“And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” (1Sa 8:7 AV)
Israel did not reject the person of the Almighty. They rejected the methods of the Almighty. Samuel was the judge and priest of Israel. He would be the last judge. The judge who served before him, Eli, was inadequate as a father. His sons served in the tabernacle with greed and immorality. They helped themselves to as much of the sacrifices as they wished and had relations with women at that tabernacle. God judged these two sons, and Eli went to the grave in sorrow. Samuel was Eli’s replacement. However, Samuel also did not raise his family well, either. This caused Israel to see a pattern they wanted no longer. What did not occur to them is that God replaced Eli with a godly man. God refused to use Eli’s sons. The same could happen again. God could replace Samuel with another godly man and refuse to use his sons. Once they had a king, they would be stuck. Succession would carry over, and the thing they feared the most would come upon them. In the current system, judges were not entitled to crown their sons to follow them. With a king, the one thing they didn’t want would be the permanent reality. Rejecting God’s methods while accepting His person is still rejecting Him.
My dad had many hobbies. I think the reason he did this was that he had hoped to spark a specific interest in the boys that he had. He was a photographer, an outdoorsman, a stamp collector, a musician, a model railroad enthusiast, and loved to collect and make model airplanes. He didn’t much care which one we gravitated toward, but there were a few that were non-negotiable. The two that we had to participate in were music and scouting. There was no choice here. We were required to take music lessons, and we were required to be a scout. In these activities, my father was the leader or the teacher. It was his way or no way. If we dare try a different way, he would take it personally. There was only one way to tie a slipknot. There was only one way to triage. There was only one way to make any given chord on the guitar. I remember the day that I discovered there was an easier way to make the G chord. It made it much easier to transition to other chords in the G family. My did took it personally. After a while, he thought on it, did some research, and then decided it was ok. But I remember when I rejected his method while still accepting him. That may be acceptable for a human relationship, but it is not with God.
God is perfect. His ways are perfect. If we reject His ways, we reject Him. Many do not see that. How do I know? Because the vast majority of what is called Christian today rejects the ways of God. They do not adhere to the perfection of the Bible. They believe the Bible is up to personal preference. The commands of God are all seen as preferences. Nothing is essential. All things are non-essential. There is no striving for Christlikeness. There is no confession of sin, forsaking of sin, and reconciliation with the Creator. We use Him for comfort and affirmation, but reject Him as ruler and guide. He is not King of kings and Lord of lords because when He says we must, we determine if we truly must. His word is our source of courage, encouragement, or emotional support. What the word of God has ceased to be is the very voice of God for the purpose of guiding mankind into true blessedness. Before we condemn the children of Israel, perhaps we should take a good hard look into our own hearts. How much to we reject the ways of God thinking that accepting the person of God is acceptable?
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