by Aaron Igleheart
Have you ever heard the phrase “be careful what you wish for”? Often in life, we do not fully comprehend the implications of what we wish for and seek out. Our priorities and ambitions replace a desire for the will of God to go forth in our lives. It is easy to replace the glory of God with the fleeting desires in ourselves, where we then seek man’s glory and will to abound. Taking the time to explore the message from the Former Prophets, we can examine a story that features a series of generations in Israel struggling to give careful attention to God and to know and obey His commands. The lessons we can learn from the Israelites largely occur in what is called the Former Prophets section of the Bible, which gives us a glimpse into the challenges of the Israelites as they strongly desired a king.
The Struggle and Desire for a King
Before we dive into an overview of the narrative of the Former Prophets, it is essential to consider what the collective term “Former Prophets” means. The Former Prophets is a categorization within the old Hebrew bible (or the Tanakh), which is denoted to feature the books Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. There is a thoughtfulness behind the arrangement and order of books in the Hebrew bible to represent a continuation of respective narratives in the categorization of books in the bible. To describe this collective narrative in summation, we must begin with the book of Joshua. Joshua was the leader whom God and Moses commissioned to lead the people into the land promised to the patriarchal fathers (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, etc.). Before leading the people into the land, Joshua and the people were made aware by Moses and the LORD that there would be shortcomings and struggles due to their lack of obedience toward God. Moses, a man who had been quite familiar with people’s stubbornness, was confident that things would be rocky going into the land for Joshua and the people at some point. By God’s providence, Joshua successfully led Israel into the land of Canaan for the most part because of the great strength that God gave Joshua in subduing his enemies in the land. Joshua remained grounded in the law and the word of God and was courageous because of his faith in God to subdue the enemies of the land. Eventually, Joshua settles the land, and all the tribes go to their appointed allotments of the now-Israelite territory. Near the end of the book, before Joshua dies, he challenges the people to remember God always and to remain wholly dependent on Him (because they are). They must not turn to the right or the left but remain in step with the commands of God. The LORD and Joshua have proclaimed repeatedly that if the people are going to remain in the land and enjoy it, they must keep the commands their God has given them.
After Joshua dies, the book of Judges continues with the subsequent generation of people, but they do not know the LORD as Joshua’s generation did. The book of Judges is full of wicked idolatry and abuses of the blessings the LORD generously gave the people. A central theme throughout the book is the suffering of Israel at the hands of other nations (this is their punishment for their disobedience toward God). The Israelites cry out for the LORD’s help, and He mercifully raises up a deliverer (a “judge”) to rescue them from trouble. However, this cycle of sin and obedience would repeat itself several times because Israel would frequently return to their sinfulness and forget God, including the great things He had done for them time and again. Towards the end of the book of Judges, we are told four times that there was no king in Israel, and the author stresses this because he wishes to point out that Israel lacks godly leadership to guide the people back to the righteous worship of the LORD. The judges were inadequate except for maybe Othniel, the first judge featured in the book. The Israelites would not let go of their desire for a king.
The circumstances in Judges set up the book of Samuel, where Israel is still battling many of its woes and sicknesses that the book of Judges features but differently now. A great prophet named Samuel rises up and is quite wise in leading the people back to worship the one true God, Yahweh. Although Samuel was a great prophet, the people still desired a king. Their great and grave sin was that 1) they desired to be like the other nations, and 2) they had forgotten Yahweh is their King, so they truly should have never asked for one. (Especially how they did! They thought they needed to be like the other nations instead of realizing they were the LORD’s special possession). Things at this time were certainly in a desperate state. An important question to ponder for us readers is why Israel has not been taken into exile yet, as such punishment was said to come upon the Israelites if they repeatedly disobeyed and did not repent after several corrective chastisements from God. With that question in mind, the conclusion ought to be that the LORD was giving them over to what they wanted and wished for, and that is a king.
