Wow! The events of the past week continue to unravel. Re-election, resignation and indictments of high-ranking military officials... I don't know about anyone else, but my first reaction is disbelief at each new revelation of information, which quickly fades to a "nothing surprises me any longer" frame of mind.
After the re-election last week, I posted a devotion about the state of America as compared to the wickedness James foresaw in the New Testament. This week, let's go back even further in time and take a look at a time that, to me at least, eerily foreshadows our current days.
1 Samuel 8:6-18
The Message (MSG)
6 When Samuel heard their demand—"Give us a king to rule us!"—he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God.
7-9 God answered Samuel, "Go ahead and do what they're asking. They are not rejecting you. They've rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they've been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they're doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they're in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they're likely to get from a king."
10-18 So Samuel told them, delivered God's warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, "This is the way the kind of king you're talking about operates. He'll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He'll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He'll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He'll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He'll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he'll take for his own use. He'll lay a tax on your flocks and you'll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don't expect God to answer."
Anyone notice any similarities to today? God knew what grief would come to the people by granting their request. Then, just as now, God heard the clamour and the rabble of the masses. Even many professing to follow His teachings swooned at the thought of an outspoken "leader" and the ideals that they thought would follow. They didn't listen to the warnings, they didn't bother to assess the nations around that were governed by this type of leader. God recognized their foolishness. He knew trouble would lay ahead. He also recognized that many of the people had turned their backs on Him, and He was ready to give them the desires of their hearts and let them reap the results. Once again, Welcome to America.
So... what are we to do now? Exactly what we have been charged with all along. Be "salt" and "light". We'll go deeper on that topic next week.
