SAMUEL IS MADE JUDGE OVER THE PEOPLE. HIS SONS DO WICKEDLY. THE PEOPLE COMPLAIN AND ASK FOR A KING. SAUL IS CHOSEN KING OVER ISRAEL. HE SAVES JABESH-GILEAD FROM THE AMMONITES. SAMUEL TELLS THE PEOPLE OF THEIR WICKEDNESS IN ASKING FOR A KING.
AFTER Eli was dead, the Lord made Samuel judge over the people. He lived in the city of Ramah, where his father, Elkanah, and his mother, Hannah, had lived. We have read that after the tabernacle was finished, and the ark was put into it, every man among the children of Israel was commanded to bring his sacrifice there, that the priests might offer it up for him on the altar of burnt offering. But at the time we are now reading about, the ark was not in the tabernacle; for the people had never brought it back to Shiloh, as they ought to have done, and we are not told that the priests stayed there any longer to offer up sacrifices. Then Samuel built an altar at Ramah, where he lived, and offered up sacrifices himself.
And the children of Israel sinned again, for they worshipped the idols Baal and Ashtaroth. Then the Philistines made war upon them. And Samuel spoke to them, saying, If you will put away your idols and serve the Lord, he will save you from the Philistines. And the people obeyed Samuel; and he said to them, Come all of you to the city of Mizpeh, and I will pray for you. Then they came to Mizpeh, and there they confessed their wickedness, and said, We have sinned against the Lord.
When the Philistines heard that the people were at Mizpeh, they went up to fight against them. And the men of Israel were afraid; they said to Samuel, Cease not to pray to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us. And Samuel took a young lamb and offered it up as a burnt offering; and he prayed to the Lord for the people, and the Lord heard him. While Samuel was offering up the lamb, the Philistines came near to battle. But the Lord sent a great storm of thunder and lightning upon them, that made them flee away in fear. Then the men of Israel came out of Mizpeh and chased them, killing many of them. So the Lord gave the men of Israel the victory. And Samuel set up a stone at the place where the Lord helped them, and called it Ebenezer, which means, The stone of help.
When he was grown old, Samuel made his two sons judges, that they might help him in ruling over the land. But they did not rule justly, as their father had done. For if two of the people disputed about anything, and came to them to decide which was right and which was wrong, they would say that the one was right who paid them for saying so. This was taking a bribe; and they took bribes from the people, allowing any one to do wrong who would pay them money for it.
And ail the elders of Israel came to Samuel, at Ramah, and told him that he was now old, and that his sons did wickedly; and they asked him to choose for them a king, that they might be like the other nations around them. It was right in them to tell Samuel that his sons did wickedly, but it was wrong in them to ask for a king, because the Lord was their king, and Samuel was the judge whom he had set over them. Samuel was displeased when they asked him to choose a king, and he went to the Lord and prayed to him, that the Lord might tell him what he should do. Then the Lord said it was not Samuel whom the children of Israel wanted to put away, but it was the Lord, himself, whom they wanted to put away from ruling over them.
Yet the Lord commanded Samuel to tell them what their king would do to them, and how cruelly he would treat them, if they should have a king like the other nations. And Samuel did so. He told the men of Israel that the king would take their sons to be drivers of his chariots, and workmen in his fields, and their daughters to be cooks and bakers in his kitchen. He would take the best of their lands and of their vineyards, and give them to whomever he pleased. Their cattle and their sheep he would take away also; and they would cry out, Samuel said, in that day for the trouble their king had brought upon them, but the Lord would not hear them. Yet the people said, We will have a king like all the other nations, that he may rule over us, and go out with us to fight our battles. Then the Lord commanded Samuel to do as they asked, and choose them a king.
Now there was a man of the children of Israel named Kish, who had a son called Saul. The Bible tells us that Saul was a goodly young man; that is, he was well formed and handsome to look at: he was taller also, than any of the rest of the people. And the asses that belonged to Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul, Take one of the servants with thee, and arise, go look for the asses. Then Saul took a servant and went to look for them; but after he had gone a long way and could not find them, Saul said to the servant, Come, let us go back, lest my father stop caring for the asses and be troubled about us.
But by this time they had come near to a city of that land. And the servant told Saul there was in the city, a prophet whose words always came true. The servant meant Samuel. And he said, Let us go and ask him; perhaps he can tell us which way we shall look for the asses. Saul answered, Thy word is good: come, let us go. Now there was to be a peace offering that day in the city, and the people were to have a feast upon the part which would not be burned on the altar. As Saul and his servant went up the hill to the city, they met young maidens going out to draw water, and they asked them if the prophet were there. The maidens answered, Yes; he came to-day, for there is to be a feast of the people. As soon as you come into the city you shall find him. And when they had come into the city, Samuel met them.
