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Why
is the Cry for a Ruler Rejection of God? Commentary on 1 Samuel 8 Then
all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,
and said to him, "You are old and your sons do not follow in your
ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations."
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to
govern us." Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel,
"Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for
they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king
over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up
out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also
they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only-you shall
solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign
over them." (1 Samuel 8:4-9) All this is granted fairly easily. The picture of governmental power in Scriptures as a whole is painted with undeniable strokes of condemnation. Recently I have begun to delve even further into this passage however. "Political power is rejection of God" This is the first observation that Ellul draws from 1 Samuel 8. But why is it rejection of God? I am tempted to take Ellul's following observations (which are not answers but for Ellul are merely more observations), that it is dictatorial, unjust and conforms to other nations as the answer. However I do not think this is the theological answer that is most warranted. The answers lie in Genesis 3. Adam eats a forbidden fruit in order to gain knowledge of good and evil. He is thus able to declare "Good" and "Evil." However, "good" is not something we can know apart from God, it is God who declares what is good and what is evil. Ellul himself makes these points in To Will and To Do. If we know "the good" then God is banished to the past and is subjected to "the good." Ellul objects that then God is not free. God is subjected to the interpretations and laws of men! Some "god" this would be! Good is what God wills, purely and simply. God declares what is good. Adam in eating the fruit of the tree seeks to become like God, able to make this declaration on his own. But how can he declare good that which God has not declared good? Ellul says rightly, "Man who is not just, declares what is just and unjust!" All of this sets 1 Samuel 8 into context: Israel seeks a ruler: one who would declare for them what is good and evil, make laws and judge right and wrong. They wanted a ruler who would declare who is in and who is out of "the good." There decision to be governed comes from years of experience of their inadequacy to judge for themselves good and evil. Throughout the book of Judges the phrase "and everyone did what was right in their own eyes" lays a heavy judgment on the people of Israel. Finally in 1 Samuel they want a leader, who can tell them good and evil, for they have failed miserably to discern it on their own. The cry for a king like the other nations, is a cry of despair; a cry of being already guilty of declaring good and evil apart from God. They seek refuge in an archetype Man, one who can clearly define and pronounce for everyone what is Good and Evil so that the chaotic times of the Judges would give way to prosperity and peace. But God, hearing their plea, declares this venture to be another rejection of Him. It will fail miserably. No ruler can replace God's will. This ruler who seeks power - the power to decide what is good and evil - will fail. He cannot know God's will on his own. Every single king who ruled over Israel, including David, did exactly as God said they would do. How could they do otherwise? Israel in seeking a king like other nations was committing the original sin: to know Good and Evil apart from God. This is the reason such political power is rejection of God. It was for the Israelites and it is for the Christians of today. We have put our trust in steadfast laws of the land, in rulers who declare who is in and who is out. We have committed the sin of Adam in our day. This
essay is an analysis of our condition, not a prescription for a remedy.
But surely one step of that remedy would be a rejection of centralized
power, and an acknowledgment that we have attempted to force God into
a box and declare for ourselves right and wrong.
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