1 Samuel 8:1-18 (NIV): cut to the chase
When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do:
"He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plough his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
"He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
"He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
"When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
1 Samuel 10:17-19:
Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah and said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.'But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.'
1 Samuel 12:17-20:
Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realise what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king." Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel. The people all said to Samuel, "Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.""Do not be afraid," Samuel replied. "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart."
My belief is that the above passages teach us that our society has a choice: accept God as Lord and King, or demand a human substitute: government. To the extent that we accept a human power over us, we have rejected God and have sinned. We are only saved from the full consequence of this sin (death) by the forgiveness of God. Today this forgiveness is freely available through the blood of Christ, but at the time of Saul only through the prayers of Samuel, the remorse of the people and their pledge to return to God.
Nonetheless, I accept that Saul was appointed as king by God, and that the rulers we have over us are there only by God's permission. As such, the Israelites were bound to obey their king, and we must obey our government. This is the remaining consequence of our sin in accepting human government, as described in the Lord's words through Samuel (1 Samuel 8:11-18). This passage ends with the sad words: "When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day." You see, our acceptance of rulers over us has separated us from the full benevolence of God.
In the Kingdom of God, which will come, the only authority, government or power over us will be God. Then we will recognise in full that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The verses following from this are instructive in this matter. We are to be sons and daughters of God. How can full heirs of God's kingdom, God's own children, remain subject to the authority of earthly rulers?
Some Christian anarchists identify themselves strongly with "the meek" of the beatitudes, because anarchists seek no earthly positions of power, only equality for all people. Therefore, they are not denying scripture or God's revealed plan in hoping and expecting that nations of the world may become anarchistic, inherited by people who have no wish to rule or impose power over others.
But it would not be meekness to remove governments by violence. The use of aggressive force is not consistent with anarchism, because this force involves taking unequal power over others. The central idea of anarchism is to not have power over other people. Most anarchists believe that violent revolution can only lead to more oppressive forms of society. I believe that violent insurrection or revolution is possible even in Australia if our society becomes too inequitable and oppressive. It is a frightening thought. Anarchists and others who work to reduce inequality and oppression are working against violent revolution, not towards it.
I can think of three methods by which a society might become egalitarian and non-hierarchical.
One is by people separating themselves from hierarchical societies and establishing a new voluntary, non-hierarchical society. This method has been used often, with varying degrees of success. It is a last resort, because such a society is continually under pressure from the original society to conform, and because it would exclude many people who would remain oppressed.
Another method is the removal of an oppressive regime by non-violent protest and passive resistance. The passive resistance of Ghandi was inspired by the anarchist theories of Thoreau and Tolstoy, and by the teachings of Christ. This method was successful in freeing the giant nation of India from British rule, though at great cost. It is true that India is not an egalitarian society today, but then Ghandi and his followers, though using anarchist methods, were not anarchists. Equally, they used Christ's teachings without being Christians. It was the goal that failed, not the method.
The third method is that a society might become egalitarian and non-hierarchical by consensus. This could happen suddenly, or gradually over many years. It would require a great movement of the Holy Spirit, and a great response of humility in obedience to Christ's words that "if any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all" (Mark 9:35) and "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10 43-45).
