The Amonites are attaking the Israelites. The Israelites say: Make a treaty with us. The Amonites say: Not unless we take one of your eyes out and emmbarass you! The Israelites were given seven days to call for help. When the news reached saul, the spirit of the LORD came upon him. He mustered up so many guys-

The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. That day Saul was confirmed as King. Now Samuel is making his goodbye speech thats very long.

Samuel anointed Saul's head and kissed him. Then, once he was told he was supposed to be king,Samuel told him three signs that would come true and the spirit of the LORD would come upon him. And all the things came true. When he got home, everyone asked him what took him so long, Saul told them that he had been assured by Samuel that the donkeys were found but he did not tell about being the king.
Samel started to name the tribe, and the tribe of Benjamine was chosen. Then he started to name the clans, and the clan of Matrni was chosen. Then Saul was chosen. When they looked for Saul, he was not there. God said he was hiding among the baggage. So they looked for him. Was it that he didn't want to be king? They brought him out and the people exclaimed "LONG LIVE THE KING!!!!!"

Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. I don't think they would be trouble makers. They shoudn't have a king anyway.

Marble Mischief

That's right, Marbles. Bump, a game one of my relations made up includes marbles, and cards. Lane, Sticks, J man, Mom, and I were playing. J man was with Mom who was on my team. I was supposed to be with Bird, but, I could see she wasn't cooperating so she was playing with the large bucket of marbles. She would drop a few, pick them up, put them on the board, etc. etc. After a while, there was a loud crash, as marbles went rolling everywhere. I, apparently, was the first one to see. So, being the nearest, I extended my arms, trapping a lot of the marbles that were still on the table. By then the whole place was in action, catching or picking up marbles. Meanwhile, Dad goes, "WHAT HAPPENED?" And Bird is almost in tears saying, "I'm sowwy." What a way to give the night a little fun!

Two Kings?

Okay, the point is the people want to appoint another King. Another? You ask. Yes, another becuz Gods already the king. I wonder if I would be tempted to do that if Samuel gave his two evil sons as Judges. Sam prayed, and asked God what he should do. God said : "Give them a king. It is not you they rejected, but me. They've been rejecting me ever since I brought them out of Egypt, forsaking me and serving other gods, as they are doing to you. But warn them and tell them what a King will do to them." When Samuel told the people what would happen to them, they were stubborn and still wanted a King. " No!" They said, "We want a king over us. Then we can be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles!" If they hadn't noticed all the other nations are the bad guys. So Samuel found the one who God wanted, he appeared wise, he was handsome, and a head taller from any other man. When Samuel saw him God told him that he was the man God was looking for. Saul dined with Samuel that day.
The next day they went on the roof top and Saul got ready to go. Samuel told the servant to go ahead of them becuz he had a message from the Lord to Saul.

The people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord. Samuel said if they were really willing to serve the Lord, then they had to put away their idols, which they gladly did. Then Samuel said for them to assemble at Mizpah and he was going to pray for them. They fasted and poured water for the Lord. When the philistines heard where they were and what they were doing, they attacked. The Israelites heard and said to Samuel: "Do not stop praying for us!" They must have been awful scared. I mean, they just put away their idols, and who knows the Lord's still gonna fight with them, I would be scared! Samuel sent a burnt offering to the Lord and cried out on Israels behalf, and the Lord answered him. As the Philistines were about to engage in battle, God sent a thunder storm upon them and they fled. The Israelites pursued them and slaughtered some of them. God is so creative. He sends so many different punishments to different people.

The Ark gets Returned to Israel

After the Ark had been in the Philistines hands for 7 months, they called all their wise men and priests and asked them what the people should do. They said to give it back with a present to go with it and you will be healed. "You should send them 5 gold tumors and 5 gold rats." RATS!? Whats that supposed to mean? Who would want a gold statue of a rat? "Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the LORD and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the LORD has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance." Can you guess what happened? Yep. The cows went strait along the road, not in thier own territory.Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron. But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD.The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, and the men of Beth Shemesh asked, "Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?"

1st Sammy 5

Here it reads: After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon's temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold. God knows how to take care of them! Well as you can imagine, they were scared stiff. Plus, many of their people got sick and died. When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, "The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, "What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?"
They answered, "Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel. But of course, the same thing happened. So they moved it again! This time the people saw it coming and made plans to take it away. Smart people.