Samuel, the young boy from the last session, became Israel’s last long-term judge. He was also a prophet and a trained priest. Throughout the time of the judges, men and women God used as deliverers and peace-time administrators of justice, the people of Israel often followed the sinful ways of their neighbors. In response, God allowed them to be oppressed until they repented and returned to Him. He then often sent deliverance through a judge. After hundreds of years lived in this cycle, the people were tired of enduring the oppression of their enemies. However, instead of committing to follow the Lord with their whole heart and trusting Him to keep their enemies at bay, they tried to solve the problem their own way—by asking Samuel for a king. The Book of Judges ends with this sad statement, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25, NLT).