Reflection Sunday 6th June 2021
There is a piece of advice that comes right out of one of our
readings today. The advice comes from the prophet Samuel who says, "Be
careful what you wish for ... you just might get it!"
The people of Israel came to Samuel with what was probably not
an unreasonable request. They wanted a change in the way they were being
governed. In years past, they had followed the lead of those judges whom God
had appointed, of whom Samuel was held in highest regard. But now, these
"judgeships" were being passed from father to son just as monarchies
go from kings to princes. And, as is often the case, the current crop of
Israelite "judge-princes" was not the best. In fact, Samuel's own
sons, Joel and Abijah, judges in Beer-Sheba, fell into that category; under
their administration, "justice" was no justice at all — it was for
sale to the highest bidder. No wonder the people came with their request. "Appoint
a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have" 1 Sam 8:5
The Philistines may well have been the "other
nations" in the back of the elders' minds. The Philistines were
Israel's biggest enemy at this time, and they had a king. The Philistines lived
on the coast, and were successful traders, controlling the highway between
Egypt and the fertile crescent. They had a highly organized military with iron
weapons. In contrast, Israel was poor and disorganized — a loose confederation
of tribes, still stuck in the bronze age. They had some iron agricultural
implements, but no iron weapons, and no blacksmiths. Could it be that Israel,
poor, rural, and technologically weak, was tired of getting kicked around and
wanted to emulate the rich, urban, technologically advanced Philistines? "Appoint
a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have"(v. 5).
Samuel was not pleased. As might be expected, he was personally
insulted. His leadership was being called into question. And the leadership of
his sons. But to the prophet's credit, his first response is not to lash out,
but rather to offer prayer.
The Lord's response is gentle. "It is not you they have
rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the
day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving
other gods, so they are doing to you" (vv. 7-8). Then God says
something interesting: "Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and
let them know what the king who will reign over them will do" (v. 9).
"Warn them."
That is one of the prophet's jobs. Someone has likened the prophet to the
canary that miners take down in the mine with them to detect poisonous gas. The
canary is a warning. Prophets, in ancient Israel and in the modern world, are
like canaries in that they have a heightened sensitivity to our moral
atmosphere. If there is poison in the air, the prophet knows it. No one else
may have seen anything wrong, but the prophet has — thus, the warning to act
before it is too late.
This is what Samuel does. In spades! Be careful what you wish
for you just might get it! "This is what the king who will reign over
you will do" Samuel says (v. 11). You want a warrior king, one to lead
you in battle? Fair enough but guess who will be driving the king's chariots
and riding the king's horses into the fray. Your sons! Guess who gets to be the
king's infantry. That's right, your sons again! And, of course, the king, as
commander-in-chief, will need some subordinates — generals, colonels, captains,
and lieutenants. Who are they? That's right, your boys.
That is not all, of course. The king does not dirty his hands.
He will also need tenant farmers to plough his fields and reap his harvest. He
will need workers to manufacture his weapons and rolling stock. Who will they
be? Whom do you think?
Oh, and don't forget, a king lives like ... well, a king! How
does he manage? "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 men servants 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" (vv. 13-17). Still want a king? Get what you wish for.
We know what the people answered. "We want a king over
us. Then we will be like all the other nations ..." (v. 20). And God
said to Samuel let them have a king. Let them get what they wish for.
Perhaps Israel's greatest mistake is captured in that one
sentence: "Then we will be like all the other nations." To
this point, Israel had been special, unique. And this had been God's intention
— Israel was not to be like the rest of the nations; they were to be a light to
them. Israel's security did not reside in political stratagem or military
might, but in Yahweh, who embarrassed the powerful Egyptians at the Red Sea,
who provided and guided in the wilderness, who brought them victorious into the
promised land. They and they alone could have shown the nations of the world
that power comes from God and God alone. But no. "We want a king over
us." They opted for a different sort of power. Be careful what you
wish for you just might get it!
Israel got their king. Down through the centuries that followed,
some of their monarchs were good, but most were not. More battles were lost
than won. There was a period during which the whole nation was carried off into
exile. Finally, almost 2,000 years would go by without a homeland to call their
own. Even to this day, long after the departure of their last kings, Israel's
land is in dispute. They came to Samuel wanting new leadership, a new form of
government, a king to be like everybody else. What's that you say? Be careful
what you wish for?
I try to keep close to my heart the words of another prophet
Micah.
8 He has
shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a] with
your God. Micah 6:8
Micah’s words that echo so much of Jesus’s teachings, especially
in the Sermon on the Mount.
There are prophets today that in different ways pick up on the
theme of Micah. They warn us about the dangers of climate change; they warn us of
the dangers of not helping developing countries getting Covid vaccine; they
warn us of increasing levels of poverty and inequality in our own country. Do
we listen to the prophets today? Do we become prophets ourselves and speak and
practice justice and mercy? Or do we sit
back and get what we wish for – with all its consequences?
