I Samuel Chapter 8

Please read:  I Samuel 8 –

Samuel became upset with the request of the people of Israel and rightly so.  Samuel had poured his whole life into serving God for the sake of the people.  He taught them God’s spiritual truths, and he showed them correction of course when needed.  Samuel understood that the success of the Israelites would only remain as they continued to be yielded to God.

Samuel’s sons, however, were not godly men.  Consequently, we do not read that God ever said that Samuel should appoint his sons as judges either.  God had raised up who He wanted to serve as judges.  This was perhaps a sin on the part of Samuel.  The people were not happy with the corruption of his sons, and they thought they would be better off to have a king rule over them like all the other nations.  Nations around them had kings with the appearance of great wealth and prosperity.  Through the prophetic words of Samuel, God warned them about how a king becomes wealthy and how they would not like it.

Let's Reflect

1.  What did the sons of Samuel do to the people that was corrupt?

2.  According to verse 6 what insult did Samuel hear the elders of Israel say was their reason for wanting a king? 

3.  Samuel prayed about this situation.  What did God tell him about the heart of the people?

4.  God was telling Samuel to give the people what they wanted, but it would come with a warning.  What was Samuel to warn the people about?  See verse 9.

5.  Verses 10-17 is the warning of what life would be like under a king.  Do you think the warning was descriptive enough for the people to understand the consequences of this decision?

6.  The people really had grandiose ideas of what having a king would do for them.  Our current culture should take a lesson from the past.  The current culture is pushing for socialism and communism thinking they will be wealthy and prosperous.  However, these types of governments take resources from the people to create the illusion of wealth.  The Israelites wanted what all the other nations had.  What did God say about their demand?

7.  Didn’t the people already have a king?  See verse 7.