person
of David that the kingdom was first fully established, and with the
close of his reign the work accordingly ends. The period included in
this history, though comparatively brief, was most eventful. Samuel,
himself one of the greatest of the prophets, established a school of the
prophets, and from his day onward the prophetical order assumed an
importance and permanency in the Theocracy that was before unknown. See
above, Ch. 15, No. 11. The change to the kingly form of government
constituted a new era in the Hebrew commonwealth. Although the motives
which led the people to desire a king were low and unworthy, being
grounded in worldliness and unbelief, yet God, for the accomplishment of
his own purposes, was pleased to grant their request. The adumbration in
the Theocracy of the kingly office of the future Messiah, not less than
of his priestly and prophetical office, was originally contemplated in
its establishment; and now the full time for this had come. While David
and his successors on the throne were true civil and military leaders in
a secular and earthly sense, their headship over God's people also
shadowed forth the higher headship of the long promised Redeemer, the
great Antitype in whom all the types contained in the Mosaic economy
find at once their explanation and their fulfilment. Under David the
Hebrew commonwealth was rescued from the oppression of the surrounding
nations, and speedily attained to its zenith of outward power and
splendor.

13. The _contents_ of the books of Samuel naturally fall under three
main divisions. The _introductory_ part takes up the history of the
commonwealth under Eli and continues it to the time when the people
demanded of Samuel a king. 1 Sam. chaps. 1-7. This period properly
belongs to that of the judges, but its history is given here because of
its intimate connection with the events that follow. It describes the
birth and education of Samuel; the disorders that prevailed under Eli's
administration, for which God denounced upon his family severe
judgments; the invasion of the land by the Philistines, with the capture
and restoration of the ark; Samuel's administration, and the deliverance
of the people under him from the oppression of the Philistines. The
_second_ part, extending through the remainder of the first book, opens
with an account of the abuses which led the people to desire a king, and
then gives an account of the selection, anointing, and inauguration