“And it came to pass when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. And the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah; they judged in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice” (1 Sam. 8:1-3).
The history of the judges, like that of the priesthood, ends in complete ruin. Samuel himself is lacking in spiritual discernment here. He makes his sons judges without any direction from the Lord, as though the function that God had entrusted to him could be transmitted to others, for there is no transmission of gifts or even of charges by succession.
The elders of Israel with reason disapprove of Samuel’s sons’ conduct (1 Sam. 8:4), but they make this the occasion to ask for a king (1 Sam. 8:5): “Appoint us a king to judge us, like all the nations.” The evil they were complaining of does not push them toward the Lord, but toward the Gentiles; they seek human assistance to remedy man’s ruin, thinking that they can in this way escape their own misery as God’s people.
Their desire for a king was, in reality, giving up the Lord, the denial of His direct government through the judges, but their capital sin was the request for a king like the nations. Was it not God’s counsel to give them a king according to His own heart, an Anointed whom He would have chosen for them Himself (1 Sam. 2:35;13:14)? Their desire for a king like all the nations was a renouncing of their title as God’s people and involved assimilation to the world. Due to their unfaithfulness, a system established by God was being jeopardized in their hands. Christendom on its path of apostasy has acted no differently when, instead of humbling itself and mourning, it has sought the world’s support in order to maintain itself.
Samuel, reproachable as he had been in the matter of his sons, had not, like Eli, honored them more than the Lord. The elders’ request: “Give us a king to judge us” (1 Sam. 8:6), displeased him. The despising of God’s direct government and of His glory affects him. In his affliction he has recourse to prayer (1 Sam. 8:6). May we follow this example daily in every circumstance!
And the Lord says to Samuel: “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the deeds that they have done since the day that I brought them out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee” (1 Sam. 8:7-8). Precious encouragement given by God to His servant at the very moment when he was personally undergoing a discipline of which the elders of Israel had become the instruments. Nothing could be more consoling to his heart than the assurance of being, after all, on the Lord’s side, and now that the Lord had been rejected, the necessity of being rejected himself as well. Is it not an honor to share the shame that the world casts on our Lord in spurning Him? Is it astonishing that the world acts in the same way toward us? Even while He is disciplining him, God identifies Samuel with Himself, whereas the people, under an appearance of judging evil, were identifying themselves with the nations. It is better to be a humbled Samuel, disregarded, alone with a rejected God, than an Israel, armed with a powerful outward organization which gives them the illusion of being able to do without God and act according to their own will, whereas they were in fact the slaves of the world and of Satan.
“And now hearken unto their voice; only, testify solemnly unto them, and declare unto them the manner of the king that shall reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:9). Samuel’s rejection qualifies him for a new office: he gives a very clear testimony to what would happen to the people. The king according to man’s heart would make them his instruments to accomplish his plans, an unbearable yoke, but one that they would be unable to shake off (1 Sam. 8:10-18). In the same way, the world entirely disowns Christians who seek its help and gives them nothing in exchange except a feeling of their wretchedness without any compensation whatsoever. The world does not grant its help unless one consents to serve it. This is not the easy yoke and the light burden of the bondservant of Christ, but the anguish of cruel slavery.
The people who have been warned refuse to listen to Samuel’s voice and prefer to follow their own pathway; Samuel has the Lord alone as his resource, and he rehearses all the people’s words in His ears (1 Sam. 8:21).
Thus God has used discipline in order to strengthen His servant of whom He wishes to make an instrument of new blessings in that which follows. Having received this divine instruction, Samuel, who had established his sons without consulting the Lord, waits until God has told him: “Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king” (1 Sam. 8:22).