1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 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.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 1 Sam 8:1-6 (ESV)
1. Was Samuel too old to be a prophet?
It is now probably about 20 years after the victory at Mizpah, when Samuel was
approximately 60 years old. He’s ready to start getting his social security and his pension from the prophets union. Moses was 80 when he started his ministry, and Eli was 98 when he died. So was he too old?
2. How could Samuel appoint his two dishonest sons as judges over all Israel?
Samuel made his own sons judges to succeed him, although they were unworthy and incompetent for the job. This act was a mistake. Samuel was a great judge, a wonderful prophet, and a great man of God—but he was a failure as a father just as Eli had been.
Many people of God have had this failure. I’m not sure what the problem is. Sometimes
there seems to be a blind spot with regard to our kids and our grand kids. David had problems with his kids. Jacob had kid problems, Adam and Eve, the first parents raised a murderer. Time after time in the history of Israel, a new king would come to power and the bible would say “he did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked not in the ways of his fathers.”
Each person must come to God as an individual. Parents should not take credit or blame for their children’s successes or failures. You do your best and then you trust God.
3. Is it clear that the call for a king was the result of Samuel’s sons being unfit to follow their father’s footsteps?
Dr. Robert Deffinbaugh disagrees with the idea that Samuel was in the process of appointing his two sons as judges over Israel, but that the were “for Israel” had a limited role as judges and there was no plan to perpetuate a dynasty of judges within Samuel’s family. So Samuel’s two evil sons were just an excuse to reject God and clamor for a king.
I do not think Samuel named his sons as his replacement nor that he can do so. Samuel is not only a priest and a judge, he is also a prophet. We have no indication that God thus gifted his sons, so how can either or both replace their father? Like other elders and leaders in the nation, they can serve as judges. But the sphere of their ministry and authority is limited, and when it becomes obvious that these two have become corrupt, the inference may be drawn that Samuel deals with the problem.
He appointed his two sons to serve as judges in Beersheba, a city about 57 mi. S of Ramah. MSBN
4. Are the people of Israel making a legitimate request to have a king?
Now appoint a king for us … like all the nations. When Israel entered the land, they
encountered Canaanite city-states that were led by kings. Additionally, during the period of the judges, Israel was enslaved by nations that were led by kings. However, at the time
of the judges there was no king in Israel. As Israel lived in the land surrounded by nations that had kings, the desire arose for a king in Israel also. According to Dt 17:14, God knew this would be their desire and He would allow it to occur. However, v. 20 revealed a motive which was definitely counter to the Lord’s will.
“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord 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. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. Deut 17:14-20 (ESV)
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 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 1 Sam 8:7-8 (ESV)
5. How are they rejecting God?
In effect weren’t they saying, “we don’t trust you to lead us anymore, we want a superstar to lead us.” Somebody who makes us feel good about ourselves.
Old Testament scholars have noted that the giving of the Law, as the establishment of a covenant between God and Israel in Exodus through Deuteronomy, follows the same form of treaties or covenants made between ancient kings and their subjects in that day. The people of that day would immediately recognize the implication – that God is establishing the covenant basis for His rule as King over Israel.
Samuel’s age and sons are the excuse, but rejection of God’s sovereignty is the real reason.
9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 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. 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 orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 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. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 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.”1 Sam 8:9-18 (ESV)
6. Were these warnings true, or was God just feeling rejected and trying to scare them?
In Deut. 17:14-20 above God describes what a king who he would pick would be like. But
they want a king like everybody else has. This warning is about the cost of having a king. What will you give up to get a king like the other nations.
“Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” ― Benjamin Franklin
This sounds a lot like our own government. These people live like kings in the worst sense of the word. Both Republicans and Democrats spend our money like drunken sailors to the point that we need to apologize to drunken sailors. They go into office poor and retire rich. Pork barrel spending, lavish life styles, GSA convention with government paid clowns, special deals, cushy jobs for family members, mistresses supported by tax dollars and
campaign contribution. The former speaker spends $100,000 on flowers and wine and we pay for it. 600$ toilet seats, hundreds of hours of time spent on porn sites by the employees of the Securities and Exchange commission while Bernie Madoff steals 50 billion from investors. Even he couldn’t believe they overlooked what he was doing for so long. God knows human nature and how power corrupt, and things haven’t changed that much.
They are not simply attempting to fire Samuel as their judge; they are seeking to fire God as their King.
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 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.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. 22 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.” 1 Sam 8:19-22 (ESV)
7. Should the nation of Israel seek to be like other nations?
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deut 7:6 (ESV)
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Deut 14:2 (KJV)
8. Why would God allow them to have a king over them, when He knew it would be bad for them?
God is pro-choice, not with regard to murdering babies, but regard to the choices we make.
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 25:15
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; Deut. 30:19
God will grant Israel’s desire for a king, but it will not be to their advantage. God’s guidance of the nation will be indirectly through the prophet. As we shall see, God will not speak directly to the king, but still through the prophet who will convey God’s word to the king. The king will accept it or reject it as he chooses.
NIVSN……………….NIV Study Notes.
JVM ………………….J Vernon McGee,
ACC ………………… Adam Clarke’s Commentary
BN ……………………Barnes Notes
WBC………….…….Wycliffe Bible Commentary
CN ……….…………..Constables Notes
IC……………….…….Ironside Commentary
NET…………….…….Net Bible Study Notes.
JFB……………………Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
VWS………………….Vincent Word Studies
CMM………………..Commentary on Matthew and Mark
BDB……………..….Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Darby……………….John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT
Johnson……………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.
NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary: Matthew and Mark.
EHS………………….Expositions of the Holy Scriptures
CPP…………………The Complete Pulpit Commentary
SBC…………………..Sermon Bible Commentary
K&D…………………Keil and Deilitzsch Commentary on the OT
EBC……………….…Expositors Bible Commentary
CBSC……………….Cambridge Bible for Schools and College
GC……………………Guzik Commentary
RD…………………..Robert Deffinbaugh
NSB …………………The Nelson Study Bible
MHC…………………Matthew Henry Commentary
ESVN……………..….ESV Study Bible Notes
MSBN……………….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
CSTTB………………..Chuck Smith Through the Bible
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