CHOOSING A KING.
-1 SAM.
10:17-27.-JULY 12.-
Golden Text:-“The Lord is our king; he will save us.”-Isa. 33:22.
ALTHOUGH the people
of Israel were self-willed in the matter of desiring a king like the nations
about them, it is to their credit that they desired the Lord, through his
prophet Samuel, to make the selection of the one who should fill the office.
Undoubtedly, however, men of the various tribes were ambitious for the office.
To suppose otherwise would be to disregard our knowledge of and experience with
human nature. If the petty offices of ward and town politics are eagerly
sought and almost fought for at the primaries and polls today, what wire
pulling might we not expect if it were determined that a king should be
chosen? We fear that a contrast between the people of Christendom and the
Israelites on this subject would result unfavorably to the former. In all the
countries constituting “Christendom” how few there are who, when choosing their
officers, give any consideration whatever to the Lord’s choice for the
position! Even when we think of the choice of ministers in the denominations
of the Church nominal, we find the contrast rather unfavorable; for the choice
of a bishop or minister is indeed, apparently, very rarely referred to the Lord
exclusively, with the desire to have his will and his choice, and none other,
selected.
Guided by the Lord, Saul, a young man from an influential family, of the
tribe of Benjamin, was anointed to be king. He was brought to the prophet for
the anointing by a peculiar train of circumstances. His father owned a valuable
herd of asses which strayed away, and Saul, after seeking them in vain,
appealed to the prophet for assistance in locating them, and thus he showed his
confidence in God, and in Samuel as his prophet. Nothing is recorded
respecting the young man’s interest in religious matters up to this time; but
he is mentioned favorably as a “goodly” young man. After his anointing he kept
the matter secret with becoming modesty, waiting for the Lord’s plan to develop
more fully and to bring him ultimately into prominence before the nation. It
is quite probable that this secretiveness was at the instigation of Samuel.
In due time Samuel sent word to the Elders of Israel to meet him at Mizpeh
(watch-tower), and upon their arrival the matters of this lesson followed.
Samuel rehearsed to them the Lord’s favor as it had been with them during the
previous centuries, beginning with their miraculous deliverance from Egypt. He
impressed upon them the fact that all of the Lord’s care over them had been for
their good; that no king could have done them better service than their great
King; and that no government could have been more to their happiness than that
they had enjoyed and which they were now rejecting in their request for a king,
which petition the Lord had determined to grant. In harmony with this they had
assembled-not all the people, but representatives from all the tribes and from
the various families of each tribe. Ignoring the anointing of Saul already
accomplished, Samuel proceeded to cast lots, that the people might thus know
that the choice to be made was the Lord’s choice and not Samuel’s. It was the
custom at that time to have the High Priest’s ephod in use on such occasions,
and a pocket in the ephod was made the receptacle for slips of paper, or
sometimes for the precious stones representing the different tribes and
families. First, a choice was made amongst the tribes to determine in which
one would be found the man whom the Lord had chosen to become their king.
Doubtless the princes of the tribe of Ephraim remembered the good promises
prophetically given by Jacob respecting them, and probably thought that the
Lord’s choice would fall upon their tribe. The princes of Manasseh may also
have remembered the good promises respecting their tribe, and may not have been
without hope respecting the lot. The men of Judah, unquestionably, would call
to mind the promise that a lawgiver should come from Judah, and would have
strong hopes respecting the result of the lot. But when the lot was cast, when
the hand pulled forth from the ephod pocket the stone representing the tribe of
Benjamin, the matter was decided, and in general the people bowed to the Lord’s
decision. Next, the leading families, or clans, of the tribe of Benjamin were
representatively placed in the ephod, and the hand drew forth as the Lord’s
choice the name representing the family of Matri; and again, the various
members of the family of Matri were representatively placed in the ephod bag,
and the hand drew forth the name of Saul, the son of Kish. Thus was publicly
demonstrated the Lord’s choice, which the prophet and Saul himself already
knew. We can imagine the stir and commotion to find the man thus chosen to be
the king, respecting whom but few of the people seemed to have the slightest
knowledge. They sought him everywhere, but could not find him, and again the
inspired oracle was sought to indicate whether he would be found, and where.
The Lord’s answer was that he had hidden himself amongst the stuff-the baggage
which, as was the custom, was probably piled up, surrounding the camp as a
barricade. Saul evidently had full confidence in the Lord’s foreknowledge and
that the lots drawn would confirm the prophet’s declaration to him and his
anointing. The modesty which led him to hide and, to some extent, to shrink
from the honor to be conferred, is very gratifying to all right-minded people.
Would that we could see more of this modesty amongst the chief ones of this
world and also amongst the chief ones of nominal spiritual Israel! We should
each mark the beauty of such humble-mindedness, and seek to cultivate the same
quality in our own hearts and lives-however different this may make us from the
majority of the world.
When Saul stood amongst the people he was head and shoulders above them,
probably seven feet tall. His natural qualities would thus appeal strongly to
the people of his time, who even in picturing their rulers represented them as
many times larger than the average man. Then Samuel introduced him, saying,
“See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all
the people?” and the responsive shout of the people was, “God save the king!”
or literally, Lord, let the king live-the usual greeting to their kings.
