Give Us a King! (1 Samuel 8)

Israel was unique in the ancient world, but they often struggled with their God who made them unique, and that power struggle is a feature of every person's story. The central question is: Who will be king? 1 Samuel 8 is more than a story about how Israel gets a king. It's about how they displace the King they already had.

Season five is focused on listening to and praying Bible narratives. In our podcast we take time to listen to God's word and turn it into prayer.

We started season five in 1 Samuel 1-3 before going back to the beginning of the story in Genesis 1. Today's episode catches up with where we started this season and continues Israel's story and Samuel's life in a fascinating clash of power dynamics.

Samuel has risen to the place of leadership in Israel as Judge, the name for Israel's rulers in that day. In 1 Samuel 7 he leads Israel is a definitive victory over their enemies. It's somewhat surprising, then, in 1 Samuel 8 that the people of Israel are so eager to reject his leadership and ask for a king.

We learn there's more at play. In fact, it's a spiritual struggle on a national level: Who will be the true king of Israel? Yahweh or a human king who leads an army?

The question of who will be king is relevant for today. Will we choose to acknowledge God as King, or will we go after a leader who inspires our confidence in the daily challenges of our culture?

Go ahead and get started listening and follow or subscribe to this podcast to hear more from God's word.

We have a Youtube video based on this scripture that you can watch here.

The four step process demonstrated in this episode is available here.

Angela Oltmanns has written a series of family devotions based on 1 Samuel. Get a copy of the book 1 Samuel: How to Be a Child After God's Heart on Amazon (or the ebook).

Additional resources at https://word-of-prayer.com