We Have What We Asked For

Today, I was pondering the mess our country is in, and I was reminded of how we got ourselves into this place to begin with.  In the eighth chapter of I Samuel, the people demanded that Samuel, the Lord’s prophet, find a king to rule over them.  He was getting up in years and they wanted to be like the other nations around them. They wanted a person to lead them (vs. 4) and to fight their battles (vs. 20).

Samuel was disturbed by this and asked the Lord what to do.  God told him to tell the people what would happen if they appointed a King.  Samuel told the people exactly what God said. They king would:

a.     Take the young men to create a military (vs. 11)

b.     Decide which jobs those young men could have (vs. 12)

c.      Use the young men to make weapons of war (vs. 12)

d.     Make their daughters to have to work outside their home as beauticians, waitresses and cooks (vs. 13)

e.     Take the best of their crops (vs. 14)

f.      Take a tenth of their grain and wine as a tax to support his staff (vs. 15)

g.     Take the best of their animals and servants for his own use (vs. 16)

h.     Put a tax on their flocks, making them no better than his slaves (vs. 17)

He also said that the people would not like these things and would complain about them, but to not expect God to answer (vs. 18).

Samuel tried one last time to dissuade them, and once more asked the Lord what to do.  His answer?  “Listen to them and give them a King.” (vs. 22).  He told Samuel that he should listen to the people because they were not rejecting the prophet, but God Himself as their King. (vs. 7).

I guess we have now what we asked for.