Reading for the Day: Samuel's Scare Tactics

The Reading for the Day involves God, Samuel and the Israelites. Samuel is old and there is a problem with succession and the Israelites are asking him to appoint a king "as other nations have".  

Samuel doesn't like what he hears but he tells God what the Israelites said anyway and God tells Samuel, (in the version available at the site I usually consult) ""Listen to whatever the people have to say. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king." 


Samuel doesn't exactly grant the people's request right away. Upon God's orders, he issues a fairly lengthy warning that if the Israelites have a king, that king will treat their children like servants and expropriate their best servants and animals. He will tax them and make them slaves. I've made copy of the reading below simply because you really have to read it for yourself to get a sense of Samuel's scare tactics. 


But despite this the people still want a king because "We too must be like other nations, with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare and fight our battles."


So Samuel tells God and God tells Samuel to give the Israelites a king. Eventually, this leads to the installation of Saul. 


The Israelites seem to be keeping up with the Joneses. Other countries have kings, so should we, they said. 

We can learn some things about God in this passage. First, God astutely observes that Samuel takes the request personally. He tells Samuel the first time around, "Grant the people's every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king."

And second, God respects Israel's freedom. Israel was headed in the wrong direction (away from God) but God tells Samuel to grant the people's request anyway. 

I guess we're all like the Israelites sometimes. Stubbornly insisting on our own way even if good spirits tell us that our decisions are bad for us. And God is and has always been a God who in the end respects our freedom to make decisions for ourselves. 


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1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a

All the elders of Israel came in a body to Samuel at Ramah
and said to him, "Now that you are old,
and your sons do not follow your example,
appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us."

Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them.
He prayed to the LORD, however, who said in answer:
"Grant the people's every request.
It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king."

Samuel delivered the message of the LORD in full
to those who were asking him for a king.
He told them:
"The rights of the king who will rule you will be as follows:
He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses,
and they will run before his chariot.
He will also appoint from among them his commanders of groups
of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers.
He will set them to do his plowing and his harvesting,
and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
He will use your daughters as ointment makers, as cooks, and as bakers.
He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves,
and give them to his officials.
He will tithe your crops and your vineyards,
and give the revenue to his eunuchs and his slaves.
He will take your male and female servants,
as well as your best oxen and your asses,
and use them to do his work.
He will tithe your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves.
When this takes place,
you will complain against the king whom you have chosen,
but on that day the LORD will not answer you."

The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel's warning and said,
"Not so! There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles."
When Samuel had listened to all the people had to say,
he repeated it to the LORD, who then said to him,
"Grant their request and appoint a king to rule them."


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