Copy-cats

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 8:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "But the people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations. . . .'” 1 Samuel 8:19,20

Samuel judged Israel till he was an old man. Then he appointed his sons to be judges after him. But they were not fair and wise like Samuel their father had been. So the people didn’t want them as rulers. Instead they wanted a king. They wanted to be just like the nations around them.

Samuel warned them that a king would give them a whole new set of problems. Name five of the disadvantages of having a king Samuel lists. A king will (1 Samuel 8:10-18):
1. ___
2. ___
3. ___
4. ___
5. ___

In spite of this, the people insisted. They thought that if they had a king like everybody else, they would win wars and be as strong as their enemies.

Samuel felt hurt by this request. He felt as if the people had rejected him. But God told him, “It isn’t you they’ve rejected, but Me. Even so, listen to them and give them a king.”

The Israelites didn’t realize that it wasn’t the outward stuff that made them win or lose a war. It wasn’t the kind of government that would make them weak or strong as a nation. Winning or losing, being weak or strong depended on whether they obeyed God – or not.

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