloads they’d endured during his reign.
• A human ruler was going to take the best of the peoples’ land, vineyards and olive groves. Jezebel and King Ahab certainly did that when they murdered Naboth in a land grab scheme. (You can read my take on the incident here).
• Finally, the king was going to impose heavy taxes on the Israelites. Solomon did that throughout his reign. His son King Rehoboam threatened to tax the people even more than Solomon.

The sad results of the first three human kings

The man tapped to be the first king was Saul. He was a strong warrior and defended Israel against her enemies. But he had a serious problem with obeying God. He suffered from manic bouts of jealousy and even tried to kill his own son. Three separate times he hurled spears at his divinely appointed successor, David. King Saul also dabbled in witchcraft, which was a definite no-no for any of God’s people. He ended up committing suicide.

Israel’s second king was David — the man known for his giant-slaying prowess (goodbye, Goliath!) and his deep love for God. But he too messed up. David almost killed a man because the guy refused to share his provisions with David’s soldiers. He also committed adultery with a married woman named Bathsheba, got her pregnant, and then killed her husband. Later, David conducted an illegal census and 70,000 Israelites died from a divinely-sent plague thanks to his disobedience.

David’s son, Solomon, was the third man to sit on the throne of Israel. He disobeyed God’s guidelines from the book of Deuteronomy, and married hundreds of women. As prophesized, thanks to his numerous wives King Solomon began worshiping idols instead of solely worshiping God.

The other rulers

It’s worth noting that the twelve tribes were intact as a unit before they asked God for a human king. Yet, immediately after the death of King Solomon, Israel splintered into two territories: the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom.

There were dozens of kings and one queen between the two kingdoms. Unfortunately, only a handful of those rulers worshipped and obeyed God. The majority of them were guilty of the sin of idolatry. The rulers gleefully worshiped false gods and then encouraged God’s people to do the same.

The flagrant disregard of the Almighty’s law invited divine wrath. As punishment, the Lord first allowed the northern kingdom to fall at the hands of brutal invaders. Just over 130 years later, the southern kingdom followed suit and was decimated by another foreign invader.

Both kingdoms were conquered. However, after seventy years, one of the kingdoms recovered and returned to their land. But that’s an article for another day.

One day in the future, Jesus, the Perfect King will return to rule in righteousness and justice over the entire world.

If enjoyed this article, check out ‘When a Stick Turned into a Snake’ here or try this one about women in the Bible who committed murder. Or try ‘Is it Possible to Sell Your Soul?’ here. Subscribe so you don’t miss an article.

Thanks for your time. Thanks for reading.