Bible Commentaries
1 Samuel 8

Verses 1-22

1 Samuel 8:1-22 Israel Asks for a King In 1 Samuel 8:1-22 we have the story of the children of Israel asking for a king to rule over them.

1 Samuel 8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

1 Samuel 8:6 Scripture References - Note:

Deuteronomy 17:14, “When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;”

1 Samuel 8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

1 Samuel 8:11 “and some shall run before his chariots” Comments - See Elijah running before chariots in 1 Kings 18:46.

1 Kings 18:46, “And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”

1 Samuel 8:11 Comments - Note the fulfilment of Samuel’s prophecy in 1 Samuel 13:2; 1 Samuel 14:52.

1 Samuel 13:2, “Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.”

1 Samuel 14:52, “And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him.”

Israel wants a king. In Joshua and Judges, God set up his kingdom the way He wanted it, as a theocracy, without an earthly king. Today, the elders of the New Testament church are like the elders in Israel in the time of the judges. Today, churches want a leader, but God ordained “elders” in place of “one elder” because God is the Leader, or King.

1 Samuel 8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

1 Samuel 8:14 Comments - King Saul will soon take these fields and vineyards and give them to his Benjamite servants in order to maintain their loyalty (1 Samuel 22:7).

1 Samuel 22:7, “Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;”

1 Samuel 8:15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

1 Samuel 8:15 Comments - In underdeveloped nations around the world today, the president only keeps power as long as he can control the military. He controls the military by having the favour of its leading officers. He finds the favour of these officers by giving them enormous financial assets. For example, in the 1970’s Idi Amin took the presidency of Uganda by a military coup. He soon ran the Indian community from his nation and handed over their lands and businesses to his military officers. In a similar move, President Robert Mugabi of Zimbabwe reached the end of his presidential terms by taking land from the white Europeans, and giving it to his officers, thus keeping power in the nation.

1 Samuel 8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.

1 Samuel 8:18 Comments - Kenneth Hagin tells the story of how God warned him of a coming recession. Hagin ignored this warning and continued to deal with his finances as before. When the recession hit, he suffered financially for not giving heed to the voice of the Spirit of God. It was an entire year before the Lord spoke to him again in the area of his finances. [22]

[22] Kenneth Hagin, The Spirit Within and the Spirit Upon (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c2003, 2006), 37-9: Kenneth Hagin, Following God’s Plan For Your Life (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1993, 1994), 126.