IS IT GOD ORDERED OR MAN ORDERED?
INTRODUCTION: THE LORD APPOINTED TWELVE JUDGES TO RULE OVER ISRAEL, BEFORE THEY ESTABLISHED KINGS. THESE JUDGES HAD JUDICIAL POWERS AS WELL AS LEADERSHIP POWERS. REFER TO THE BOOK OF JUDGES.
SPIRITUAL INSIGHT: READ 1 SAMUEL 8: 4-5. THE ELDERS GAVE SEVERAL REASONS WHY THEY MUST HAVE AN EARTHLY KING. (1) SAMUEL IS NEAR THE END OF HIS CAREER. (2) SAMUEL’S SONS WERE NOT GODLY. (3) A KING WOULD BE MORE PERMANENT THAN JUDGES. (4) THE SURROUNDING NATIONS HAD KINGS. (5) A KING WOULD BE AN EFFECTIVE MILITARY LEADER.
GOD’S DESIGN FOR ISRAEL WAS A THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT (EXCLUSIVELY GOD RULED). MATTHEW 6:10, THE LORD’S SUPPER ADDRESSED THIS REALITY. (NKJV) YOUR KINGDOM COME. YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS (IT IS) IN HEAVEN. ISRAEL REJECTED GOD’S THEOCRATIC GOVERNANCE. HE WILL RE-ESTABLISH HIS ORDER IN THE END TIME!
WHY DID GOD PERMIT THE PEOPLE TO ESTABLISH A KING SINCE GOD WANTED A THEOCRATIC RULE? 1 SAMUEL 8:7 CLEARLY ADDRESSED THE ISSUE. (NKJV) AND THE LORD SAID TO SAMUEL, HEED THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE IN ALL THAT THEY SAY TO YOU; FOR THEY HAVE NOT REJECTED YOU, BUT THEY HAVE REJECTED ME, THAT I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM. ISRAEL WOULD HAVE NO PART OF A THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT!
1 SAMUEL 8: 10-18 ISRAEL GOT EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANTED. A HOST OF DIFFICULTIES ENSUED.
APPLICATION: GOD’S DESIGN FOR A BELIEVER IS EXCLUSION. 2 CORINTHIANS 6: 17 (THE BOOK-PARAPHRASE) THEREFORE, COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND SEPARATE YOURSELVES FROM THEM, SAYS THE LORD. DON’T TOUCH THE UNCLEAN THINGS, AND I WILL WELCOME YOU.
