The Rise of Sha’ul
First Samuel 8:1 to 12:25
Many of the nations surrounding Isra’el considered their kings to be gods, whether by divine adoption or through self-deification (Isaiah 14:4 and 13-14; Ezeki’el 28:2, 6, and 9). In Isra’el such a claim was unthinkable since the king possessed neither deity nor absolute authority (Second Kings 5:7), but the temptation and danger was always present. To be sure, Isra’el’s king was to exercise “political and military power, but he stood under the authority and judgment of Ha’Shem. Finally, discussion of monarchy among God’s people must take into account the will of ADONAI.
It was not God’s will for Isra’el to have a king in the way they were asking for it. Still, God’s resulting principle, what His “permissive will” came to be, was to direct Samuel to anoint Sha’ul as king out of the tribe of Benjamin. Three important distinctions need to be observed. First, God relented and agreed to give the people a king only because they had changed. This can also be seen in the book of Jonah. Ha’Shem had threatened destruction on the Ninevites, but when God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He relented with compassion and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened because they had changed (Jonah 3:10). Secondly, God performed the very act that the people wanted; but, while their motive was wrong and in that act they became guilty, God’s motive was right and in the very same act He did not assume any of the guilt. Thirdly, ADONAI was grieved over their apostasy (8:7), but their act of defiance resulted in His divine love. In spite of their wanting a king despite already having a King, YHVH delivered them several times (First Samuel 9:16, 10:9 and 24, 11:13). Thus, the people’s desire for a king did not surprise God, for Sha’ul had been a part of God’s plan from the very beginning, and He used the rebellion of the people to praise Him (Psalm 76:10).
Clearly Chapters 8 to 12 constitute a literary unit, for they are immediately preceded by the story of the last judge (to see link click Bn – Repentance and recommitment at Mitzpah: All the Days of Samuel), and immediately followed by the beginning of the rise of the monarchy (see Bq – Give Us a King). The divisions of the whole unit alternates between negative and positive attitudes toward the monarchy: 8:1-22 (negative), 9:1 to 10:16 (positive), 10:17-27 (negative), 11:1-11 (positive), and 11:12 to 12:25 (negative).181
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