The Rise and Fall of Kings
Daniel Im
September 11/12, 2021

Ever since the Fall, the enemy has been waging war in the hearts, minds, and souls of humanity, trying to convince us that we don’t need God as our King. The enemy has been trying to seduce us into believing that we can be self-made men and women—the kings and queens of our own lives. And he’s been using a similar pattern to trap generation after generation into this deception:
Circumstance ➡ Choice ➡ Consequence.

1. Circumstance

· When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice. (1 Samuel 8:1-3 CSB)
· The Israelites didn't have a human king like the other nations around them because God was their King.

2. Choice

· So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord. (1 Samuel 8:4-6 CSB)
· The Israelites were making their choice based on their disoriented present circumstances, rather than the true north of God's word

3. Consequence

· But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. (1 Samuel 8:7-8 CSB)
· By rejecting God as their King and demanding a human king instead, the Israelites were replacing a Divine King who gives, with a human king who takes.