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"And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for
they have not rejected you, but THEY HAVE REJECTED ME, THAT I SHOULD NOT REIGN
OVER THEM' " (I Samuel 8:4-7). The Israelites DID NOT want YEHOVAH to rule over them or
to judge them. They wanted to be just like all the pagan nations around them. They wanted to return
to the system of government that YEHOVAH had delivered them from when Moses led them out of
Egypt. They wanted to return to THE RULE OF MEN! In other words, they wanted TO RETURN
TO BABYLON -- whence all forms of pagan governments had originated! This, my friends, was
the "thing" that displeased Samuel.

After YEHOVAH told Samuel about all the evil a king would bring upon the Israelites, he
relayed the message to the people. "Nevertheless the people REFUSED TO OBEY the voice of
Samuel; and they said, 'No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the [pa-
gan] nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles' " (verses
19-20).

It was amazing! This people had once had the very Shekinah Glory of YEHOVAH among
them day and night. Now they chose instead to glory in THE GOVERNMENT OF A MAN. They
chose to glory in their shame -- and they separated themselves even further from YEHOVAH.

YEHOVAH had clearly explained to them that if they would OBEY His laws, their influ-
ence would grow to fill the whole earth. But the Israelites DID NOT OBEY HIS LAWS. At the
end of the period of the kings, YEHOVAH gave the government back to the gentiles whence he had
taken it!

In matters of truth YEHOVAH has ALWAYS required men to answer DIRECTLY to Him.
Very often, He has chosen to allow those men to suffer for it.

The children of Abraham (or, the Israelites) have changed little over the centuries. If the
truth be known, THEY HAVE BECOME EVEN MORE FOOLISH! Why? Because today they have
exchanged the glory of the very spirit of YEHOVAH (dwelling in their minds) for the same old
PAGAN LIE -- the "Primacy" of a man!

Incredible!

They have prostrated themselves before the "Image of the Beast" and have REJECTED
Christ! They have bowed themselves before the leering idol of the First Doctrine of Babylon --
GOVERNMENT! They have, in fact, once again become IDOLATERS!

You see, my friends, in reality there are only TWO FORMS OF GOVERNMENT: The
TRUE government of YEHOVAH, or one of the many varieties of governments foisted on mankind
by Satan. It is sad to realize that men have needed these governments BECAUSE of their REBEL-
LION against the Law of YEHOVAH. YEHOVAH, therefore, has allowed these governments to
hold sway over them.

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