Although surrounded by nations that had been governed by kings for many years—Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and the nations of Canaan—kingship and a centralized form of government did not appear in Israel until about 1000 B.C. Before that time, the Jewish Scriptures say that “Israel wasn’t ruled by a king, and everyone did what they thought was right” (Judg 21:25). During this period the various tribes of Israel enjoyed a more or less independent existence. When attacked by a mutual enemy, however, they would join forces under the direction of special leaders chosen by God and called “judges.” As these attacks became more frequent many people in Israel felt the need for a more permanent form of leadership. Finally, the people said, “we want a king to be our leader, just like all the other nations” (1 Sam 8:5).
This demand caused serious problems for Israel. The people clearly needed a strong military leader to deal with the political situation. But when Israel said they were “just like all the other nations” they denied their special relationship with God. From the time of Moses, the people of Israel saw themselves as God’s chosen people, with God rather than a human being as their king. Samuel, a prophet and the last judge of Israel, warned the people about the dangers of having a human king (1 Sam 8:11-18). In the end, however, he agreed to take the matter to the Lord who allowed the Israelites to have a king. But this king would have to be chosen by God and would be expected to make God’s invisible rule over the people visible. In this way, the people had their “king,” but God would continue to rule over them.
The Jewish Scriptures reflect both positive and negative evaluations of how well kingship worked for Israel. For example, the first king, Saul, forgot his role as God’s appointed leader soon after he was crowned king. Saul’s kingship ended very sadly and tragically (1 Sam 15). On the other hand, David is clearly the best example of a faithful king. God rewarded David for his obedience by promising that someone from David’s family would always rule Israel (2 Sam 7). Some kings after David refused to obey God’s Law and did not rule according to God’s instructions. Very often these kings, like Ahab and Manasseh, were killed and quickly forgotten. Others, like Hezekiah and Josiah, did their best to serve God and were rewarded for their faithfulness with many years as king.
Israel’s four hundred year experiment with kingship began to come to an end in 721 B.C. when the northern kingdom (Israel) was destroyed by Assyria. When the Babylonians defeated the southern kingdom (Judah) and took King Zedekiah and its leading citizens into captivity, kingship in Israel ended for good.