Second Sunday after Epiphany
Preaching And Reading The Old Testament Lessons
In the days of Eli and Samuel, before the beginning of the kingship of Saul, and from about 1220 --1020 B.C., Israel lived in Canaan in the form of a very loose twelve--tribe federation. She had no king or stable government. As the Book of Judges says, "In those days there was no king in Israel; every one did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). Rather, leadership was lodged from time to time in a series of "judges," who sometimes exercised military, legal, or priestly functions. One of those priestly judges was Eli.