Publisher's Synopsis
When the Israelites requested that Prophet Samuel appoint a king (a worldly government) over them so that they could operate like the other nations around them, God reacted to them in anger; yet He honored their request with warnings. God said to Prophet Samuel: "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. 8 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. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights." But the people still insisted on getting a human government. "When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."" (1 Samuel 8:21-22).And Samuel did as the Lord instructed Him and gave the Israelites a human government just like the nations around them, as they had insisted on. And after he gave them what they asked for, God showed them that they had behaved wickedly towards Him: By asking for a human government, they have rejected God as their king. Samuel said to the Israelites: "Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! 17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king." (1 Samuel 12:16-17).18 Then Samuel called on the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel. (1 Samuel 12:18).19 The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king." (1 Samuel 12:19).20 "Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish." (1 Samuel 12:20-25).In the preceding passages God was addressing the agitation of the Israelites for a king (a worldly government). God is also talking to the entire human society about the burden human government rightly puts on the people it governs; warning that the governed would eventually become overburdened and run back to God for relief from the human government. And He warned: "When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day." (1 Samuel 8:18).Samuel had painstakingly presented to the Israelites the demands and claims the human government would make from them and the people still stuck to their request. Samuel then wrote these things down on a scroll as the rights of the human government and deposited the scroll before the Lord. (1 Samuel 10:25).Therefore, the demands worldly governments make of their citizens today are within the rights of those governments as warned by God through Prophet Samuel. After all, those who govern us are only human and could do only what is human-including the shockers, the unpredictable and the downright oppressive. And they would not last in the position if they do not meet the demands of the "Prince of this world" whose throne they are occupying and whose authority they are exercising. Adam and Eve lost that dominion to Satan!
