Many years after Adam and Eve had rejected God’s lordship over them we find the Children of Israel having been freed from Egyptian slavery, headed toward the Promised Land. However, they have on a couple of occasions run out of food and water. Having breathed the fresh air of freedom they were now demanding that Moses lead them back to Egypt where their masters had provided them with food and drink to the full. Forgetting the past 200 years or so of grinding slavery, they were now insisting on returning to Egypt were every aspect of their lives would be ruled by a flesh and blood king. Later, at Mt. Sinai, they became so intent on being ruled by someone or something that they could see, feel, etc. that they constructed a calf, declaring that the idol had led them out of Egypt and would henceforth be their leader. This is the first recorded incidence of God-professing man worshiping an object that he, himself had created. As this website has repeatedly pointed out, this would not be the last time. As has also been revealed, God will not allow such a challenge to His authority go unanswered.

Forty years of wandering in the Sinai desert taught the Israelites a valuable lesson: Do not trust yourself or other men; rely solely upon the Lord for all things and in all situations. But as the Scriptures tell us, the lesson eventually faded from their collective conscience as the Lucifer Syndrome once again raised its ugly head. Both secular and Biblical history has revealed that God-confessing man simply refuses to believe and obey the God he professes.

The story of the Prophet Samuel is well known within professing Christendom so I will not retell it. I will point out that God established him to be Israel’s leader, priest and judge, a responsibility he performed superbly for many years. Samuel was God’s man–he pointed the Children of Israel to their Lord at all times and under all circumstances. When Samuel opened his mouth, God’s Words came out. The prophet led the Lord’s people for many years during which time they lived in relative safety and prosperity. But then the spirit of Lucifer once again rose up in their midst. Tired of being ruled by their strict, no exceptions God, which made them decidedly different from the people around them, the Israelites demanded that Samuel appoint a king to rule over them (1 Sam. 8:5)–someone fallible like themselves who could see things from their perspective. Upset by the people’s rejection of himself as their leader, and knowing that what they were proposing amounted to spiritual suicide, Samuel took his disappointment to the Lord, Who told him not to grieve, that the people had not rejected him, but had in fact rejected the Lord Himself (vss 7,8). In these verses we find God telling the world that He places a high value on those whom He calls to represent Him and considers rejection of them the same as rejection of Himself. In love He warned the people, telling them how they would be treated by an earthly king. The king they so desperately wanted would rule them, use them and abuse them (vss 10-22). The people did not care: THEY WANTED A HUMAN KING TO RULE OVER THEM. God gave them one. To be continued. L.J.