1 Samuel 8:4-11, 16-20 The Elders of Israel went to Samuel the prophet and judge, and told him it was time for a change in leadership. Yes, it was time to retire, and since his sons weren’t up to the job of leading them, they wanted a king, so they could be like all the other nations. Apparently Samuel wasn’t thrilled with their request and so he complained to Yahweh. Yahweh told Samuel that the Elders weren’t rejecting Samuel’s leadership; they were rejecting Yahweh’s kingship. While Samuel might have hoped for more backing from God, Yahweh told him to give the people what they wanted. But, Yahweh told Samuel to warn the people about the downside of having a king. If they had a king, the king would want to control their lives. A king would draft their sons to serve in the military, take their crops and flocks, and essentially make them slaves. Yes, as Louis XVI put it in Mel Brooks’s History of the World, Part 1: “It’s good to be ...
Sermons of a Disciples Preacher Ministering in Troy, Michigan