Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Israel » Under the judges » Demands » King
And said to him, Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint us a king to rule over us like all the other nations. But it displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to govern us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken to the voice of the people in all they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not be King over them. read more.
According to all the works which they have done since I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they also do to you. So listen now to their voice; only solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked of him a king. And he said, These will be the ways of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. He will appoint them for himself to be commanders over thousands and over fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive orchards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your men and women servants and the best of your cattle and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves shall be his slaves. In that day you will cry out because of your king you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not hear you then. Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, No! We will have a king over us, That we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.
According to all the works which they have done since I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they also do to you. So listen now to their voice; only solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them. So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked of him a king. And he said, These will be the ways of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. He will appoint them for himself to be commanders over thousands and over fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive orchards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your men and women servants and the best of your cattle and your donkeys and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves shall be his slaves. In that day you will cry out because of your king you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not hear you then. Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, No! We will have a king over us, That we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.
Where now is your king
That he may save you [when you are attacked] in all your cities?
And your judges of whom you asked,
“Give me a king and princes”?
Salvation » What cannot save
“Assemble yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
They are ignorant,
Who carry around their wooden idols [in religious processions or into battle]
And keep on praying to a god that cannot save them.
“But where are your gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them get up, if they can save you
In the time of your trouble!
For [as many as] the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah. [Why do not your many man-made idols run to help you?]
And the Lord said to the Israelites, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried to Me, and I delivered you out of their hands. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. read more.
Go, cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.
Go, cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.
“You
Just let the astrologers,
The stargazers,
Those who predict by the new moons [each month]
Stand up and save you from the things that will come upon you [Babylon].
And He will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you, let them be your protection!
Then the cities of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry to the [man-made] gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save them in the time of their disaster.
Verse Concepts
They lavish gold out of the cup or bag, weigh out silver on the scales, and hire a goldsmith, and he fashions it into a god; [then] they fall down, yes, they worship it! They bear it upon their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle]; they carry it and set it down in its place, and there it stands. It cannot move from its place. Even if one cries to it for help, yet [the idol] cannot answer or save him out of his distress.
Yet I am the Lord your God from [the time you became a nation in] the land of Egypt, and you shall know or recognize no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me. I knew (recognized, understood, and had regard for) you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasture, so were they filled [when they fed, they grew full], and their heart was lifted up; therefore have they forgotten Me. read more.
Therefore I have become to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk by the way [to Assyria] and watch them. I will meet them like a bear that is robbed of her cubs, and I will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness, as a wild beast would tear them. It is your destruction, O Israel, that you have been against Me, for in Me is your help. Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges of whom you said, Give me a king and princes? I have given you a king in My anger, and I have taken him away in My wrath.
Therefore I have become to them like a lion; like a leopard I will lurk by the way [to Assyria] and watch them. I will meet them like a bear that is robbed of her cubs, and I will rend the covering of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lioness, as a wild beast would tear them. It is your destruction, O Israel, that you have been against Me, for in Me is your help. Where now is your king that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges of whom you said, Give me a king and princes? I have given you a king in My anger, and I have taken him away in My wrath.