Let’s examine a bit deeper what God really meant when He told Samuel…
‘Listen to the people, to everything they say to you; for it is not you they are rejecting; they are rejecting me; they don’t want me to be king over them.”
So here’s the thing.
Samuel was a God-appointed SHOPHET or Judge.
He represented the type of government God desired for Israel.
This meant Samuel was the Lord’s agent to administer justice on earth.
He had been raised up to carry out God’s instructions…
And for a Judge, that usually meant delivering one tribe or another from gentile oppression.
So here’s what you’ve got to understand.
From God’s perspective, the position of King was already taken.
And He was it!
That’s what the Lord meant when He said…“they don’t want me to be king over them”.
In other words, God was making the point He already was King…
And that the people were ultimately rejecting Him, not Samuel.
Samuel was simply His human representative to administer His Will on earth.
By the way, this divine arrangement should sound familiar to you all.
Anyways, when those leaders went to Samuel and demanded he appoint an earthly ruler to become king over Israel, their request was equal to replacing God with man.
That’s why in verse 8, God tells Samuel they aren’t doing anything new.
It was the same type of rebellious behavior Israel had engaged in ever since they built that Golden Calf out in the Wilderness.
Sure Samuel felt personally attacked because he was directly affected.
But again, the leadership of Israel wasn’t rejecting Samuel…
They were rejecting Yehoveh Himself.
So there’s a huge lesson here.
If you’re in God’s Will and are rejected because of it…
Don’t take it personally.
It is NOT you who is being rejected…
It is God.
And those who reject a person for his or her good works will ultimately pay the price…
As we’ll soon see moving forward in our continuing saga of Samuel.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Once again the Judeans
picked up rocks in order to stone him.
Yeshua answered them,
“You have seen me do many good deeds
that reflect the Father’s power;
for which one of these deeds
are you stoning me?”
The Judeans replied,
“We are not stoning you for
any good deed, but for blasphemy
— because you, who are only a man,
are making yourself
out to be ELOHIM.”
-John 10:31-33
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