Be careful what you pray for I Samuel 8

The children of Israel wanted a King instead of judges. Both the
priest Eli and Samuel had sons who were corrupt and immoral.
Samuel was old and had appointed his sons as judges. This is
when the people asked Samuel for a king. The request bothered
Samuel but God told him to honor their request. They were not
rejecting him but God himself.

God had spoke to Samuel to warn them that their request would
have consequences. Then Samuel spoke this warning to the
Israelites. He said that the King would take their sons and
daughters for servants, their sons would be taken to serve
in war, at the King request he could take someone's
property, & he would take a tenth of their seed and flocks.
After hearing this the Israelites still wanted a king.

So then Samuel prayed their request to God.

What was wrong with their request:
1. They wanted a king to lead them instead of God.
God wants to be first in our lives.
2. They wanted to be like the other nations
God made his people different. They were to be separated
from the world, a peculiar people.

Reproducing after our own kind:

Aaron whose brother was Moses had four sons. One of the was Eleazar, Eli. Eli had two sons. Samuel was dedicated to the Lord's service after he was weaned, Eli was left to care for him in the temple. Samuel had two sons also.

In Ex 32:1-6 & 25 shows Aaron as being weak in character. He gave
into the desires of the children of Isreal, created the Golden Calf for
them to worship. He not only gave in but fully supported their plan.
He knew that he was in the wrong.

Eli did not discipline his sons. His sons handled the sacrifices and were sleeping with other women, I Sam 2:22. Eli knew that he
should have disciplined his sons but he didn't.

Samuel had two sons also who lived a lose life, I Sam 8: 2-5. He did
not discipline them either.

The Bible talks about that the sins of the fathers is passed to the
3rd and 4th generations. How does this happen. One way is that
when growing up, our parents become the become the standard
for our life. We do not know any better.

Application:
1, How to break pattern. Use God's Word as our standard now.
2, Have high standards for our own lives so that our children will
have high standards.