Kings, A Divine Right to Rule?

So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away. ―Hosea 13:11

We’ve heard about kings all our lives, and human history is rich with them. Throughout the Bible we read about kings, and for hundreds of years monarchies have claimed that God gave them a divine right to rule and they’re subject to no one. But the truth is, God didn’t choose kings for men, men chose to have kings, and this includes the Israelites:

Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them forty years under Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin. (Acts 13:21) 

Samuel was judge when the Israelites demanded a king:

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 “Look,” they said, “you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to judge us like all the other nations.” 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. (1 Samuel 8:4-7)

Even before the Israelites entered the promised land, God knew they were going to ask for a king:

When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” (Deuteronomy 17:14)

While Samuel was judge, Israel was at relative peace (see 1 Samuel 7:2). The Israelites wanted a king to be like the surrounding nations. Through Samuel, God gave the Israelites a solemn warning of what they could expect under the rulership of a king, and when they cry out from the unfairness, God won’t listen to them because they chose to have a king (see 1 Samuel 8:10-18). Even after this warning, the Israelites still chose to have a king:

The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel’s warning and said, “No! There must be a king over us. We too must be like all the nations, with a king to rule us, lead us in warfare, and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

God was offended at the idea of a king because he is the King (see 1 Samuel 12:12). God told Samuel who would rule over Israel, and Samuel appointed Saul as king (see 1 Samuel 8:22, 9:17, and 12:1-2). 

But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your evils and calamities, by saying, ‘No! You must appoint a king over us.’ Now, therefore, take your stand before the LORD according to your tribes and families.” (1 Samuel 10:19)

It wasn’t God’s idea for his chosen people to have a king. God has always been the King of the kings of the earth and Lord of lords. God is perfect and perfectly gave us free will. God will hand people over to the desires of their hearts even if he disapproves, and even though God sends thunder and rain at the time for wheat harvest, he doesn’t reject Israel. Samuel is speaking in the following scripture:

Are we not in the harvest time for wheat? Yet I will call upon the LORD, and he will send thunder and rain. Thus, you will see and understand how great an evil it is in the eyes of the LORD that you have asked for a king. (1 Samuel 12:17)

Let’s try to learn what pleases the Lord in our lives. God knows what’s best for us, even if we disapprove at the time.

In these last days, let’s receive God’s promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We can only avoid the penalty of eternal hell through Christ, who suffered and died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. When we accept Jesus Christ as our King of kings and Lord or lords and turn from evil, we’ll receive a crown of everlasting joy from God our savior.