The King Whom You Have Chosen

“And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked;

behold, the LORD has set a king over you” (1 Sam 12:13)

As Samuel chastised the people of Israel for their desire to have a human king to rule over them when God Himself was functioning in that role, he tells them that things will go well with them if they follow Him. But this comes with a warning, as well: “But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD…then shall the hand of the LORD be against you” (1 Sam 12:15).

A ruler had long been promised to the descendents of Jacob: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah” (Gen 49:10) and reiterated: “there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel” (Num 24:17). Clearly, the tribe of Judah was to be the royal line of Israel, just as the tribe of Levi was to fulfill the priestly role in Jewish life. In point of fact, virtually every king over Israel hailed from the tribe of Judah, as prophesied. One glaring exception, however, was Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, not Judah, whom Samuel himself anointed (1 Sam 9).

There are two schools of thought here. The first, that once the kingship of Israel passed into the tribe of Judah, it would not depart it. The second, that the intent of God was always to have rulers come from Judah. The first is most easily disproved by focusing on the proof for the second. In point of fact, Samuel is ordered by God to anoint Saul – but not as king! “To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel” (1 Sam 9:16). And during the anointing itself: “Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance” (1 Sam 10:1). Clearly, God’s intention was not that Saul function as king, but merely as regent, ruler or captain, ever subservient to the Kingship of the LORD. When Samuel presented the anointed Saul to the people, to be their ‘captain,’ it was they who shouted, “God save the king” (1 Sam 10:24) choosing a creature over their Creator. RST