Samuel was a prophet of Yehovah and it was He that ruled over Israel. But Israel was a people who did not know their Elohim (their lawmaker and judge) and spoke to Samuel saying, “give usus a king to judge us!”
But Israel was never meant to have a king. Yehovah was supposed to be their only Elohim who reigned over them.
“I am Yehovah your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other elohim existing before my face. (Exo 20:2-3)
[Note: This article is part 3 of the “hamashiach” series. Here is part 1 “hamashiach (the anointed) – 1” and part 2 “hamashiach – the anointed (priest) – 2”
He alone is ruler over all the rulers, masters, lords, judges, kings, presidents and all the lawmakers and judges on the earth.
Moses and David only had Yehovah as their only master or adon.
For Yehovah your Elohim, He is Elohim of the elohim [האלהים, ha-e-lo-him] and the master’s [האדנים, ha-a-do-nim] Master [ואדני, a-do-ni] of, the great, the mighty and the fearsome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. (Deu 10:17)
Oh, give thanks to the master’s [האדנים, ha-a-do-nim] Master [ואדני, a-do-ni]! For His mercy endures forever. (Psa 136:3)
Give Us A King To Judge Us
But we, Israel, were foolish; we decided that we did not want Yehovah to be our only lawmaker and judge and we asked Samuel to give us a king to judge us like the other nations. We did not understand that we were to be different from the other nations. Did Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, Abraham have a king?
Then all the elders of Israel [these are all men] gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now give us a king to judge us like all the nations.” (1Sa 8:4-5)
Samuel was angry that we said “give us a king” and I think that even Yehovah was hurt by our request also. He then prayed for guidance.
And Yehovah said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other elohim [אלהים] – so they are doing to you also. (1Sa 8:7-8)
And He did Give Us A King – With These Warnings
So Yehovah warned us what a king would do.
And He said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: … (1Sa 8:11-17)
- He will take your sons
- He will take your daughters
- He will take the best of your fields
- He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage (ha – 10% sounds pretty good these days)
- He will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work
- He will take a tenth of your sheep
- And you will be his servants [not Yehovah’s, we can’t serve two masters]
Yehovah concludes His warning by saying that a time will come that we will choose kings which Yehovah had not chosen.
And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and Yehovah will not hear you in that day.” (1Sa 8:18)
But we were wicked and still wanted a king,
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” (1Sa 8:19-20)
And with those words Yehovah consented; but He gave several stipulations concerning the king who would rule over His people. One of them was that the king would be someone whom He chooses, from among the brethren. This was not a king selected by a majority vote; since we had no say in the matter.
“When you (he is talking to His Ezrach men) come to the land which Yehovah, your Elohim is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom Yehovah your Elohim chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. (Deu 17:14-15)
My Only King Is Yehovah
My only king now is Yehovah. If you check my wallet you will find no evidence of any covenant which connects me to this wicked world. But the wicked kings that I used to have ruling over me all had to be inaugurated in front of the people whom they ruled over.
Many, because of the “New Testament” commentaries, want to make Yeshua the king. But when did Yehovah choose, anoint and inaugurate him? Yeshua always promoted Yehovah’s name and His kingdom.
In this manner, therefore, pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name [what is His name? Yehovah!]. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Mat 6:9-10)
The only sovereign Yeshua ever promoted was Yehovah, the Elohim (lawmaker and judge) of the elohim and Master of the masters.
Joshua, while he was in the land of the Canaanites, said,
“Now therefore, fear Yehovah, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the elohim [lawmakers and judges] which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve Yehovah! And if it seems evil to you to serve Yehovah, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the elohim which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River [back in Haran and Babylon], or the elohim of the Amorites [put in your government], in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve Yehovah!” (Jos 24:14-15)
Israel Said “Give Us A King”
Next time we will see the process by which Saul, David and Solomon became the anointed, the mashiach king for Yehovah, who were to lead their servants only in His ways.
Go to “The Mashiach King 4“