A Blossom Bible Podcast
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A Blossom Bible Podcast
Judges 21:25 The World that needed a King (Life of David 1) Christmas 1
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What happens to a people when “everyone does what is right in their own eyes”? We start in the stark closing line of Judges and follow a through-line of longing, failure, and promise that leads to the only King worth trusting. From Jacob’s prophecy that the scepter would rest with Judah to Deuteronomy’s surprising portrait of a humble ruler who copies and reads the law daily, Scripture draws the outline of a different kind of kingship—one shaped by obedience, justice, and mercy.
As we move into 1 Samuel, the picture gets painfully real. Eli’s sons exploit worship, the Ark is captured, and spiritual life goes dim. Samuel stands as a faithful bridge, but the elders still demand a king “like the nations.” God grants Saul, the tall and impressive leader they wanted, and warns that taker-kings always come with a cost. The point lands close to home: we often choose what dazzles over what sanctifies, settling for control that slowly controls us.
Then Advent reframes everything. Gabriel’s announcement to Mary reveals the heart of God’s plan: Jesus will sit on David’s throne and His kingdom will never end. We don’t just need a ruler; we need a righteous King who gives Himself for His people. That is why the call goes beyond admiration to allegiance. Many of us embrace Jesus as Savior while keeping Him at arm’s length as Lord. But surrender to a good King is not loss; it is freedom from bitterness, fear, and the exhaustion of self-rule. Jesus is better than Saul’s image and better than David’s best moments. He reigns with truth, dies with love, and proves that His authority heals.
As we head toward Christmas, we’re asking one clear question: will we let Christ be King in our plans, our hurts, and our habits? Join us for a candid, Scripture-rich journey from Judges to David to Jesus, and consider what true kingship looks like in your life today. If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for the series on David, and leave a review to help others find the message.
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Let's start with the very last version of the very last version of the time. 215. 2125. 2125. Alright. Starting in Judges chapter 21, verse 25. Alright, so try to quickly fill you in here. Last week we finished Hebrews chapter 11, a little side series there in the Hall of Faith. And uh at this point, there was a few things to try and figure out. Uh one is Christmas. It's like what, three weeks to Christmas? This is about the time we start Christmas studies, you know, get ourselves in the mood, keep a focus on what's important. Um we're also at a point where we're starting a new book. Um and so we are starting not so much a book, um, but a series on the life of David. Now that's gonna include 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel for the most part. Um, but we're gonna go through those events. It'll require maybe some homework if you want to hit the whole thing of going home and reading the in-between parts. But we're focusing on the life of David. And um we'll start with a three-part on the coming of the king. That makes sense, right? So then we can do like a two-fur, right? We've got Christmas, the coming of the king, will end in Bethlehem, where David's story kind of starts. Um, and we'll also start a series in the life of David. Brilliant, they say, right? Um, so to hit the life of David, we need to know the times of the life of David. And really, nothing sums it up better than Judges chapter 21, verse 25. It tells us what the world of David's day was like. Let's read it together, get it in. Uh, in those days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. In those days, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. What would that world be like? Probably a lot like ours, right? One thing we find from this is that at this point there is no king. And we know historically they didn't get a king until later there, the time of Saul. But but the truth was there that in the people's hearts there was no king. It was anarchy, right? Uh no, it's the book of Judges, so if you remember that from Hebrews chapter 11, the book of Judges is an ugly time. It's hard to read at some point, hard to stomach. In fact, the last few chapters are always difficult to get through because life gets really ugly in the end of the book of Judges, and really dark. And summing it up again, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Now, the truth is here, we need a king. Right? Now, in America, here we're not much into kings, we don't do kings, but we need a rule in our life. The essence is that God wants to be our king, he's a righteous king. We need God, and that was really the plan of God all the way from the beginning. Now, we're gonna go all the way back to the beginning. Genesis chapter 49, uh, as setting this up. Genesis 49, you can turn there, and we'll just go forward from this point, Genesis 49. Verse 10 is where we pick this idea up. Genesis 49, verse 10. Um it's Jacob, our old friend Jacob. He's knows that the day of his death is coming, and he stands before his sons, and he prophesies over their life. He gives them a blessing, you can say, but he also prophesies over his sons. He's speaking to his son Judah. And look in verse 10. He says this about Judah. