1st Samuel 8 vs 1776 Declaration

 
1 Samuel 8: 1-22
***** We want a king and no God *****		 VS. IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
***** We want God and no king *****

Part 1 of 7
1 Samuel 8: 1-2
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
Part 1, the beginning		 Comments on the 1776 Declaration Section Common Thread Between Samuel and 1776 Declaration
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#1
Innocence

The Start

1 Samuel 8:1-2
1And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.		 Samuel begins a man-made system of inherited leadership. This breaks from God’s original pattern, where He alone appoints judges by His choosing.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.		 The writers know two things, a separation is needed, and God creates all men equal and separate by design. They appeal to His order—not to a system built on inherited rule. A hereditary system of leadership was established in Samuel’s day, and now an inherited system needs to be separated from because of a return to God.
A Question to think about: Could the writers of the Declaration be trying to break free from a system they were born into—a system still shaped by the decision made in Samuel’s day—are they claiming the separate and equal place God originally designed for them?

Part 2 of 7
1 Samuel 8: 3
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
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#2
Self
Awareness

1 Samuel 8:3
3And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.		 The hereditary leadership system established by Samuel does not treat everyone equally and is corrupt.

___We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.		 The writers know that with God, all are equal at birth, and their rights to life come from Him. A corrupt hereditary system of leadership was established in Samuel’s day, but equal rights under God are called on as the true way to real life.
A Question to think about: Could the writers of the Declaration be trying to break free from a system they were born into—a system still shaped by the decision made in Samuel’s day—by rehearsing back to God that they now understand His truth about equality and life under His rule?

Part 3 of 7
1 Samuel 8: 4-6
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
Part 3, starts at second underscore		 Comments on the 1776 Declaration Section Common Thread Between Samuel and 1776 Declaration
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#3
Government

1 Samuel 8:4-6
4Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.		 The people see the hereditary system of choosing judges has turned to corrupt, but they don’t return to God. Instead, they gather themselves and choose to fix the system their own way, by consenting to a king like the nations around them.

___That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,		 The writers declare that government exists to protect what God has given, but not all power is just. Only when the people consent to a form of rule that aligns with God’s truth does that power become truly just. Both see unjust power. In Samuel’s day, the people consent to a king to fix it. The writers, however, consent only to just powers that come from God to make things right.
A Question to think about: Could the writers of the Declaration be trying to break free from a system they were born into—a system still shaped by the decision made in Samuel’s day—by reminding God that man should give consent only to powers that align with God’s justice?

Part 4 of 7
1 Samuel 8: 7-9a
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
Part 4, starts at third underscore		 Comments on the 1776 Declaration Section Common Thread Between Samuel and 1776 Declaration
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#4
Promise

1 Samuel 8:7-9a
7And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9aNow therefore hearken unto their voice:		 God decides to give the people a king because they want a king—and because they are rejecting Him. He then looks back to a long-ago time in Egypt, when He delivered His children out from under a king, but now they want to reverse that deliverance.

___That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.		 After repeatedly calling on God’s ways in the first three parts, the writers get straight to the point. They now define what should happen when living under a government they inherited and that was established long ago. It’s hard to break away from someone else’s choice made long ago—especially when it has become the normal way of life. In Samuel’s day, the people rejected God and demanded a king—so they received what they asked for. In 1776, the writers call on God and define what should happens when living under a “no-God” government. They acknowledge the weight of a long-established system—and now declare it is time to throw it off.
A Question to think about: Could the writers of the Declaration be trying to break free from a system they were born into—a system still shaped by the decision made in Samuel’s day—by walking with the people of Samuel’s day through the first three categorical truths, but saying:

“We inherited this walk at birth. But God, there is a difference—we walked with them by inheritance only. We are different, but equal.

We have been facing You the whole time, while they had their backs to You. We inherited this position in life, but we can choose the direction we face.

God, we never took our eyes off You. We inherited their consequences but not their rebellion. We don’t belong out here. Look into our eyes—we see You.

We break free from their walk now. We are returning to You.””

…is this their cry?

Part 5 of 7
1 Samuel 8: 9b-11a
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
Part 5a, starts at fourth underscore. 		Comments on the 1776 Declaration Section Common Thread Between Samuel and 1776 Declaration
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#5
Law

1 Samuel 8:9b-11a
9bhowbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. 10And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11aAnd he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: 		Samuel is told to solemnly warn the people—or simply put, to submit these facts to them: tell them what life will be like under a king.

______Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.		 The writers say it is time to alter the corrupt system. They now submit to the world the facts of what life under a king has truly been like. In both, a king is identified as harmful, and a list of real-life problems is being prepared to show the consequences of a king.
1 Samuel 8: 11b-17
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
Part 5b, starts at first “He has…” underscore contains 27 total.		 Comments on the 1776 Declaration Section Common Thread Between Samuel and 1776 Declaration
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#5
Law
(con’t)

1 Samuel 8:11b-17
11b He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
13And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
14And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
15And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
16And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
17He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.		 God gives them a list of what a king will do — ‘He will… He will… He will…

___ He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
___He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
___He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
___He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
___He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
___He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
___He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
___He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
___He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
___He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
___He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
___He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
___He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
___For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
___For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
___For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
___For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
___For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
___For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
___For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
___For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
___For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
___He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
___He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
___He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
___He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
___He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.		 The writers submit a list of what the king has done — ‘He has… He has… He has… “He will” has becomes “He has.” The king did exactly what God warned would happen. The people are living under the consequences of that long-ago choice
1 Samuel 8: 18
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
Part 5c, starts after the last “He has…”.		 Comments on the 1776 Declaration Section Common Thread Between Samuel and 1776 Declaration
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#5
Law
(con’t)

1 Samuel 8:18
18And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 		God tells them they will cry out when they have a king, but their voice will fall on deaf ears.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.		 The writers say they humbly cried out to the king, but he would not listen—and their suffering only increased. In fact, no one is listening. Your voice will fall on deaf ears when you cry out under a king.
A Question to think about: Could the writers of the Declaration be trying to break free from a system they were born into—a system still shaped by the decision made in Samuel’s day—by offering up proof that everything God warned has now come to pass? Even with God’s warning, “the LORD will not hear you in that day,” could this be a new day? Will God now hear them—because they didn’t make the wrong choice long ago, but they are living under its weight?

Part 6 of 7
1 Samuel 8: 19-21
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
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#6
Grace -in-

Realm
change

1 Samuel 8:19-21
19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.		 The people in Samuel’s day refuse God’s warning. Still demanding a king, they believe he will bring greatness and judge well on their behalf—so they press forward with their demand for a king.

___We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.		 The writers appeal to God, the Supreme Judge of the world. They want God to look at their honest intentions. Their intentions are to let God be their judge. Because they have appealed to God and reversed the long-ago established Government, they “are” a free people now. They are making God their judge now, therefore, they are now separate from the King. They are subject to God, and not a King. Their King is now God Himself. A complete reversal takes place—it began with rejecting God and asking for a king, and ends with appealing to God and rejecting the king/British Crown.
A Question Before the Supreme Judge and Court:
The Petitioners, born into the consequences of a decision made long ago in 1 Samuel 8, now appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world.
They do not deny the system they were born into—but they do not claim its rebellion as their own.
They have declared dependence on God.
They have appealed not to kings, but to Heaven.
They have reversed the very act that led to the original judgment.

As evidence, they have cast off the most powerful government on earth.

Now, the Court must decide:

Is this appeal sufficient for a realm change—back into God’s hand? Has enough been submitted to move from the rule of man back to the rule of God?

Part 7 of 7
1 Samuel 8: 22
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1 Samuel 8 section		 The “Declaration”
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#7
God’s Rule

1 Samuel 8:22
22And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.		 The people will get the king they demanded—and with that decision, the fate of countless generations is sealed. The men return to their cities, unaware that the judgment has already begun.

___And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

 After presenting their case through parts 1 to 6, the writers make their final Declaration: They bet their lives on the decision to return to God’s order. God’s providence is their only hope. The writers support this Declaration, they pledge their lives, their fortunes (properties back at home), and their Honor. They now rely on God and Divine Providence. They have now reversed the curse of man casting off God and demanding a King long ago. In Samuel’s day, the people walk away with a king—rejecting God and returning home. In 1776, the writers stand before God alone. No mention of a king. No appeal to man. Only a solemn pledge of their lives and homes—and a return to God’s rule.
The Case is Submitted:

Six questions were raised.

The Petitioners have:
• Presented their case, not as rebels, but as sons returning to their Father.
• Acknowledged the inherited curse, but denied participation in the rebellion.
• Appealed directly to the Supreme Judge.
• Rejected man’s rule (the king).
• Declared their dependence on God alone.
• Submitted their plea with full evidence and solemn intent.

Now, the Court must decide: