Here time passes with little to get excited about. A babe was born to one named Hannah, and she called this firstborn son Samuel. She gave him to the priests to raise, so that he would be strong in his faith in God. Samuel grew, in much the same way as Moses did before him, and he was wise in the ways of Yahweh, who also became known as Jehovah. He did many things in the early part of his career, mostly involving those annoying Philistines, but the true peak of his life came when the people of Israel asked him to find them a king.
"A king?" He asked incredulously. "Why would you want one of those? To be like your neighbors? So that he may send your sons to war and take your daughters to bed? So that he will become cursed and turn all he touches to gold, or to sawdust? So that you may give 'regicide' a definition in your dictionaries?"
"We just want a king," they told him. "Give us one."
Samuel shook his head in disgust. He could see how it would all end up. He prayed to God, who told him to go out into the fields and find a man named Saul, who would be caring for his sheep. This man became the first king of Israel.
Here Samuel fades from the story, excluding one awesome post-mortem appearance. Saul was a wise king, a strong king. He led the Israelites against their enemies, although he did try to avoid crossing the Philistines. This became more difficult when a garrison of them were slain by Saul's son, the Crown Prince Jonathan, a brave though not altogether bright young lad. Whenever Saul conquered an army, he would take back much booty, and the Royal Treasury grew during his reign; of course, the Royal Treasury also began during his reign. Samuel didn't like this, and neither did God, who felt they should cut a substantial cut of the profits, which is why a youth named David was appointed to be the next king.
The Philistine army came to face Israel once and for all. They had a secret weapon. As the army approached, Saul looked out at them. "See?" he said to his generals. "The Philistine army is not to be feared. Look how they cower in the shade of that mountain."
"There are no mountains nearby," one general informed.
"Then what the hell is that?"
The answer became all too clear in time.
The 'mountain' arrived. It was in reality a mighty Philistine warrior. It was as if Dagon had taken three Philistines, piled them on top of each other, used another Philistine for each limb, and named this conglomeration of seven Philistines Goliath, for that was the giant's name.
"Israel, Israel, you cannot win," Goliath taunted, "for I'll bomp and I'll stomp and I'll bash your skulls in."
Saul was afraid. All his men were afraid. No one was foolish enough to face Goliath. Young David though, and his new friend Jonathan, came up with a plan. David went forth with only a slingshot and three small stones, and he challenged Goliath. While he fired the first stone, hitting Goliath in the knee, Jonathan crept toward the giant from behind. David fired the second stone, hitting Saul in the groin. Jonathan took out his dagger and prepared to attack. David's third stone hit the giant on the forehead, and just as it did so, Jonathan took advantage of Goliath's distraction, and hamstringed the monster. Goliath fell, and David raced toward him and decapitated him with his own sword. Jonathan's actions had gone unnoticed, and as the Philistine army fled, David received all the glory.
More time passed, and David became an enemy of the state, or so said Saul. David was hunted down, but always he managed to avoid capture. The Philistines invaded, and on the eve of the great battle of that war, Saul went to a witch and told her to bring forth the shade of Samuel, who had long since died of anonymity and rejection.
"Samuel," Saul asked the specter, "how can I win this war?"
"You cannot," came the reply. "You have displeased God and by this time tomorrow, you and all your sons will be dead."
"But..."
"There is no way to avoid your fate. And you will get no sympathy from me." Then Samuel was gone, and Saul was left alone and afraid.