Let’s not be mistaken, a king was part of God’s promises (Gen 12:1-3). This promise was alluded to and written into the Mosaic law (Deuteronomy 17), foreshadowing a king would eventually be raised in Israel. It is not that the law book of Israel did not make provisions and regulations for a king if one were to arise. It did, but Israel was in no position to ask for such a leader because they did not even recognize Yahweh as their true King (they committed massive idolatrous sins and had frequently forsaken Him as their God!). Therefore, the LORD gave Israel their kings so they would realize that placing faith and trust so heavily in these fallible kings would lead to ultimate failure. It was not the answer to solve such disobedience going on in Israel! The people had nothing in mind about how they should obey the LORD better as a nation when they desired a king. Nevertheless, the LORD gave Israel over to this desire, and ultimately, they would need to recognize that the LORD is the one and only true King to be worshiped. To shed more light on this, we should look further into Samuel, mainly 1 Samuel 12. Samuel and the LORD warned Israel of the troubles that were certain to come with having a king, and the books of Samuel and the books of Kings are examples of reaping the consequences of bad choices and desires. Israel wanted to be like all other nations with kings, and the LORD showed them why their desires were distorted. Not even appointing authority to a leadership position like a king was strong enough to fix the hearts of the people in Israel, and so the turmoil continued.
The difference between the struggle and chaos we see in the books of Judges and Kings is the focal point of blame for the chaos. In Judges, the chaos was attributed to the corporate body of Israel bringing about judgment upon themselves. But, in the books of Kings, it is a king who is attributed with contributing heavily to misleading the people and bringing divine judgment on Israel from the LORD. We see the contrast between Judges and Kings in that the narrator in Judges stresses corporate disobedience as the reason for the despair in the land. Yet, in Kings, the narrator emphasizes the king as a leader of disobedience that subsequently encourages entire corporate disobedience. For example, the statement we see in Judges frequently is, “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” and the statement we see in Kings often is, “And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”. The desperation and desolate state of the people of Israel can teach us of the genuine need that we have that can only be filled by God as our King. Christ (Yahweh!) is the answer to all these struggles. He fulfills all expectations of the law and prophets. The longing for someone to live up to the demands of the position of king is met in Him.
Theologically, there is significance found in Jesus as the greater Anointed One (a term used often to describe the kings of Israel and Judah). In the personhood of Jesus, we realize that He is Yahweh in the flesh. In John 8:57-58, our Lord has confirmed Himself as the great I AM (Exodus 3:14-15), as it is said here: “57 Then the Judeans replied, ‘You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?’ 58 Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!’” Genesis 12:1-3 and the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7 stress our Lord’s promises. Throughout the Former Prophets, we see the immediate fulfillment of His promises with a greater expectation of these promises to be fulfilled even greater in Christ in bringing about these promises to permanency. Observing the Davidic Covenant, we see aspects fulfilled in Jesus and Solomon. Solomon is the son who first succeeds David, representing some of the Davidic covenant being fulfilled. The covenant assures David that when he dies, the LORD will raise up a son to succeed David, and this son will have everlasting dominion. Further, this “son” will also build the LORD a house, and there will be relief from all Israel’s enemies. There are more components of this covenant to mention, but these are just a few that stress the narrative tension throughout Kings. If we investigate the life of Solomon, we will see that he fulfills the covenantal promise that David received. Even Solomon believes he has brought peace and rest to all Israel (1 Kings 8:56). It would be fair to conclude that Israel is at their height in peace after the temple of the LORD has been established. However, the narrator in 2 Samuel (the LORD ultimately) purposely placed the tension of the covenant having Solomon as the immediate fulfillment of the covenant but with the realization that even Solomon and his kingdom in all its splendor would be unable to keep Israel faithful towards the LORD. Solomon’s kingdom would not last, and he would be chastised and corrected by the LORD’s divine hand, just as the Davidic Covenant promises. All the attempts by Israel to have a king rule over them have derived from selfish ambition and motivation to be like the other nations. The tragedy is that Israel always had a King in Yahweh, but they arrogantly and ignorantly disobeyed Him. This struggle plays out in 1 Samuel 12 when the people of Israel ask for a king from Samuel and the LORD, in which they both chastise Israel for asking for a king to rule over them. However, even after Samuel and the LORD told them of their erroneous ways, as well as the destruction they had brought on themselves, the LORD, in His mercy, still said, “If you and your king obey me, then it will go well for you, but if not, then you shall be removed from this land that has been given to you.” Ultimately, the truth is that none of the kings are strong enough to address the critical problem within man’s heart, namely, sin.
