Tonight’s family service looked at the kings of Israel. 1 Sam 8:4-9 makes it plain that God always intended to be the only King that Israel had, but when Samuel (prophet and judge for many years) was getting old and it was clear his sons were not following his godly example (they accepted bribes and perverted justice, being interested in dishonest gain), the people asked for a king. Rather than consulting God about their problems, they looked to the other nations and wanted to emulate them. This attitude grieved both Samuel and God, for it is never wise to search for solutions in the world around us.
The first three kings of Israel were Saul, David and Solomon. Saul started well, but ended badly because of disobedience and a fear of people more than God. David’s reign was largely seen as positive (though some of his decisions were definitely ungodly). His son, Solomon, started well and wisely, but was ultimately led into idolatry by his many foreign wives. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom was divided (the northern part being known as Israel and the southern part known as Judah). Both had 20 kings, but Israel’s kings were largely sinful, doing ‘evil in the eyes of the Lord’ and leading them astray; Judah’s kings were more godly, but still the tendency was for idolatry and sinfulness.
How the kings were greatly affected the whole of the country, for a king could either be a positive influence for good or one who would cause the people to sin. 2 Chron 19:4 shows us that Jehoshaphat’s godliness helped to turn the people back to God, for exqample. In the same way, Jesus, the King of Kings, affected the whole world through His example and told His followers that they too could be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. (Matt 5:14-16) A tiny amount of salt has the power to bring much flavour to food; each one of us can affect other people, bringing flavour and changing the atmosphere where we are as we allow God to live through us.
We cannot necessarily know the influence we have, but God wants each one of us to influence others. The question is will we be good role models or will we allow society to influence us and lead us away from God? God’s intention is that we hold out the word of life to others and use our influence for good.