Samuel’s disappointing son

1 Samuel 8:1-5 (New International Version)

1When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.2The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

4So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”

The seer who failed to see his own son’ activities

     The people of Israel wanted to have a king like any other nations around. There were several reasons for doing so. One of the reasons being that the sons of Samuel were deeply corrupt and perverted the justice. Ultimately, the people of Israel rejected God to be their king. Despite several warnings by the prophet Samuel, they insisted on to have their own king. Later, in the history of Israel, we see rampant corruptions and terrible exploitation were done their own kings. Besides, they were misleading the people of Israel to Apostasy. One might be a great prophet like Samuel to the outside world. But when one fails to teach the fear of God to his children, generations to come would suffer the consequences. Will you be careful to teach the children, the fear of God and instil faith in them?