1Samuel 10. But in a sense, he s too perfect for the job. Speaking of the tribe of Judah, the Lord declared:

Transcription

1 1Samuel 10 S nw Israel will receive a king, a man that perfectly suits their desire t be ruled like all the ther natins And as we enter chapter 10, the prphet Samuel anints this new king 1Sam. 10:1 Then Samuel tk the flask f il, pured it n his head, kissed him and said, Has nt the LORD aninted yu a ruler ver His inheritance? Last week we learned Saul is yung, strng, tall, handsme and seems t have a gd heart But in a sense, he s t perfect fr the jb Histrically speaking, Saul s selectin runs cntrary t Gd s usual pattern Gd usually selects the least bvius ptin, the ne yu didn t seem cming But Saul is the bvius candidate accrding t human expectatins He s the Ishmael in this stry, nt the Isaac; he s the Esau, nt the Jacb And it s Saul s perfect suitability t the jb that becmes ur first clue that the Lrd is up t smething unusual here That the stry f Saul is bigger than merely giving Israel a king Our secnd clue came als last week, when we learned that Saul is a Benjamite Back in genesis 49, at the end f Jacb s life, the Lrd spke prphetically cncerning the future kings f Israel Speaking f the tribe f Judah, the Lrd declared: Gen. 49:8 Judah, yur brthers shall praise yu; Yur hand shall be n the neck f yur enemies; Yur father s sns shall bw dwn t yu Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 1Samuel 10 2 f 17 Gen. 49:9 Judah is a lin s whelp; Frm the prey, my sn, yu have gne up. He cuches, he lies dwn as a lin, And as a lin, wh dares ruse him up? Gen. 49:10 The scepter shall nt depart frm Judah, Nr the ruler s staff frm between his feet, Until Shilh cmes, And t him shall be the bedience f the peples. The prphecy fr Judah was that this tribe wuld have dminin ver the ther tribes Judah s reign was cmpared t a lin, the king f the beasts And a scepter, the symbl f ryal authrity, wuld nt depart frm Judah s hand Neither wuld a king s ruling staff be relinquished by Judah t anther tribe In simple terms, Judah and Judah alne wuld rule ver Israel And that rule wuld cntinue frm generatin t generatin within Judah until Shilh cmes, that is the Messiah cmes t rule frever In v.10 Jacb said nce the tribe f Judah receives the right t rule, it can never be taken away The Messiah Himself must t cme frm Judah fr that reasn, t cntinue t the reign as Jacb prphesied But when the time cames t anint the first king f Israel, the Lrd selects a Benjamite, nt a member f Judah Des this mean that Saul is smehw an illegitimate king? Or perhaps the Lrd is making a mistake? Or ging back n His wrd? Nne f thse cnclusins are crrect, f curse Saul is very much a legitimate and aninted king Saul will rule with the full authrity f any ther earthly king 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 1Samuel 10 3 f 17 And the Lrd is certainly nt making a mistake in selecting the man But the Lrd has selected Saul as king as an exceptin t prve the rule One day the Lrd will anint a member f Judah as king as He prmised And when that day cmes, nly Judah may rule frm that pint frward But that day hasn t cme yet...s the Lrd may appint a Benjamite as the first king withut breaking His wrd But why start utside the tribe f Judah at all? Saul s reign will serve epilgue t the time f Judges and prlgue t the kings f Judah Judges was the time in Israel when men did what was right in their wn eyes And the final act f that perid was t demand a king like all natins They dn t want the Lrd t rule ver them They want t experience ruling by ne like them And that s wh Gd gives them A man wh like all the Israelites was called int a special psitin with all the advantages Gd culd give And in the end, he will squander that pprtunity in idlatry and greed, just as the Israelites did as a natin We re watching the Lrd cnclude the time f Judges with a final example t the peple This is what fllws frm acting accrding t their wn desires Saul will be aninted and equipped t rule with the pwer f the Spirit But his life will serve as the example f what cmes f seeking t live accrding t the flesh rather than Spirit 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 1Samuel 10 4 f 17 In v.1 Samuel anints Saul as king with a flask f il This mment cmes in the mrning Samuel sends Saul ff after their rftp cnference Saul s head is still spinning with the news But Samuel presses n, symblizing the empwering f the Hly Spirit by puring il ver Saul s head Prir t this mment, nly priests and the tabernacle were aninted by il in scripture Nw we see a new ffice being aninted, that f king The use f il is merely symblic The Spirit f Gd will empwer this man t serve as king, but that mment hasn t cme as yet S t picture the Spirit s arrival, the prphet