He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.
The king Israel demanded would claim a tenth of their flocks and reduce the people themselves to his service. That royal tenth would come on top of what they already owed to the Lord, becoming a heavy and lasting burden of taxation to support royal pomp that they could not afterward throw off when they cried out under it. In asking to be judged and ruled like the surrounding nations they were casting off God's own direct rule over them and putting a human monarch in the place of their divine King. Because no earthly king could receive such honor without being exalted in his own eyes, the Lord solemnly warned them through Samuel yet permitted them to have their own way, and the choice weakened the nation toward irreligion and ruin. The same folly is repeated whenever His professed people trust human judgment and worldly policy and seek visible human rule and worldly recognition instead of relying on God's guidance as their Ruler.
Words and Historical Context
The king Israel demanded would take a tenth of their sheep as tribute and make the people his servants, bringing heavy taxation and oppression in place of freedom. That subjection was the personal cost of replacing God's rule with human kingship and seeking visible human rule instead of relying on God's guidance. This royal tithe would be added to the tenth they already gave to the Lord, making the king's rule oppressive taxation. The warning concluded that the people would afterward cry out because of the king they had chosen, but the Lord would not hear them then.
The tenth was not limited to flocks alone but extended to income, the profits of labor, and the produce of the land. These were burdensome exactions needed to maintain the king's royal state, and once the monarchy was established the people could not simply end those demands. This taking was part of the manner of the king that God directed Samuel to protest solemnly to Israel when they demanded a king to judge them like all the nations. Samuel faithfully told all these words of the Lord to the people under God's direction, but the solemn warning did not change their purpose.
Israel's government had been essentially different from all other nations, a wise and mild government of God himself through His prophets. Its statutes and laws were given by God, its rulers were chosen by God whom the people were to obey in the Lord, and God was to be inquired of in all cases of difficulty and perplexity. A king would instead be a despotic monarch who would exact tribute and oppress them. Unlike such a king, the Lord's appointed rulers instructed the people in His ways.
Rejecting God's Direct Rule
Israel asked for a king to judge them like all the nations, wanting to be like the nations around them and copying the pattern of nations that did not acknowledge God. That demand was a rebellious departure from God as their special leader, springing from want of faith in God and lack of confidence in His providence to raise up rulers to lead and govern them. The solemn warning did not change their purpose, for their minds were bent on following their own judgment and casting aside the wisdom of God.
In making that choice they discarded God's direct rule and rejected God as their divine King, exchanging His rule for human kingship. The price of that exchange was exactions and servitude, for the king they demanded would take a tenth of their sheep and make them his servants. That outcome belonged to the manner of the king which Samuel was directed to protest solemnly to Israel, showing that their chosen way was not the right and best way.
A human king was not best for God's chosen people, because honor due to God alone would be rendered to an earthly monarch. No one could occupy the position of king and receive the honors usually given to a king without becoming exalted, with his ways seeming right in his own eyes while he sinned against God. Unless he continually trusted in God and received wisdom from Him, at a king's word innocent persons would be made to suffer and the most unworthy would be exalted. A king whose heart was lifted up and not right with God would lead the people away from God and cause them to rebel against Him.
The people's voice decided to discard Samuel before God had released him, yet Samuel was directed of God to listen to them. The Lord permitted them to have their own way and granted them the desire of their unsanctified hearts. The warning was fulfilled when Israel chose to be ruled like other nations, a choice they later saw as a mistake. That choice weakened the nation, the king's example exerted wide influence toward growing irreligiousness and ungodliness, and the later outcome included Jerusalem's destruction and the nation's dispersion.
Present Warning and Application
The tenth of the sheep taken by the king and the reduction of the people to his servants was part of the manner of the king that God directed Samuel to protest solemnly to Israel when they demanded a king to judge them like all the nations. That exaction stands among the sure results of choosing a human ruler instead of God as divine King, following the pattern of nations that did not acknowledge God. It warns that the chosen human way was not the right way and the best way. Samuel faithfully told all these words of the Lord to the people under the direction of God, but the solemn warning did not change their purpose, for their minds were bent on following their own judgment and casting aside the wisdom of God, so the Lord permitted them to have their own way and granted them the desire of their unsanctified hearts.
That servitude and exaction was the price of wanting to be like other nations and be ruled by a king, discarding God's direct rule for human kingship. The people's voice decided to discard Samuel before God had released him, yet Samuel was directed of God to listen to them. The same spirit leaves first love, lays plans that have not entered into the mind of God, and seeks to be recognized by the world. That same spirit manages God's work by worldly policy and human judgment, separates it from God's management and control, refuses to be under His jurisdiction, and brings results that react upon those who make them.
The burden and subjection of the tenth and the servitude came with seeking visible human rule instead of relying on God's guidance. Israel's folly in seeking a human ruler and trusting worldly plans weakened the nation, and its later outcome included Jerusalem's destruction and the nation's dispersion. That folly would be repeated unless God's people became less self-reliant and trusted God as their ruler. God's people repeat those follies when they trust in human judgment instead of trusting in God. The warning also applies to professing Christians who pattern themselves after the world for gain and approval.
