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You asked

in what ways do modern societies, or even our own lives, try to 'be like other nations'?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

1 Samuel 8:4-7

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah. They said to him, "Behold, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." The thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." Samuel prayed to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them.

This passage comes from the book of 1 Samuel, which describes the transition of Israel from a loose confederation led by judges to a monarchy. Here, the elders of Israel approach the prophet Samuel with a specific request, expressing a desire for change in their leadership structure.

What does it look like to trust a less visible, less conventional form of leadership when the world around us champions something different?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Deuteronomy 17:14-17

    This passage anticipates the desire for a king and sets out specific regulations for such a ruler, differing from other nations.

  • Hosea 8:4

    The prophet Hosea later critiques Israel for setting up kings without God's approval, echoing the divine displeasure here.

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