Like All the Nations

March 22, 2010 Posted by Amy HallcloseAuthor: Amy Hall Name: Amy Hall
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Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him…”Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked of him a king. He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

We have demanded that the government become our king to “serve” us like the other nations, and now we will become its servants. Human nature never changes. Thanks be to God that the Bible doesn’t end with 1 Samuel!

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1. Should God Live In His Car?
2. Just Another Day at the Shop (A Variant Reading of 1 Kings 7)
3. Sex and the County

Posted in Amy's Posts, Culture, Politics