Ancient Israel was set on a land bridge that connected three continents on the Fertile Crescent. God set them there to be a light to the nations about the kingdom of God. However, their hunger to be like the other nations who had a king and the lure of that politic kept them from being the kingdom to which they were called. The lure of politics brought them down to the level of the other nations. They got their king with his kind of government. In time, Jesus Messiah came to reset the whole project with the words, “Change your minds (i.e. repent) the Kingdom of God is at hand.” He still calls His kingdom people to avoid the pull of the world and be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), showing the world what it looks like to live under the government of God.
“The LORD said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.’” 1 Samuel 8:7 (NASB)
