Saul King of Israel
I Samuel 9
:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin,
whose name was Kish,
the son of Abiel,
the son of Zeror,
the son of Bechorath,
the son of Aphiah,
a Benjamite,
a mighty man of power.
:2 And he had a son,
whose name was Saul,
a choice young man,
and a goodly:
and there was not among the
children of Israel a goodlier person than he:
from his shoulders and upward he
was higher than any of the people.
When looking at Saul he was a handsome man-choice, goodly
and tall. By appearances he is impressive and comes from a good family, he
should make a good king.
Kish, Saul's father, had asses that had gotten lost and he
sends Saul and a servant to search for them. It is possible that these asses
were Saul's responsibility and he let them wander off. After traveling three
days (maybe 30 - 40 miles from the Mt. Ephraim area south into the land of the
Benjamites) they come to Zuth and the man of God is there-Samuel. God knew that
Saul was going to show up here in Zuth. Let us look how God guides Samuel in the
selection of Saul as king.
:5 And when they were come to the land of Zuph,
Saul said to his servant that was with him,
Come, and let us return;
lest my father leave caring
for the asses,
and take thought for us.
;6 And he [the servant] said unto him,
Behold now, there is in this
city a man of God,
and he is an honourable man;
all that he
saith cometh surely to pass:
now let us go thither;
peradventure he can shew us our way
that we should go.
:7 Then said Saul to his servant,
But, behold, if we go,
what shall we bring the man?
for the
bread is spent in our vessels,
and there
is not a present to bring to the man of God:
what have we?
:8 And the servant answered Saul again, and said,
Behold, I have here at hand the
fourth part of a shekel of silver:
that will I give to the man
of God, to tell us our way.
:9 (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake,
Come, and let us go to the seer:
for he that is now called a Prophet was
beforetime called a Seer.)
:10 Then said Saul to his servant,
Well said;
come, let us go.
So they went unto the city where the man of God was.
:11 And as they went up the hill to the city,
they found young maidens going out to draw water,
and said unto them,
Is the seer here?
:12 And they answered them, and said,
He is;
behold, he is before you:
make haste now,
for he came to day to the city;
for there is a sacrifice of
the people to day in the high place:
:13 As soon as ye be come into the city,
ye shall straightway find him,
before he
go up to the high place to eat:
for the people will not eat until he come,
because he doth bless the sacrifice;
and afterwards they eat that be bidden.
Now therefore get you up;
for about
this time ye shall find him.
:14 And they went up into the city:
and when they were come into the city,
behold, Samuel came out against them,
for to go
up to the high place.
:15 Now the LORD had told Samuel
in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,
:16 To morrow about this time I will send
thee a man out of the land of Benjamin,
and thou
shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel,
that he may
save my people out of the hand of the Philistines:
for I have looked upon my people,
because their cry is come unto me.
:17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD
said unto him,
Behold the
man whom I spake to thee of!
this same
shall reign over my people.
God knew Saul was going to show up in Zuth so He tells
Samuel audibly that this is the man that is to be King. God is
always interested in helping His people. At this point in time they believe that
their deliverance can happen through a king. Even though Samuel had warned them
what a king would do they still insisted on a king. They cannot go any farther
than what they believe. We cannot go any farther than what we believe either.
Samuel takes Saul aside and eats with him the shoulder
portion of an offering which is customarily reserved for the priests. The next
day he anoints him with oil and prophecies that Saul will deliver Israel out of
the hands of the Philistines and tells him where the asses were that he has been
seeking. God also has Samuel tell Saul of some events that will come to pass.
God is inspiring Samuel to speak these words to Saul. This will strengthen
Saul's believing.
I Samuel 10
:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil,
and poured it upon his head,
and kissed him,
and said,
Is it not because the LORD
[and thou shalt rule among the people of Jehovah,
and thou shalt save them out of the
hand of their enemies,
and this shall be a sign unto thee,
that the LORD]
hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
[area in brackets omitted in King James but in Septuagint and Vulgate;
possible scribe error]
:2 When thou art departed from me to day,
then thou shalt find two men by
Rachel's sepulchre
in the
border of Benjamin at Zelzah;
and they will say unto thee,
The asses
which thou wentest to seek are found:
and, lo,
thy father hath left the care of the asses,
and
sorroweth for you, saying,
What shall I do for my son?
:3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence,
and thou shalt come to the plain of
Tabor,
and there shall meet thee three men
going up to God to Bethel,
one
carrying three kids,
and another
carrying three loaves of bread,
and another
carrying a bottle of wine:
:4 And they will salute thee,
and give thee two loaves of
bread;
which thou
shalt receive of their hands.
:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God,
where is
the garrison of the Philistines:
and it shall come to pass,
when thou
art come thither to the city,
that thou shalt meet a company of
prophets
coming down
from the high place with a psaltery,
and a
tabret,
and a pipe,
and a harp,
before them;
and they shall prophesy:
:6 And the Spirit of the LORD
will come upon thee,
and thou shalt prophesy with them,
and shalt be turned into another
man.
:7 And let it be,
when these
signs are come unto thee,
that thou do as
occasion serve thee;
for God is
with thee.
:8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal;
and, behold, I will come down unto
thee,
to offer
burnt offerings,
and
to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings:
seven days shalt thou tarry, till I
come to thee,
and shew thee what thou shalt do.
:9 And it was so,
that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel,
God gave him another heart:
and all those signs came to pass that day.
Look at the detail of the events that are going to come to
pass that God is telling Samuel to tell Saul. God is willing to work with Saul
to give him every chance to walk according to His will. He edifies him and gives
him holy spirit so that he may prophesy. When Saul returned home he didn't tell
his father about the anointing he was instructed to wait. Samuel called the
tribes to Mizpeh and selected Saul from among the tribe of Benjamin.
:24 And Samuel said to all the people,
See ye him whom the LORD
hath chosen,
that there
is none like him among all the people?
And all the people shouted, and said,
God save the king.
:25 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom,
and wrote it in a book,
and laid it up before the LORD.
And Samuel sent all the people away,
every man to his house.
:26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah;
and there went with him a band of men,
whose hearts God had touched.
:27 But the children of Belial said,
How shall this man save us?
And they despised him,
and brought him no presents. [a serious
breech of protocol]
But he held his peace.
These children of Belial are idolaters, they are devil
worshipers. These people should be removed from Israel but Saul, because of
inexperience and lack of training in the Word doesn't act, he acts as if deaf
(according to E. W. Bullinger).
God has given Saul the tools, the counselors (the band of
men whose hearts God had touched) and the position to lead God's people. We have
been given the tools (holy spirit1, the nine manifestations2
and sonship rights3), the written Word, and the position as
members of the body of Christ to do God's will. God has, as always, afforded us
freedom of will. We can take what God has given us and not use them or we can
learn to use these spiritual tools and glorify God and bring His Word back to
the people. Just as it was Saul's freewill choice to walk with God it is ours
also.
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1 See Spirit, Soul and Body - Created, Formed and Made
2 Wierwille, Victor Paul. Power for
Abundant Living. American Christian Press. New Knoxville, 1979.
See Chapter 25,
The Holy Spirit and Fruit of the Spirit.
3 See New Life - New Things at the
Cortright Fellowship Teachings:
http://www.redbay.com/ekklesia/newthngs.htm
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