Finding Ourselves Centuries Ago   

       Part 1

     The U.S. won independence in 1783. Our human inclinations go back...way back! 

     Philistia was a culture from about 12000 BC to 6000 BC. Its territory ranged from present Gaza part way up the Mediterranean coast. Its people somehow immigrated from the Aegean Sea region, next door to ancient Greece, which shared its customs and beliefs. 

     Around the middle of that period, the people of God, Israelites, were without human government. Samuel, whose mother Hanna gave him over to full time service to the Lord, became judge. He circled through various communities, judging as needed, always returning home to Ramah. 

     The Lord himself was "King" over Israel. 

     Philistines were like other nations, prone to war. They gave Israelites trouble, and as we wrote before, even captured the sacred Ark of the Covenant. Samson was the "giant" in their army, until young David killed him with a slingshot.  

     In 1 Samuel chapter 8, Samuel was aging. The elders told him, "You are old. Appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."  

     This displeased Samuel, so he prayed. The Lord told him: ...it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day...

Next: What the Lord told Samuel