Now the Lord had told Samuel he would send to him that day, the man who should be king over Israel. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, This is the man I spoke to thee of. But Saul did not know Samuel, and he went to him and said, Tell me, I pray thee, where the prophet's house is. Samuel answered, I am the prophet. Then he told Saul to bring his servant and come to the feast, and stay there that day; on the morrow, Samuel said, Saul should go on his journey. And as for the asses that had been lost, he need think of them no more, for his father had found them.
Then Samuel took Saul and his servant, and brought them into the parlor, and made them sit in the best place, among those who were invited to the feast. And Samuel told the cook to bring the food which he had bidden him save; and the cook brought it and set it before Saul, and Samuel told Saul to eat of it, because it had been saved for him. So Saul stayed with Samuel that day.
The next morning, very early, they rose up, and Samuel took Saul on to the roof of the house, where they could be alone, and there he talked with him; afterward he went with him toward the gate of the city. And as they were walking together, he said to Saul, Bid thy servant go on before us, but stand thou still, that I may show thee what the Lord has commanded me to do. When the servant had gone on before, Samuel took a bottle of oil and poured it upon Saul's head, and anointed him. We have read that Moses anointed Aaron when he was made high priest; so they used to do to the one who was made king. And now Samuel anointed Saul that he might be king over the children of Israel, because the Lord had commanded him to do it. But no one knew of it except Saul and Samuel, for the Lord did not mean to let the people know of it, until he should choose Saul again, before them all, for their king.
After these things, Samuel spoke to the people, and told them that the Lord said he had brought them up out of Egypt, and set them free from their enemies, yet they would not have him to rule over them, but asked for a king. Then Samuel commanded them to come to the city of Mizpeh, that they might have a king set over them. And they came to Mizpeh, and there the Lord chose, from among them all, Saul to be king over Israel. But when the people looked for him they could not find him. Therefore they asked the Lord where he was, and whether he would come to be their king. The Lord answered, He hath hidden himself among the stuff.
And the people ran and brought him out, and as he stood among them, he was higher than any of them, from his shoulders and upward. Samuel said to them, See the man whom the Lord hath chosen; there is none like him among all the people. And they all shouted and said, God save the king. Then Samuel told them about the kingdom, and how Saul should rule over them, and he wrote it down in a book. Afterward he sent them away, every man to his own home. Saul also went to his home in the city of Gibeah.
After this the Ammonites came up to fight against the city of Jabesh-gilead. And the men of Israel who lived there, were afraid, and promised that if the Ammonites would treat them kindly, they would be their servants. But the Ammonites would not; they said they would take every man and put out his right eye, and afterward would boast of having done it to all the rest of the people. When the men of Jabesh-gilead heard this, they asked the Ammonites to give them seven days, that they might send messengers to their brethren in other parts of the land. If, by that time, no one should come to help them, they promised to go out of the city and let the Ammonites do to them as they pleased.
Then they sent messengers to Gibeah, where Saul lived, and the messengers told the people what the Ammonites said; and the people wept when they heard it. While they were weeping, Saul came in with a herd of cattle from the field; and he asked, saying, What aileth the people, that they weep? And they repeated to him the words that the messengers had spoken. Then Saul took two oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent the pieces through all the land of Israel, saying to the people, Whoever does not come to fight against the Ammonites, so shall it be done to his oxen. When the people heard these words, there came to Saul more than three hundred thousand men. Early the next morning he led them out against the Ammonites, and they fought with them and slew them, until the middle of the day. Those that were not slain, fled and were scattered, so that no two of them were left together; and the children of Israel rejoiced over their victory.
After these things, Samuel spoke to the people and said, I have made you a king as you asked me, and your king is before you. And now I am old and gray-headed. I have been with you from my childhood to this day, and you know of all that I have done. Tell me then, whether, since I have been judge over you, I have ever taken away any man's ox, or his ass, or anything that belonged to another? or whether I have been unjust, or cruel, to any man, or taken a bribe, and allowed the person who gave it to do wrong? For if I have done any of these things, I will now give back what does not belong to me. The people answered, Thou hast never been unjust to us, nor taken a bribe, or what did not belong to thee.
Then Samuel told them they had done wickedly in asking for a king, because the Lord was their king, and they should have wanted no other. And he said to the people, Stand still, and see what the Lord will do before your eyes. Is not this the time of wheat harvest, when we do not have rain? But I will call to the Lord, and he shall send a great storm of thunder and rain, to make you feel how much you have offended him. So Samuel called unto the Lord, and he sent thunder and rain that day, until all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And they begged Samuel to pray for them, that they might not be put to death.
Then Samuel spoke kindly to them, and told them not to fear. They had sinned, he said, yet if they would obey the Lord, the Lord would forgive them and take care of them, because he had chosen them for his people. But if, instead of obeying him, they still should do wickedly, they would be destroyed, both they and their king.