Throughout the books of Samuel and Kings, we witness as readers the struggle of people who are not perfect by any means, attempting to rule a group of people. There are cyclical patterns of sin, despair, and rescue from the LORD. All these were found in the reign of the kings, which should’ve ultimately prompted all the Israelites to turn to Yahweh, but sadly, as we know, they did not. This is exactly why we need the everlasting Anointed One. If we apply Jesus to the Davidic Covenant, we can see He is the complete fulfillment of the promise to David. Jesus has done these things by wholly fulfilling the covenant in ruling as an everlasting King whose reign will never end. He is the eternal God in the flesh, sent in the Father’s mercy on His people, and by the blessing and mystery of the glories of God, has revealed salvation through Him. Jesus, the Son of David, has emptied Himself in coming in the form of a slave, the appearance of other men, and sharing in their nature (i.e., their weaknesses) but without sin. He humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross, and then the LORD crowned Him and exalted Him with the name above every name. He was not just King over Israel but King over all (Philippians 2:6-11 and Psalm 110). Such exaltation of our Lord is magnificently beautiful when we reflect on the narrative of the kings of Israel. 1 Samuel 2 begins with the prayer of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, where in her prayer, the central theme is that the LORD lifts the humble and obedient and places them in high positions; alternatively, He brings low the arrogant. Such a prayer provides a lens for how we view the whole story arc of the kings because her prayer demonstrates what is to happen when a king is humble versus when a king is full of pride. When kings are obedient and remain full of humility, and depend on the LORD for their strength, they are lavished with blessing. David, a man often viewed as a good king, was also full of humility early in his reign, but as many of us know, it came to a tragic end. It began with the adultery he committed with the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba. David’s reign came to a close with weakness and frailty because of the sins he committed.
The Path to a True and Better King
The heart of the issue with kings trying to lead the people towards worshipful obedience to God is that the kings themselves are also sinful. Hence, Jesus Christ is the true and better King everyone needs, not just Israel. Such grace and mercy are profound beyond our deepest pondering because Christ Jesus is the same God (and King) calling for His people to obey and repent even back during the distress the people of Israel and Judah brought on themselves for their disobedient wickedness. King Jesus is the gift of grace that our fallenness needs to be led into a wholesome relationship with God. Looking back to Hannah’s prayer, it is wonderfully reflective of how our God is most humble, most obedient, and most faithful to leading His people well. Christ’s work on the cross has allowed us to have a deeper relationship with the LORD and reconciled us to Him. His resurrection, which has also been brought unto His people, has ended the ultimate power of sin and death because He has conquered through His victorious actions. His blood that was shed for us is the cup poured out for us, the new covenant (Luke 22:20), which has fully satisfied the wrath of the Father (Romans 3:23-26). Christ as King established the new covenant and enabled us to live in the Spirit with the law on our hearts (Deuteronomy 30:1-10 and Ezekiel 36:24-28). He is a very present help and has given His Spirit, which is like a down payment for our faith or as an assurance (Ephesians 1:13-14) that He who has begun a good work in us will certainly bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).
Realize that Christ truly is the only prize to behold. Yahweh, our King, has stood before generations and generations of people, and He has longed for people to see His all-satisfying love and that they would obey. Yahweh manifested Himself in the flesh to conquer what we could not. Jesus did what no other king could do. He brought us into the fold of the kingdom of God. There is no substitute for His model of humility, obedience, sacrifice, perfect-atoning blood, and His resurrection. All the best leaders and kings from the Old Testament and the Former Prophets are mere shadows of the One we truly need. Therefore, see the gospel and King for what it invites us into. In our own strength, we could never be righteous enough because of our great wickedness, but through Him, we have obtained the peace of God and the righteousness of faith. This is the King. King Jesus.
While we can have a joyful celebration for the good news of Christ, it is important to recognize also that our King has issued commands for us to continue until the last trumpet sounds (1 Corinthians 15:50-58). As followers of Christ, we can have trust in the LORD as we strain forward in the work of ministry. Our reason for such thinking can be found in the everlasting faithfulness of God. He who preserved the line of David until the right time for our Lord to come amongst us to usher in the fullness of His promises is also certainly able to do this thing Paul says: “6 For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6). The words of Jesus shall ring loud for us as we pursue His commands as His people throughout all our days with eager expectation towards the end because we know we have a God that we can certainly trust unto the end. Our King has given us commands to carry out as faithful stewards of His gospel and His kingdom. His Great Commission that He left us with before He ascended to the Father’s right hand was this: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20). As our Lord says, He has authority over all things and has charged us with making disciples in His name. Taking a lesson from the Former Prophets and the command of King Jesus, it is with these things we shall persevere until the end of the age.