This series of articles could have been written about any nation on earth, for every nation on the globe has many desires that conflict with the desires of God. Jeremiah 18:7-10 says, “At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” These verses will fit any nation on the face of the earth at any time in the world’s history, but they had a particular application and a direct interpretation for the nation of Israel. The nations of the world would do well to read what God had in mind for all the nations, when He founded the nation of Israel! The sad fact is that most nations and their leaders pay little attention to anything that God says. There are, of course, exceptions to this, for our own nation have some political leaders who are concerned about the will of God for our nation, and so is the case with some other nations.
I am getting around to writing about the nation of Israel and the time in their history in which they said, “God is not enough; we want to have another king over us.” I do not think it is wrong for nations to have kings or presidents, and I vote in all elections, but I do think that many in our nation, along with other nations, have said that God’s “input” into national affairs is not wanted or needed. This, again, is not the opinion of all of our leaders, but it seems to be the position of the majority. Deuteronomy 14:2 says of Israel: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the face of the earth.” Israel seems to have been fairly content with this idea for several centuries, but then one day they reached a different conclusion. I Samuel 8:1 tells us that Samuel made his sons judges over Israel, when he had become old. I Samuel 8:3-6 says, “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
The biggest mistake that Israel ever made can be seen in the statement in I Samuel 8:5: “….now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” The very moment that a nation, which has been somewhat content to allow God to be its highest authority, slips into the mental spiral downward and asks to be like the nations, trouble is on its way! God made Israel to be different from the nations around it. He has also blessed the United States of America in a different way than any other nation, but we too have come to the place to be discontent with the leadership of God, for now the highest law is the law of men. I am not saying that we should not make laws to govern our nation, for we should, but we must not disregard the higher authority of God. All leaders in all nations would do well to read and heed what is taught in our verses above from Jeremiah 18:7-10!
By J. Briggs King, Evangelist, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921