Israel foolishly desired a king rather than God.
God’s jealousy is a raging fire. Inordinate affection for anyone and anything other than God is a capital offence. Look at what God did to Jeremiah. Jeremiah so loved his wife that God killed her.
God said to Jeremiah:
“Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips, and do not eat man’s bread of sorrow.” (Ezekiel 24:16-17).
Look at what God did to Abraham because he also so loved his son, Isaac. He said to him:
“Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:2).
Look at what God did to Rachel, the desire of Jacob. God closed her womb. When He finally opened it, He killed Rachel in childbirth.
Look at what God did to His beloved Israel. He said to Ezekiel:
“Speak to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow.’” (Ezekiel 24:21-22).
We have been duly warned. Jesus says:
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37).
Temporal Desires
We are eternal beings. God has put eternity in their hearts. (Ecclesiastes 3:11). However, our desires do not last. Our desires are time-bound and not eternal.
An aging relative wrote to me lamenting a life ruled by sexual desire. He discovered that:
“Desire fails.” (Ecclesiastes 12:5).
The woman you lusted after grew old, and her beauty faded. The doctors warned you in your old age that the sugary drinks you love, or the beer you used to consume by the gallon, is going to kill you. Sooner, rather than later, you would no longer have the teeth to crush bones. You would no longer have the strength or the desire to sleep with several women in one day.
The message here should be clear. God has determined that:
“The desire of the wicked shall perish.” (Psalm 112:10).
Solomon says:
“The Lord casts away the desire of the wicked.” (Proverbs 10:3).
The time will come when men will no longer even have the strength to seek what they desire.
“In those days, men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.” (Revelation 9:6).
But:
“(God) will fulfil the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.” (Psalm 145:19).
Jesus says:
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7).
David also says:
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4).
Cain’s Evil Desires
God warned Cain that he must master his desires, otherwise they would ruin him:
“If you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7).
Cain failed to heed this warning. He ended up killing his brother Abel out of envy.
Church in the Wilderness
The church in the wilderness did not desire the knowledge of God. Therefore, God fulfilled their desire, and their desire killed them.
They grumbled and grumbled, asking for meat to satisfy their lust. God gave them what they desired, but sent leanness into their souls.
“So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving; but while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest of them, and struck down the choice men of Israel.” (Psalm 78:29-31).
Paul warns:
“These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did.” (1 Corinthians 10:6).
Israel Desired a King
God said He chose Israel to be:
“A special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6).
But Israel rejected God’s speciality. Israel rejected God’s kinship. The Israelites insisted on having a human king because they wanted to be like all other nations.
God sent Samuel to warn them. God’s yoke is easy. His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30). But the king you desire is not like Him:
“He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” (1 Samuel 8:15-18).
But they would not listen. Everything God warned them about came to pass under Solomon and his son, Rehoboam. They were so oppressed that they rebelled under Rehoboam, and 12 tribes seceded.
“When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: ‘What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!’ So Israel departed to their tents.” (1 Kings 12:16).
When Israel insisted on having a king, God gave them Saul. Samuel told Saul:
“For whom are all the desirable things of Israel? Are they not for you and for all your father’s house?” (1 Samuel 9:20).
Saul could not be anything but a disappointment because, instead of God, he was the desire of Israel.
True to form, Saul was more concerned about the people than about God. He sinned against God by disobeying God’s commandment because he feared his people.
“Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.’” (1 Samuel 15:24).
Therefore, the kingdom was taken from Saul. Samuel told him:
“Your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14).
That man after God’s heart was David. But on several occasions, David’s desires also led him astray. On one occasion, he decided to number Israel, so that he would glory in his kingdom:
“The king said to Joab, the captain of the host who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know their number. And Joab said to the king, May the Lord your God add a hundred times as many people as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” (2 Samuel 24:2-3).
David delighted in this because pride comes before a fall:
“For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire.” (Psalm 10:3).
Since David desired to glory in the size of Israel, God punished him by decimating Israel.
“So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel from the morning till the appointed time. From Dan to Beersheba, seventy thousand men of the people died.” (2 Samuel 24:15-16).
David’s Adultery
Even more egregious was David’s adultery. David nearly lost his kingdom because of his lustful desires. Instead of engaging in spiritual warfare, he watched a blue film from his balcony, lusting after a woman bathing. He then committed adultery with the woman, Bathsheba, and she became pregnant. To hide his sin, David had Uriah, her husband, killed.
The word of God warns:
“Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonour he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away.” (Proverbs 6:32-33).
God’s judgment on David was severe. For a while, he was dethroned by his own son, Absalom, and had to escape from Jerusalem. God killed the son born through his adultery with Bathsheba. Absalom raped his wives in the sight of all Israel. The sword never left David’s house.
His son, Amnon, raped his stepsister, Tamar. Tamar’s brother, Absalom, murdered Amnon. Joab and his men killed Absalom. Another son, Solomon, killed his stepbrother, Adonijah.
The lesson should be as clear as crystal. The desires of men are evil. They make us sin against God. But by the grace of God, through the redeeming blood of Jesus’ cross, God has now given to us:
“Great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable (us) to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” (2 Peter 1:4).
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