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be obedience of the people. So here, Jacob lets his sons know that his son Judah will be the star of the kings. The scepter will not depart from Judah. That rod that the king will hold, uh, it's representative of the king. Now, realize that this is spoken uh about 400 years before Moses, about 800 years before the time of the kings. So this is prophecy and prophetic of what God wanted to do that the king would come from the line of Judah. Now, move on to the time of Moses, Deuteronomy chapter 17. How often you go to Deuteronomy chapter 17. We've just joked 400 years, but we're still before David. We're in the time of Moses in Deuteronomy 17, verse 15. The law says this you shall surely set a king over you, whom the Lord your God chooses. One from among your brethren, you shall set as king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother, but you shall and he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said to you, shall not return that way again. Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he greatly multiply silver or gold for himself. So here God gives the regulations for a king. And notice there in verse 15, he says, You're gonna set a king over yourself. You will. Now, this could be predicted because God knows, but I really think it was God's intent in the end that there would be a king, and when you do, don't multiply those things horses, wives, or riches. Now, we know very famous king, David's son Solomon, did all three of those things, right? Not a good choice. God set them up beforehand and said, Don't do it, it's gonna be your downfall. But notice here, as it goes on in verse 18, and it shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, for one before the priests, the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes. So God says, Here's another regulation for the king. You copy the law, copy it word for word, and read it every single day. So, so these are requirements for the kings. Now, the idea for a king, I think, was in the heart and mind of God since before time began. Now, the only trick was he wanted to be their king. He ultimately wanted to be their king. But turn back to Judges 21 now, as we kind of get further on in the story, Genesis 21. But this is what it was like in those days. In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. This is a word to remember. The world that David comes into was a world where people just did whatever they wanted. It was nasty, wicked, uh, it was anarchy, and evil abounding. Now, you can read the book of Greek. It's a great brief, and there's some secret Easter eggs you could say at the end that are great for the story of David, so check that out. But skipping over now to Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter 1. We see in chapter 1 the birth of Samuel. Samuel is, you could say, the last of the judges. He's the first of the prophets, I would say. And in many ways, he resembles John the Baptist. He's really a bridge between the two times. Chapter 2, uh God tells Samuel's wife, a wife, mom, mom, his mom, that he is going to be. Now look at verse 12 to get an idea of the times of this. Uh verse 12, chapter 2, verse 12. Now the sons of Eli were corrupt, and they did not know the Lord. So here we see the religious leaders. Eli is the high priest. His sons, Hopni and Phineas, are serving under him. And here in chapter 2, verse 12, we read that they didn't know God, right? The religious folk, the religious leaders of the day, they went through all the motions, but they didn't even know God. Notice what they do in verse 13, if you can picture this. The priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged flesh hook in his hand while the meat was boiling. Then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot, and the priest would take for himself all that the flesh hook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say unto the man who sacrificed, give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you but raw. So notice as they go through their duties as priests, they're taking part in the sacrifices. They would take a chunk of the sacrifice and they would boil it, and then they thrust this fork in, and you know, some slow cooker meat there, you know. They take whatever came out and break apart, they would take whatever they could out of that. Well, these sons of Eli, they said, you know what? Priest and live boiled meat. Yeah, I get it. Right? They're like grilled meat. And so before it would boil, they would thrust that in and they would take a big chunk of the sacrifice. They would grab it and put it down and thank you very much. You read on, if somebody said, Hey, that's not right. You're supposed to let it boil, go through the whole process, and then take your part and say, you know what? Give it to us, or we'll beat you up. That's what they say. And so this was the spiritual climate of the day. Everybody does what's right. You know, minds of religious leaders don't even know God. They're making the whole thing a stink to the people of God. And we read in verse 17 the sin of the young man was great before the Lord, and men abhorred the offering of the Lord. Now skip over to verse 22 just to get the full feeling of everything that's going on in the house of the Lord. Now, Eli was very old and heard everything his sons did in all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So he said to them, Why do you do such things? Or I fear that your evil dealings uh from, I hear of all your evil dealings from the people. No, my son, it's not a good report, I hear. Uh, you make the Lord's people transgress. If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him? Nevertheless, they did not heed the voice of their father because now watch this, because the Lord desired to kill them. So here's these religious