HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 621
1 SAM UEL 9
page 251
they were not like their father, for they were
greedy for money. They accepted bribes and
perverted justice.
4 Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah
to discuss the matter with Samuel. 5 “Look,”
they told him, “you are now old, and your sons
are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like
all the other nations have.”
6 Samuel was displeased with their request
and went to the Lord for guidance. 7 “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for
they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want
me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I
brought them from Egypt they have continually
abandoned me and followed other gods. And
now they are giving you the same treatment.
9 Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about
the way a king will reign over them.”
Samuel Warns against a Kingdom
10 So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the
people who were asking him for a king. 11 “This
is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said.
“The king will draft your sons and assign them
to his chariots and his charioteers, making them
run before his chariots. 12 Some will be generals
and captains in his army,* some will be forced
to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and
some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. 13 The king will take your daughters from
you and force them to cook and bake and make
perfumes for him. 14 He will take away the best of
your fields and vineyards and olive groves and
give them to his own officials. 15 He will take a
tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and
distribute it among his officers and attendants.
16 He will take your male and female slaves and
demand the finest of your cattle* and donkeys
for his own use. 17 He will demand a tenth of
your flocks, and you will be his slaves. 18 When
that day comes, you will beg for relief from this
king you are demanding, but then the Lord will
not help you.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,”
they said. 20 “We want to be like the nations
around us. Our king will judge us and lead us
into battle.”
21 So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the
people had said, 22 and the Lord replied, “Do
as they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel
agreed and sent the people home.
Saul Meets Samuel
There was a wealthy, influential man
named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. He
was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, of the tribe of Benjamin.
9
8:12 Hebrew commanders of thousands and commanders of
fifties. 8:16 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads young men.
9:8 Hebrew 1 ⁄4 shekel of silver, about 0.1 ounces or 3 grams in
weight.
2 His
son Saul was the most handsome man in
Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone
else in the land.
3 One day Kish’s donkeys strayed away, and
he told Saul, “Take a servant with you, and go
look for the donkeys.” 4 So Saul took one of the
servants and traveled through the hill country
of Ephraim, the land of Shalishah, the Shaalim
area, and the entire land of Benjamin, but they
couldn’t find the donkeys anywhere.
5 Finally, they entered the region of Zuph, and
Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go home. By now
my father will be more worried about us than
about the donkeys!”
6 But the servant said, “I’ve just thought of
something! There is a man of God who lives here
in this town. He is held in high honor by all the
people because everything he says comes true.
Let’s go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which
way to go.”
7 “But we don’t have anything to offer him,”
Saul replied. “Even our food is gone, and we
don’t have a thing to give him.”
8 “Well,” the servant said, “I have one small
silver piece.* We can at least offer it to the man
of God and see what happens!” 9 (In those days
if people wanted a message from God, they
would say, “Let’s go and ask the seer,” for
prophets used to be called seers.)
10 “All right,” Saul agreed, “let’s try it!” So
they started into the town where the man of
God lived.
• Compromise
1 S A M U E L 8:10-20
God had promised to protect the
Israelites if they remained loyal and
faithful to him. But the people wanted
to be like their neighbors, who had
kings. They were compromising their
relationship with God for a false sense
of security. God pointed out that they
were rejecting him. That was the first
bad deal—trading God’s leadership for
human leadership. Next, Samuel warned
the people that they would be required
to give up many personal freedoms in
exchange for military might. This was
another bad deal because God had
already promised them protection if they
would just stay loyal to him. They were
giving up something they didn’t need to
lose. When you’re about to make a deal,
take a careful look at what you will lose;
do you really want to give that up? And
look at what you will gain; is it worth the
price you will pay?