Proclamation:
“So
all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons
do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other
nations have.’” 1 Samuel 8:4-5 (NIV)
Explanation:
These
words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the prophet
Samuel. When Samuel grew old, he
appointed his sons to lead and judge Israel. (1 Samuel 8:1) However, Samuel was a prophet of The Lord God
(1 Samuel 3:19-21) but his sons did not follow his ways. (1 Samuel 8:2-3) So the elders of Israel got together and told
Samuel to appoint a king to be over them so that they could be like the other
nations around them. Having The Lord God
as their king was not good enough for them.
They wanted to copy the sinful nations around them. Samuel was displeased with them for this request
(1 Samuel 8:6) but The Lord God told him that the people had rejected God as
their King, not Samuel as their leader. (1 Samuel 8:7)
Application:
When
you have the best, why would you want to copy something less? Why would we want to imitate the sinful
people of the world when we know where they will end up? (Revelation 20:15) As believers we have The Holy Spirit of God
within us (Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26-27) and therefore we are not of this world.
(John 8:33) We are to behave in a
Christ-like manner. (Romans 6:4 and 6:11)
It is Christ that we are to imitate and not the sinful people of the
world.
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