These exhortations were given by me between 1999 and 2005. That was a long time ago, and I have grown a lot since then. They may not reflect my current beliefs.

The last time I exhorted from 1 Samuel, I got to chapter 6, where the Ark had just been sent back by the Philistines. In Chapter 8, Israel demands a king. 1 Samuel chapter 8, verses 19 to 22:

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. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

The people of Israel wanted a King who would judge, or rule, them, a king who would go out before them, and a king who would fight their battles. But what was it that Israel had at this point? 

To answer that question, we are going to have a look at chapter 7. Starting at verse 3:

And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

The children of Israel responded with repentance. They returned to the LORD. Verse 6:

And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

What happened next? Well, the people had returned to the LORD, so he delivered them out of the hands of the Philistines. Verse 10:

And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

The LORD thundered with a great thunder. The LORD himself delivered Israel. On this occasion he didn’t use men. He used used the forces of nature. God delivered Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. God fought their battle for them. All Israel had to do was mop up afterwards.

What was it that the people ask for in the next chapter? A king who will fight their battles. But what did they already have? A God who would, and did, fight their battles. “Put not your trust in the princes nor in the son of man…Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God.”Psalm 146:3,5 Israel had the God of Jacob for their help, yet they wanted to put their trust in princes and the son of man instead.

Remember when Israel was in the wilderness, and they got fed up with the mannah? Guided by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, their clothes did not wear out, and their food miraculously appeared for them every morning. Yet they still weren’t satisfied. They wanted something more.

The same thing is happening here. They have got God on their side. But they want more. Actually they want less but they want what they think is more. Instead of God fighting their battles, they want a king to fight their battles. 

Chapter 8, verses 4 to 6:

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 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.But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

How does God respond? Verse 7:

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.

They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me. Now sometimes it’s hard to think of God as having emotions. We know that he loves us, and love is an emotion. We know that it is his “good pleasure” to give us the Kingdom. God feels emotion, the same as we do – although it’s really the case that we feel emotion the same as God does, because we are made in his image, not vice versa.

“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.” They had a king, God, and He was a better King than the men who ruled the nations around them. He didn’t just lead them into battle, he literally fought their battles for them. Yet Israel rejected him as their king. Israel’s rejection of God as their King must have hurt God. I think just as we can’t fully comprehend God’s capacity to love, we can’t fully comprehend his capacity to feel pain either.

But this isn’t just one being relating to another. It is about how the created relates to the creator. To reject the creator, when he has done so much for you, isn’t just hurtful. It is profane and blasphemous. Now, despite the many failings of Israel, the children of Israel were still the people of God. There is no reason to believe that another nation would have fared better. In fact, given that God knew what Israel was going to be like when he choose them, I think we can say that another nation would have behaved worse.

Suppose God was explicitly and undeniably present among us today, as he was when the Israelites were in the Wilderness, as he was when he fought the Philistines. Can you seriously believe that humankind today would be better than Israel of old? Israel rejected God when they had no doubt that he existed. People today would reject God even if they had no doubt about his existence. Can you imagine the blasphemy that would be? That is why God is ‘hidden’ today. If God was to send manna to us, how long would it be before we were calling out for meat too?

But enough speculation about how we, or other people, might fail. Let’s return to Chapter 8, verse 10:

And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

God is powerful, and God protects his people. Just as he fought battles for Israel, he will fight battles for us. That doesn’t mean that he is some performing dog, responding to our requests. He is our heavenly father, and he looks after us. Sometimes it is hard to understand his actions.

There have been a lot of changes in 2004. Changes in the world, changes in our lives, changes in the ecclesia. If Christ does not return in 2005, this year will doubtless have many changes too.

But God will fight our battles, and all things work together for good to those that love him.