1 Samuel 8-10 – Israel Gets a King

As a family, read 1 Samuel 8 and 10 together.  Afterwards, share the following family discussion.

What happened?

The nation of Israel was unique – they were God’s chosen people, God’s valued possession.  God wanted to use Israel’s faith to reveal His great love for the rest of the world.

However, in the chapters we read today, Israel was questioning how God was leading them.  The Israelites looked around at their neighbors and saw that other countries had kings leading them. They didn’t recognize that God Himself was leading them. He led them out of Egypt, out of the wilderness, and into victory against many nations that were physically stronger than Israel.  But all those nations didn’t have faith in God – instead, they submitted to human kings.

The people of Israel wanted to have a king so they could be like the nations they saw around them.  They went to Samuel, a prophet and priest, to bring their request to God. He warned Israel that living under the authority of a king wasn’t nearly as good as answering directly to God.  Human kings made mistakes and could lead them in directions that were wrong or harmful. But Israel insisted. So Samuel prayed and took Israel’s request to God.

God told Samuel something interesting: give Israel what they wanted.  So Samuel began his search for a king. But God would bring Samuel the man He desired to lead Israel. Saul was the son of a wealthy man in Israel. He was responsible for his father’s livestock. One day, his father’s donkeys were missing. Saul and some of his men went searching for them. They could not find the donkeys, but during their search they were pointed to the house of a man who had a reputation for always being right in what he said.

Saul arrived at the man’s house. That man happened to be Samuel. When Samuel met Saul, he knew that this was the man God wanted to be king of Israel. So Samuel anointed Saul as Israel’s first king. Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!”

And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

Why is this important to us today?

God gave Israel what they wanted – a king.  They would go on to have many kings.  But just as God warned, some of their kings became selfish and power hungry and led them away from following God’s laws. With each bad king the people had to decide if they would follow God’s way or the king’s commands. For generations Israel struggled through good kings and bad kings, suffering the consequences of their forefathers and demanding to have their own way rather than following what God said was best for them.

The time and culture in which we live is very different from Israel in this account, but we have to make a similar decision every day – either follow God’s directions or demand our own way. God desires to be the Lord of your life, just as He did in the lives of the Israelites.  He is the only one who will never mislead you or subject you to harm. God can be trusted because He never acts out of selfishness. All of God’s commands and directions are for our good.

But like Israel, we sometimes demand our own way. When we do, God may choose to let us have what we want; but we’ll suffer the consequences of stepping outside of His will.

Spend a few minutes talking about what you just read by answering these questions together:

Why did the people ask Samuel for a king? How would God’s plan have been better for Israel? Share a time when you did what you wanted rather than follow God’s instructions. What were the consequences? How would God’s plan have been better?

How can we better follow God this week?

It’s important to encourage one another, as a family, to follow the Lord. Like Israel, you can be influenced by people around you to do what they do rather than follow what God has told you to do.

This is a great time to craft a family mission statement.  A good example of this is found in Joshua 24:15 where Israel was told by Joshua not to follow the ways of others. Joshua declared, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Take some time to talk about what serving God means to each of you. As a family, what is your “mission” for the Lord? Have one member of the family write down what you come up with and post it on the refrigerator or another prominent place in your home. It will serve as a daily reminder that your family has committed to following Jesus and His leadership – not demanding your own way.