*From my archives*

“And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

Now the name of his firstborn was Joel (meaning: Jehovah is God) and the name of his second son was Abiah (meaning: The Lord is my Father): they were judges in Beersheba. 

And his sons walked NOT in his ways, but turned aside after lucre (dishonest gains), and took brides, and PERVERTED JUDGMENT (justice). 

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him,Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk NOT in thy ways; and now MAKE US A KING TO JUDGE US LIKE ALL THE OTHER NATIONS. 1 Samuel 8:1-5 

HI! I do hope that you have had a good week. Most pretty much know this story, but what a better time to ponder than now, and this is not attempt in anyway to sway political thoughts one way or another, because all that has been,and all that is, and all that will ever be was decided long ago…before this world was formed.  That is the first thought that I would like to establish for us today.

Ponder with me, if you will,  this passage for a bit, John 18:7-12: “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

When Pilate heard that saying,he was the more afraid. And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou (where are you from)? But Jesus gave no answer.

Then saith Pilate unto him, Speaketh thou not unto me (are you not going to answer me)? knowest thou not that I have power (authority)to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 

Jesus answered, Thou couldest have NO power (authority) AT ALL against me, except it were GIVEN THEE FROM ABOVE: therefore he that delivered me unto you hath the greater sin. 

And from henceforth Pilate sought the release him; but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art NOT Caesar’s friend; whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.”

Pilate in all his brutality did not want to tangle with the crucifixion of Jesus, and we have all ministered much on that and the same old political games that were used in that day have never changed, first they were telling Pilate, “Well, you know he broke our laws” and then it quickly changed “If you really are Caesar’s friend you put him to death…”

Much like so many have stayed in destruction relationships, all for the sake of avoiding the age old mental manipulation of if you REALLY love me you would do all that I ask, whether it is right, whether it is is wrong, or even if it destroys you or even if goes against everything you believe in.

So they were trying to sway his thinking any way possible to get him to do exactly what they wanted which was to kill Jesus.

And as Jesus told him, there is no authority that ever sits that God is not aware of and God creates it all.

And so in our opening verses we see them same tragic events that have been all through the kingdoms and are even more apparent today, those who should be leading God’s people and helping then stay the course, instead are corrupt, either having hearts that were NEVER right to begin with or through the seduction by spirits caved in to the money and  false sense of prestige that came with their popularity.

Either way they as that scripture says, pervert judgment and as deem evil as good and good as evil, and we are giving many warning of this in the Bible, and today you can see this so clearly, we are often ostracized and condemned if we share a view that is not the popular view, but as the children of God our choices MUST be made based on the infallible, eternal Word of Almighty God.

So there the elders were, faced with Samuel’s corrupted sons, that they became so fed up and so desperate for change that they felt their plan for ridding themselves of these two and being in “better hands” would be much greater than waiting for God’s plan to come to fruition.

So they requested to become as the “other” nations, and have a king sat over them, couple of problems with that… God’s people were NEVER intended to be like any other nation, or people on this earth, even though we are made up of ALL people, ALL nations, ALL tribes and languages, we are still meant to be set apart, Holy, consecrated to God and HIS Kingdom and His purposes while on this earth.   

Let’s continue, shall we?

Back to 1 Samuel 8:6-20: “But this thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us asking to judge us, And Samuel prayed unto God. 

And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken (heed) unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: FOR THEY HAVE NOT REJECTED THEE (you), BUT THEY HAVE REJECTED ME, that I should reign over them. 

According to all the works which they have done since the day that brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 

Now, therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit, yet PROTEST SOLEMNLY UNTO THEM (forewarn them) AND SHEW UNTO THEM THE MANNER OF THE KING THAT SHALL RULE OVER THEM. 

And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto all the people that asked him for a king.  

And he said, THIS will be the manner of the king that shall REIGN OVER YOU: He WILL TAKE your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before (in front of) his chariots.

And he WILL appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and WILL set them to ear (plow) his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and to make his instruments of his chariots. 

