2023_07_03 Insight Post- Kim Feld

When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. ² The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. ³ But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. (1 Samuel 8:1-3, NIV)

1 Samuel chapter 8 begins with the sad realization that Samuel’s sons were as faithless as Eli’s. Beersheba was in the extreme southern portion of Israel’s territory and was fairly remote (Arnold, 2019). God does not seem to hold Samuel accountable for his son’s actions as He had Eli, so perhaps the distance between them meant that Samuel was unaware of their behavior until it was brought to his attention. One option to rectify the situation would have been to remove Samuel’s sons from the office of judge, but the elders wanted a king (CSB Tony Evans Study Bible, 2019).

Although at first reading the text seems to imply that the elders were asking for a king because of how Samuel’s sons behaved, God saw it for what it was. Let’s take a look at what God had to say about the people’s request:

⁷ 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. ⁸ 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. (1 Samuel 8:7-8, NIV)

The people were once again rejecting God. If you look back up to verse 5, the reasoning the people give is that Samuel is old and his sons don’t follow Samuel’s ways, but here’s the kicker: they wanted a king like all the other nations. Think about that for a minute.

When I read this portion of the chapter, I immediately thought of Brandon Pendleton’s message on coveting and his description of FOMO (fear of missing out). Samuel tried to tell the people exactly what it would mean for them to have a human king, but they insisted that they wanted one. How much FOMO played into their decision? They wanted to be like the nations around them, which I can sometimes relate to. However, more often than not, that reasoning leads to trouble.

God told Samuel that Israel had been forsaking Him and serving other gods since He brought them out of Egypt. We’ve seen that pattern in our reading. But do we see it in ourselves as well? Think about your life honestly. Do you see any behaviors or habits consistently pulling you away from God?

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach

References:

Arnold, C. E. (Ed.). (2019). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. (Clinton E. Arnold, Ed.). Zondervan Academic.

CSB Tony Evans Study Bible. (2019). Holman Bible Publishers.