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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

The First Kings of Israel

Father in Heaven, I want to thank you for this opportunity we have to study your Word together.

And Lord, we pray that you would please be with us, guide us, bless us, and lead us with your Spirit.

And we claim the promise by faith that where 2 or 3 are gathered in your name You that you'd be there in the midst of us Lord I know that there are more than 2 or 3 that are listening today.

Grace us with thy presence now we pray In Jesus name we pray and ask.

We are continuing this new series that we're in.

The kings that were reigning when the kingdoms were all united together under Saul, under David, and under Solomon.

And today we're going to be looking at the first king of Israel.

You know Samuel, he had already risen to the role of the prophet and judge of Israel.

He grew up from being a young boy dedicated fully to God to be the man whom God would choose to lead the nation of Israel.

However, In the closing years of his life, he did not manage his household well, just like Eli and his wicked sons.

So we start in our first text, 1 Samuel 8, verse 3.

The Bible says, says, and his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after Lucre took bribes and perverted judgment.

Because of this, because his sons also were wicked, what did the Israelites actually do?

Let's continue reading in 1 Samuel 8 and verse 5.

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways.

Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

You see, the wicked ways of Samuel's sons was a small reason in asking for a king, yes.

They would not have been good judges to lead the children of Israel because of their wickedness.

You see, the Bible says there that they wanted to be like the other nations around them.

They didn't like their peculiarity where all these other nations, they had kings, but here we had a judge who was also a prophet as well.

They wanted a figurehead, someone that they could follow into battle.

They wanted to be more like the world, and they were tired of God as their king and their judge.

You know, from a human standpoint, Samuel, he was upset.

We read in 1 Samuel 8, verses 6 and 7, But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us.

And Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." God told Samuel that they weren't rejecting him, but that they were rejecting God.

They didn't want this God who somehow knew everything, that could see everything, and that could judge them fairly.

And so we read in 1 Samuel 8, according to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee." You know, God said from that day that He brought them out of Egypt, they were always wanting to serve other gods and to follow other gods.

And so this was just another step in that direction, away from God and more conformity to the be like the world.

And although there'd been much reform and revival under the leadership of Samuel, the heart of the people still desired to stay away and stray away, pardon me, from God and desired a worldly king.

And so we read in 1st Samuel 8, 9, Now therefore, God says, hearken unto their voice, how be it, yet protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

So, you know, God, He tells Samuel, look, listen to them, give them a king.

But yet he instructs Samuel to tell them what would happen if they decided to go ahead with wanting and getting this king.

And so we read in 1 Samuel 8, verses 10-18, 8 verses 10 to 18, himself, for his chariots and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots.

And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war and instruments of chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries and to be cooks and to be bakers.

And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

And he will take the 10th of your seed and of your vineyard and give to his officers and to his servants.

And he will take your men servants and your maid servants and your goodliest young men and your asses and put them to his work.

He will take the tenth of your sheep and ye shall be his servants and you shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye have chosen you and the Lord will not hear you in that day." And so Samuel He outlines all the things that the king will do.

You ask for a king, this is what the king will do.

And then at the very end, Samuel tells them that they would regret this choice of making for themselves a king.

But after all that he says, what do the people say?

Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.

And they said, nay, but we will have a king over us 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.

In spite of all the warnings that Samuel gave them from God, They still wanted to persist with having a king.

They wanted to be just like all the other nations around them and they wanted someone to go out and fight their battles for them.

They were rejecting God from being their leader.

They wanted to be just like the world and the Israelites didn't realize that being unlike the world was really a special privilege and a great blessing.

All they had to do was play instruments of music and God would go ahead of them and fight for them and give them the victory.

All they had to do was walk around a city 7 times and shouted it and the walls would come crumbling down.

God provided for them and gave them a land that was not even theirs to begin with, a land that was flowing with milk and honey.

God rained manna from heaven in the wilderness and gave them 3 meals a day to eat.

They were so unlike the world in so many ways.

No 1, not a single person got sick walking around the desert for 40 years.

What a blessing that came upon them because they were God's people and God was their leader.

They didn't realize the special privileges and the blessings that came with it.

And friends, you know, sometimes we desire so much to be like the world.

We look at the world and we see all these good and desirable things that we want from them.

And sometimes we look at how the Bible says, oh, don't do this and don't do that.

And we feel like following God is such a burden, not realizing that there are so many privileges and blessings that come because God is our God.

You see, in 1 Peter 2, verse 9, God tells us, You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light." What makes us stand out when we choose to follow God as a blessing is not only to ourselves, but it's also to those that are around us as well.

To be a blessing to the world is not striving to be different or peculiar or strange, but striving to put God first in all that we do.

And when we do that, the difference between those that are God's and those that are of the world will become apparent.

Not because we just strive to draw a line in the sand and be totally different from them, but God says you are peculiar, you are different.

When you follow me, when you are holy, when you're living a righteous life, there is a difference in how you talk, in how you dress, in how you act, the activities that you do and the places you choose to visit.

And they didn't want that peculiarity anymore.

They were looking at the nations around them and they wanted to be just like the nations.

They were tired of being peculiar but yet God says look if you want a king I'm gonna reserve the right for myself to choose who that king would be.

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abel, the son of Zerah, the son of Bekorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

And he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly, and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he.

From his shoulders and upward, he was higher than any of the people.

The man that God would choose would be Saul.

And he came from a powerful and well-respected family.

However, the Bible highlights the physical qualities of Saul.

He was taller than all the people around him, from his shoulders and upward.

You see, even though God says, I reserve the right to choose whom I want to be the first king, God was choosing someone that the people would accept.

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The First Kings of Israel

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