000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

152 Proper 5 [10]/Year B
under the leadership of a prophet would have better served Israel. However,
each generation is responsible for its own faithfulness, and on this
point, the Deuteronomists were not myopic, as we see from 1 Samuel
8:1–3, where they report that the children of the great prophet Samuel
(Joel and Abijah) “did not follow in [Samuel’s] ways, but turned aside after
gain; they took bribes and perverted justice.” Prophetic DNA does not
ensure faithfulness.
The elders of Israel recognize the corruption of Joel and Abijah and seek
to replace judicial and prophetic leadership of the community with that of
a monarch (1 Sam. 8:4–5). The theological editors had prepared listeners
for this request in Deuteronomy 17:14–20. Although the elders acknowledge
the perverse behavior of Joel and Abijah, the primary reason the
elders give for wanting a change of government is to be like other nations
(v. 5). A reader should remember that God sought to make Israel different
from other nations so that Israel could demonstrate God’s way of blessing.
Samuel is displeased and consults God who is also displeased, but who
accedes. According to God, in this particular instance, the people are only
repeating a pattern that has characterized them since being delivered from
slavery in Egypt: forsaking God and turning to other gods. In an act of
pastoral care, however, God instructs Samuel to warn the people regarding
the negative effects of monarchial rule (1 Sam. 8:6–9). God is willing
to work with the people’s preference, but (to speak anachronistically) God
wants them to make a critically informed choice.
By emphasizing that the people wanted the monarch, the Deuteronomist
implies that the problems that ensued in the united and divided
monarchies came not from God but from the community’s own choice.
Samuel confronts the people with the negative consequences of monarchy.
The characteristic activity of such a ruler is to “take” from the congregation
(note that this verb appears six times in this short section and is
the only verb characterizing the sovereign’s activity). Samuel lists key ways
the king will take from the people: sons to be warriors (implication: many
will be killed), daughters to be perfumers, land and crops to go to courtiers
and generals, slaves and animals to go to work for the ruler. The community
will become slaves, and cry out, but God will not answer (1 Sam.
8:10–18). Although, according to Samuel, this is what it means to be “like
other nations,” the community redoubles its cry for a change of government
(8:19–22).
The church continues to be vexed with a problem similar to that
described in this passage. At what points are the life and witness of the
church strengthened by accommodating, even adopting, the values and