I wanna bring something to your attention in our study of 1 Samuel you probably hadn’t considered or were even aware of.
As we all know, it was NOT Samuel who wanted Israel to have a king…
It was several leaders of the most powerful tribes of Israel who demanded Samuel install a king for them.
Now here’s what you’re probably not aware of.
While there’s no doubt that leaders from Saul’s tribe (the tribe of Benjamin) pressured Samuel to provide a king, it was really a coalition of the northern tribes of Israel who pushed Samuel to establish an earthly monarchy for Israel.
Let me say that again.
It was really the northern tribes of Israel who wanted a king patterned after the Gentile nations.
Why is this so significant?
Well, have you ever heard of the 10 lost tribes of Israel homie?
These 10 tribes (alternately called “Israel” or “Ephraim” in the Scriptures) were a rebellious lot who always wanted to get rid of their Hebrew heritage and become like the Gentiles.
God finally had enough of them and said “As you wish!”…
What eventually happened was that God sent the Assyrians to conquer them around 725 BC.
This was a long drawn-out process.
The whole ordeal lasted about 10 years but when all was said and done, the 10 northern tribes were scattered all over the approximate 120 nations that comprised the humongous Assyrian Empire.
They assimilated and intermarried with all of the variety of Gentile races that made up the Assyrian Empire until the vast majority of these ten tribes lost their identity and became Gentiles.
Today this event is known as the “Legend of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel”.
Now here’s the thing.
We can already see this Northern tribal tendency to wanna be like the Gentiles already expressing itself in the Book of Samuel way before the Assyrian conquest.
The seeds of what would happen are seen here in 1st Samuel.
Ya, feel me?
I’ve always found the history of the 10 lost tribes fascinating.
Because assimilation was NOT forced on them.
The ten northern tribes sought it!
They wanted to become Gentiles.
They wanted to be free from the constraints and requirements imposed on them by the Law of Moses.
So God said, “As you wish!“
Then soon afterward, the Lord scattered them.
I think there’s a lesson here.
Even after being chosen, if you so vigorously decide you no longer wanna be part of the Commonwealth of Israel, well be careful what you wish for…
Because the Lord may just boot you out of his kingdom…
Like He did with the 10 tribes…
Over and out.
P.S. The picture above is a delegation of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, bearing gifts to the Assyrian ruler Shalmaneser III.
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