Strongman desires shown in Bible

1 Samuel 8:4-9
4 Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. 5 “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” 6 Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. 7 “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. 9 Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.”

The “No Kings” rally held last Saturday in Brookings and across the nation, serves as a modern cultural mirror to a pivotal shift in the Hebrew Bible.

While protesters gathered to vent frustrations against institutional overreach, many would have certainly been reflecting upon the past whimsical desires which led us to this cultural moment. The desire for a singular ruler who would take charge and make everything better, finds its ancient blueprint in 1 Samuel 8:4-9.

In the biblical narrative, the elders of Israel approached the prophet Samuel at Ramah with a blunt demand: “Look, you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.”

At first glance, this was a practical request for stability. Samuel’s sons were corrupt, and the surrounding nations—the Philistines and Moabites—possessed centralized military hierarchies that made Israel’s decentralized system of Judges look weak. The people wanted a visible, tangible protector who could offer immediate security. However, God’s response reveals the true nature of this request: “They are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.” This was not a move toward better governance; it was a move away from divine trust.

In our contemporary American context, the “No Kings” rally highlights an exhaustion with the messiness of the democratic processes, which has led us to where we are today.

When citizens feel that traditional institutions have failed them, there is a predictable psychological shift toward the “Strongman.”

The allure of a singular, powerful leader who speaks of strength at every turn, mirrors the elders of Israel looking at their neighbors and envying their centralized might. We see this today in the tolerance of executive overreach, provided it comes from “our side.”

This has been the modern version of Israel’s cry: we want a leader to fight our battles for us, even if it means bypassing the checks and balances designed to prevent tyranny.

Samuel warned the people that a human king would inevitably become a “taker.” In the NLT translation, the word “take” appears repeatedly: “the king will take your sons for his army, your daughters for his service, and the best of your harvests for his loyalists.” An American “king”—an executive operating without the constraints of law or accountability, abuses a population in these exact ways.

This “taking” manifests as the erosion of truth, where loyalty is demanded over facts, and the consolidation of resources, where the rich ruling class is rewarded at the expense of the common good. Ultimately, a strongman takes the very peace of the community, shredding the social fabric to keep followers in a state of sycophantic loyalty.

For the Christian community, the desire for a political savior is a theological crisis. When we pledge our ultimate allegiance to a human “king,” we pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel centers on a King who surrendered power to save the powerless. In contrast, the “strongman” model requires the accumulation of power to crush opposition.

When the Church aligns itself with an autocratic impulse, our focus is diverted from following the “True King.” We begin to see our neighbors as enemies to be defeated rather than people to be loved, effectively silencing the Good News, in favor of political dominance.

The “No Kings” rally is a resulting symptom of an ill nation who has searched for a savior in the wrong places. Just as Israel’s demand for a king led to centuries of strife, our desire for a strongman threatens to erode the freedoms and spiritual integrity we claim to cherish.

As we reflect on 1 Samuel 8, the lesson remains clear: when we demand a king to fight our battles, we usually end up battling the king, or being forced to fight the king’s battles instead. So our communal hope lies in returning to follow the only One whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light; the only truly worthy King.

His name is Jesus.