STUBBORN REJECTION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 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. 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. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 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."

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, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 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."

1 Samuel 8:6-22

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As 1 Samuel, chapter 8 opens, we find Samuel, the judge of Israel, confronted by the nation’s elders who were unhappy with the leadership of his two sons. You’ll recall that the scriptures described the sons as not following in Samuel’s ways, instead seeking dishonest gain, accepting bribes, and perverting justice. This sinful behavior led the elders to seek leadership from another.

Specifically, we read where the elders demanded that they be given a king to rule over them just as the other nations around them had. Their appetite to be under a human authority showed that they didn’t understand how they already served a Heavenly, all powerful King (capital K) in the Lord God Almighty. Further, they didn’t go to God to ask about who He wanted to lead His people. Rather, they were going to Samuel and making their demand.

Well, unlike his fellow countryman, we see where Samuel wasted no time taking the matter before the Lord, turning to Him in prayer and receiving the following words from above:

“Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

There was one statement here that is as condemning as they come for the Lord said:

“…it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me…”

Think about that for just a moment and ask yourself this:

Is there anything worse we can accused of by the Lord than rejecting Him in our life?

You see, when we choose to reject God, we are essentially saying we are committed to the ways of the world over anything He can do or give. And when we commit to the ways of the world, we decide to place ourselves under the influence and kingship of Satan for the scriptures make it clear that He has control of the whole world (1 John 5:19).

This is where the elders of Israel were heading and they were taking the Israelite people with them. For by demanding an earthly king over their heavenly One, they were essentially surrendering themselves to the devil and his ways…ways that could and would easily be carried out through the king they asked for. The people would be subject to that king’s laws and rules as well as his word and will, all of which could bring great oppression and hardship on them bringing a harsh realization of the mistake they made in asking for a king in the first place.

We find Samuel trying to get the Israelites to understand what could happen if they stayed adamant about wanting a king when he said the following:

"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. 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. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 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."

In other words, Samuel was trying to warn the people of Israel to consider this:

Be careful what you ask for.

For while the Israelites thought things would get better under a king’s rule, they didn’t properly consider that things could get worse…a lot worse. But the people would have none of what Samuel was telling them, refusing to come to their senses. Instead they were stubborn and “refused to listen to Samuel” shouting:

“No!...We want a king over us. 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."

Here, we see how the people of Israel had quickly forgotten that their victories had never come without God first granting them as He fought for them and often handed their enemies over to them on a silver platter. It was as if they had no recollection of all that their Lord had done for them.

You know, we see the same thing happening today for so many people decide to look to the world for the things they want instead of the One who is the Giver of every good and perfect thing from above (James 1:17).

Why?

Well, I think it’s because the world seems to always play on our personal desires where the Lord calls for us to make His desires our own. And so given the world offers to give us what we want without any concession or sacrifice, we too often choose the path of least resistance. Free from having to follow a ton of rules and regulations or restrictions on the way we act, talk, or think, we think we can get everything without giving up anything but in the end, we really are surrendering our very soul to sin. It’s a truth that led Jesus to ask this question:

“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Matthew 16:26

Friends, we can’t afford to stubbornly reject the Lord like the Old Testament Israelites did. For to reject Him is like telling Jesus that He died on the cross in vain for us…that we lack appreciation for the sacrifice He made to save our souls. His unselfish act of love and grace ends up taking a back seat to our selfish pursuit of our own desires.

Is that the message we really want to send to our Savior and the Father who sent Him?

If you are reading this today and have turned the wrong way in life toward the world, rejecting the Lord while doing so, there is good news for you today but it requires immediate action on your part. For you can’t delay in turning back towards God, repenting of your sin, and giving your life back to the One who lived and died for you to bring salvation and the hope of eternal life. For God’s word from 1st John assures every person of the following:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:1-5

So what’s it going to be in your life?

Stubborn rejection of the Lord…or…faithful, obedient, and willing acceptance of Him?

Each of us has the choice to make and we can’t afford to not make the right one. My prayer is that you will choose Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.