Why did God hesitate to allow the Jewish people to have kingship?
After the death of Moses, Joshua led the people of Israel, and after that, the judges.
This is God's will for them.
According to this method, God himself acted as his invisible king.
However, the people of Israel did not like this method.
In the way of governing the people of the world, they preferred the way kings ruled to guide them.
Although this displeased God, He granted it to the Jews as they requested.
There was another reason why God did not allow kings to rule.
In 1 Sam 8:10-22, God explained the reason for His objection.
In today's terms, Israel would have to pay more taxes because of establishing the monarchy.
Establishment charges for establishing a dynasty was new to the Jews.
All the administrative expenses which they may incur for their families, and the army for the king should be met by the people. This has become more expensive over time. It reached its peak during the reign of Solomon.
People were unable to pay their taxes.
The following verse is an example of that.
“Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
1 Kings 12:4.
God already forewarned the people of all this, but they did not listen.
Perhaps those people who asked for the monarchy would not have experienced it at that time.
But the descendants who came after suffered it and shouted at the king.
Even in our lives, when we struggle to get things that are not pleasing to God, there will be a time when we may not feel the harm of it. But our posterity may feel it.
Therefore, when we ask for something we need and God rejects it, we should not ignore the warnings that God speaks through the scriptures.
If we refuse to do so, many times we may escape. But our posterity will surely suffer.
For example
For the sake of honoring our family, for temporary benefits, for our caste, for our race, for our children's education, and for their marriage, the decisions we make to compel our children will make it impossible for our children to fulfill the will of God perfectly in the days to come.
May God himself give us an understanding of this.
So when we ask God for fulfilling our desires, we should ask God whether it will affect our children in the days to come.
The duty of parents is not only to give our children the benefits of this world but also to do what we can in this time of life so that our children can grow up as spiritual generations in the future.
Ezekiel Shanmugavel