Will they learn?

The lessons about leadership from 1 Samuel are inescapable for people with discernment. Samuel was God’s prophet, leader, and judge for Israel. Despite his godly leadership, teaching, and life, Israel remained spiritually blind, recalcitrant, and self-centered.

1 Samuel 8 is one of the most important and instructive chapters in the entire canon of Scripture. The spiritually blind people demanded “a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5).

And just so we wouldn’t miss the point, God tells his servant Samuel not to take it personally. It was not about Samuel; it was about Israel’s persistent self-centeredness: “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

How clear is that? Crystal.

And in the very next paragraph, God tells them what Saul, the wicked king who’d serve as the means of Israel’s disasters, would do. He will make everything about himself:

• “He will take . . .” (1 Samuel 8:11)
• “He will appoint for himself . . .” (1 Samuel 8:12)
• “He will take . . .” (1 Samuel 8:13)
• “He will take . . .” (1 Samuel 8:14)
• “He will take . . .” (1 Samuel 8:15)
• “He will take . . .” (1 Samuel 8:16)
• “He will take . . .” (1 Samuel 8:17)

Saul was in it to take. He didn’t care about the people. He cared only for self.

And in verses 17-18, God does a mic drop: “He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day” (1 Samuel 8:17-18).

Will they learn? That’s a question you should ask. Because the pattern of choosing unwise, unregenerate, ungodly leaders is obvious: wreckage.

Encouragement: These historical narratives are written for our instruction, dear ones. We’re to learn how important it is to have wise, godly leaders.