TRAITS OF A GODLY KING

Did King Saul start out with the traits of a godly king?

Why would this matter to us today?

Last week we studied how Saul conquered the Ammonites and gained support and following among the people of Israel as their first King.

Today, I want to look at how King Saul has operated in his first few weeks of being King. His ruling of Israel in the early days of his Kingship seem good. He realized that God seemed to be behind his new place of kingship over Israel. Samuel was still there as priest, but Saul was actually being led spiritually and following instructions. The time was still early in his reign.

We might do well to compare Saul’s kingly actions to the people of God’s churches of today.   Let’s look at how Saul started out. Then in a later lesson, we will continue to look at how his kingship ended. Let’s notice the things that Saul experienced as we go along. Then let’s compare them to the kingship God is forming under the eternal kingship of Jesus within his churches of today.  

What can we learn from Saul’s story?

SAUL AND THE TRAITS OF A GODLY KING

When I say “today’s church and its priest and kings”, I’m speaking of you and me.  We are all (every follower of Jesus Christ) preparing to become priest and kings for God’s eternal Kingdom of Heaven. Do the followers of Jesus in today’s church truly grasp this reality?

Peter describes it this way in 1 Peter 2:5: You yourselves, like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Comparing ourselves to Saul, we have to realize that Saul never aspired to be named King. It was a responsibility he never sought, but it was a purpose which God had for him. God was going to use Saul’s life as a lesson for teaching Israel how much they depended upon God’s sovereignty over things of flesh and blood and human reasonings.

If we are to become good kings and priests in the coming Kingdom of God, we too must realize that it is the power of God that should always prevail; never the goals and ideas of our own humanity. True Kings never recognize their own office. They wait on God to proclaim who they are to the world and follow God into that place. Most of humanity has a way of starting off right. We begin carefully walking on the right track, then we find ourselves falling into greedy power plays which only serve to benefit the flesh. Often these acts of seeking self-power tends to benefit those who are in charge but hurt and destroy the common people who are serving.

Kings must be careful to honor God in all of their work. Saul’s first battle honored and defended God’s plans for Israel.

TODAY’S CHURCH AND THE TRAITS OF A GODLY KING

All the same, Israel was still a nation at fault. They still wanted their own King instead of simply following God and living out lives that kept His ways. They had previously been ruled by a high and mighty spiritual power. Now, to be ruled by the flesh of a soulish man had become their first choice.

Peer pressure is usually wrong. Israel desired to be like all the other nations instead of uniquely led of God. They thought they needed a priest/king in the form of a person with flesh and blood who would stand between them and God. Israel was wrongly desiring to be ruled from the soulish realms of their humanity. Their desire was from the flesh, instead of the leading of God’s Holy Spirit.

They wanted Saul to take God’s place as King.

God was about to use Saul to show them what rulership by a man was like.

Is the church of today making the same mistake?

Are we trying to be king in God’s place?  We must be careful of this. Our allegiance is to God, not to an earthly governing body of flesh and blood men and women.

ARE ALL ACTIONS GODLY AND NOT OF THE FLESH

Governments may rule over us, but they should never be above God. God should be our only leader. We should honor Him in our actions with humility, worship, glory, honor and praise.  Christ followers are admonished by The King of All Kings not to make things happen “our way.”  Our only part is to help things happen God’s way.  Godly actions on our part will help to issue in The Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Without God’s constant guidance we get off-base and lose our way.

As we look over our lands and see the many congregations of today, it seems reasonable to ask if each of them appear to realize that each Christian in God’s Kingdom has the possibility of becoming a King/Priest after the order of Melchizedek? 

This is a serious thought we all should be contemplating.  Our actions should always conform to God’s perfect plans for the nations and the world.

WELCOME

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So far the author of this blog has compiled three books covering our former studies on Genesis and Exodus. She is working on a third book summarizing our studies through Leviticus. All three books (THE GOSPEL HIDDEN IN GENESIS BOOK ONE OF TWO, THE GOSPEL HIDDEN IN GENESIS BOOK TWO OF TWO, AND EXODUS TO FREEDOM are for sale on Amazon.com. These three books lay a foundation for our on-going studies and our weekly blog studies. The books also make excellent small group study materials as well as individual daily devotional studies.  

Today’s post finds us continuing to meditate between 1 Samuel 11 and 12 while considering the first things regarding Saul’s rulership.

First, we want to look at the rule of King Melchizedek. How did the actions of Saul measure against this King of all Kings, and why would that matter to us?

WHO WAS MELCHIZEDEK?

Melchizedek was The King of Righteousness, who reigned over Salem, which was later called Jerusalem.  His priestly kingship went all the way back to the days of Abraham. 

Looking back into those times, we know Abraham brought The King of Salem his tithes.  He obeyed and followed Melchizedek as an honored King/Priest.  Many believe that Melchizedek was a Christophany (Jesus in another form before He came to live with humans as one of us.) 

