12 And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the
children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall
reign over us: when the LORD your God was your
akinga.
13 Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.
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12a The LORD your God was your
king A central theme may be developed around and upon this concept,
that even when Moses, Joshua, and the righteous judges did judge in Israel,
The LORD God of Israel was indeed their king, not an earthly king but a
heavenly and righteous king. Even the name of the rightful ancestor to the
Messiah did have as his name that proclamation, Elimelch, God King or God is
king. But three times in the book of Judges did it state of a time when Israel
had not king or when Israel failed to recognize, accept God as their king
and/or when God had but off Israel. These three times are in Judges 17:6; 18:1;
and 21:25, when it is stated that 'In those days there was no king in
Israel'. And with the last statement of it being at the end of today's book
of Judges, where Ruth was once a part of the book of Judges, it does seem but
an appropriate lead into the day and time of Elimelech whose name reminds
Israel that God is their king, though Israel at the time is calling for an
earthly king in the place of their God king, having failed to follow after
God and having kept his commandments. In this line of reasoning, with these
statements at the end of Judges just prior to the book of Ruth, it does seem
that such events covered in those last chapters of Judges were indeed events
of the latter end of the judges over Israel rather than when Israel had more
righteous leadership in their judges and still would recognize and call upon
Israel's God to deliver them rather than to seek another king to lead them,
one of this earth instead of God their king. |
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