King or no king

Greek philosophy spread and dominated the Western society for reasons. Alexander the Great built up a Greek empire which spread the use of Greek as an "international" language in the fourth century B.C. The Church Fathers made use of Plato's philosophy to explain the doctrines of Christianity to the world since the fifth century A.D. Since the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church, through the effort of St. Thomas Aquinas, made use of Aristotle's philosophy to develop Christian theology. The Western mind is basically a Greek mind. Therefore, we cannot ignore Greek philosophy.

Plato subscribed to dualism. Here on earth is a material corruptible world. But he believed that there is a world of Ideas of which the material world is only a low quality copy. The world of Ideas or Forms is perfect and therefore unchangeable. Therefore, the idea of evolution escaped his attention. His ideas dominated the Western mind for a long time and we have to wait until the nineteenth century to see the emergence and popularity of the idea of evolution. First of all, people saw evolution in living organisms. But when people began to think of the society as a living organism, they naturally would think of the evolution of societies. Karl Marx developed a materialistic historicism to describe the evolution of societies based on economic production. Tribal societies were built on slavery, feudal societies on farming, capitalistic societies on industries and his utopia, the classless society on communism. Of course, such a brief sketch barely does justice to his theory. However wrong this theory is, there is still some truth about it.

The Israelites went through such stages. They were slaves in Egypt. Once liberated by Moses, the 12 tribes formed a confederation. Whenever they were threatened by neighbouring forces, judges, tribal heroes were raised to deliver them from crisis. But judges, among whom Samuel was the last, could not meet the social needs. The time was ripe for more centralized administration. Kings were raised to build and maintain an Israelite kingdom. The First book of Samuelwitnesses this transition. We see opposition and support for kings.

In Samuel 8, the people demanded a king to lead them to battles.
Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations (1 Samuel 8:5).
Samuel, the loyal servant of God, was resentful to the idea. He felt betrayed after serving them for so long. God consoled him.
And the LORD said to Samuel, "Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them." (1 Samuel 8:7)
The Deuteronomist author saw such a demand a rejection, not of Samuel, but of God. He did not apply the idea of evolution to the situation. The idea was unknown and unheard of. He saw this as an idolatry.
Of course, God understands evolution. God is liberal and allows them to set a king to rule over them.
Now then, hearken to their voice; only, you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them (1 Samuel 8:9).
Then, Samuel listed 7 ways kings would rob the people (1 Samuel 8:11-17). Then we turn to Samuel 9 and find there God has elected Saul to be the first Israelite king.
Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the affliction of my people, because their cry has come to me.
When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, "Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall rule over my people."  (1 Samuel 9:16-17).
Saul will rule over God's people but Israel is still God's people. Saul is only a steward enjoying the title of a king. He will do his job to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines. But to the mind of the Deuteronomist author, Saul was not an ideal king. Saul was king only because God allowed him to be. God is still the king behind the scene. We have to wait for David who will be a king after God's heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

Dear Lord, Your drama continues to unfold in history. We are the players. May we play the roles You assign us well. Amen.