There Is Only One King
Greetings,
“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 walk in 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 do.” 1 Samuel 8: 4-9
So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king. Samuel then basically said that the king they desired would take advantage of them, using up their sons and daughters, taking a tenth (a tithe) of their crops and flocks, and eventually making all of them slaves to the king. 1 Samuel 8: 10-17 (My paraphrase)
“When that day comes , you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and 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.” 1 Samuel 8: 18-22
Any of this sound at all familiar? Because I sure see a modern parallel in the “church” today. The Lord has always wanted to be the one true King and Leader of His children/church, but most of the time He is rejected and instead the church wants a human King/Leader/Pope or Pastor. I see this happen all the time, even in relational housechurches that are supposed to be about the Priesthood of all believers under only Jesus the King of Kings. I believe that most people give in to “needing” a human leader because they get tired of the responsibility of hearing God for themselves. Being a Spirit led follower of Jesus is not an easy task. It takes discipline and a continual surrender and death to self. It takes trading our ways for HIS way. However, when the rubber hits the road many times we would rather have someone tell us the right thing to do, instead of trusting the voice of The Spirit to lead us in ALL things.
People want or think they need a Pastor because they want to be like all the other Pastor led Christians out there. They want the so called safety net of being under a human leader because they doubt their own ability to hear God for themselves. Who hasn’t been there? It is understandable to want to be like all the other “regular” church goers out there, instead of being an outcast Jesus freak. Problem is that God Himself has called all of us to be under only HIS rule and authority. HE has made it abundantly clear that HE wants to be our ONLY Leader/King/Shepherd and HE has warned us to avoid being UNDER a human Pastor/Leader/King. To serve a human Pastor is to reject Jesus as The Good Shepherd and King of our hearts. Will God allow us to follow others instead of Him? Sure, because He is not a dictator and He has given us the great gift of free will. However, what will following someone other than Him cost us? Only our sons, daughters, crops, livestock, ten percent of our money and our freedom. To follow and serve someone other than Jesus will cost us everything in this life. To me following someone other than Jesus is to become a slave to Babylon and its programs and systems.
Strong words? They certainly are, but are they true? I have spoken my peace and I refuse to judge others for the choices they make in these matters, but I will warn them. My final word on this: Follow only Jesus !
Love and……
Kirk Out !
notesfromthebridge 
The idea that a God would want us ro have a leader after all these things we read is rather odd. Doesn’t ring true anymore! He would rather we act like a family of LOVE nurturing one another and showing his love together in this world instead of causing divisions in his name! What a mess we’ve made of things. Let’s allow his constant prevailing wind of love sail through us and bring peace, encouragement and hope to the world we walk in. Thanks, Christopher, for your constant encouragement…..the expression of Gods prevailing wind….
Sue, thank you for being a constant mirror..reflecting HIS LOve and encouragement to all in your scope of influence.
Sure makes sense …
thanks for sharing …..
Thank you for confirming Judy…
Dear Christopher,
How clear this is. Iâve never thought about this specific example of having a king over us being equivalent to having a pastor/priest/rabbi over us. Though Iâve not been involved in it, there is a movement within some denominations which say that we must have a human âcovering.â Pastors over men, men over women etc. Iâm not sure how they justify it from scripture, but it certainly doesnât match the view we have of the time of the apostles and of the time between the exodus and Saul.
Thanks for sharing this, brother.
Win
Win, Clearly “men” can justify about anything they want to from scripture. That is why the Body of Christ must be Spirit led and NOT bible led. Thanks for sharing my brother.
So the bible and the spirit disagree?
Steve, ultimately I do not think they disagree. However, without the Spirit’s illumination scripture is just dead letter that can easily be misinterpreted and misapplied. Jesus tells us that The Spirit will lead us into all truth…even biblical truth. Scripture in the institutional/traditional “church” has been greatly twisted by many to support a man led system of control and MANipulation.
Glad for the dialogue on this and the clarification. I have found the Bible to line up with the Spirit but often on my journey out of Babylon this means it DOES NOT line up with men’s teachings. It was shocking at first when the Spirit began pointing this out to me but I relish it now and am so thankful. Love, “BK”
Great point BK! I would say that much of what the Institutional “church” teaches are the teachings of mere “men” and NOT of the Spirit of Christ.
As the Lord began showing me what Christopher so clearly states here it was shocking (I know I use that word alot but I had everything so nailed down ‘from Genesis to Revelation’ that it unnerved me when those concepts were challenged by the Spirit. As this became more and more real to me I head the Spirit clearly say to me one day when I justified ‘we NEED to have a pastor over us’…”what are you doing under that man???? You don’t know that is fornication??? I AM your husband…..”. Yeah, it jolted me. Then years down the pike there were some people making VERY BAD decisions and calling it God. I told the Lord, “It was so much easier when I was a pastor and just told people thus and so is the will of God and they just did it….”. He asked me, “Would you reeeally want to go back to that????” I had to say, “No. It was easier to tell people what to do, but it is so very rewarding to just put in my portion and let them hear YOU for themselves….”. And that is the truth. Such a way of life…..”BK”
BK, helping and allowing folks to hear God for themselves is key to real Body life.
The cry goes up every Sunday morning, “Give us a king”. And the Voice from heaven responds, “They have rejected Me as King”. …and the angels weep.
Sad, but very true Dan. I also weep for my siblings in CHrist still in chains in the system of Babylon.
One last comment on one of my favorite subjects! 🙂 Did you know when they came to Samuel at Ramah, that Ramah, according to Strongs means…..râmâh, raw-maw’; feminine active participle of H7311; a height (as a seat of idolatry):—high place. Interesting, “BK”
Wow, so clear and disturbing.
Oh! Oh! I HAVE to include this…..Strongs H7311 rûwm, room; a primitive root; to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively):—bring up, exalt (self), extol, give, go up, haughty, heave (up), (be, lift up on, make on, set up on, too) high(-er, one), hold up, levy, lift(-er) up, (be) lofty, (× a-) loud, mount up, offer (up), presumptuously, (be) promote(-ion), proud, set up, tall(-er), take (away, off, up), breed worms. Yep, that’s what happens and causes one to ask for a king…or accept said position! “BK”
Glad you added that BK.