What TIME Might It Be?

It seems that God was quite upset that Israel asked for a king. But does this mean that God never intended for Israel to have one? I suppose we could draw that conclusion since God did say that they had rejected him as king, and because "they wanted a king like all the other nations." However, we have discussed some of these issues in prior posts. It is probably more complex than a surface level glimpse can tell us.

I think a case can be made that says that God did plan to give Israel a king. Asking for a king was not evil in and of itself.

• Remember Deuteronomy 17: 14-20? God specifically discusses the rules for when Israel will have a king.
• First of all, God speaks these words to Moses... way before the days of Saul and David.
• Secondly, God doesn't say anything about "if you have a king", it just says "when.."
• Plus, if we go further back to the days of Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, God actually alludes to the fact that he will be the father of kings. Now, remember, Abraham struggled to believe God's promise that an entire nation of people would come from him because his wife, Sarah, couldn't have children (which, of course, led to Ishmael). So, it was profound that God was promising that kings would come from him.
• Furthermore, we know that the Messiah is a king. By the time Christ came, Israel was already looking for a messiah/king. God uses patterns in the old covenant to prepare us for the coming realities. First the natural, then the spiritual... There needed to be an earthly kingdom, so the heavenly king could come and possess the throne thereby uniting heaven and earth under HIS rule!

Therefore, scripture does support the idea that Israel was indeed meant to have an earthly king. So, why did God get so upset? As I mentioned before, we've discussed some of the reasons in the "National Security" series, but now we have another dilemma: How can Israel get in trouble with God for making a legitimate request?

Well, on top of the fact that Israel was being driven by fear and ultimately lack of faith, there was an equally important variable: timing. God's timing often differs from our timing. We are so much like our father, Abraham. (Go back and read in Genesis). He was given a promise by God, but he had serious trouble with believing God. So, he finally decides to help God out, and he takes a servant, Hagar, to have a son. This was an absolute disaster. The entire planet is still paying for that mistake to this day. Thus, Abraham's struggle of faith was in direct correlation with an inability to trust the timing of God. And, in the same way, Israel was demanding a king prematurely. Obviously, God had David in the incubator of kingship, but no one knew that at the time. So, little did Israel know, God was already intending to give them a king... this accords with Deuteronomy 17 because it was supposed to be God's choice anyway.

The bottom line is that we usually don't have enough patience with God. We demand what want when want it; yet, he knows that if we get the right thing at the wrong time, it's the wrong thing altogether!