In 2008, the people in America, at least a voting majority, demanded change. They wished to become more like the rest of the world, rather than remain the special nation they had been, a nation where people often risked life and limb trying to enter. Many gave warnings of how life would be under the guise of “change.” But, like the people of Israel, few listened, and the inevitable happened; they got what they wanted.
The following is the account from 1 Samuel 8:4-20a. I am quoting from the Amplified Bible® for easier reading. Please pay special attention to verses 7 and 18. People of the United States, you were warned, and now the consequences are coming quickly. Will you continue to sleep, and will you be content to become the same as other countries around you? This is a wake up call.
4 All the elders of Israel assembled and came to Samuel at Ramah
5 And said to him, Behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint us a king to rule over us like all the other nations.
6 But it displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to govern us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken to the voice of the people in all they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not be King over them.
8 According to all the works which they have done since I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they also do to you.
9 So listen now to their voice; only solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked of him a king.
11 And he said, These will be the ways of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
12 He will appoint them for himself to be commanders over thousands and over fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his implements of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers.
14 He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive orchards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
16 He will take your men and women servants and the best of your cattle and your donkeys and put them to his work.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves shall be his slaves.
18 In that day you will cry out because of your king you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not hear you then.
19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, No! We will have a king over us,
20 That we also may be like all the nations, ….
6 comments:
Those who don't know History, are doomed to repeat it.
Old Rose
Yes, even ancient history.
Unfortunately, there are few who even have a Bible, let alone read it. Their history books they should have read in school were read just enough to pass the tests, and they think of nothing else.
When President Kennedy was assassinated, America was compared to Rome at the time Julius Caesar was assassinated.
It is getting worse, now, and I dread the future.
Old Rose
Human beings are, if anything, consistent. We can easily replace the words and phrases of before with those of our modern era, and they would fit perfectly. It is this arrogant stupidity that will defeat our once great nation; it has happened before and because of our consistency, it will happen again. It will happen to us. It is happening now.
Ticker,
It would seem that millennia of human existence have taught us little, at least insofar as keeping our best societies intact is concerned.
This is a very astute comparison you have drawn here. Further proof that The Bible provides the answers -- if we would simply take the time to read it.
Great post!
Jeff Dreibus
Excellent analogy!
Back then, Israel was trying to globalize -- in the terms of the times, of course.
And the disaster which ensued with King Saul rocked the world of the Israelites.
We're heading the exact same way now.
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