Living in the Will of God – 06 A King?
As we continue in our discussion about the problems of having a human king, it is important to realize that all of these things are outside the will of God, and stem from the reluctant concession that God granted the people in the days of Samuel.
Note what Samuel told the people for God in 1 Samuel 8:10-22.
10. Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.
11. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots.
12. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
This is one of the major problems with having a human king or government; they prepare for war and wage war instead of working for peace by being peacemaking children of God, who serve the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
Think of all the good we could do in the world, if we didn’t waste our money on weapons of war and having huge militaries, and causing so much violence and destruction.
13. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
14. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
15. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
16. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
These are examples of the abuse of power that all too many world leaders and kings have been causing throughout history, even to this present day.
In addition it shows why governments are behind all kinds of exploitation of animals, with all its associated ungodly pain, suffering, and death.
18. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
That day has come, and this verse also explains why God may not be answering those prayers.
19. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
20. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
Do you hear the warmongering thinking, which is also against our living in the will of God?
21. When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.
22. The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”
NIV
We hope all of us heard what the Lord said. This is clearly a reluctant concession of God. He is allowing the people to live in their own evil ways until they repent and wholeheartedly return to God.
We are not to live in the concessions of God; we are to live in the heavenly will of God, as peacemaking children of God.
Go on to: Living in the Will of God – 07 Divorce
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