When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 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, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.” I Samuel 8 NIVIf we take a few moments to contemplate this passage of Scripture and align it with where we are right now--we can see how we got here--to this time in 2017.
I'm a visionary and have an extremely creative imagination and while reading this I saw a parallel time period from then to now.
Hillary tried to warn us what would happen if 45 was elected--in all three debates--she let us know what would happen.
45 let us know who he was, but people blinded by dissatisfaction and willing to believe lies, didn't listen.
Evangelical leaders who claim to be pro-life (within the womb), but hate others outside the womb, wanted to see a Supreme Court Justice appointed who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Coupled with their hatred of Obama--the first Black President--they convinced people that God chose Trump to be president--using a well known tool--gas lighting--repeating lies until they are believed, leading people to distrust their own judgment.
What we learn from Samuel is that having a king to rule over the Children of Israel was never God's idea, but the people who badgered Samuel, who chose to have a king--after being warned about how a king would treat them. God never leaves us with choices without presenting the consequences of our actions (Deuteronomy 28).
Just about everything we were warned about with Trump has come to pass. He will lie about lies and back peddle on promises and those who CHOSE him--by electing him as president--are now crying, "foul!"
The Children of Israel didn't listen to Samuel and many people--those who are the most needy--refused to listen to Hillary and chose instead to believe the lies perpetuated by Trump.
Understanding what happened and how a kingship was established--the people's choice, should help many to understand that when Paul talked about "honoring authority" in Romans 13:1--(again I say), he was not talking about a president--but the authority that God established which is Christ Jesus.
The people didn't want to accept God as their King so He gave them what they wanted. Disgruntled, deluded, and duped gullible Americans didn't want Hillary as their president so He allowed them their choice.
Will God hear our prayers when we ignored Him? The prayers of the righteous avails much and we shall soon see whether He hears and will answer us--relieving us from this nightmare and the policies that hurt the poor and the needy.
Ignoring God and the obvious--the back-peddling pathological liar is how we got here; now it's going to take the same God we ignored, to get us out of the mess made out of an honorable position which no longer is held in high esteem by much of the on-looking world.
We can say anything we want to say about how God does things, but we only have to seek His Word to find out the truth--God has always honored man's choices and warned us of the consequences of our choices, but many refuse to listen.
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