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

His Holy One

“It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

Jesus Christ “was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of [us] who, through him, are believers in God” (1 Pet 1:20-21).

It is difficult at times to look back over biblical history and tie together all of the threads that God has woven into a single tapestry. Our finite, temporally-locked minds have difficulty giving credence to these amazingly well laid-out plans that stretch for millennia. Our own existences are limited to less than a single century, yet God had ordained the sacrifice of His son as the atonement for our sins long before He had commenced creating any one of us (Rev 13:8).

By picking out a “people for Himself” (1 Sam 12:22), many throughout history have been led to believe that God’s ultimate favor rests on Israel. However, scripture teaches that God’s ultimate favor rests on Himself. God, through providential history works towards one goal – His own Glory. And God is most glorified through the redeeming work of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. In fact, hints of this were given even to Abram: “…and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:3). While God would single out Abram’s son Isaac for his eventual people, it would be through this line that God Himself would be glorified and all people everywhere blessed. Isaiah, in our text, speaks of this son of Jacob and Israel who would be a light, not just to the other sons of Israel, but to the Gentiles, as well.

The apostle Paul noted how the Jews had so withdrawn into their Judaism that they missed their Messiah: “…Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for … as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear…their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see” (Rom 11:7-10). Why would God give them a spirit of slumber? Eyes that they should not see? Ears that they should not hear? Paul continues: “… through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles” (Rom 11:11). Thus fulfilling the promise given to Abram and reiterated in Isaiah: “A light to the Gentiles… my salvation (ישׁועתי) unto the end of the earth” (Isa 49:6) RST