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VREC004.mp3|
우리의 진정한 왕되시는 주님을 찬양합니다. 세상 왕을 섬길 때 얼마나 불행한가 말씀을 통해 배우게 됩니다. 우리에게 영원한 왕되신 주님을 보내 주신 하나님 아버지께 찬양과 경배를 드립니다. 주님께서 우리 각 사람과 이 나라를 영원히 다스려 주시길 기도합니다. 1 Samuel 8:1-9:27 Key Verse: 9:16 GOD GRANTS KING TO ISRAEL God wants us to live in his kingdom so that we may be ruled over by Him. We should seek first the kingdom of God and we pray that the kingdom of God may come. What is the kingdom of God? It is the kingdom where God rules with his sovereign power. In the period of New Testament, God sent Jesus as our spiritual King. In today's message, the people of Israel refused to be ruled by God and asked for a human king. Though God felt betrayed, God anticipated it since a long time ago and appointed Saul as the first king of Israel. Israel entered into a period of Monarchy after the period of the Judges. I pray that we may accept Jesus as our shepherd King and live under his rule with peace and love. PART 1 ISRAEL DEMANDS A KING (8:1-22) Look at v1-3. When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. I know that the judges of Israel were appointed by God, in this case I have no idea about why and how Samuel appointed his sons as judges, probably because he lost his spiritual insight when he grew old. Samuel’s sons were dishonest, corrupt, accepting bribes and perverting justice. They did not walk in the right ways of their good father, Samuel. At that time, I guess Samuel was almost retiring. Here, I have a doubt about Samuel's responsibility as a father of parenting and teaching his sons. In God's history, it is true that Samuel was used preciously as a faithful servant of God, but he failed in raising his sons as upright and righteous servants of God. God wanted to bless Samuel's descendents abundantly from generation to generation, but Samuel's sons disobeyed their father and God, so they could not maintain the blessings promised by God. This is tragedy. Look at verses 4 and 5. “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." The elders of Israel were leaders and representatives of all tribes of Israel, so the fact that all the elders of Israel asked Samuel to appoint a king means that all the people of Israel wanted to have a king. Why did they want to have a king? They wanted to be like the neighboring nations. They rejected God's direct rule as their king. They envied of the kings of their neighboring nations. When they were losing their faith and confidence in their invisible God, the worldly kingdoms looked more powerful and more attractive to them than the kingdom of God. The people of Israel was chosen by God as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. However, they refused to accept God's vision and they refused to be holy and different from all the other nations. Rather, they wanted to be like all nations. We should be different from the world, because we do not belong to the world, but we belong to the kingdom of God. We should not confirm to the pattern of the world and we should not follow the values of the world. We should not forget that God called us and chose us as shepherds and lay missionaries for World Mission. How did Samuel feel about this, and what did he do? Look at verse 6. “But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.” Samuel was shocked by the people’s demand, because their demand seemed to him that they did not recognize Samuel as their true leader and demanded a fallible human leader. Therefore, Samuel knelt down before God and prayed to Him. What was God’s direction to him? Look at verses 7-9. “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.” First, Samuel felt that they rejected him as their leader. Samuel served them faithfully from his boyhood to his retirement age. Samuel felt betrayed and sorrowful because of their surprise demand. But God comforted him. According to God, they did not reject Samuel, instead, they rejected God as their king. That’s true. In the wilderness, they rejected God so many times. The Exodus generation perished in the desert due to their unbelief. God knew that the people of Israel would betray God and demand a king and prophesied it a long time ago in Deuteronomy. However, God granted them what they requested, a human king. What is wrong with rejecting God and choosing a human king in place of God? They envied the Philistine Kingdom or the Egyptian Kingdom. Those kingdoms looked impressive. They were unified under one king with an united one army while Israel was scattered with 12 tribes and did not have any standing army. They depended on the judges for their security. Though they had a great victory under Samuel, they were concerned about their future national security. Under the judges, God always delivered them from their enemies when they cried out to God. However, they preferred a human king to their invisible God. The people demanded a king, thinking that a new government system would bring about a change in the nation. But because their basic problem was disobedience to God, their other problems would only continue under the new governing system. What they really needed was their obedience to God and commitment to serve him only. External change of system can not solve their security problem. If the Israelites had submitted to God’s leadership, they would have thrived beyond their expectations. We should depend on God only. Especially, we should hold on to the promise of God for our future security. What did God warn about the costs of having a human king? Look at verses 10-17. “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.” He told the people God would give them what they wanted, human king. But he told them the costs and problems of having a king. The king would draft their sons into his army, have the young men run in front of the king’s chariot, make them slave laborers, take the best of their fields and vineyards, use their property for his personal gain, demand a tenth of their harvest and flocks. Samuel carefully explained all the negative consequences of having a king. How did the people respond? Look at verses 19 and 20. “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.” God explained all the sufferings and problems of having a king, but the Israelites refused to listen and they already fixed their minds on having a king. They were blinded with their selfish desires. Shortly after Saul became the first king of Israel, these predictions came true. The most serious problem was that God did not answer their cry for help under the king system. They used to depend on God during emergencies but now they rejected God. They did not honor God. After hearing God’s direction, Samuel granted their request and everyone went back to their own town. People asked for a king and they would learn costly lessons. Why God granted their demand for a king? God often says to us, “Try it to see how it feels.” For example, the prodigal son got his coveted property and was allowed to go into the foreign country and wasted all his money in pleasures. His father knew what would happen to his son but he honored his son’s decision. Later the son experienced