1 Samuel 8:4-9 English Standard Version
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
The reason this article is called uniformity is because Israel is asking Samuel to end the age of the judges and allow them to be like everyone else. They sought to be conformed to the world and accepted. In reality they were already like everyone else in the world.
Israel’s Unfaithfulness
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.
Israel became unfaithful, the bride of God cheated on Him. This loving God, knowing His bride and what it would take to win her over again, gave her what she asked for but in doing so warned her what would happen. That kings take, take, take and look after their own interests. Somehow that sounded acceptable to them.
The Lord Grants Israel’s Request
But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,”
Have things changed all that much? Rulers all want what serves their own agenda. It just depends on who you serve and that agenda.
Do we have a King that we obey? Or are we conformed to the world and live like everyone else?
The Son’s agenda is the same as the Father’s agenda, to gather to HImself a faithful bride.
The question is this; is the Son any better at attaining His bride than HIs Father?
Judge for yourselves.