leaders who don't get it. They're hypocrites, right? And and there's this heavy thing on them. Their father says, You gotta stop. You're sinning against God, you're sinning against the people, you're making it a big state. People don't even want to come here anymore. And and they didn't listen to their father because the Lord wanted to kill them. That's heavy. Yeah, I don't know exactly what that means. God's not generally into killing people. You know, Ezekiel says that um Ezekiel says that he doesn't delight in the death of the wicked. But I think these guys weren't gonna change, they had no intention of changing. God said, you know what, just keep going. I'm ready for this to be done. Now that's the dynamic of the day. Notice one more thing in chapter 3, verse 1 overview here. Now, the boy Samuel, Samuel, man, refreshing at a world like that. The boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. We get this refreshing word here, Samuel. Minister before the Lord. Ah, so sweet. But we're pointed here to this fact that the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There wasn't a whole lot of revelation in those days. Um I think really it's that people didn't care what God said. Did God want to speak? God is always wanting to speak. Understand. God always wants to speak, but the problem is most of the time we don't want to listen, right? We don't want to hear what he has to say. Well, he tells us what's right and what's wrong and what's good and what's bad, and you go, yeah, you know, I kind of disagree. You know, I just think that my God is a tolerant God. My God is a loving God. My God understands what's in my heart. Oh, you may call it adultery, but my God knows that I should just be happy. He wants to be happy. And you go, no, you're not hearing what God is saying. And that's the way it is for us. We make up our own idea of what God says is right. We don't want to hear his word, we just make it up for ourselves. And I think here, the word of God was rare because people didn't appear to hear it. They didn't want to hear it at all. Um, now in chapter four, something catastrophic happens here. The Philistines attack uh and the Ark of God's presence is captured. Hopney and Phineas, Eli's sons, are killed in battle. And Eli, when he hears about it, he falls backward on his chair and breaks his neck. Redivides. Amazing. And and there, this catastrophic thing where now Samuel becomes uh the head of the ministry, you could say. Samuel is God's guy on the scene, and he rules for about 85 years. Now look at chapter 8. We are skipping a lot, but this is to get to David. 1 Samuel chapter 8. Now it came to pass when Samuel was old. I feel it, Samuel, that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah, and they were judges in Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes and perverted justice. Then all the elders, verse 4 of Israel, gathered together and came to Samuel at Rome. What are they gonna say to him? Verse 5, and they said to him, Look, you're old. Okay, and I was gonna say, I feel for the guy. Like the first thing in the conversation, Samuel's feeling, man, I feel old. You know, and then they come and they go, Samuel, look, you're old, right? It's just mean, right? I get it, Samuel. Um, and your sons do not walk in your ways. You know, make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But this thing, just please Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the Lord. So, groundbreaking detail here. The people look and they go, Look, Samuel, you're a great guy, but your kids could care less. They're just like the other guys that came before you come, right? And they say, We want a king like all the other nations around us. Now, we're gonna find out a thing that God intended to give them a king, but in his way, they wanted a king, they wanted a hero, they wanted somebody who would go before and represent him on the battlefield, and God gave them Saul, someone who is heads and shoulders above everyone else. When you walk through a crowd, there was Saul's head hovering above, you know, the crowd. He's amazing. Look at him, there he is, our king. It says he was handsome. Um, he had it all together. He looked like a king, but he was a king like the king of all the other nations. Now, Samuel hurts over lips, and I understand it. I think Samuel feels more rejection of his own life than the rejection of God. And chapter chapter 8, verse 7, God sets him straight. Chapter 8, verse 7. And the Lord said to Samuel, heed the voice of the people in all they say to you. For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. So God tells the truth here and says, Samuel, don't be so offended about it. It's not you that they're rejecting, it's me. They don't want me. And so God gives them Saul. It's the king they wanted. And Samuel warns him and says, Look, guys, he's gonna be a taker. He's gonna tax you, he's gonna take your stuff, he's gonna take all the best of your flocks, he's gonna abuse you. This is what your king is gonna do. You sure you want this? Jesus one by one, give us a king, okay? You know, and Samuel warns them. Now, I believe this was God's heart to give them a king, but to give them a king, a man after God's own heart, uh man David from the tribe of Judah, whom Joseph, Jacob there had predicted the scepter shall not depart from Judah. But still, even that wasn't the final plan. Um, not just another man to lead them, but God's ultimate desire was to give them himself. God in flesh. Now, you can leave here. We'll come back next week to 1 Samuel. Let's get the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00:Luke chapter 1, verse 31. Luke 1, 31.
