8:11-18
Samuel goes into the specifics of what a king would do. He would take their sons to serve as his soldiers, he would also take them to work the ground for himself. He would also take women to be “perfumers, cooks and bakers”. He would take the best of the people’s land, and charge them a tithe of their produce. This land and money would be given to his attendants. We see all this happening today. Governments, of course, do take our taxes, they also have vast bureaucracies, and favour their “attendants”. At some point the people would cry out, but God would not answer them, for the people were getting what they had asked for. In short they would get the government they deserved. It is far better to be under God’s rule than the rule of man.
8:19-22
The people refused to take heed of Samuel’s warnings and insisted that they wanted a king. This is perhaps like the crowds demanding that Barabas be freed rather than Jesus. People choose to reject God. They imagined that they then would be like the other nations. We need to beware of delusions. Samuel told God what the people had said, and God told him to give them their king. Samuel then sent everyone back to their own towns.
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