Sermon(1 Sam 9:19-21): The politics of God

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025286612

 

>> 19 Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20 As for your asses that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?” 21 Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my family the humblest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” (1 Sam 9:19-21) <<

 

Before his death, Jacob made his son Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh his own children. Ephraim and Manasseh would take two portions of the land of Canaan with the same qualification as their uncles, Jacob's other sons. (Of course, here the names refer to the names of the tribes of Israel.) Thus Jacob granted his eleventh son Joseph the blessing of the firstborn. The first son had the privilege of inheriting father's assets twice as much as other sons. Jacob himself originally had 12 sons, so now 13 tribes could take part in the inheritance. But God didn't permit the tribe of Levi to have a tribal land like other tribes, but scattered all the Levites all over Israel. The word 'Levi' means 'union'. To prevent the tribes of Israel from becoming independent nations, God scattered the tribe of Levi all over Israel. The tribe of Levi served as a unifier. God granted the priesthood to the tribe of Levi, who inhabited other tribes. The impartial God made Levites the tribe of priest, knowing that their life could be very uncomfortable while they were living in other tribes. The tribe of Levi is a priestly tribe. The tribe of Levi can never take power in the world. This is politically structured, because Levites do not inhabit in a separate territory. And a Levite couldn't be on the list of election when the political leader of Israel was elected by lot. By this, God gives us this lesson: the clergy have nothing to do with the secular power. God shuts off the clergy completely from the power of the world. The tribe of Levi was always excluded from recruitment when war broke out. This means that the clergy should not be involved in quarrels or struggles in the world. God made the tribe of Levi his own. Therefore, a priest does not belong to the world, but only to God. Priest Eli was a Levite, but was also a judge. But this is just a story of a complete theocratic nation without king. Like this, a priest is a man who separates himself from the world, keeps himself holy, becomes God's possession, serves him, receives from God what he needs, and unites the saints into one people of God.

 

Samuel was the last judge. A judge was the highest in the judicial system of Israel and a commander of the army in war, when there was no king in Israel. As you know, Samuel was a prophet, therefore, a clergyman. His father was a Levite who lived in the tribe of Ephraim. Israelites had been discontented with the situation that they couldn't react quickly when war broke out because they had no centralized political power such as a king. When Samuel's two sons didn't carry out their duties of a judge well like their father, Israelites went to Samuel and asked him to appoint a king. So Samuel told God the matter, and God told Samuel to make him whom he would show a king.

 

The king of Israel whom God chose was Saul, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. My brethren, What do you think of the tribe of Benjamin? According to the words from chapter 19 to chapter 22, Judges, the people of Gibeah, tribe of Benjamin, committed deplorable crimes and was attacked by the allies of all the other tribes so that almost all the Benjaminites were killed except hundreds of men. The tribe of Benjamin could barely avoid extinction thanks to the generosity of the other tribes who provided the Benjaminite survivors with wives. Therefore the tribe of Benjamin had less than one tenth of the power of another tribe. But God chose for a king a man out of the tribe of Benjamin, the least tribe. So Saul, being confused, said, "Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? (v. 21)"

 

Having paid dearly for opposing God and the whole Israel, Benjaminites became humble. Then did God choose a king from the tribe of Benjamin just because they became humble? Maybe it might be one of the reasons. But there is another reason. God didn't want the power of the king of Israel to be too strong. The most powerful tribe was Ephraim at that time. In the past, Jacob, when blessing Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim, granted the younger brother Ephraim more blessing than the elder brother Manasseh. When Jacob blessed them, he laid his right hand on the younger brother Ephraim. >>So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.'" (Gen 48:20)<< If God had appointed a man from the tribe of Ephraim as the first king, the man, supported by the big tribe to which he belonged, would have become a despot. It would not be easy to depose him however much he might disobey the words of God and act arbitrarily. Because he was supported by his tribe. If a man of a great tribe becomes a king, he will not rely on God, and he is likely to ignore the law of God. But, as is the case in the today's text, what would happen if God appointed a man of the least tribe Benjamin to be a king? He would be a good servant of God and carry out his duty as a king sincerely, because he could be deposed even if he made a petty mistake. And he would not strive to increase his power, for he would not gain absolute supports of other tribes however much he might endeavor. If he had consolidated his power the more, he would have been checked by other tribes the more.

