(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Samuel 12:6–15, “And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king. Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God: But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.”
Samuel had called the people back to Gilgal to remake their contract with the Lord under the new king that they had chosen so that they could be like the neighbouring nations. However, the Samuel pointed out to Israel that the Lord had the right to tell them what to do because He brought them out of the land of slavery. He told the Israelis to wait for him while he reminded them of all the other good things that the Lord had done for them as well. In this context, when Samuel spoke about Jacob, he was referring to Jacob’s descendants, the nation of Israel, who had gone down to Egypt with Jacob when Joseph was Grand Vizier. After Joseph’s death, Jacob’s descendants were enslaved but the prayed to the Lord and He delivered them from that slavery. In spite of the fact that the Lord saved Israel, they forgot him and He gave them what they had chosen and they were occupied by other nations who served the gods that they chose instead of the Lord. Every time they sinned and the Lord gave them what they chose, they confessed their sinned and called out to the Lord and the Lord sent leaders to save them from their oppressors. Even though they now had a king to unite them as a nation, they were still obliged to obey the Lord and keep His commandments.
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