And he WILL take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he WILL take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, EVEN the BEST of them, and GIVE THEM TO HIS SERVANTS. And he WILL take a tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and GIVE THEM TO HIS OFFICERS, AND TO HIS SERVANTS.

 And he WILL take you menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

And he WILL take a tenth if your sheep, and YE SHALL BE HIS SERVANTS. AND YE SHALL CRY OUT IN THAT DAY BECAUSE OF YOUR KING WHICH YE SHALL HAVE CHOSEN OVER YOU; AND THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR YOU IN THAT DAY.

NEVERTHELESS the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and said, NAY (No);BUT WE WILL HAVE  KING OVER US;

That we may also BE LIKE all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”

So Samuel tells the Lord what they have said and then the Lord tells Samuel, to give them what they want, they have been warned, specifically warned, that EVERYTHING would be taken and given unto their chosen king and all his companions, but still they were thought they knew better than God, who was already their true King, but in their stubbornness, they rejected him and  DEMANDED a human king.

Now just “listen” to the description of their “guy” that would seem quite “kingly” and “fit the bill” for what they themselves would desire the image of their “perfect” king to be. 

1 Samuel 9:1,2: “Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorathm the son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a mighty man of POWER (strength or wealth). 

And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly (HANDSOME): and there was NOT among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he (there was no one more handsome): from his shoulders and upward he was higher (taller) than any of his people.”

So there he was, tall, gorgeous, quite similar sounded to the future son of David, but just what people seem to go for, unlike God, humans are always looking o the outside, believing that somehow, despite, logic, wisdom, and in the case, ABSOLUTE  WARNINGS FROM GOD HIMSELF that this person WILL destroy you, the still can have what they want without paying having to pay the price of that desire.

And again this is NOT a sway toward the elections, God knew we He created this earth, who would been winning that one, but this is a thought, a reminder for all the days to come, as I have said before, it is ALL already written and those things that are will be and those things that are to come, will surely come, but timing is everything, what if the people who had asked for this king had instead WAITED upon their true King, who had already been fighting their battles BEFORE He had even delivered them for Pharaoh, what if instead of demanding a king, they had instead demanded accountability from the sons of Samuel?

We often forget that we have simpler options and go into overkill when desiring change, even when those changes are needed, and admirable, and just. 

So don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, as the saying goes, TRUST King Jesus, and make choices based on him and his word, and if you feel you have no real choice, TRUST him and delay that choice until you do feel confident that it would align with his word and his desire for you. WE can apply this account to almost every decision we make in in life, because things are often presented a good, and beneficial but if that still small voices whispers warning of all the trade offs you will have to make in order to take that deal, that is telling you, don’t take the deal because you may well be making a deal with the devil himself. 

As you may know, once you go to read the rest of that story, this was just as the Lord said a very very BAD ideal for Israel and when all is said and done, Saul and his sons are dead because of his disobedience to God. 

If you notice, this also point out that Samuel had spoken with “those” who asked for a king, so NOT everyone had asked for the changes, but those changes, and the decisions of those in control brought that oppression down on ALL of them.

And when you finalize the thought of King Saul you can come up with this, He came from a well known family, strong, probably very wealthy, he was obviously seriously handsome and, yea, well, he was tall… but as to do good for is people… tall was about all!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson Original post date 11/01/2020, I obviously wrote this as a warning about what could happen when the wrong candidate is chosen by a nation. REVISITED 11/02/2021 & 10/23/2022 as many states yet again will ponder this question, and as we see what has already been proven since the original post from 2020, we see the continued unrest, insurmountable inflation, fuel price through the roof, and we will use this as a lead in for a new series concerning the continued focus on the soul of America, the chosen wording of our leaders is no mistake, and if you think it’s just a tossed about term, think again, when leaders brag that they are fighting for the soul, be assured they are “not just whistling Dixie”, and we better wake up. get up, and stand up for the truth because the one who pulls the strings of the political puppets is truly fighting for the nations soul, only not to save it, enachane or the betterment but only to the destruction and damnation of a nation whose true founding was to be a testament to the goodness, mercy, and provision of the true eternal Jehovah God .