The Lord 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 gods—so they are doing to you also.”
Israel had prospered the most when they acknowledged Jehovah as their King, when they believed that the laws and the government that He had established were superior to those of other nations. But by straying from God’s law the Hebrews had failed to become the people that God wanted to make them—then they blamed God’s government for all the evils that resulted from their own sin and foolish actions.
The Lord permitted the people to follow their own choice, because they refused to be guided by His counsel. When people choose to have their own way, He often grants their desires so that they may come to realize their foolishness. Whatever the heart desires contrary to the will of God will end up to be a curse rather than a blessing.
God instructed Samuel to grant the request of the people, but to warn them of the Lord’s disapproval and to let them know what would be the result of their choice. He faithfully explained to them the burdens that a king would lay upon them and the contrast between such oppression and their present freedom and prosperity. Their king would imitate the pomp and luxury of other monarchs. Heavy demands on themselves and their property would be necessary. The king would require the best of their young men for his service. They would be made charioteers and horsemen and runners before him, and they must fill the ranks of his army and be required to work his fields, reap his harvests, and manufacture implements of war for his service. To support his royal state he would take the best of their lands. The most valuable of their servants and cattle he would take and “put them to his work.” Besides all this, the king would require a tenth of all their income, the profits from their work or the products of the soil. “You will be his servants,” concluded the prophet. “And the Lord will not hear you in that day.” Once a monarchy was established, they could not set it aside whenever they pleased.
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