Chapter 59—Saul, the First King of Israel
This chapter is based on
1 Samuel 8
to 12.
The government of Israel was administered in the name of God.
The work of Moses, of the seventy elders, of the rulers and judges, was
simply to enforce the laws that God had given; they had no authority
to legislate for the nation. This was the condition of Israel’s existence
as a nation.
The Lord foresaw that Israel would desire a king, but He did not
change the principles on which the state was founded. The king was
to be the vicegerent of the Most High. God was the head of the nation.
When the Israelites first settled in Canaan, the nation prospered
under the rule of Joshua. But intercourse with other nations brought
a change. The people adopted many of the customs of their heathen
neighbors and ceased to prize the honor of being God’s chosen people.
Attracted by the pomp and display of heathen monarchs, they tired of
their own simplicity. Jealousy sprang up between the tribes. Internal
dissensions made them weak. They were exposed to the invasion of
heathen foes, and the people were coming to believe that the tribes
must be united under a strong central government. They desired to be
freed from the rule of their divine Sovereign. Thus the demand for a
monarchy became widespread throughout Israel.
Under Samuel’s administration the nation had prospered, order
had been restored, godliness promoted, and the spirit of discontent
checked for the time. But with advancing years the prophet appointed
his two sons to act as his assistants. The young men were stationed at
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Beersheba to administer justice among the people near the southern
border of the land.
They did not prove worthy but “turned aside after lucre, and took
bribes, and perverted judgment.” They had not copied the pure, un-
selfish life of their father. He had been to some extent too indulgent
with his sons, and the result was apparent in their character.
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