THE GREAT DIVORCE

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And he said to the people of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.' But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, 'Set a king over us.' Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands."
1 Samuel 10:18‭-‬19 ESV

¶The Lord Himself offered to be their ruler and their king. The rules He gave them were not just for worship, but for all of life, domestic and legal. The commands were of a whole cloth. His people were His, not just on the Sabbath, but every day. The chaos of the period of the Judges was like a bad marriage. Now God's people want a divorce. Commands would no longer issue from the Lord, but from the king. Saul, the very first king, would even try to take over the priesthood, himself offering the cultic sacrifices. Worship of God involves all of life. Work, child rearing: it is all part of worship, to be done "coram deo": before the face of God.

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