Valley of Decision

The time period in the Book of Judges was a spiritual rollercoaster in which Lucifer was clearly winning. Divine intervention was needed and the Godhead chose a barren woman to give birth to a prophet.

The man chosen to train Samuel was a moral failure. But God doesn’t care about circumstances and Samuel became a judge of Israel who loved the Lord and was faithful to call the people to repentance. Unfortunately, he neglected his son’s just like Eli had done and the people of Israel demanded a king when Samuel put them in charge.

A monarchy was not better than a theocracy but the Hebrews wouldn’t listen to reason. Their hearts were set on being like other nations with a king that would make demands, tax the people, raise an army, and need servants. This referendum was not a rejection of Samuel, but of the government set up by Jesus, and the Israelite’s decision would enable future evil kings to lead the nation into sin.