In the book of Genesis, we hear about how Melchizedek came to meet Abraham after a victorious battle. He came bringing bread and wine to celebrate God’s victory through Abraham.   We covered this story extensively in the book by Gail Landgraf entitled THE GOSPEL HIDDEN IN GENESIS BOOK ONE OF TWO.   

Long story short, Melchizedek and Abraham were celebrating God’s victory by sharing a meal in The Valley of The Kings.  Abraham presented offerings to Melchizedek. Melchizedek then blessed Abraham as the Priest from God Most High.  Have you ever pondered that blessing? 

What do you think Saul would have learned from the Abraham/Melchizedek story, had he studied it harder when he was first anointed King? What are some things that Saul might have done different or considered to be more important in those moments?

Isn’t it so true that we all miss important and significant moments simply because we fail to recognize what God is doing in the middle of our times?

Abraham’s offerings or tithes consisted of one-tenth of all of the best that Abraham possessed.  He was a very wealthy man.  The offerings he brought forth clearly showed good evidence that that Abraham honored Melchizedek.  He was loyal to him as a higher spiritual authority.   We can read more about this Priest/King in various passages from Genesis, Psalms and Hebrews.  He mysteriously appears and disappears at certain times.

MORE ABOUT MELCHIZEDEK’S KINGSHIP

Something to consider is the fact that Melchizedek was King over Jerusalem, which is often considered to be the most sacred place on earth.   Saul too was about to be the King over Jerusalem, plus all of the land that made up Israel.  For both Kings, the area is sacred because of the many things that have happened there which tend to prove God’s existence as One who rules and reigns over mankind from Heaven. 

Another thing that comes to mind is Jerusalem’s proximity to Bethel. Bethel was where Jacob dreamed and saw visions of angels ascending and descending from Heaven to Earth. This spot also became the place where Jacob wrestled with God until He received a blessing. 

All of those stories and more communicate the sacredness of Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. They reveal some of the many amazing spiritual things that happened in Jerusalem.  These things all  indicate that the city of Jerusalem is the sacred place which contains the door to heaven for mankind.  In the days of Abraham, the area we now call Jerusalem was called Salem.  The name of Jerusalem became common much later. It was called Jerusalem in the days of King Saul and Samuel.

ANOTHER KING THAT SOUGHT THE WAYS OF MELCHIZEDEK

There was more than one King of Israel that who thought to seek wisdom for his kingship in Israel. Saul may not have always done this, but we know that David did.

In Psalm 110:4-6 David speaks of this King called Melchizedek; “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”  The Lord is on your right hand, He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.  He will execute judgement among the nations, filling them with corpses, he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.”

David knew all of his power came from God. I wonder if this was a constant with King Saul? It seemed to be in the early stages of his kingship, but how long would he stay the course?

If the ancients ever had a King to pattern themselves by; that King would be Melchizedek. 

Saul would have known about Melchizedek as The King of Righteousness from old.  All the tribes of Israel would have taught their generations about Melchizedek’s famous Kingship.  Samuel would also have been familiar with the concept of Melchizedek being a King from Heaven on the earth.

Though there wasn’t a Messiah yet, there was a sure pattern to reflect which was a type of his form of Kingship.

A KING’S MEASUREMENTS

We can compare Saul’s ways and actions as an early King to the ways of Melchizedek to achieve a good measurement of the righteousness of his kingship. 

But even more important, we can look at ourselves and compare our own actions as children of God’s Kingdom to the ways of Melchizedek.  How do we compare to this magnificent heavenly King as we walk inside The Kingdom of God?

Hebrews 6:20 explains that Jesus came to us as a high priest forever from the order of Melchizedek. 

When we reflect on the kingly ways of Melchizedek and his order we are reflecting on the perfect Kingship of Jesus Christ. This is what our Father, God has called us to do.  As we look at the ways that Saul measured up as Israel’s first King, we should also be looking into our own spirits and deciding how we measure up to God’s standards.  As we follow the kingship of Saul we might be able to learn a lot from the things he did right, as well as the things he did wrong.

The office of king and/or priest should never be taken lightly.  It is a very serious calling. This is an office that God has now called forth for all believers.  All Christians qualify to be a part of this new order of Melchizedek which is led by Jesus Christ. Will we conform to this truest of all orders, or will we try to pattern the ways of a king after our own thoughts and ideas?

A PERFECT EVERLASTING KINGDOM

Hebrews 7:3 tells us that Melchizedek was without father or mother.  When we look at how he blessed Abraham, it appears that Abraham first received that great blessing we always associate with his story after his victorious battle and went to meet Melchizedek. It was many years later that God repeated the same blessing to him when God took him outside in the desert to gaze up at the stars of heaven. 