used il Still Saul must have been wndering if all this was t be believed Hw culd he knw Samuel was telling the truth? Samuel says Saul will rule f Gd s inheritance But this is prbably a truncated versin f Samuel s actual wrds In the Septuagint, the full statement is: 1Sam. 10:1 Then Samuel tk a small cntainer f live il and pured it n Saul s head. Samuel kissed him and said, The LORD has chsen yu t lead his peple Israel! Yu will rule ver the LORD s peple and yu will deliver them frm the pwer f the enemies wh surrund them. This will be yur sign that the LORD has chsen yu as leader ver his inheritance. (NET Bible) As we see at the end f the LXX versin, Saul is tld he will receive signs that the prphet s wrd is trustwrthy Each sign Saul will receive invlves a set f circumstances Each circumstance is s specific that when they cme t pass, they can nly mean that the prphet has access t the mind f Gd 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 1Samuel 10 5 f 17 And in that way they validate the prphets wrd cncerning Saul s aninting as king But each sign carries it s wn symblic message t Saul cncerning his new missin S even as they prvide cnfirmatin, they als ffer cunsel 1Sam. 10:2 When yu g frm me tday, then yu will find tw men clse t Rachel s tmb in the territry f Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say t yu, The dnkeys which yu went t lk fr have been fund. Nw behld, yur father has ceased t be cncerned abut the dnkeys and is anxius fr yu, saying, What shall I d abut my sn? The first sign is cnnected t Saul s search fr his lst dnkeys As Saul jurneys hme, he will encunter tw men wh tell him that the dnkeys have been fund And he will find that his father s cncern will have turned t Saul himself, just as Saul suggested earlier Saul s father will say, What shall I d abut my sn? But in Hebrew, the questin is, What f my sn? meaning what becmes f my sn? Saul will encunter these men near the place Rachel was buried Rachel was the belved wife f Jacb She bre Jacb s tw favrite sns, Jseph and Benjamin Rachel died in giving birth t Benjamin, wh became the father f the Benjamites S what s the lessn here? Saul s respnsibility fr his father s estate are n lnger his cncern The Lrd will care fr Saul s father This was an imprtant relief fr a sn, wh bre special respnsibility t care fr his father Instead, the Lrd has appinted this Benjamite t guard the Lrd s inheritance 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 1Samuel 10 6 f 17 Remember, Benjamin was the nly sn f Jacb t be brn in the Prmised Land, which is Israel s inheritance The ther eleven sns were brn utside the land and nly entered when Jacb returned S the Lrd has selected a Benjamite t steward the inheritance in which his tribe was brn In a sense, we can say that Saul was the natural heir f the land, since his frefather was brn in it But des the Lrd s inheritance cme by natural means? Is it made available t thse wh qualify by earthly, human means? Or des it require faith in the prmises f Gd? Even the number f men Saul meets reminds us that this is the dividing line amng all men (2 is the number f divisin) S Saul will be the exceptin t prve the rule Then Saul receives his secnd sign 1Sam. 10:3 Then yu will g n further frm there, and yu will cme as far as the ak f Tabr, and there three men ging up t Gd at Bethel will meet yu, ne carrying three yung gats, anther carrying three laves f bread, and anther carrying a jug f wine; 1Sam. 10:4 and they will greet yu and give yu tw laves f bread, which yu will accept frm their hand. Jurneying farther, Saul will cme t the ak f Tabr where he will meet three men ging t wrship at Bethel They carry items fr the sacrifice including gats, bread and wine When they encunter Saul, they will give him tw laves f the bread unslicited This he will accept frm their hand These fds were reserved fr the sacrifice t the Lrd, but they will be given int Saul s hand Obviusly, this indicates a blessing fr Saul in that the peple will supprt his needs 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 1Samuel 10 7 f 17 But the fact that this prvisin was intended fr the Lrd befre being redirected t Saul is a dark clud ver his reign Saul will turn the pprtunity t guard the inheritance f the peple int a chance t enrich himself He will abuse his pwer and seek t glrify himself Finally, Bethel is the place where Jacb saw the ladder cming dwn frm Heaven In that mment, Jacb made a deal with the Lrd Gen. 28:19 He called the name f that place Bethel; hwever, previusly the name f the city had been Luz. Gen. 28:20 Then Jacb made a vw, saying, If Gd will be with me and will keep me n this jurney that I take, and will give me fd t eat and garments t wear, Gen. 28:21 and I return t my father s huse in safety, then