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The United Kingdom

by Micky Galloway

After the disastrous battle with the Philistines, Samuel urged the people, “… If ye do return unto Jehovah with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts unto Jehovah, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistine” (I Samuel 7:3). The people listened to Samuel, but not for long. After numerous battles with their neighbors (the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Amalekites, and the Canaanites) and their own rebellious style of living, the people asked Samuel for a king. “Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (I Samuel 8:5). Samuel warned the people of what it would mean to have an earthly king, but “the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay: but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles” (I Samuel 8:19-20). They had a king – God. They also had a law that gave the details of how they were to live – the law of Moses. Yet, the book of Judges closes with these remarkable words. “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). God instructed Samuel to grant their request. God assured Samuel that the people were not rejecting him as their judge; rather they were rejecting God as their King.

Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, son of Kish was anointed as the first King, the “captain over God’s people” (I Samuel 9:1-2). At first, Saul was a very humble man. He appeared to be unsure of his own worthiness to be king. He had no predecessor to imitate and was uncertain about his duties. He was plowing in the field when he learned that the Ammonites had attacked the city of Jabesh-gilead (I Samuel 11:1, 5-6). Through the leadership of Saul, the Ammonites were firmly defeated and the city was rescued. The people of Israel now rejoiced over their victory and their new king. They were confident that Saul could lead them to victory over all their enemies. Samuel warned, “If ye will fear Jehovah, and serve him, and hearken unto his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, and both ye and also the king that reigneth over you be followers of Jehovah your God, (well): but if ye will not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah, but rebel against the commandment of Jehovah, then will the hand of Jehovah be against you, as it was against your fathers” (I Samuel 12:14-15). Afterward, Saul and the soldiers of Israel were challenged by the Philistines. They proved to be a much more formidable foe than the Ammonites had been. The Philistines were better armed with iron swords and spears, while the Israelites had only their weapons of bows and slings. Israel followed Saul trembling and began to desert Saul, hiding in caves and some even crossing the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead (13:7). The time came for the sacrifice to be offered before the battle with the Philistines and Samuel the priest had not arrived. Saul foolishly went ahead and offered the sacrifice, seemingly thinking the sacrifice itself was more important than true obedience to God. Saul explained, “…I forced myself therefore and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel explained to Saul, “Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of Jehovah thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would Jehovah have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: Jehovah hath sought him a man after his own heart, and Jehovah hath appointed him to be prince over his people, because thou hast not kept that which Jehovah commanded thee” (I Samuel 13:13-14).

God was with Saul during his early years as king, but Saul continued to demonstrate that he was not the kind of man God needed to lead Israel. God sent Saul to destroy the Amalekites. The instructions were simple. “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (I Samuel 15:3). Though Saul was successful in the battle, he disobeyed God by bringing back the king of the Amalekites and the best of their animals. Saul explained, “They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed” (I Samuel 15:15). Samuel then explained to Saul, “Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king (I Samuel 15:22-23). Saul reigned as king of Israel for forty years.

God sent Samuel to Bethlehem (I Samuel 16:1) to anoint a young man, David, of the tribe of Judah, to be the next king. David is described in the New Testament as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). One of the most memorable occasions in David’s young life was his battle with the Philistine champion who was over nine feet tall. David’s strength, courage and faith in God is seen in I Samuel 17:37, “Jehovah that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” After many battles, David expanded the kingdom to include 60,000 square miles. The text says that “Jehovah gave victory to David whithersoever he went” (II Samuel 8:6). It was to David that God said, “And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (II Samuel 7:16). Even now, Jesus is ruling on “David’s throne” (Acts 2:30-33; cf. Luke 1:32-33).

David was not perfect by any means. David sinned grievously. While David’s armies besieged the city of Rabbah, David stayed in Jerusalem (II Samuel 11:1). David was on his housetop when he saw a woman, Bathsheba, bathing. David and Bathsheba committed fornication, though she was the wife of one of David’s most loyal men. She was pregnant as a result, and David sought to cover his sin. He had Uriah, her husband, put in the forefront of the battle to be killed, and then took Bathsheba as his wife. Nathan the prophet, rebuked David and told him of the consequences of his sins (II Samuel 12:1-14). The sword would never depart from David’s house from that day forward. Troubles would arise from within David’s own family. Men would lay with his wives on the housetop for all to see as a disgrace to him. The child that was conceived would surely die. This sin marked a dark time in the life of David and the history of Israel. Indeed, the child died. David’s oldest son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar. Another son, Absalom, killed Amnon. Absalom, not willing to wait for his inheritance engaged in shrewd political maneuvers to win the hearts of the people. David was able to secure the kingdom, but not without the death of his son Absalom. We hear the cries of David, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son” (II Samuel 18:33). Even in the days of his death he learned that Adonijah, the next son in line, had proclaimed himself king, though his father had specified his son Solomon would rule after him. Yet, another rebellion to squelch. To get a feel of David’s sorrow, read Psalms 51. David also reigned for forty years.

Solomon was a man of peace. I Kings 4:25 says, “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon.” God appeared to Solomon very early in his reign and told Solomon to ask for whatever he wished. Solomon humbly said, “O Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this thy great people?” (I Kings 3:7-9). Solomon was given a degree of wisdom above any other (cf. I Kings 3:16-28). He was also given riches and honor. God told Solomon that he would also be granted a long life if he obeyed God faithfully. Solomon did many great things. He took seven years to build the temple unto God. Afterward he spent thirteen years building a palace for himself in Jerusalem. A second time, God told Solomon that he would establish his family as the ruling family if Solomon and his sons would serve Him faithfully. If not, God declared He would cut off Israel from the land and reject the temple that Solomon had built for the Lord. I Kings 9:7-9 says, “then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And though this house is so high, yet shall every one that passeth by it be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath Jehovah done thus unto this land, and to this house? and they shall answer, Because they forsook Jehovah their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath Jehovah brought all this evil upon them.”

Solomon sought women like he had gold. I Kings 11:1-3 tells us, “Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which Jehovah said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.” Many of these marriages were for political reasons. Moses had earlier warned them of how kings should conduct themselves (Deuteronomy 17:14-20). Multiplying wives was in direct conflict with the commandment of God. The kingdom would be taken from Solomon in the days of his son. Solomon ruled for forty years.

This brings to a close the period of the united kingdom. With these kings ruling for one hundred twenty years we clearly see that they were blessed by God when they kept His commandments, but when they disobeyed they suffered the consequences. There are always consequences to sin. The kingdom during this period however, was united under one ruler. In our next study we will examine how the kingdom was divided by the foolishness of Solomon’s son, beginning two lines of kings.

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