The Abiding Gift of Prophecy

Chapter 6—During the Revolt of Israel

In the midst of the great achievements of Samuel’s leadership—the spiritual revivals, the national reforms, and the deliverances from servitude to enemy nations—there was an open revolt by the people against God’s plan of government. This revolt was followed by developments of serious moment to the nation. It produced contrasting and contradictory conditions. It developed situations radically opposed to one another, with prospects at once the brightest and the darkest. It brought forth the truest loyalty to God and the rankest apostasy, the height of prosperity and the extreme of adversity; the most satisfying tranquillity and the most devastating revolutions. AGP 67.1

But notwithstanding the regrettable changes that took place and the perilous conditions that developed, the records of those years and events show that there was, during that period, a marked manifestation of the prophetic gift, and that it exercised a powerful influence for good in movements that imperiled the welfare of the people and the cause of God. In order to know and to appreciate fully the great value of the services rendered by this heaven-sent gift in those momentous events, it is necessary to give them careful study. AGP 67.2