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made king over Israel before David, Antichrist before Christ Himself, and finally the
kingdoms of this world before the Kingdom of God. Charles Welch explained it in this
way: in the Scriptures we find that God is dealing with men as responsible moral
creatures. In other words, being created "in His own image and likeness", man has been
given a brain, a most marvelous and intricate mechanism that unlike the remainder of
creation enables him to think, reason things out, to judge and weigh up, and to create. It
enables him to make decisions and so have a mind of his own. Had Adam never been
allowed to exercise his choice of action the human race would probably have been
convinced that man could stand unassisted against all temptation. Had Israel not failed so
lamentably man would doubtless have believed that it was possible to accomplish a
righteousness by works. Had rule and government never been entrusted to the nations of
the earth, they would never have been convinced that the only true ruler and king
appointed by God to establish righteousness and judgment on this earth is the Lord Jesus
Christ. This lesson is yet to be learned.
In the Book of Samuel we have this illustrated most strikingly as Israel place Saul
upon the throne, and anoint him as their king, whereas David, God's chosen man, the
man after God's own heart, came second:
"Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto
Ramah, and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now
make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (I Sam. 8: 4, 5).
The two sons of Samuel followed him in his office, but did not walk in his ways and
serve the Lord as splendidly as he did. Taking advantage of their exalted position they
sought to line their pockets by taking bribes, and by extortion of money from the people
they abused the privilege God had laid down to be given to His servants who had been
given authority. This failure on the part of the sons of Samuel was undoubtedly a
contributory factor in the iniquitous demand by the people of Israel for a man to be
appointed as their king like the nations around them. This was a rebuff to God, for He
Himself was their king. As Jehovah, the Covenant God of Israel, He was the One Who
should rule and reign over them. The blessings He had heaped upon them and their
fathers were without number, yet such is the hardness of the human heart and the
tendency of man to trust in himself and go his own way, that these people forgot their
true King, and blindly demanded an earthly ruler, and so He says to Samuel:
"Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not
rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (8: 7).
Sin separates from God. It removes Him from His rightful place in our hearts and
from the centre of our lives. We become warped and twisted, and not desiring fellowship
with Him we become, as a consequence, the willing dupes of Satan.