The Book Of Hosea. Day 38, Rejecting The True King

The Lord had always intended for Israel to recognize Him as king. But He predicted in Deuteronomy 17:14 that after they had settled in the promised land and were prospering, they would desire a human king like the other nations had. Rather than being very different from other nations, they would want to become more like them, and in 1 Samuel 8 the Lord's prediction came true when the elders of Israel went to Samuel the prophet and demanded that a king be appointed over them. Samuel was very distressed and cried out to the Lord about this but the Lord said to do as they asked, although it was a rejection of Himself as king.

Even with a human king over them, the people were meant to recognize God as their Lord and as the supreme authority above all others. But they did not; indeed, it was the kings of the northern kingdom who led them terribly astray. So now the Lord says, "Where is your king, that he may save you? Where are your rulers in all your towns, of whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes'? So in My anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away." (Hosea 13:10-11)

Most scholars believe that the Lord is speaking of King Saul, Israel's first king, when He says He gave and took away a king. When the Lord predicted that someday the people would demand a king, He never said He wouldn't grant their wish, but He did say that the king must be "a king the Lord your God chooses". (Deuteronomy 17:15a) Instead the people chose a king based on outward appearances: Saul was the tallest, handsomest man in the entire nation. He looked like what they thought a king ought to look like. He wasn't as tall and formidable as some of the kings and soldiers of other nations (several of them were of gigantic stature) but he would certainly look impressive riding out ahead of his army. And He did do some good things militarily for Israel; as the Lord said, he would "deliver them from the hand of the Philistines". (1 Samuel 8:6b) Saul had a great deal of heart for his nation but he didn't have much of a heart for the Lord. He sinned against Him time and time again, resulting in the Lord rejecting him as king. A number of years before the Lord allowed Saul to fall in battle, He ordered Samuel to anoint David as the next king. So this is why the Lord says of Saul, "In My wrath I took him away." 

The sins of the northern kingdom have reached a tipping point. Like a pregnant woman whose time has come to give birth, the sins of the nation have come full term. "The guilt of Ephraim is stored up, his sins are kept on record. Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him, but he is a child without wisdom; when the time arrives, he doesn't have the sense to come out of the womb." (Hosea 13:12-13) This is a double metaphor in that Ephraim (Israel) is the woman in labor but is also an infant that will not emerge. The Lord has said before that the nation has brought forth nothing but wind; in other words, has produced nothing of benefit. So here we see the nation laboring but laboring in vain, for idolatry can produce nothing of value. No blessed event is occurring here, as one would expect at the end of labor. In rejecting the Lord as king of their hearts, the people have rejected the One who gives any meaning to life.