At the end of the period of the judges came the rise of the monarchy in Israel. The people of the land were uncomfortable not having a king over them
as all the nations around them had. They wanted to have a regular champion who would represent them. Shortly before 1000 BC, the prophet Samuel spoke to the nation on behalf
of God. It was to Samuel that the people brought their demand for a king. You can read of their complaint and Samuel's answer in 1 Samuel 8:1-22 :
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel.
2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.
3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."
6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their
king.
8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king.
11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and
they will run in front of his chariots.
12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still
others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us.
20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD.
22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town." (New
International Version (NIV))
The first king chosen by God to rule in Israel was Saul. When Saul became corrupt, God cut off the monarchy from his family, and gave it to David and
his descendants. It is the Davidic line which leads directly to Jesus of Nazareth, who will someday return as King of Kings. Because of the prophetic importance of David throughout the
Bible, we have chosen to mark the next point on our time-line with his name. His lifetime was in the general area of 1000 BC.
Once you commit this date to memory, you will be able to pinpoint the relative time of many other events and Bible characters. The stories of David's
life, including the battle with Goliath and the incident with Bathsheba will be around this time. Any events involving later kings of Israel will be after 1000 BC. Most of the events of the
books of I & 2 Samuel , I & 2 Kings , and I & 2 Chronicles will be spread out between 1000 BC and the next point on our time-line, 500 BC.