SPEAKER_02:131. All right, so we are uh in a conversation that Mary is having with Gabriel, I believe. And and there he tells her, verse 31, and behold, uh, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, he will be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. In his kingdom there will be no end. Um Jesus would be born, even his name is amazing. The name that God gives to Mary, Jesus, means God is our savior, was named we have to be his destiny to save us, right? Um, he came as a king, and that's where the story goes. And so much the same way, he came into a dark world. A world just like the world of the Judges, right? Where each one did what was right in their own eyes. There's no king to rule over them. Where even the most religious of us can be hypocritical from time to time. And it's a dark world. It was a dark world in the book of Judges, it was a dark world in the in the Roman Empire, Jesus day. It's a dark world today, but Jesus comes as a king. That's what God wanted for us. A king. Um, now the question though is as we find ourselves in the same kind of world, as we find ourselves with the same kind of circumstance, God becoming king for us, is he our king? That's always a question to ask this time of year. Is he going to be our king? Now it's easy as we look at Jesus. Oh, cute little baby in a manger. We may fast forward to the cross and his ministry and go, oh, he's a savior. Isn't that wonderful that God would save us? Die on the cross to forgive us, to give us hope. Oh, I'm so glad we don't have to go to hell. We can go to heaven and be with him. Uh all the benefits of salvation. But then we realize his essence. He's a king. He's a king to rule forever. And yet, being our savior is easy, right? They're like, oh, it's a perfect gift. The way to the sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. You know. But he's our king. Does he really have a right to rule in our life? A righteous rule. It involves submission, I think. You know, consider the movies where there's a war and a battle, and two kings face each other, and the one king is defeated, and he comes before the conquering king, and he lays down his sword and he kneels and he says, I'm at your mercy. Whatever you want. You're my master. You won. And yet it's so hard practically in our life not to find ourselves born in the book of Judges. That each one does what's right in their own eyes. Now, listen, is that our heart? Or is he really our king? As you look at this next week, maybe there's plans. We got plans, that's fine. But what does God want you to do? And are there things in our heart where we go, but this is how I'm gonna live my life? I just think that God understands that I've been through a lot. Unforgiveness, I can have some bitterness in my heart.
SPEAKER_01:And God says, No, I know it's hard, but you've got to lay it down.
SPEAKER_02:Will you let me be king in the hurts and in the hours of your week? Will you let me be king? Christ the Lord, the newborn king. Angels saying to him, and wise men worship. Why I mean wise men brought gifts and shepherds worship. But what about us? Is he really our king? And and that's a practical thing where we can just kind of in that quiet time understand are we really submitted to him? God, I want what you want. Really? Yes, I think so. And we just said, I believe. The hell I unbelief. I'm struggling, but I want to be different. Um to submit to him. Now here's the thing: it is always hard to submit our rights and our desires to him. But we always come back to this. He's a good king. And he was a good king. Saul, not such a good king. I mean, he goes crazy at the end, he's throwing spears at people, he's taking things from people. Uh crazy man, Saul. Not a good king. It's hard to serve a king like that. David was a pretty good king for the most part. But you know, he had people killed for no good reason. You know, his own sin had Uriah killed. He's not perfect, but Jesus is a perfect king. Jesus is a king who comes and lays down his life. Picture this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That kind of love does not make any sense. Well, I don't know if I can trust God with that part of my life. He loves you. He loves you so much. He's such a good king. He deserves everything, but he's not even a taker. You know what I mean? He's not a taker, he's a giver. And he loves us through the worst of our life. It just makes sense.
SPEAKER_01:As Paul says there, that in light of all these things, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, offer your life a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_02:God, it is absolutely one thing to say that we uh submit our life to you. God, and then we think about our plans for life. Arms by what we want. Some of them aren't bad.
SPEAKER_01:Well, God, what do you want? What do you want from us to God and think of those things that we really struggle with? Um I'm just gonna say bitterness, struggle with it, um, fear, you know, we struggle with it.
SPEAKER_02:Um, all these things, and yet, God, you just say you want to be Lord of those things as well. But God, you love us so much.
SPEAKER_01:God help us to realize that this week, that uh as we approach Christmas, we would really be offering you all of our lives, God, because you're worth it. You've been so good to us, and it just makes sense. God help us to understand these things in a spiritual way in our hearts. Help us with the things we'll be given even today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.