{"id":448,"date":"2013-02-20T19:13:16","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T19:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/?p=448"},"modified":"2013-02-21T17:21:55","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T17:21:55","slug":"living-in-the-will-of-god-05-human-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/living-in-the-will-of-god-05-human-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"Living in the Will of God \u2013 05 Human Kings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Living in the Will of God \u2013 05 Human Kings<\/h2>\n
\"Lamb<\/a>
Lamb of God<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unfortunately, most of the things that people do in the world are not in the heavenly will of God, and God rejects what they do, but sometimes God allows the people to stew in the juices of their own sins. Such is the case when the people reject God and demand a human king as we are told in 1 Samuel 8:1-9.<\/p>\n

1. And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel.<\/p>\n

God had called and appointed Samuel to be a judge over Israel under His authority, so it was not Samuel\u2019s position to appoint his sons to be judges without God\u2019s approval. Samuel was not acting by the authority of the Lord; he was responding to his worldly pride by appointing his sons.<\/p>\n

2. Now the name of his first-born was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba.<\/p>\n

3. His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.<\/p>\n

To this very day, we still have these same kinds of problems in our political system of government, even though our pledge of allegiance says, \u201cIn God we trust\u201d; however, such things don\u2019t happen when we truly trust in God.<\/p>\n

This is the kind of problem we have when we don\u2019t say and do everything in the heavenly will of God. So, let\u2019s go on and see what happens.<\/p>\n

4. Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah;<\/p>\n

5. and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”<\/p>\n

By saying \u201clike all the nations\u201d they express their desire to live in the ways of the world, and not in the heavenly will of God.<\/p>\n

6. But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.<\/p>\n

Samuel should have prayed like this before appointing his sons. Samuel knew that the elders\u2019 request for a human king was ungodly, yet he was the one who set their request in motion through his ungodly act of appointing his sons to judge Israel, but note how the Lord responds.<\/p>\n

7. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.<\/p>\n

8. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day \u2014 in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods \u2014 so they are doing to you also.<\/p>\n

9. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
\nNASB<\/p>\n

This is how the reluctant concessions of the Lord come about and work. He is letting the people suffer in their own sinful ways.<\/p>\n

We can plainly see that God does not want us to live according to this or other concessions recorded in the Bible. He wants us to live according to His heavenly will.<\/p>\n

Go on to: Living in the Will of God \u2013 06 A King?<\/a><\/p>\n

Since \"date\"