The last and greatest of the judges was Samuel and he was a link between this period and the rule of the kings

which followed. `And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground' (1

Sam. 3:19). It was not till the end of his life that a crisis regarding rule arose:

`... all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him,

Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations'

(1 Sam. 8:4,5).

This was the climax of Israel's declension at this time of anarchy, for it was no less than a rejection of theocracy

and the Lord's words made this very clear to Samuel, `they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I

should not reign over them' (1 Sam. 8:7).

As a result there was a change of administration to that of the kings, which, while God allowed it, was an insult

to Him. Peters in his Theocratic Kingdom says:

`No deeper insult could scarcely be offered to God than such a request indicated. This is seen by considering the

Being Who condescended to be their Ruler, the blessing He had promised, and the design He had in view in thus

becoming, in a direct manner, King over the nation' (1:226).

No wonder Samuel denounced the people saying, `Ye have this day rejected your God' (1 Sam. 10:19) and adding,

`your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king' (1 Sam. 12:17).

Why did God allow such a thing to happen? We can only feel that sometimes the only way people will learn

whose minds are made up along wrong lines, is by suffering. The trap that Israel fell into was to be `like the

nations'. In this age the same temptation comes for the believer to be like the world around us, forgetting that those

outside Christ are being controlled by Satan and the powers of darkness (Eph. 2:1-3; 6:12). Far from satisfying the

believer, the world and its tempting offers can only lead away from Christ, satisfaction and peace of mind. It can

never be the other way round.

The Lord therefore permitted Israel to have a human king, though He warned them through Samuel of the

consequences. In 1 Samuel 8:10-18 Samuel describes the character and possible tyranny that such a king would

exact with all the misery that would follow, but in spite of this, the people would not listen. They said again `Nay;

but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations ...' (verse 19,20). Samuel made all this

known to the Lord and the divine reply was `Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king' (verse 22). Thus it

was that Saul, the people's choice, was installed as king of Israel.

Saul commenced well and God did not withhold His Spirit from him `And when they came thither to the hill,

behold, a company of prophets met him (Saul); and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among

them' (1 Sam. 10:10). It was not long, however, before he began to degenerate by his disobedience, till God said to

`How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?' (1 Sam. 16:1),

and a little later on we read:

`But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him' (1 Sam. 16:14).

His declension after this was rapid, and he ends his career by resorting to a spiritist medium, for which God judged

him and took away his life:

`So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD,

which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit (a medium) to inquire of it; and

inquired not of the LORD: therefore He slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse' (1 Chron.

So much for the people's choice of Saul, the son of Kish. God now intervenes with His choice, David the son of