The Story - Birth of a Nation

It's like God's people have been given a newly created identity. Having been brought out of captivity in Egypt by the power of the Lord God Almighty, they immediately pledge to serve him forever, and that they'll always remember all that he's done for them. 

And then, immediately afterwards, they fail. 

After the Israelites have completely exited Egypt, they face the challenge of crossing over the Red Sea, a large body of water that the Israelites have no way of passing over. Even worse, Pharaoh has changed his mind about letting them go, and is pursuing with chariots and horsemen. It doesn't look good for the people of Israel—until God tells Moses to stretch out his hand above the waters, and the sea miraculously parts to either side. Israel walks through, and the waves crash down upon the Egyptian armies, leaving God's people untouched. 

The Israelites rejoice, and continue onward to Mount Sinai, where God gives Moses a list of commandments for his people to follow. Moses transcribes them and walks down the mountain—only to find that, in his absence, the Israelites have completely forgotten everything that just happened, and have crafted for themselves a golden idol to worship. 

Punishment comes swiftly, in the form of plagues and the swords of the Levite priests. The idolaters repent, but they've been given a reminder of their weakness—they are not righteous, no, not one.
And then comes the grumbling. There's not enough food, and there's not enough water. Why did God make us leave Egypt? There, we were provided for. There, we were safe. 

God is merciful, and provides bread and meat and water for his people. But they continually sin, and their end of the covenant is being broken, over and over and over again. 

Finally, their unbelief exiles them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, instead of entering into the land that God had promised them. They have done what was right in their own eyes, and they have paid the price. 

(That number, 40, is important. And yes, it's foreshadowing.)

 

Finally, the exile is up. Moses is dead, and his successor Joshua takes up the burden of ruling the people. Through the power of the Lord, a great city of the Canaanites is thrown down, and the Israelites make their new home. 

Again, you'd think this would be a reminder to them of their duty to fear the Lord and serve him. God has just given them the home that, quite frankly, they tried to throw in the garbage can years and years go, and he did it in such a way that nobody could ever take credit for the victory. God's power and love are on clear display here. 

How quickly we forget. 

With the land established, the people once more fall away. Judges are appointed to rule over the land, and they uphold God's word—but they aren't enough to stop the moral decline of the people. God has given them the Law, but they don't follow it. Instead, they follow their own laws, and they live in anarchy.

The final verse of the book of Judges reads, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." 

 

What to do to stop the chaos? The people need a king. 

The reasons the people finally asked the Lord for a king to rule over them are many, but the primary one sounds almost like the whine of a child to a parent. "Everyone else has a king," they say. "Why can't we? We need one to make us strong." 

And God is merciful, so though he warns them that their request isn't good, he grants it. 

Saul comes on to the stage. Strong, tall, and handsome, he's the ideal ruler for the nation of Israel. The people fall in love, and he begins to exercise his new power by fighting for them and ruling over them.
For a while, he does well. But, like we've seen before, that doesn't last long. In one battle, he defies the command of the Lord regarding what is to be done with the spoil, and the prophet Samuel warns him that he has lost the Lord's favor. 

He doesn't listen. Continuing in his sin, he disregards the warning—because he is the king, and he can do what is right in his own eyes. 

Is this the end? Has the nation of Israel fallen so far that they can't be redeemed? Is Saul, so self-serving and arrogant, going to bring God's people to ruin?