Saul was the first king of Israel. He was for head and shoulders bigger than anyone else. When Samuel announced to Saul that he would be king, he hesitated.

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.  They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 1 Samuel 8:4-7, KJV

Who will we have as emperor?

Leaders from all the tribes of Israel gathered to hear the revelation. The time came when they wanted a king like all the nations around them. The time has come that I can look at a man of flesh and blood. The people gathered in silence. The roll call began. One by one, leaders from each tribe were called. Thus the tribe of Benjamin was singled out. And then the roll call stopped for the Saul family. Then everything focused on just one man. While giving them the emperor, God was sad. It is a new era of the people of God’s apostasy from God.

The story of Saul begins in chapter 8 of the first book of prophet Samuel. With the tale of a father who has sons who did not follow in his footsteps. In this story, the father is the prophet Smauilo and the disobedient sons Joel and Abijah, who were judges. Here we see the sin of greed. The elders asked Saul to give them the emperor. When Samuel heard this, he was sad. He did the same thing that any God-pleasing man would do. He went to ask the Lord. In verses seven and nine, we see that the Lord allows an earthly king to be appointed. In the following verses, God reveals how will be in the future.