The Apostasy of Israel
The apostasy of Israel came not only as idolatry but in falling away from God as their king (1 Samuel 8:5-9). Israel said to Samuel, “Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” God said to Samuel, “It is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer” (1 Samuel 8:5b, 7b NLT). It was the rejection of the Kingdom of God. Jesus came to reestablish the rule of God. “King of the Jews,” written over His cross, was meant to be rejection of His Kingship and Kingdom, but ironically the cross proved to be the reestablishment of His rule when He defeated all the forces set against us. Israel did not believe that “God as King” was enough; they wanted an earthly king. Hear the sadness of God one more time, “They don’t want me to be their king any longer.” We either live, “Thy kingdom come” or “We want another king”.