The king Israel demanded would claim a tenth of their flocks and reduce the people themselves to his service. That royal tenth would come on top of what they already owed to the Lord, becoming a heavy and lasting burden of taxation to support royal pomp that they could not afterward throw off when they cried out under it. In asking to be judged and ruled like the surrounding nations they were casting off God's own direct rule over them and putting a human monarch in the place of their divine King. Because no earthly king could receive such honor without being exalted in his own eyes, the Lord solemnly warned them through Samuel yet permitted them to have their own way, and the choice weakened the nation toward irreligion and ruin. The same folly is repeated whenever His professed people trust human judgment and worldly policy and seek visible human rule and worldly recognition instead of relying on God's guidance as their Ruler.
Words and Historical Context
The king Israel demanded would take a tenth of their sheep as tribute and make the people his servants, bringing heavy taxation and oppression in place of freedom. That subjection was the personal cost of replacing God's rule with human kingship and seeking visible human rule instead of relying on God's guidance. This royal tithe would be added to the tenth they already gave to the Lord, making the king's rule oppressive taxation. The warning concluded that the people would afterward cry out because of the king they had chosen, but the Lord would not hear them then.
The tenth was not limited to flocks alone but extended to income, the profits of labor, and the produce of the land. These were burdensome exactions needed to maintain the king's royal state, and once the monarchy was established the people could not simply end those demands. This taking was part of the manner of the king that God directed Samuel to protest solemnly to Israel when they demanded a king to judge them like all the nations. Samuel faithfully told all these words of the Lord to the people under God's direction, but the solemn warning did not change their purpose.
Israel's government had been essentially different from all other nations, a wise and mild government of God himself through His prophets. Its statutes and laws were given by God, its rulers were chosen by God whom the people were to obey in the Lord, and God was to be inquired of in all cases of difficulty and perplexity. A king would instead be a despotic monarch who would exact tribute and oppress them. Unlike such a king, the Lord's appointed rulers instructed the people in His ways.
Rejecting God's Direct Rule
Israel asked for a king to judge them like all the nations, wanting to be like the nations around them and copying the pattern of nations that did not acknowledge God. That demand was a rebellious departure from God as their special leader, springing from want of faith in God and lack of confidence in His providence to raise up rulers to lead and govern them. The solemn warning did not change their purpose, for their minds were bent on following their own judgment and casting aside the wisdom of God.
In making that choice they discarded God's direct rule and rejected God as their divine King, exchanging His rule for human kingship. The price of that exchange was exactions and servitude, for the king they demanded would take a tenth of their sheep and make them his servants. That outcome belonged to the manner of the king which Samuel was directed to protest solemnly to Israel, showing that their chosen way was not the right and best way.
A human king was not best for God's chosen people, because honor due to God alone would be rendered to an earthly monarch. No one could occupy the position of king and receive the honors usually given to a king without becoming exalted, with his ways seeming right in his own eyes while he sinned against God. Unless he continually trusted in God and received wisdom from Him, at a king's word innocent persons would be made to suffer and the most unworthy would be exalted. A king whose heart was lifted up and not right with God would lead the people away from God and cause them to rebel against Him.
The people's voice decided to discard Samuel before God had released him, yet Samuel was directed of God to listen to them. The Lord permitted them to have their own way and granted them the desire of their unsanctified hearts. The warning was fulfilled when Israel chose to be ruled like other nations, a choice they later saw as a mistake. That choice weakened the nation, the king's example exerted wide influence toward growing irreligiousness and ungodliness, and the later outcome included Jerusalem's destruction and the nation's dispersion.
Present Warning and Application
The tenth of the sheep taken by the king and the reduction of the people to his servants was part of the manner of the king that God directed Samuel to protest solemnly to Israel when they demanded a king to judge them like all the nations. That exaction stands among the sure results of choosing a human ruler instead of God as divine King, following the pattern of nations that did not acknowledge God. It warns that the chosen human way was not the right way and the best way. Samuel faithfully told all these words of the Lord to the people under the direction of God, but the solemn warning did not change their purpose, for their minds were bent on following their own judgment and casting aside the wisdom of God, so the Lord permitted them to have their own way and granted them the desire of their unsanctified hearts.
That servitude and exaction was the price of wanting to be like other nations and be ruled by a king, discarding God's direct rule for human kingship. The people's voice decided to discard Samuel before God had released him, yet Samuel was directed of God to listen to them. The same spirit leaves first love, lays plans that have not entered into the mind of God, and seeks to be recognized by the world. That same spirit manages God's work by worldly policy and human judgment, separates it from God's management and control, refuses to be under His jurisdiction, and brings results that react upon those who make them.
The burden and subjection of the tenth and the servitude came with seeking visible human rule instead of relying on God's guidance. Israel's folly in seeking a human ruler and trusting worldly plans weakened the nation, and its later outcome included Jerusalem's destruction and the nation's dispersion. That folly would be repeated unless God's people became less self-reliant and trusted God as their ruler. God's people repeat those follies when they trust in human judgment instead of trusting in God. The warning also applies to professing Christians who pattern themselves after the world for gain and approval.