Samuel Defends Himself

The kingdom of God is based upon the principle of free choice.

The fact that God knows the end from the beginning does not in any way limit man’s making his own decisions. . . . When God made known to the people before they entered Palestine that the time would come when they would ask for a king (Deut. 17:14), He was not expressing His will in the matter, but only unfolding to them the course events would take.” Being replaced by a king, Samuel would no longer be called upon to judge the people as he had since his calling as a child. He would still be God’s spokesperson and, in this way, direct the people, but much of his authority would now pass to a monarch. But Samuel would never abandon the people he served. He had a sacred mission to safeguard the nation’s spirituality.

“It was a time of great crisis for Samuel, and he felt that to a large extent the convincing quality of the message he was about to present depended upon his own integrity of character. Except for this his counsel would have little weight.” The people were convinced that all he had done throughout his life of ministry was for the good of the nation.

“Samuel was not seeking merely to justify his own course. He had previously set forth the principles that should govern both the king and the people, and he desired to add to his words the weight of his own example. From childhood he had been connected with the work of God, and during his long life one object had been ever before him—the glory of God and the highest good of Israel.” “The honor accorded him who is concluding his work is of far more worth than the applause and congratulations which those receive who are just entering upon their duties, and who have yet to be tested.”