Israel's First King

1 Samuel 9-10

God’s Spirit changes us. When you accept Jesus into your life and commit to follow Him as Lord, you receive His indwelling Spirit. Through the Spirit, we receive power to do the things God has called us to. Then, as we feed His Spirit with the Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers, and worship, it grows within us to produce godly fruit.

Saul’s Search - 1 Samuel 9:1-14

Kish was a wealthy landowner from the tribe of Benjamin. He had a son named Saul who was a head taller than everyone else and considered the most handsome man in the whole nation. When Kish lost his donkeys, he sent his son after them. So, Saul went north into the land of Ephraim, searching everywhere for them. After a few days, he told his servant that they should probably go back home before his father began to worry more about him than the donkeys. But his servant said he had heard about a man of God who everyone held in high esteem and everything he said came true. So, he convinced Saul to go to this man to ask about the donkeys, offering one tenth of an ounce of silver for him to give as compensation.

They called prophets seers because seers were the ones who told people things that others didn’t know, sort of like a fortune teller. Prophets also told people things they didn’t know. But it wasn’t because they had magical powers. It was because God spoke to them and gave them messages to tell the people. Basically, in the people’s minds, they were either seeing a magical seer or a godly seer. But either way, he was a man that could reveal hidden information to them.

So, they went up the hill into the city to find the prophet. They came up on some women and asked where they could find him, and they pointed them towards the high place saying that he was on his way there to bless the people’s sacrifices before they ate. (He was blessing their meal.)

Samuel meets Saul – 1 Samuel 9:15-27

Now the day before Saul came looking for Samuel, God told him that a man would be coming to see him the next day from the tribe of Benjamin and that he was the man God had chosen as king. The people had been crying out for a king who would deliver them from the Philistines and He wanted Samuel to anoint Saul for the job. So, when Saul came to Samuel the next day, God said this was the man He had chosen to rule over the people.

When Saul approached Samuel, he asked where he could find the seer, and Samuel told him who he was. He asked Saul to go up to the high place to eat with him and he also told him that the donkeys had been found so he didn’t need to worry about them. Saul thought that Samuel had just revealed all the information he needed to know. But there was more. Saul was the man that the whole nation had been asking for. He was the one God had chosen to be their king.

This was most certainly not what Saul thought he was looking for when he decided to find Samuel! How confusing. Why would God choose someone from the tribe that had almost been wiped out because they refused to turn over a rapist, murderer. (Judges 19-20) At that time, the tribe of Benjamin was reduced to 600 men. Not only were they the smallest tribe, but Saul’s clan was the smallest in Benjamin. He just couldn’t understand why he had been chosen.

But Samuel took Saul and his servant into the hall where the dignitaries sat for the sacrificial feast and put him at the head of the table of about thirty men. Then he had the cook bring Saul the leg he had reserved for him. This was normally the portion that the priests would eat. But Samuel was trying to signal that Saul had been anointed by God just like the priests.

After they ate, Samuel asked Saul to spend the night at his house. Back then, their houses had flat roofs, and they were good places for guests to sleep because there was room, and the night air probably felt good. So, Samuel made him a bed on the roof and Saul stayed the night. But Samuel woke him at daybreak, saying he would see him out. As they were leaving the city, Samuel asked that Saul’s servant go ahead of them so he could tell Saul everything God had told him to say.

Saul Anointed as King – 1 Samuel 10:1-16

Once Samuel and Saul were alone, Samuel poured the anointing oil on him, kissed him, and said that God had selected him to be the king of Israel, and he would rule over the people and save them from their enemies. Then, Samuel said Saul would know this would happen when he saw these three signs. First, Saul would meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah, which was in Benjamin’s territory. These men would tell Saul that his father’s donkeys had been found and now his father is worried about him.

Now, Rachel died on her way to Bethlehem, which is in Judah’s territory, so most think she was buried close to Bethlehem. But it is in the north of Judah and Zelzah is in the south of Benjamin, so the two cities are only miles apart, and apparently, her tomb is closer to Zelzah in the land of Benjamin.

After Saul leaves there and travels into the Jezreel Valley where the Tabor trees grow, he will encounter three men traveling up to Mount Tabor to sacrifice to the Lord. They will be carrying three loaves of bread, three goats, and a skin of wine as an offering. But they will offer two loaves of bread to Saul, knowing by revelation that he deserved sacred bread. This confirmed that he had truly been anointed by God because only a priest would be worthy of the sacred offering. This was the same thing Samuel revealed when he also gave Saul the leg from the sacrifice that would normally go to the priest. He was God’s anointed just like them.

Lastly, Saul would come to Gibeath of God where the Philistines had a military outpost. Gibeath was very far into Israel and much closer to the Jordan River than the Mediterranean Sea where the Philistines lived. So, they were deeply imbedded in Israel by this time, which explains why the people were crying out for relief from them.

There, in Gibeath, Saul would meet “the sons of prophets” coming down from the high place, playing music and prophesying. These were young men who were training to be prophets. Samuel said, at that moment, the Spirit of the Lord would rush on him giving him the power to prophesy with them. This is the same way the Spirit rushed onto all the judges to give them the power to do what God called them to. Samuel said that the Spirit would change Saul’s heart so drastically that he would look like a different person to all who knew him.

Samuel explained that whenever all these signs happened, Saul needed to do whatever he felt that he needed to do because God was the One leading him to do it. Then, Saul was supposed to go to Gilgal and wait for him. He would be coming a week later to give burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. At that time, Samuel would give Saul further instructions.

Gilgal was the Israelites’ first encampment after they crossed the Jordan River, and it remained their camp until they settled in the land. The second generation of Israelites celebrated their first Passover there.

So, all these signs happened to Saul just as Samuel prophesied. The Spirit rushed upon him, his heart was changed, and he prophesied with the young prophets who came down from Gibeath. When the people saw this, they were confused. The man looked like Saul, the son of Kish, but he did not act like him. So, it became a common question for the people to ask if Saul was a prophet now. Obviously, Samuel was not mistaken that the Spirit would change him so much that he would look like a different man.