Samuel is widely regarded as a transitional figure. He is the last in a long line of Judges that ruled over the Hebrews from the time of the Conquest, and he is the anointer of the first King(s) of Israel as the nation sets up a new governmental system of a monarchy. I Samuel 12 is his valedictory address where he takes his leave of public life, giving the people a final speech filled with history lessons, warnings, and encouragements to follow the Lord.
Samuel begins by establishing his integrity. He offers to put himself on trial for corruption. He challenges anyone to claim that he took a bribe or stole anything. The people all agree that he is blameless (vs. 4). Samuel invokes God - and God's anointed, King Saul - as his witness that the people judge him to be innocent.
Samuel then puts the people on trial before the Lord, recounting God's deeds through the workings of their ancestors, Jacob, Moses and Aaron, and the various judges. Again and again, God has shown Himself to be faithful while the people have proved themselves to be faithless. In this final matter of demanding a king when God Himself has been their King, the people finally realize that they have been in the wrong (vs. 19).
Samuel then issues both warnings and promises - warnings that if the people again turn from following God, they will cease to be a people (vs. 25), but promises that if they serve the Lord and follow Him, He will not cast them away (vs. 22). Once again, God lays it out for the people that their fate is really in their own hands.
Even as one age ends and another dawns, God will remain faithful, as He has in the past. How will the people choose to be?
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