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The United Kingdom Period Of Israel

Decent Essays

The history of the United Kingdom period in Israel focuses on a few main characters, namely, Saul, David and Solomon. However the story begins with the life of Samuel who was a prophet, priest, and the last judge of Israel. Samuel was unique in that he was set apart for God from birth and had been called by God from a young age. Samuel was the spiritual leader prior to the Kingship of Israel. Samuel listened to God and obeyed Him only. In the early United Kingdom period Samuel is the chosen voice of God who shows God’s will. However, Samuel was aging and the people were restless.
The time of transition from the Judges to the time of the first Kings of a united Israel was chaotic. The transition begins due to the failures of Samuel …show more content…

That is not to say that Saul was evil; many of Saul’s early actions seem God-fearing. Saul appears for the first time in the story as a shy young man but he grows to be strong. However, as time goes on, Saul put other things before God and trusted in his own wisdom and strength instead of God’s words through Samuel. Ming Him Ko describes how the central sin of Saul was the disobedience of God’s commandments. Saul’s heart was not in the right place and Saul was ultimately rejected by God because of his disobedience. Saul was shown to be the disobedient King who ruled under God’s displeasure throughout 1 Samuel.
God shows that even in His displeasure he takes care of His people. God chose to take what was bad and use it for His glory. He judged the people and not the institution of the Kingship. (Bruce Birch). When God rejected the Kingship of Saul God directed Samuel to anoint the King that God had chosen to lead the people, David. David would never have been chosen by the people. He was the youngest son in his family good only for tending the sheep. However, God had greater purposes. Through the demise of Saul and the rise of unlikely David God would show His glory to the people. God revealed that even though the people had rejected Him He would chase after their hearts until He regained them.

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