YHWH as King and reflections on I Samuel 8

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Interest in the topic of YHWH’s role as King began during my second year of Th.M. studies. The biblical text suggests that YHWH desired the Israelites to view Him as their King. Consequently, He dealt with them in a fashion much as a king would deal with his subjects. The kingship of YHWH seemed to alleviate some tension that I have always felt when reading about God’s reaction to the request by Israel for a king (I Samuel 8:6-9). God responded to Samuel’s concern by reminding him that, “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king” (I Sam. 8:7). It was after this time that the nation of Israel became theocracy. If Israel rejected YHWH as king, as is claimed in I Samuel 8:7, then it would appear that they must have recognized YHWH as fulfilling the role of a king. Patrick Miller, in his book The Divine Warrior in Early Israel, asserts, “It has long been thought that the kingship of Yahweh originated out of the Jerusalem cultus, but that view is no longer tenable and in the light of extra-biblical material should have been suspect from the beginning. It is precisely in the early poetry of Israel that we see the kingship of Yahweh asserted (for example, Ex. 15:18; Deut. 33:5; Ps. 68:25; Num. 23:21; Ps. 29:10; Ps. 24:9). Yahweh’s sovereignty is established by his victories over the enemies of Israel. He who defeats the foe claims dominion. The conception of the kingship of God is therefore from the beginning fully wrapped up in the early representations of the divine warrior. It is not possible to talk of God as king without talking of God as warrior.”
Israel viewed YHWH as the source of leadership and power prior to Saul. Israel displayed recognition of this leadership and power through the Exodus from Egypt (Ex. 4:29-31; 12:21-28), crossing the sea of reeds with the Egyptian army in pursuit (Ex. 14:10-30), confirmation of the Sinai covenant (Ex. Ex. 19:8, 24:3-8), waiting at the doors of their tents for God’s instruction (Ex. 33:10-11), reaffirmation of the covenant (Ex. 34:32), construction of the tabernacle (Ex. 35-40), participation in the census of the fighting men (Num. 1), participation in cult activities (Lev.). However, little attention is given to how God displayed His leadership and power. While YHWH revealed himself as the supreme deity that defeated the gods of Egypt, it seems that He used the metaphor of kingship to display His leadership and power. One might ask, how early in pre-monarchial Israel did YHWH reveal himself as king? One condition of YHWH’s kingship in pre-monarchal Israel is the war camp motif as is seen in the book of Numbers. In Numbers YHWH begins to shape Israel into a war camp in which he occupies the position of the King. The presence of the war camp throughout Numbers is evidenced by the analogous elements utilized in neighboring Egypt. One may observe war camp imagery in the taking of the census (1:3), the camp arrangement (2:3-31), the relative position of YHWH’s space to army (2:2), banners (2:2), trumpet calls (10:1-10).
The second indication of YHWH’s role as king over Israel is evident in how he delegates responsibility and commands worship. A third indication of kingship is also evident in how YHWH puts down challenges to His authority in Numbers 16-18.

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