Kish — The Father Who Lost His Donkeys and Found a King. Not every calling begins with a trumpet blast. Sometimes it starts with a few missing donkeys. Kish’s story reminds us that God’s sovereignty often hides in life’s smallest frustrations. What looked like an inconvenience to an ordinary farmer became the divine setup for Israel’s first king. The search that began with lost animals ended with an anointing—and a reminder that no detour is wasted.

Saul’s Age & the Math That Doesn’t Add Up. When God Lets the Numbers Blur to Expose the Heart. The opening line of 1 Samuel 13 has long puzzled readers and translators alike: “Saul was … years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel.” Both numbers are missing. The Hebrew Masoretic Text leaves blanks where digits should be. Every translation since has been forced to guess.

Saul — The Tallest Man with the Smallest Heart: 1 Samuel 9–15. Every story of downfall begins with promise. Saul looked like the answer to Israel’s demand for a king: tall, handsome, humble, chosen by God. The people wanted someone impressive, and Saul fit the profile. But what began in humility ended in disobedience, paranoia, and ruin. His reign proves that gifting can never replace character—and that stature without surrender is spiritual emptiness on display.

The Elders of Israel — “Give Us a King” - 1 Samuel 8:1–22. Some of the greatest spiritual disasters begin with seemingly reasonable requests. Israel’s elders approached Samuel not in open rebellion but with a political plan that sounded practical: “Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” (1 Samuel 8:5). They wanted leadership, structure, and safety. What they really wanted was control.

When the Serpent of Ammon Rose Against the New Kingdom. Sometimes the most revealing truths in Scripture hide in what has been lost—or removed. Between 1 Samuel 10:27 and 11:1, the Masoretic Text drops a short paragraph that the Septuagint (LXX) and Dead Sea Scrolls (4QSamᵃ) preserve. Those few lines change everything.

1 Samuel Summary: Kings, Giants, and the God Who Sees. 1 Samuel is the turning point between tribal chaos and national monarchy. Israel had no king—just judges and constant failure. But now they’re asking for a ruler like the nations around them. God gives them what they ask for, then shows them what they need.