"But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, . . ."
These are the words of the people of Israel to Samuel. He was aging and the children were not following in God's ways. The people were worried about the future and did not want the children of Samuel to lead them. The people wanted a king like all the other nations. They wanted to be just like every other nation. Someone to lead them into battle. Someone to fight battles on their behalf. But they were forgetting something important.
It was not Samuel who was accomplishing this for them already. It was not any of the other leaders in the history of Israel. Moses was not leading them into battle or fighting on their behalf as they travel in the wilderness. It was not Joshua who battled at Jericho or helped them through the concurring of the Promised Land. All of these events and the time of the Judges was not accomplished because of the powers of the people in charge. No. It was all accomplished by the power of God. God lead the people out of Egypt. God gave directions to Moses through the wilderness. God lead the people through the Promised Land.
The people were not rejecting Samuel at this time. No, God reported to Samuel it was not his leadership the people were rejecting. The people were rejecting God. They were turning their backs on the leadership of God. God had declared to the people when they were at Sinai that God was to be the king.
This was the prescription through out the history of Israel. As we read through the prophets, the people kept turning their backs on God. And it is the the case of people today. We as followers do not want to follow. We want to make our own ways. We think we know more than God. Our ways are better than God's
We can act like the Israelis and reject God. Or we can learn to follow and accept God as our king. Jesus asked the same thing of His followers in the New Testament. Jesus did not want us to just give a portion. No, He asked for us to give and trust completely. Are you willing to fall into place?
No comments:
Post a Comment