Thursday Devo
Scripture:
1 Samuel 8:11 - 18
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.”
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.”
Commentary:
10–18. Even though the Lord sanctioned the monarchy, he gave advance warning of the price Israel would pay for this innovation. It is interesting and instructive to note the social ideals that had obtained in Israel up to this time. Each family had been autonomous, under the leadership of its elders. It had been beholden to no-one, whereas under a king military and agricultural conscription would restrict Israel’s liberty. Nor would the women of the family escape, for as perfumers and cooks and bakers they would serve the royal house. Taxation, which had been unknown, would become increasingly oppressive, until the people were virtually slaves, and cried out for liberation. But having made a deliberate choice of this form of government, Israel would have to live with its restricting demands.
The ways of the king (cf. v. 9) could be translated ‘the justice of the king’ (Heb. mišpāṭ has both meanings). There could be an element of satire in the wordplay, especially in the light of what follows. Yet the description of the requirements of the king is not exaggerated; indeed they are modest compared with the demands made by the modern state. While Israel was loosely organized under tribal leaders it was a threat to no-one, but once it had been organized as a monarchy it became part of the political map, a contestant in the power-struggle for domination, and in order to have an effective army conscription was imposed. All these developments took place as early as the reign of David (2 Sam. 6:1; 8:15–18), though it was under Solomon that the system became burdensome and oppressive (1 Kgs 12:4), and led to the rejection of Solomon’s successor by the northern tribes.
His servants (vv. 14, 15) are ‘ministers’ of court, who, in acknowledgment of services rendered, are presented with the best land confiscated from others by the king. Monarchs in Ugarit (Ras Shamra), to the north, rewarded their personal retainers in property for their services to the king. Such practices were already well established in association with the monarchy.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 91–92.
The ways of the king (cf. v. 9) could be translated ‘the justice of the king’ (Heb. mišpāṭ has both meanings). There could be an element of satire in the wordplay, especially in the light of what follows. Yet the description of the requirements of the king is not exaggerated; indeed they are modest compared with the demands made by the modern state. While Israel was loosely organized under tribal leaders it was a threat to no-one, but once it had been organized as a monarchy it became part of the political map, a contestant in the power-struggle for domination, and in order to have an effective army conscription was imposed. All these developments took place as early as the reign of David (2 Sam. 6:1; 8:15–18), though it was under Solomon that the system became burdensome and oppressive (1 Kgs 12:4), and led to the rejection of Solomon’s successor by the northern tribes.
His servants (vv. 14, 15) are ‘ministers’ of court, who, in acknowledgment of services rendered, are presented with the best land confiscated from others by the king. Monarchs in Ugarit (Ras Shamra), to the north, rewarded their personal retainers in property for their services to the king. Such practices were already well established in association with the monarchy.
Joyce G. Baldwin, 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 8, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 91–92.
Questions:
Samuel warned Israel what their king would take. He would take their sons. He would take their daughters. He would take their fields, their crops, their servants, and their livestock. Over and over again, Samuel used the same word: take. The king they thought would secure their future would eventually take so much from them that they would cry out because of the king they had chosen (1 Samuel 8:10–18). Israel wanted a king who would make them feel secure, but the king they chose would leave them with less and less.
Jesus comes as a very different kind of King. He doesn't need to take anything from us to remain King. Everything already belongs to Him. He is the One through whom all things were created, yet He came into the world not demanding to be served, but choosing to serve. Mark 10:45 says that the Son of Man came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The King who has everything gave everything.
Our time can feel like ours. Our money can feel like ours. Our possessions, energy, attention, and comfort can become things we protect because we're afraid that giving too much will leave us without enough. But the King we belong to isn't asking us to give from a place of fear. He has already shown us what generous love looks like. King Jesus doesn't take from you to make His kingdom bigger. He gives Himself so that you can live free.
Jesus comes as a very different kind of King. He doesn't need to take anything from us to remain King. Everything already belongs to Him. He is the One through whom all things were created, yet He came into the world not demanding to be served, but choosing to serve. Mark 10:45 says that the Son of Man came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The King who has everything gave everything.
Our time can feel like ours. Our money can feel like ours. Our possessions, energy, attention, and comfort can become things we protect because we're afraid that giving too much will leave us without enough. But the King we belong to isn't asking us to give from a place of fear. He has already shown us what generous love looks like. King Jesus doesn't take from you to make His kingdom bigger. He gives Himself so that you can live free.
- What do you tend to protect most carefully; your money, time, possessions, energy, or comfort? What makes that thing difficult to give away or loosen your grip on?
- Think about a recent moment when someone needed something from you and your first instinct was to protect what you had. What were you concerned you might lose? What does that expose about what you believe you need in order to feel secure?
- Jesus had everything and chose to give Himself for people who could offer Him nothing in return. Does that truth challenge the way you measure what is “too much” to give or what someone else is “worth” receiving from you?
- Where has God already given you something that could become a blessing to someone else? Consider your actual time, resources, abilities, or attention. What is one specific thing you can give to someone rather than keeping it for yourself?
Prayer Topics:
- Confess the places where fear, scarcity, or self-protection have made you hold tightly to things God has entrusted to you.
- Ask God to show you where your desire for comfort or security has made you less willing to give your time, resources, attention, or energy to others.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to form in you the open-handed generosity of Jesus, so that giving becomes a response to His grace.
- Thank Jesus that He came not to be served but to serve and give His life for you, and ask Him to help you live as someone who has received far more from Him than you could ever give in return.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
3. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Since “all have sinned” and the “wages of sin is death,” Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the fine for my sin so I could be right with God.
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
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