In this lesson, students learn about the blessing of good government.
Devotion
Psalm 33:12
How blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose to be his possession.
The children of Israel from the time of Moses to the time of Saul lived in a theocracy. They were ruled by God through their leaders like Moses, Joshua and Samuel.
They continued to prosper under Kings David and Solomon. According to the Psalm, they prospered because their God was the LORD. Our country had many years of goodness when the people worshipped the LORD. Over the course of time, both Israel and our country lost their direction because they turned from the LORD.
God tells us that it is possible to turn back. Even Nineveh repented of their sins and were spared by the LORD. Whether our country chooses to do the same or not remains to be seen. While we have good government, let us never forget it is a blessing from God so that we may live quiet and peaceable lives. May we always be able to spread the gospel that Jesus made a way for us to get to heaven.
The lesson
33 “Let Pharaoh, therefore, look for a man who is wise and discerning, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34 When Pharaoh does this, let him appoint overseers over the land to collect one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 Let them collect all this food from these good years that are coming. Accumulate grain under the authority of Pharaoh to provide food for the cities, and let them store it. 36 The food will be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt so that the land does not perish because of the famine.”
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 Pharaoh said to his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man, a man who has the spirit of God?”
39 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people will submit to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “Look, I have appointed you over the whole land of Egypt.”
42 Pharaoh took his signet ring off of his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand. He dressed Joseph in robes made from the best linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in the second best chariot that he had. Men went ahead of him crying out, “Kneel down!”[b] Pharaoh appointed him over the whole land of Egypt. 44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but in the whole land of Egypt no one will lift up his hand or his foot without your permission.” 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as a wife. Joseph went out and began to rule over the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and traveled throughout the whole land of Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the earth produced plentiful harvests. 48 He collected all the food during the seven good years in the land of Egypt, and he stored up the food in the cities. In every city he stored the food from the fields that were around the city. 49 Joseph stored up a huge amount of grain, like the sand of the sea. Finally he stopped keeping track, because it was too much to measure.
The lesson
8 When Samuel was old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. They served as judges in Beersheba. 3 His sons did not follow in his footsteps. Instead, they turned aside to seek dishonest gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons are not walking in your ways. Now appoint a king for us so that he can judge[a] us like all the other nations.” 6 But in Samuel’s eyes, their request to receive a king to judge them looked evil, so Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people regarding everything they have said to you, because it is not you whom they have rejected. I am the one they have rejected as king over them. 8 This is just like all the actions they have taken from the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, right up to this present day. They have forsaken me and served other gods, and now they are also acting the same way toward you. 9 So now listen to them. Nevertheless, warn them strongly and show them what the king who reigns over them will do.”
10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people, who had asked him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who reigns over you will do. He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and with his teams of horses,[b] and they will have to run ahead of his chariots. 12 He will make them serve as commanders of a thousand soldiers and as commanders of fifty. He will assign some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest. He will assign some to make his weapons and the trappings[c] for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to serve as perfume makers, cooks, and bakers. 14 He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even the best of them, and give them to his officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards, and he will give it to the members of his court and to his officials. 16 He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men,[d] and your donkeys, and he will use them to do his work. 17 He will take a tenth from your flocks, and you will become his servants. 18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you on that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel. Instead they said, “No, we want to have a king over us, 20 so that we also can be like all the nations, and our king can judge us and lead us out to fight our battles.”
21 Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. 22 The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to them, and appoint a king for them.”
So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go home to your own city.”
Footnotes
1 Samuel 8:5 In the book of Judges, the concept of judging includes other ruling activities besides judicial functions.
1 Samuel 8:11 Or charioteers. There is no evidence for the use of cavalry in battle at this time.
1 Samuel 8:12 Trappings is the technical term for equipment like the reins and harnesses but also includes decorative elements of metal and leather. Collections of chariot trappings have been preserved archaeologically.
1 Samuel 8:16 The translation follows the Hebrew. The Greek Old Testament reads your cattle.
The triumph of Joseph (1657), Toulouse Cathedral
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXao19v3oE8 about 6 minutes in.