So You Want a King?

Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

1 Samuel 8: 10-18

Our story began in a Garden. Unlike any other Garden, this one was special. No thorns, no war, no pollution or poverty. It was perfect. But, there was one thing that man was not supposed to partake of.....the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God warned Adam and Eve that if they ate of that Tree that they would discover something called "death". Immortality and Knowledge of Good and Evil does not mix. And, then a lying, cheating, no good serpent entered the Garden and tempted them to partake of the forbidden fruit. Evidently, the lure of God- like knowledge was far more tempting than the fear of death. They would decide for themselves what was "good" and what was "evil". They rejected what God told them to do. The result was the "Fall". It created a separation of humanity from God. The results were horrific. The first death outside the Garden was the murder of one their sons by another. The flow of civilization and violence that proceeded forth became so horrific that the "earth became full of violence". So much so, that God decided to reboot the design. In his grace he chose a man, Noah, and his family and preserved animal life from a great flood that destroyed the evil world. But, like sand in the carburetor, it did not take long to discover that the seeds of sin sprung forth again like dandelions on a vacant lot.

God decided to make a covenant with a man, Abram, who was called out of the seat of civilization of his day. God told him he would take him to a new land and that through his seed, "all nations of the earth would be blessed". This was the story of the redemption of the human race. God changed his name to "Abraham" which means father of many nations. The story of his descendants, Issac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph show that God was involved in each of their lives in special ways. But, his descendants ended up as slaves in Egypt for 400 years.

The story of the Exodus (the second book of the Bible) is a story of deliverance of God's people. God choose a baby Hebrew, Moses, whose mother spared his life by hiding him in a basket in the reeds along the Nile river from an officially proclaimed governmental policy of genocide against Hebrew male babies. Moses was adopted by the daughter of the Pharaoh and grew up in the palace of the Pharaoh ( i.e. "King") of Egypt. When Moses murdered an Egyptian taskmaster, he fled to the desert of Midian to hide from judgment of the Egyptian legal system. It was there that God revealed himself to Moses on Mount Sinai and told him to return to Egypt to deliver God's people to a promised land. As God delivered him from the Nile as a baby, Moses delivered his people by having them cross the Red Sea on dry land before waters destroyed Pharaoh's army of chariots who were pursuing them.

Moses led the people of Israel in the desert; but, not as a King. He was a prophet of God. God himself tabernacled with the people directing their way and delivering them from their enemies. The people did not always appreciate deliverance. In fact, they grumbled. Nostalgic memories of home back in Egypt, on the plantation, caused them to cry out for the meat and fast food of the empire. Evidently, the choice between filling their bellies with food was more important than wandering in the desert with God. Exodus 16:3 reads that:

"The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

Not a lot has changed in our churches today. Many would rather follow their human desires for food, pleasure and material things than to seek to walk in the ways of the Lord.

When they came into the promised land, they were led by Joshua. Following his leadership were a series of Judges whom God raised up to deliver the people when they needed deliverance. By the days of the prophet Samuel, the people looked around at their neighbors who were ruled by Kings and demanded that Samuel appoint for them a King. The desire for a King was motivated by the people's desire to like their neighbors.....much like the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden. God had chosen his people to be "set apart from the nations". They were to be "holy" and to be "his own". Instead, the people demanded a human king. In the passage above, Samuel told them what that would mean to them. However,just like Adam and Eve, they ignored the long term consequences for the short term lure of the gain of an earthly kingdom. They wanted to "be like the nations". The Bible suggests that we need to be careful about what we wish for. The stories of the kings that followed showed how human wisdom leads to depravity and vanity. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, ruled with a heavy yoke saying, " my father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions". (I Kings 12:11) It was no wonder that the people rebelled and the Davidic kingdom was fractured between Israel and Judah. When government becomes a burden to the people, it is often overthrown. Our forefathers threw the tea overboard in Boston harbor for a penny tax. Today, our systems of taxation take over 1/2 of what people earn between income taxes, sales taxes, real estate taxes, earnings taxes, gift, estate and generation-skipping taxes.

But of course with God, that was not the end of the story. Grace always triumphs over Judgment. For Christians, the battle is always between two masters. Manna and God. The model of our King is one of a servant who is meek and lowly. He commanded his followers to render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar's; but, to give to God the things that are God. The great paradox of God's power vs. that of the world is that a barren old lady would become the mother of a nation; a shepherd boy would become their King and that a homeless baby would lead them home.

The Gifts of the Christ Child

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Matthew 2: 10-11

Gold is for kings. Frankincense was used by the priests. But, "myrrh" was for embalming. Who would give myrrh to a baby? The Bible records these gifts for a specific reason. Each is a sign of Messianic prophecy. They were to foretell the future of this special child who was born of a virgin.

When Jesus was upon the cross, Mark 15:23 says:

And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh; but he did not take it.

Myrrh also had some medicinal qualities that help alleviate pain. Jesus refused it so that he bore the full penalty for all of our iniquities. Later, he did accept the vinegar wine on a sponge.

What I find fascinating is the Messianic Psalms that point to the prophecy of the Messiah. In Isaiah 60 we find the following passage:

1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes round about, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Mid'ian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

In this passage the Messiah is delivered two gifts: (1) gold; and, (2) frankincense. The role of the Messiah in His kindgom will be that of King and Priest; but, note the absence of the third gift - myrrh. There will no longer be the need for burial anymore as the Messiah will bring eternal life to His kingdom. The prophecy's absence of the need for myrrh is a symbol of the Messianic era. And, this was prophesied some 500 years before the birth of Jesus.

The Kingdom of God

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2: 2-4

The prophet Isaiah predicted a future that sounds like pure idealism. In the history of the world, I cannot remember any time when people beat their swords into plowshares. The rule of God which is to go forth from Zion (the hill on which the temple in Jerusalem was built) is not only for Israel; but, for "many peoples". The plan for worldwide peace is a theme that goes back to Eden. No more thorns and thistles. No more war and strife. It is the rule of God which is perfect for mankind. When YHWH finally acts to reestablish Jerusalem ("Zion") as the place where he will live and reign, it will be for all of us. This is the same promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12, that through his seed "all nations" of the earth would be blessed.

Even more specifically, God promises to do this through the arrival of the ultimate king of Israel, the descendant of David ("son of Jesse"). This king will possess the wisdom he will need to bring God's justice to the whole world. Isaiah went on to describe this in chapter 11: 1-9:

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. 6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant which is left of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. 12 He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

The restoration of Israel that is recovered from the remnant of his people is a sign of the Lord's hand. Israel, as a nation, ceased to exist when Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in 70 A.D. Jewish people were scattered throughout the nations (the "Diaspora") for almost two Milena. In 1947, the United Nations voted to restore a homeland for the Jewish people. No other nation on earth has ever come back from the dead in this manner. Hebrew, a language that nearly disappeared, is now restored as the language of modern day Israel. Certainly the wolf and the lamb have not laid down together in our time. But the fact that Israel exists as a nation today is not something that we should ignore. Does this means we are living in the last days? Perhaps? But, no man knows the hour or the day. But, Jesus did tell his disciples that they would know the "season". Before 1947 these passages were thought of as literary illusion. But, if we remember that Jesus was a historical figure that lived real space and time, then I believe there is room to suggest that upon his return God is not yet done with his plan to redeem this physical world just yet.