Category: Korach

The Real King

June, 2003

Bamidbar (Numbers) 16:1–18:32 | Sh’muel Alef (1 Samuel) 11:14–12:22

Under the leadership of the last judge, Samuel, a covenant renewal ceremony took place at Gilgal. Israel was led into a new leadership status—they wanted a king. This haftarah, therefore, is the story of what happened at that covenant renewal ceremony and the dynamics of their desire for a king.

Connection to the Parasha

Both our haftarah and its corresponding Torah portion, Parashat Korach, are stories about leadership. In the Torah portion, Korach leads a rebellion against God’s chosen leaders Moshe and Aaron. He challenges, in essence, God’s decision to appoint Moshe and Aaron as the leaders in Israel. In the end, the rebellion was crushed by the Holy One Himself, leaving Moshe and Aaron firmly entrenched as the divinely appointed leaders of His people.

We will find this same type of situation in the haftarah.

...the people displayed ingratitude towards their devoted leader, Samuel, and clamored for a king to take his place. Both Moses and Samuel protest their utter disinterestedness in the service of the people. (Hertz)

In the end, the people’s rejection of both Samuel—and ultimately the Lord—as their God-appointed leaders, proved disastrous. Saul ended up walking away from the Lord and, therefore, created great problems for the people of Israel. The sovereignty of God wins out, however, in that Saul’s demise permitted the rise of David and his godly reign.

The Real King

How do we explain what is happening here? One way that some choose to understand is that God is permitting what is happening. It is being done out of His so-called “permissive will.” That is, it is not what He planned it to be like, but is permitting it to happen anyway. The problem with this understanding is that it gives too much credit to man. It makes the decisions of the universe lay in man’s court. It poses man as the center of the universe and God’s actions are merely in response to man’s actions. In short, this view seems like it is too human-centered.

It seems that there is a better way to understand what is happening—though certainly not an easier way to understand. As we examine this interpretation, we will get a glimpse at who the real king of Israel is. The only fair way to understand the establishment of the kingship in Israel is to see man playing out the script just the way God wrote it, although many may or may not be aware of God’s part of the script! We know that God fully intended Israel to have a king. He was to be the prototype for King Messiah.

Thus, through a series of sovereign events, God saw to it that Israel anointed a king. They did not establish the kingship for the best motives, mind you. But, nevertheless, they established it. For their impure motives, God disciplined them. But since He had already decreed kingship, God was the one who was behind the scenes to establish it. That is why He does not oppose the people when they were demanding a king, even overruling His choice prophet’s feelings on the matter. Thus, God is the real king, decreeing what happens in His realm.

There is another aspect to the kingship of God that we can see. This one is quite profound. In I Samuel 12:21–22, God was in the process of warning the people to be faithful to the covenant. Among other things, He was hinting at the disasters that would befall them if they proved to be unfaithful to Him. But in verse 12:22, there is a strange twist. Here Samuel speaks on God’s behalf and says,

For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.

This seems like it is almost a contradiction to what God had just expressed. It seems to suggest that no matter how unfaithful the people would be, God would overrule it and never totally abandon His people. The reason is clearly stated: It is because of His great name. He is the one who established this people. He is the one who entered into a covenant with this people. He is the one who chose this people for blessings. These people were/are His responsibility. In the end, despite all of their unfaithfulness to Him, He can never bring Himself to abandon them—even though at times it may have seemed like He did. Not only is He a sovereign God, He is also a loving and caring God.

The people thought that Saul was their king. God by His actions was demonstrating that He is their real king.

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