In our last study Saul had asked Samuel to help find his donkeys. Samuel told Saul he had been chosen by God for something greater.
Now he is given very specific instructions.
Read 1 Samuel 10:1-7
1 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?
So far, only Saul has been told he is to be King.
2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, “The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, ‘What shall I do about my son?’”
3 ‘Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
5 ‘After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
Saul will for the first time encounter the Holy Spirit and the power of God. His experience will be life-changing – similar to the Christian conversion experienced by many.
Now before we move on we need to look at an odd verse - 1 Samuel 10:8
8 ‘Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.’
This verse seems strangely out of place here - it seems to refer prophetically to actions which took place later - see 1 Samuel 13:7-14.
Now read 1 Samuel 10:9-16
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9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, ‘What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?’
12 A man who lived there answered, ‘And who is their father?’ So it became a saying: ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, ‘Where have you been?’
‘Looking for the donkeys,’ he said. ‘But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.’
15 Saul’s uncle said, ‘Tell me what Samuel said to you.’
16 Saul replied, ‘He assured us that the donkeys had been found.’ But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
Who was Saul’s uncle? We are told that Saul’s father Kish (v11) had a brother Ner (1 Samuel 14:51) so it was possibly him. Being related he probably lived in the area and it may just have been a chance meeting, or he may have been the man in v12, but either way, Saul kept quiet about the kingship.
Why was that?
For all Israel to accept Saul as king they would need something much more dramatic than for him to casually mention it in conversation to a relative.
Read 1 Samuel 10:17-24
17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah
What was significant about Mizpah? (1 Samuel 7:10-11) It was the site of the last favourable battle against the Philistines and was about to be again. It was also one of the three places that Samuel would visit as circuit Judge (1 Samuel 7:16)
18 and said to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.” 19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, “No, appoint a king over us.” So now present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and clans.’
This must have been a logistical nightmare, but I assume that they had a system to call the tribal chiefs and clan representatives.
There were various ways to cast lots. Samuel might have used the Ephod containing the Urim and Thummim. These words meant essentially good and bad, and some think they were two identical stones but of different colour, so they would feel the same.
A statement would be made and then one stone would be withdrawn to indicate right or wrong. Whatever method was used, it had to be an entirely random result – so it could only be God’s choosing.
20 When Samuel had made all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they enquired further of the Lord, ‘Has the man come here yet?’
And the Lord said, ‘Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.’
I love this. In the middle of a most serious ceremony to choose the first King of Israel, Saul tried to hide.
Was he unwilling, or did he feel unworthy?
How could they find him? Urim and Thummim were not appropriate now – I think it was up to Samuel to offer a quick prayer! And God was just as quick to answer.
23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24 Samuel said to all the people, ‘Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.’
Then the people shouted, ‘Long live the king!’
Yes, he was a good choice – just what they wanted.
Now read 1 Samuel 10:25-27
25 Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord. Then Samuel dismissed the people to go to their own homes.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched.
What do you understand by that last phrase?
Not people who thought they needed to ingratiate themselves into some position of power in the new court, but rather people hand-picked by God to help Saul in his new position.
Saul went home because unless there was a war to be fought there was little for a king to do; and at the moment he didn’t feel the need for a palace and all that came with it.
27 But some scoundrels said, ‘How can this fellow save us?’ They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
As always there would be those who weren’t chosen because they were totally unsuitable – and of course they were disgruntled. Very sensibly Saul did not rise to the bait.
Remember that this was just at the end of the time of the Judges – a period of random attacks from powerful men who felt that perhaps they could reclaim part of the territory they had lost when the Jews took over their land. So we now read 1 Samuel 11:1-5
1 Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, ‘Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.’
2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, ‘I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.’
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, ‘Give us seven days so that we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.’
Behind Nahash’s threat was the fact that he intended to make the men (and no doubt the women) his slaves. One-eyed men could still work, but fighting would be very difficult.
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. 5 Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, ‘What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?’ Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.
In Chapter 10:7 Samuel said to Saul ‘Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.’ That time had now come.
Read 1 Samuel 11:6-11
6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. 7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, ‘This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.’ Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out together as one. 8 When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.
Bezek may have been the name of an area, rather than a town – it was simply a good place to muster the troops ready for an early-morning assault.
9 They told the messengers who had come, ‘Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, “By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.”’ When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. 10 They said to the Ammonites, ‘Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.’
11 The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
An overwhelming victory. Why were so many men involved? God had already demonstrated he could fight Israel’s battles without any of them (1 Samuel 7:10)
Probably it was more for the men themselves to recognise that Saul was now their king and that he would lead them to victory. But remember that these men were drawn from every tribe in Israel, so as they returned to their homes they would be able to tell of the new king who was successful in battle.
Read 1 Samuel 11:12-15
12 The people then said to Samuel, ‘Who was it that asked, “Shall Saul reign over us?” Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.’
Remember the ‘scoundrels’ from 1 Samuel 10:27? Saul’s new followers certainly did, but I wonder why they approached Samuel, not Saul?
Samuel had certainly been their accepted leader up to now.
A tempting thought to remove all opposition at the start of your reign. Certainly an approach taken by many of the kings that followed. But perhaps Samuel advised Saul that if an enemy can be made a friend, they will be worth more than if they were dead. (That is certainly the way Jesus works!)
13 But Saul said, ‘No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.’
14 Then Samuel said to the people, ‘Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.’ 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.
Now they were happy to recognise Saul as their king and the work of Samuel was finished. Next time we will look at Samuel’s closing address to that great assembly.