 

Of course, maybe God made the first king of Israel come from the tribe of Benjamin which had been severely punished by other tribes of Israel, in order that he might comfort the Benjaminites. How glorious it would be to the tribe of Benjamin if the Benjaminite kings were loyal to God and were good so that only Benjaminites could succeed to the throne from generation to generation? Nevertheless we must not fail to notice the political purport of God. When Israel asked Samuel to appoint a king, God said that Israel betrayed him. >>And the Lord said to Samuel, "Hearken to 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 Sam 8:7)<< God knew very well Israel's disposition to betray, so he took steps to make Israel and the king obedient to God, by appointing the king out of the least tribe, by which the rebellious disposition of Israel could be a little restrained. If a man of an immature personality makes a lot of money, he will go to ruin because of the big sum of the money. If a man of an immature personality comes to a high position, many people including himself will suffer a lot. God gave Israel that was not mature yet a king without actual power, in order that they all might not go astray. In fact, when a Benjaminite was appointed king, some Israelites didn't acknowledged him as a king. (At first he was just a nominal king.) >>But some worthless fellows said, "How can this man save us?" And they despised him, and brought him no present. (1 Sam 10:27)<< Saul had to be silent at that insult. He couldn't rage, thinking of other strong tribes. This means that the first king from the tribe of Benjamin had such weak power.

 

If he had consolidated his power the more, he would have been checked by other tribes the more.

 

From this, God gives us the following lesson. First, God wants to be the eternal king of all of us. God wants to be not only the king of the believers but also the king of all kings in the world. A king has absolute power. God wants to exercise absolute power over all mankind. My brethren, accept God as your eternal King. Acknowledge only him as your King even when you're in a high position, such as a president or a prime minister. My brethren, do not compare high-ranking persons with God. Do not honor or serve them more than God. God allows life, blessing and protection to them who recognize him as King, but destroys all who disobey him and do not recognize him as King. Sadly, Saul, the first king of Israel, didn't recognize the absolute power of God. Saul didn't obey God's command through Samuel. >>And Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore hearken to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way, when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.'" (1 Sam 15:1-3)<< Saul defied this command. He spared some healthy cattle and brought them alive. In the days of old, if someone refused to obey king's command, he could not escape death. Saul, a human king, was deserted by God, the eternal King, on the day he disobeyed him. God looked for another king. Saul refused to recognize Jehovah as his King, so Jehovah, the eternal King, deposed him. Of course, the declaration of dethronement was on that day, however the fulfillment of the declaration was after that. Saul fell in the war, and as a result he was deposed. One of his sons succeeded him, being a king for a while, but that's all. The same applies to you. If you do not recognize God as your King overbearingly because you have something great and hold a high position, you'll be another Saul in a moment. But what about David? David recognized Jehovah as the everlasting King. "Hearken to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to thee do I pray. (Ps 5:2)" David confesses that God is 'his King.' David became a king, and he danced before the ark like a child when the ark was brought into Jerusalem. He didn't think of king's dignity in front of the ark of God, but exalted only God. David thought God to be his eternal King, and God loved David and blessed him with the blessing that his throne would be given to his descendants for a long time. If you think God to be your King and exalt him, God will always exalt you over all people, making you head not tail.

 

Next, we should not seek to be a king. Saul failed to be a good king because he made an effort to be a real king. He didn't have a strong political support base. So he tried to win people's favor even by transgressing God's command. When he defeated Amalek, he succumbed to the demand of his men that he should not kill the fat cattle but take them. He did so in order that he might make them his loyal men and consolidate his power, in exchange for betraying God. God wanted Saul who is the king of Israel as a servant of God, not the Saul who is the real king of Israel. Saul was deserted by God when he wanted to be a king beyond the boundary that God had set. The same is true with you, my brethren! God does not want you to have much power. God does not want you to be preoccupied with exalting yourself. In other words, do not God's work for the power and position itself. If a church becomes too big, it must be divided into several churches. Why are you ministering as an emperor-like pastor having hundreds of thousands of subjects, that is, of believers loyal to you? Why do you struggle to be the head of a denomination? Why do you organize a faction of pastors in your denomination and wield your power to control your denomination? Jesus, the King of all kings, came to the world not to be served but to serve humans like a servant and to sacrifice his life. We should make more effort to serve others with a humble heart rather than to try to become a king and to rule over people. If I try to be a king, many will suffer. When only God is the King, all will be satisfied and at peace.

 

Just as God does not favor someone, so should we. God granted the tribe of Levi the glory of priesthood, but didn't give the tribe a tribal land where the members of the tribe could live together, as he gave other tribes. God made the tribe of Ephraim strong by giving them a lot of people, but he didn't grant the tribe kingship. In common sense, the king should come out of the largest tribe, but it is not God's way. God gave the tribe of Benjamin, who had been severely punished, the honor of the first king. God did not allow the Savior to be born in Jerusalem, but in Bethlehem, a small village. God didn't choose Egypt, a powerful nation, as his people, but Hebrews, who were treated as slaves. God chooses the weak and helps them do great things. God is fair with all people. You too, must treat people fairly. Jehovah, the everlasting King, dealt with his people impartially. If you are in a high position, you must treat people fairly. God's political philosophy is justice and fairness.

 

May all of you acknowledge God as your King and become not a tail but a head in the world.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                            - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -