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The Need to be Enslaved: The Book of Samuel
August 9, 2022

Don Anderson
Aug 9
This morning I would like to do some "free thinking" on the Book of Samuel.

As I've always told you "I ain't no theologian". Like all my musings I want you to run this one through the prism of "does that make sense?"

You're all grown now. So you get to make the call. If the answer is affirmative, run with it. If your answer is "Dad, I think you smoked too much Mary Jane back in the '70's", then kick it to the curb!!

That said, let's rap on the Book of Samuel!!

Let me start with a little background.

Every five years or so since I was about 8 years old, I have read the bible from cover to cover. Now, this can be quite an arduous task. Let's face it, there are a lot of chapters that don't initially grab one's attention. As a kid, I was looking for the great stories of evil doers getting the beat down they so richly deserved.

I loved Haman getting hanged on the very gibbet that he prepared for the righteous Mordecai in the Book of Esther. I loved how the evil General Holofernes was beheaded by the brilliant and beautiful Judith in the book of Judith. I relished the righteous justice visited upon King Belshazzar for profaning the temple and the writing on the wall in the book of Daniel. And of course, what little boy didn't love the justice visited upon Goliath after he mocked David and God. Those were the stories that I loved as a kid.

The bible is like a gigantic onion. The more often you read it, the more layers get peeled back. Also, the older you get, the wiser you get. The increased wisdom that comes with age will open your eyes to things you couldn't see when you were young. As you read the bible, you'll read verses at the age of 40 that you’ll find to be life changing. You’ll realize that you read that same verse at age 30, but found it to be meaningless then.

You'll find verses that are gold at the age of 50 that you simply couldn't understand at the age of 40. The Bible is a veritable treasure trove filled with the wisdom of the ages. You will NEVER outgrow it.

Now all of that brings me to the Book of Samuel. Let me provide a brief review of the First Book of Samuel, chapter Eight.

So Samuel the prophet was judge over Israel. He got old, retired, and passed his judgeship on to his sons. But his sons were unjust. They became perverted and began to take bribes. (Sounds familiar? In other words, they became politicians!!)

So the elders of Israel came to Samuel and asked him to appoint a King over them, just like the other nations in the area.

Now Samuel didn't want to do this because he knew that having a King other than God would bring about a bad end. But he took their request to God. God essentially said to Samuel: "Give them what they want. They are block heads and are not just rejecting you, but they are really rejecting me. So give them what they want. But warn them that this King that they will get will essentially enslave them".

Now understand, I did some serious paraphrasing there. If you want the exact verbiage, check out First Samuel, Chapter 8; verses 1 through 22.

After I read that Chapter, I put the book down and started to think about the relevance of the Book of Samuel to current events. Let me expand on the conclusions that I reached.

Freedom is a very new concept. For the 6,000 years of recorded history, there were no free countries until the establishment of the United States of America.

Before the United States, enslavement was the norm. The Samurai enslaved the Japanese, Kings and Queens ruled over their subjects in Europe, The Sultans ruled over their subjects in the Middle East, and the Czars over their peasants in Russia. The Indian subcontinent had a class system so brutal that those at the bottom were literally called "the untouchables".

Heck, the second chapter of the bible is entitled "Exodus" which essentially means "escape from slavery".

But maybe there is a reason that freedom is not the norm in human history. Could it be that people simply don't want it?

Maybe people like slavery. Maybe people like being told what to do. Maybe people prefer the guarantee of a few crumbs in exchange for freedom.

The Israelites rejected freedom in Samuel's day. Samuel told them that the assignment of a king would result in the enslavement of their families. And they chose to have a king anyway. Dig this quote from Samuel:

"The King will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses, and they will run before his chariot. He will also appoint from among them his commanders to form groups of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers. He will set them to do his plowing and his harvesting and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will use your daughters as ointment maker and as cooks and as bakers. He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his officials. He will tithe your flocks and you yourselves will become slaves. When this takes place you will complain against the king whom you have chosen, but on that day the Lord will not answer you."

The Israelites chose a king anyway, and God sent them Saul. And Saul did everything predicted above by God.

Maybe we’re like Samuel’s Israelites. Maybe we don’t want freedom.

Certainly a significant portion of the population has demonstrated that enslavement suits them fine.

A significant portion of the population chose to inject themselves with untested substances because bully governors operating outside constitutional authority told them to do it.

A significant portion of the population merrily put dirty useless rags on their faces because tyrant governors who had no constitutional authority to do so ordered them to do it.

A significant portion of the population continues to inject their children with untested substances even after its been demonstrated to be utterly ineffective, and potentially harmful. They’re doing so because they were told to do so.

A significant portion of the population celebrated the job losses and business closures suffered by those who chose freedom over tyranny.

Americans have historically assumed that people by nature want to be free. I am no longer sure that this is true. It's definitely not true for everyone.

Let me set forth a flat assertion.

My flat assertion is this: I do not believe that freedom is the natural state for a non-Christian nation. I believe that slavery is the natural state for a non-Christian nation. Let me explain.

For freedom to exist, a people must be able to self-govern. If citizens are to participate in governance, it stands to reason that those citizens must possess the capacity to reason. They must have the capacity to discern between feelings and facts; right and wrong; good and evil.

A virtuous society is wedded to God, and God is truth itself. A vicious society is wedded to Satan, and Satan is the father of the lie.

A constitutional republic cannot rest on a foundation of lies. The edifice will collapse from the weight of it. A constitutional republic must rest on a foundation of truth. Since God is the epitome of truth it must therefore rest on God.

We have intellectual elites telling us that defunding police will reduce crime. That’s a lie.

We have intellectual elites telling us that open borders are good for the country. That’s a lie.

Now that’s all theoretical. Let me support that with some real-world examples.

We have teachers telling little girls that they can be boys, and little boys that they can be girls. That’s a lie.

We have elites telling people that abortion is not harmful to the mother. That’s a lie.

We have politicians telling us that out-of-control government spending is not harmful. That is a lie.

Our congress just confirmed a Supreme Court Justice that could not define the word woman. Which of course is a lie, making her a liar.

Of course, I could go on for pages. But you get the point.

A non-Christian nation is by definition governed by feelings. That old 60's adage "If it feels good, do it" is the mantra of the day.

Think of those cities in the country that run on that mantra. What are the characteristics of cities like San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Los Angeles?

Look at voting patterns and think of the characteristics of those who vote for more government control. These people do not want self-governance. What they want is vice over virtue. They would rather be enslaved by the government and their personal vices than be given the freedom to choose virtue over vice.

Samuel was incredulous 6,000 years ago.

I am incredulous now.

Your generation is being asked the same question that Samuel put to the Israelites 6,000 years ago.

Will it be freedom and virtue? Or will it be slavery and vice?

It's our collective call.

If this unprecedented 233-year experiment with freedom is to continue, it is incumbent on those of us who love and value freedom to sell our likeminded neighbors on the necessity to engage, and to engage now.

America has had three major wakes up calls. The first was in 1776 to expel the British and avoid enslavement to King James. The second was in 1861 to expel the Democratic Party and its attempt to continue to enslave Blacks. The current scenario involves the attempt by the Global Elite to enslave us. Will we rise to the task or fall? It's up to us. -JP