In 1 Samuel 8, the children of Israel became dissatisfied with the government that God had put in place to govern them. This as explained in verse 7 was a rejection of God...
5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
As often happens, people allow history to repeat itself. This is not for the lack of knowledge, but the willingness to hide the Word in our hearts. David said in Psalms 119...
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
If we fast forward to the crucifixion of Jesus, we find men that are not ignorant of the Word, but have not hid the Word in their hearts. It was on this occasion that they once again reject the King of Kings. John 19 states...
15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
If we do not hide the Word in our hearts then we allow things to enter and eventually our old life will become apparent. We will revisit our history. The High Priest had knowledge of the Word and could tell you of the story of Samuel, but failed to apply it to their lives. This caused them to once again reject their God.
The knowledge of the Word does not keep us. I have done prison ministry and find many that can quote scripture, but James wrote...
1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
