In 1 Samuel 7, we reach a turning point. Samuel judges Israel and he calls them to repent. In verse 3 Samuel says: “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” Their repentance was to be both internal (with all their hearts) and external (removing all idols).