The Got Their Wish (A King) To Their Own Destruction

Hosea 13:11 "I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath."

This word anger literally means with elevated breathing and flared nostrils as one who has been aroused in anger; this is how God was aroused when Israel asked for a king yet He gave them their king (1 Sam 8:5-7). They had provoked Him; it does not necessarily mean God bore them ill will, it means in anger he acquiesced He gave them what they wanted against His own better judgment. They forced the issue, insulted Him and with elevated breathing and flared nostrils He said to Samuel..."Give them what they ask for". How foolish they were to provoke God and to violate His will; this is an area we need to be very careful. One thing to learn from this example is that if one forces the issue, God will, at times, give in against what He knows is best for us. It is, of course, exceedingly unwise and foolish to push God so but we have seen this over the years where people blow past what God has revealed as His will and force their own wills, the results are never good.

However, because of this choice the monarchy that followed led Israel astray and led them into sin, disobedience and idolatry. Eventually, because of the path they chose God's fury was stirred up even more. He was angry when He gave them a king, the kings led Israel astray and God removed the kings in His wrath. We need to take a moment to parse this out because it makes a very important point. Israel asked for a king because 1) they wanted to be like other nations and 2) they did not trust the Lord to deal with the unrighteousness of Samuel's sons. However, what they got was far worse than Samuel's sons, they got Saul and a whole succession of kings who did a horrible job of leading the nation. There were a few godly kings in Judah that God loved but the percentages of good vs evil are overwhelmingly against the monarchy as a whole. Here is the point; God was not in the establishment of the monarchy as it existed (this verse bears that out) and so what would have happened if Israel had came to Samuel addressed their concerns about his sons, sought the Lord for answers and followed His counsel? Here is what we would have expected to see; God would have implemented His own plan that He favored and endorsed and the result would have been that ultimately the nation would not have incurred His wrath.

As we stated, the whole nation of Israel was being destroyed because of idolatry, Hosea reflects Gods wrath on the nation and it all began at this point where they forced the issue of a king because they did not want to trust God to guide them. The chain of events runs like this: Israel provoked God by asking for a king, He gave one in His anger. That led to the kingdom eventually dividing under one of those kings, Rehaboam. After the nation divided one of generals of Rehaboam became king and decided to create His own places of worship, Jeraboam I. God was provoked to wrath by that event (He set up a calf in Dan and Bethel for worship. Remember, the book is all about this event and what followed; Israels adultery with other gods) and now God is destroying the monarchy in His wrath and the nation is being judged. The chain of events traces back to the request for a king against Gods will! We must, regardless of how things look on the surface, find out what He wants and hold fast to it, that is where the blessing and approval of God is. For those who force their own will and their own way, He may give them what they want in His anger but the path will not have His blessing and in the end will bring woe.