We are reminded of the fact that God is now about to establish a Kingdom
in the world and is choosing a King. The Millennial kingdom might not be
necessary in the form in which it will be introduced, were the people in the
right attitude of heart to desire and to obey the divine will; but they prefer
to have the laws of righteousness enforced rather than voluntarily to
submit themselves to the Lord. In due time they shall have a king,
Immanuel-like Saul in some respects, but very unlike him in others. The Lord
is now selecting this King Immanuel. He is passing by the great tribes, the
prominent people, and choosing the little and the humble-not many great, not
many wise, not many learned has God chosen, but the poor of this world, rich in
faith, to be heirs of the Kingdom. (1 Cor. 1:26-28.) The selection is going on
in the sight of all the people. They will be witnesses, when all the steps of
the election of God have been taken, that the choice is the Lord’s without
peradventure; and yet the Lord foreknew his choice in advance of this public
selection. He foreknew Jesus as the Head of the Church, the Head of the great
King; he anointed him in advance “with the oil of gladness above his fellows,”
to be King; yet, so far as the people in general are concerned, they know not
the Lord’s anointed-the matter is kept secret for a time. The members of the
body of Christ must all be like the Head. As the Apostle declares, God has predestinated
that every one who shall become a member of that body shall be “conformed to
the image of his Son.” (Rom. 8:29.) By and by, when the outward election is
complete, when the world shall come properly to feel its need for a great King,
search will be made to find the Lord’s Anointed, and he will be found at his
second advent. “The desire of all nations shall come”; the Christ of God will
be the desired one of all nations. (The name Saul, singularly enough,
signifies Desired.) As the men of Israel gave a shout when they recognized
Saul’s stateliness, so the world of mankind will shout for joy when they shall
realize the presence of the Christ of God, the great King, their deliverer from
Satan, from misrule, from every enemy-the Lord who “must reign till he hath put
all enemies under his feet-the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Not only shall it be true that the Lord’s Anointed One shall
be head and shoulders above all others, “the chiefest amongst ten thousand, the
one altogether lovely,” but it should also be true to a considerable extent
that all those who are intimately associated with the members of the body of
Christ in the present life-before he is proclaimed King of the whole
world-should be able to recognize the largeness and grandeur of character in
those whom the Lord is choosing for this place of honor in the affairs of men.
They should be able to take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus,
should see their largeness of heart, their moral heights-should discern in them
the spirit of a sound mind.
The record is that a band of Israelites, a bodyguard, at once
attached themselves to Saul-men “whose hearts God had touched.” They were
touched with the realization that the Lord had made this choice, and with the
desire to be in accord with the Lord and to support the divine will as it
concerned the chosen one, and to cooperate therewith. This is a proper lesson
to all of the Lord’s people now. It is because we see
Jesus to be the Father’s choice that we unite ourselves to him; because we see
the Father’s character manifested in him that we leave all to follow him.
Similarly, if we lend our aid, our support to any human being in connection
with the divine plan and service, it should be simply upon this ground-not merely
a personal magnetism or favoritism, but because our hearts are touched by the
Lord with a realization of the leader being of his appointment. Thus
our loyalty will always be to God and not to men. Nevertheless, we shall find
ourselves co-laboring in a manner most useful and most helpful in the Lord’s
service; coworkers with God and coworkers with all who are his servants under
his appointments. So, doubtless, it will be in the future when the great King
complete has taken the reins of government; the best of mankind will flock to
him, anxious to know and to do his will and to be in full accord with him as
the representative of the heavenly Father and his Kingdom.
The expression “Sons of Belial” signifies children of the Devil, or wicked
persons-persons out of harmony with God and not submissive to his arrangements
and selections. There are also such in the present time, who are speaking evil
directly or indirectly of such members of the body of Christ as they have
contact with; being out of sympathy with the Lord they are out of sympathy with
all of his arrangements. Their influence either in the nominal church or out of
it is, therefore, against the true interests of the Lord’s cause. There will
be such in the Millennial age when the Kingdom shall have been established, and
of these the Lord speaks in the parable, “Those who would not have me to reign
over them.” Again they are mentioned by the Apostle (Acts 3:23) saying, “It
shall come to pass that the soul who will not obey that prophet shall be cut off
from amongst the people.” However, we may be sure that they will not be cut off
until they have had a full exhibition of the divine power and mercy;-only such
as resist after all these opportunities and privileges will be counted worthy
of the Second Death.
Very shortly after Saul’s appointment to the kingdom he had opportunity to
show his ability in delivering the people, for a neighboring king advanced upon
Israel with a considerable army. Saul gathered his troops from the various
tribes, to the number of 330,000 men, and totally routed Nahash and his army of
the Ammonites. This victory cemented the hearts of the people of Israel to
their king, and they in their loyalty demanded the execution of the sons of
Belial who had spoken against him; but the nobility of King Saul is shown in
his refusal to accede to this suggestion, and his saying, “There shall not a
man be put to death today.” So when the power of the glorious King of the
Millennial age shall be manifested in the routing of the enemies of righteousness,
the general sentiment of the world toward him will be loyalty, and then he will
have an opportunity of showing his mercy and forbearance toward those who
during the darkness of the present time have spoken evil of him and sought to
oppose his Kingdom. The declaration shall then go forth that none shall die
the Second Death on account of Adamic weaknesses, blindness and
insubordination;-that none shall die the Second Death except as the result of
personal and willful sin after having been brought to a knowledge of the truth.
Our Golden Text is one the sentiments of which should be deeply impressed
upon the hearts of all the Lord’s people. The world may cry out, saying, “We
have no king but Caesar,” but the Lord’s people, the Israelites indeed, will
feel the reverse of this,-that “the Lord is our king.” In harmony with his
command, we will honor earthly kings and obey earthly laws in every particular
in which they do not conflict with the divine law; but, nevertheless, above
earthly kings, our esteem, homage and obedience must be to him whom the Lord
hath appointed, King Immanuel. If he be enthroned in our hearts it will be
comparatively easy for us to be loyal to him in our conduct and in our words,
wherever we may be. If we deny him, he will also deny us; but if we confess
him he will also confess us before the Father and the holy angels-he will save us
and ultimately through us as his Church, his body, he will, according to
the original promise, bless all the families of the earth which we, with him,
will then inherit.-Gal. 3:29.