a miserable life and longed to come back to his father’s house. He tried it and felt like dying. Finally he returned to his father. God wanted his people to experience hardship under human kings and eventually return to him. God sent His one and only son Jesus as our spiritual king. However, God’s people, the Israelites rejected their humble shepherd king Jesus by saying, “we have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15) And they nailed Jesus on the cross. Nowadays many people of the world reject Jesus as their king. How long can we reject our king Jesus? Not too long. Because he is coming to judge the living and the dead. When we live in the period of grace, he is knocking at the door of our heart now. So it is time for us to open our heart and receive him as our king. I pray that King Jesus rule over us with love and peace. (Rev. 3:20) Before it is too late, let’s worship Jesus as our true King and surrender our life to Jesus so that we may enjoy peace and security provided by our King Jesus. PART II THE CHOICE OF THE KING (9:1-27) Now Saul appears on the stage in verses 1 and 2. He was a son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, a man of standing. Look at verse 2, “He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites― a head taller than any of the others.” He was impressive physically and he was the best candidate for the king. How was he introduced? His father, Kish, lost his donkeys, so he gave his son Saul a donkey finding mission. Donkeys were all-purpose animals, so-called “pick-up trucks” of the Bible times. Even the poorest family owned one because it was a vital means of transportation. Losing donkeys were like losing the cars. To possess many donkeys was a sign of wealth, and to lose them was a disaster. Saul’s father was wealthy, and his many donkeys were evidence of that wealth. Saul’s donkey finding mission led Saul and his servant to the district of Zuph, where there was Samuel. God guided Saul to Samuel. In this way Saul met Samuel. Most of the time, we think that events just happen to us, but as we learn from this story, God may use some ordinary event to lead us to meet our Bible teacher. Generally, we think this is a random chance. But from God’s perspective it was designed to lead our life to meet him very personally. In 1988, I went to Spain to take a Ph. D coursework of political science. There God led me to meet M. Dr. Joseph Ahn, an excellent Bible Teacher of UBF. At that time, I was suffering a lot right after the terrible car accident. Later on, I realized that it was God's plan. God led me to Spain and there called me and trained me through M. Joseph Ahn so that I might be used as a lay missionary for Latin America. Think about any special event in your life lately and perhaps God is leading your life for his special purpose. Please do not ignore God’s signs leading you to have a greater vision. God is omnipresent and omniscient. Therefore, nothing happens without God’s foreknowledge. Look at verse 14. “They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place.” What did God reveal about his plan in choosing a king? Look at verses 15-17 “Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: ‘About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me. When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people."” God instructed Samuel what to do in advance when he met Saul. Clearly, it was God who was in charge of choosing the first king of Israel. Israel rejected him, but God still called them “My people.” People’s fear and God’s love are contrasted in this passage. Let’s look at the meeting between Samuel and Saul. This was a historical meeting. Look at verses 18-24. “Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, "Would you please tell me where the seer's house is?" "I am the seer," Samuel replied. "Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found. And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and all your father's family?" Saul answered, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?" Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who were invited-- about thirty in number. Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside." So the cook took up the leg with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, "Here is what has been kept for you. Eat, because it was set aside for you for this occasion, from the time I said, 'I have invited guests.'" And Saul dined with Samuel that day.” Samuel, a great servant of God, met an unknown young man who came to find lost donkeys. Samuel’s words are so beautiful because he respected God’s word, hiding his personal feelings. At once Samuel became Saul’s shepherd. Samuel invited him to sit with him as guest of honor at the sacrificial feast and had eating fellowship with him. Samuel honored Saul in the seating arrangement because he respected God’s decision. How did Samuel reveal God’s will to Saul? Look at verses 25-27. “After they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel talked with Saul on the roof of his house. They rose about daybreak and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, "Get ready, and I will send you on your way." When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant to go on ahead of us"-- and the servant did so-- "but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God." Samuel invited Saul to his house and talked with Saul on the roof of his house. No doubt Samuel told Saul all that was in his heart. It was an all night talk. That starry night on the house top Saul thought about his future. He came to find lost donkeys but found his kingdom. Probably Samuel shared all he knew how to be a good king with him. Samuel told Saul that he was God’s choice for king. Saul responded with humility. He said that he was unworthy of this high honor. As soon as the sun rises in the east, Samuel sent him away walking alone with him having a private talk sending the servant to go ahead. Samuel explained Saul about God’s revelation on his selection as king. God chose Saul as the first king of Israel. The times of the judges ended and Israel entered into the kingdom period. Throughout his life, Samuel had been faithful to his vow, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3:10) Finally, his mission was accomplished. For the first time in history of Israel, the period of king began. The new history of Israel had dawned with the new human king. In conclusion, the people of Israel chose to be ruled not by God, but by a fallible human king. It was a big mistake. They were blind spiritually due to their sins, especially disobedience and idolatry. When they asked a human king, God did not turn away from them, and respected their decision, calling them 'my people' and appointing Saul as a king. But what was the result of their wrong decision? The destruction and disappearance of human kingdom. However, the kingdom of God and Jesus does not perish but endures forever. I pray that we may accept Jesus as our true King and live under his rule with peace and love. Amen. |
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