The Story of Samuel
by Chris Schranck
Samuel was called by God as a young man. At the time,
he was a minister to the Lord under Eli. The Lord
called him while he was sleeping in the temple and
Samuel replied, "Here I am.�"Samuel ran to Eli
thinking that he had called him, but Eli said, �I did
not call you,� and Samuel went back to sleep. The Lord
called him again, but Samuel again thought that Eli
was calling him. Eli sent him back to bed. The Lord
called Samuel a third time, and he again went to Eli.
Eli then understood that the Lord was calling Samuel.
He told Samuel to reply, "Speak, Lord, for your
servant is listening." The Lord called Samuel again
and he answered just as Eli had told him. The Lord
told him that a punishment was coming against the
house of Eli because of Eli�s blaspheming sons. Samuel
told Eli what the Lord had foretold, but Eli said, "He
is the Lord. He will do what he judges best.�"Samuel
grew up and God stayed with him. He became a well
known prophet across all of Israel.
The Israelites were warring with the Philistines.
After a large defeat, the elders of Israel brought the
ark of the Covenant to the battlefield. They had
another battle and the Philistines were victorious
again. Eli�s sons were killed and the ark was taken.
Upon hearing the news, Eli fell out of his chair,
hitting his head, and died. The ark brought turmoil to
the Philistines and they wanted to return it. The
Israelites met the Philistines in battle again. Samuel
made holocaust to God and he looked with favor upon
the Israelites. Israel was freed and peace reigned.
The people made a request for a king, but this
displeased Samuel. They were rejecting God as their
king. The Lord told Samuel to grant their request, but
warn them at the same time. They ignored his warning.
Their was a man named Saul who lost his asses. He
took a servant and went looking for them. They came to
a city and met Samuel. God had told Samuel that he
would be sent a Benjamite who was to be annointed
King. Samuel told Saul the news and blessed him with
oil. Samuel warned the people one last time that
naming a king was rejecting God, but it was to no
avail. Saul was named king a Israel.
The Philistines were again threatening Israel. Samuel
told Saul to wait for him before making a sacrifice to
the Lord, but Saul became impatient when Samuel didn�t
arrive and made the sacrifice by himself. Samuel
showed up and was very angry. He told Saul that his
�kingdom would not endure.� The Philistines were
defeated thanks to Saul�s son Jonathan.
Samuel came to Saul and told him to attack Amalek and
kill everyting and everyone(because they were under
the ban). Saul and the Israelites were victorious in
battle, but Saul did�t follow Samuel�s orders. He kept
Agag, king of Amalek alive, along with the cattle and
sheep. God told Samuel that he regretted making Saul
king. Samuel was mad at Saul and told him that since
"you have rejected the command of the Lord, he, too,
has rejected you as ruler."Saul asked forgiveness.
Samuel had Agag brought before him and Samuel slayed
him.
Samuel went to Bethlehem in search of a new king of
Israel. He went to a man named Jesse and had his sons
brought before him. Samuel picked the youngest, David,
a shepherd as the king of Israel. The spirit of the
Lord had left Saul and evil spirits tormented him. His
servants got a person to play the harp for him. That
person was David. Saul became very fond of David and
made him his armor bearer. The Philistines had a
champion named Goliath. He made a challenge to the
Israelites: A one-on-one fight. The loser�s nation had
to serve the others. Nobody wanted to fight Goliath.
David stepped forward and wanted to fight Goliath.
David used a sling and didn�t wear armor,but drilled a
stone into Goliath�s forehead. David ran over and cut
off his head with his own sword.
Saul was very happy, but became jealous when David got
all the glory and praise. Saul became so jealous that
he made plans for David�s death. David heard of these
plans and fled to Samuel in Ramah. Saul chased David,
but was always a step behind. David even spared Saul�s
life a couple of times. Samuel died and was buried in
his home in Ramah.
Saul talked to Samuel using the Witch of Endor�s
powers, but Samuel only gave him bad news. He said
that Saul and his son�s would die at the hands of the
Philistines. The prophecy eventually came to pass.
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