Israel's First King

Samuel had been a faithful judge all his life. When he grew old he appointed his sons as judges for Israel also. Now they were not as faithful to God, as Samuel was, and they took bribes from the people. So the people sent the elders to Samuel to complain and asked Samuel to appoint a King over them instead. Samuel was not happy to hear this but he took it to God in prayer.  God told Samuel that he should do as the people wanted. God also told him to warn the people also about the burdens a king would put on them.

Read 1Samuel 9:15-17 (NIV) and fill in the blanks below to see
how Samuel knew who to anoint as the new king.

. . . the __ __ __ __ revealed this to __ __ __ __ __ __ :
"About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the
land of __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ .  __ __ __ __ __ __  him
leader over my people __ __ __ __ __ __: . . .
When Samuel caught sight of __ __ __ __ the __ __ __ __
said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about;
he will __ __ __ __ __ __ my people."

Read about Saul's anointing and presentation to the people in 1Samuel Chapters 10 & 11.
Find and circle the words in the word search puzzle from the word list below.