Remember how Abraham was told that his descendants would be as many as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore? Now stop and realize how Melchizedek had long ago blessed Abraham with this same blessing which would last forever, through all generations.  God simply reminded him of that same blessing that later night under the stars and also a third time as Abraham gazed at the sands of the sea.

This later part of the story is the scene we usually think about when we refer to the promises of God to Abraham, but sometimes we forget that Melchizedek had already made the same promise long before it was again repeated by God under the stars. 

Hebrews 7:23 – 24 states that Jesus has an eternal priesthood from the order of Melchizedek which is higher and better than that of the Aaronic priesthood: “The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.”

Here we can plainly see why God did not originally want Israel to have a king.  Humans die.  Our physical bodies do not last forever. Only the Kingship of Jesus Christ is eternal and forever.  That makes Him the best and ONLY King/Priest fit for office. 

THE BEGINNINGS OF AN EARTHLY KING

So we come to see that God had allowed Saul to become a new King.  If Saul was wise, he would soon begin to pattern himself as close as possible to the most powerful King of Righteousness called Melchizedek (Jesus Christ.) 

Did he do this though?

In the beginning it seems that Saul is considering this good pattern.  He begins very humble, following God’s instructions to the letter and realizing his own lack of power without God’s help. 

Saul was keenly aware that God did not want the Ammonites taking the land which had been given as a promise from God to Israel.  When they attacked the weak and worn men of Jabesh Gilead; it was wrong, and this angered Saul.  We could describe this anger a type of “righteous anger” because Saul knew this siege was against God’s plans for His people.  The newly appointed Saul used good discernment, and he acted according to the discernment which he had received from God.

A GOOD KING HAS GODLY DISCERNMENT

This is one good example we can learn from Saul.  Unfortunately, we will see a change later, but for now let’s consider the fact that Saul used godly discernment and determined the right thing to do as the new King of Israel.

These righteous actions allowed Saul to defend and rescue the weak and helpless, battle-worn men of Israel who failed to stand and fight for themselves. 

Not allowing the enemy to come in and take over was critical at this point.  Had Saul not acted righteously and taken this stand against the Ammonites, Israel might have been lost from the very beginning of Saul’s kingship.

The early discernment exhibited by Saul was important.

GODLY DISCERNMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT TODAY

The story-picture here is so vivid as to how Christians living today should be acting.  We should be praying for godly discernment and keeping ourselves full of God’s Word so that we endeavor to act righteously in defending our faith. Godly discernment is vitally important to all who aspire to be kings.

We who are still being called to be Kings and Priests in God’s Kingdom need good discernment in all decisions, especially when it comes to defending the Kingdom of God.  The good news is that our leader isn’t made of earthly flesh and blood that will wear out and grow weak.  Jesus Christ will lead us forever. He will judge over all of us in a righteous way. He set the example for us as to what a King is all about.

Our part of this new office which God has bestowed upon all of those who follow Christ is to act in righteousness with godly discernment. 

We cannot lose battles to the enemy because we feel weak. 

All of God’s called must stay prayed up and filled with God’s Holy Spirit as we walk around in these present-day temples of our body where God’s Holy Spirit dwells within us.  We must be very careful to listen and follow God.  His way is the ONLY way.  Like Saul’s first actions a a godly King, we must not let the enemy take over the territory God has given to us.

If we face our battles God’s way, He will always defend us and bring us through the battles victoriously.  Without him we are only dust of the earth.  It is important to give God the glory for our victories and to overcome the enemy as we stand in  God’s strength. Saul needed to see this, and we need to know it too. We all must be like Abraham and return the portion of our very best to The Kingdom.

SAUL BEGAN WITH THE TRAITS OF A GODLY KING

At this point in our story of Saul’s kingship we can see that he acted righteously.  Not only did God defend him in battle, but he gained many new followers to help in carrying out his rule over the land of Israel.

As Saul was moving forward as Israel’s new King, Samuel was watching carefully.   Though Samuel knew God was disappointed in the people, He could see the hand of God at work.  He knew the people had done wrong. Yet, Samuel also knew that God has a way of turning what men intend for wrong into something good for The Kingdom of Heaven.  Samuel’s whole life had been an example of just that very thing.  Eli’s sons had almost destroyed the priesthood of Israel. However, God sent a child named Samuel to turn that around. 

This is yet another picture of the grace and mercy of our Great God.  It is very clear that God had not left or deserted Israel.  He would work through this unqualified man named Saul to achieve his purposes. 

By now, Samuel had ruled Israel as a righteous Judge for a very long time.  He knew his time was growing short.  Now he was ready to step back and hand the reigns of the nation over to Saul.

Next week we will hear more about how Samuel started stepping back so that God could effectively give Saul control over the nation of Israel.

Israel now had a new King.

Would he continue on the right path?