1 Samuel 8

And I was right (see previous post if you don't know what I'm referring to). Just like Eli before him, Samuel grows old and his sons don't follow in his footsteps.

A side note here, if I may - you'll note that priests in this time had children. That means that even though in Samuel's case he was dedicated to the Lord from childhood, he still married and had a family. I really think the modern Catholic church needs to rethink their policy of celibate priests: there is no basis for it in Scripture, aside from an opinion statement from the apostle Paul, and I really think it has done them more harm than good.

Back to this chapter, though, we see that Israel as a nation is aware of the wickedness of Samuel's sons. They demand to be given a king instead, and in so doing reject God's rule over them and His appointed judge. Even when God (through Samuel) warns them of what burden a king will bring they insist on it.

I've spent a lot of time pondering various forms of government, and given the belief in God a theocracy really would be the best option. I look forward to that someday, but the Israelites actually had it at one point! Granted, there were still humans in positions of authority - but rather than having to revolt against them if they turned evil God would simply remove them as He did Eli's sons earlier in this book. Don't get me wrong, I think our democratic setup here in the US is better than most anything else available today... but I look forward with anticipation to a day when the Lord will once again rule over His kingdom here on Earth.