the LORD will be my Gd. Gen. 28:22 This stne, which I have set up as a pillar, will be Gd s huse, and f all that Yu give me I will surely give a tenth t Yu. Jacb made his willingness t bey and fllw the Lrd cnditinal n the Lrd s willingness t care fr him But the Lrd s faithfulness t Jacb had nthing t d with Jacb s faithfulness It was because f a prmise the Lrd made t Abraham, Isaac and then Jacb Saul s secnd sign indicates that while Saul will ultimately be unfaithful, nevertheless the Lrd will remain faithful Saul s life is a stry f shipwrecked faith But Saul is nevertheless a man saved by faith And the Lrd remains faithful t him Finally, Saul s third sign 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 1Samuel 10 8 f 17 1Sam. 10:5 Afterward yu will cme t the hill f Gd where the Philistine garrisn is; and it shall be as sn as yu have cme there t the city, that yu will meet a grup f prphets cming dwn frm the high place with harp, tamburine, flute, and a lyre befre them, and they will be prphesying. 1Sam. 10:6 Then the Spirit f the LORD will cme upn yu mightily, and yu shall prphesy with them and be changed int anther man. Saul eventually travels a little further t the suthwest t Giben, the hill f Gd There he is met by a grup f prphets prphesying and Saul will jin them The Spirit f the Lrd will cme upn Saul and he will als prphesy The simple message cnfirms t Saul he will receive the aninting f the Spirit, which is the ultimate cnfirmatin f his selectin as king And by that Spirit he is equipped fr every gd wrk in serving the Lrd But as with the first tw signs, the lcatin freshadws the srry end t Saul s reign Giben was riginally a Hivite city After the Israelites entered the land under Jshua, the peple living in the city tricked Israel int frming a cvenant with them The cvenant prevented Jshua and subsequent generatins frm cnquering the city And it required that Jshua defend the city Jshua still enslaved the peple t serve Israel Later Jshua designated Giben a Levite city At sme pint in Saul s reign he decided t break the cvenant and cnquer the city attempting t put all the city t death We hear abut this in 2Samuel 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 1Samuel 10 9 f 17 2Sam. 21:1 Nw there was a famine in the days f David fr three years, year after year; and David sught the presence f the LORD. And the LORD said, It is fr Saul and his bldy huse, because he put the Gibenites t death. S this twn becmes a legacy t Saul s greedy ambitins Ultimately, the Gibenites get t name their retributin fr Saul s vilatin f the cvenant They call fr seven f Saul s descendants t be executed as retributin David agrees, and then later buries the bdies f the seven plus the bnes f Saul in Benjamin S Saul receives the Spirit f the Lrd in the beginning, but in the end he dies withut the Spirit And he s back in the place he started The tribe f Benjamin has its time as king And then it s buried Once again, Saul is the exceptin that prves the rule that nt by might nr by pwer, but by My Spirit, says the LORD And s it cmes t pass as Samuel said 1Sam. 10:7 It shall be when these signs cme t yu, d fr yurself what the ccasin requires, fr Gd is with yu. 1Sam. 10:8 And yu shall g dwn befre me t Gilgal; and behld, I will cme dwn t yu t ffer burnt fferings and sacrifice peace fferings. Yu shall wait seven days until I cme t yu and shw yu what yu shuld d. 1Sam. 10:9 Then it happened when he turned his back t leave Samuel, Gd changed his heart; and all thse signs came abut n that day. 1Sam. 10:10 When they came t the hill there, behld, a grup f prphets met him; and the Spirit f Gd came upn him mightily, s that he prphesied amng them. 1Sam. 10:11 It came abut, when all wh knew him previusly saw that he prphesied nw with the prphets, that the peple said t ne anther, What has happened t the sn f Kish? Is Saul als amng the prphets? 1Sam. 10:12 A man there said, Nw, wh is their father? Therefre it became a prverb: Is Saul als amng the prphets? 1Sam. 10:13 When he had finished prphesying, he came t the high place Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 1Samuel f 17 Samuel tells Saul that as he encunters these mments, particularly the final sign, d what the ccasin requires After these experiences, Samuel tells Saul he will meet him in Gilgal and they will ffer sacrifices With that Samuel dismisses Saul And all that Samuel prphesied tk place But as Saul sets ut n this jurney, an imprtant mment takes place near the beginning We re tld that the Lrd changed Saul s heart The wrding here leaves little dubt cncerning what happened T change a heart means the Lrd takes a persn s spiritual natural and bring it t life Why did Samuel include this statement in the narrative at this pint? First, it explains what s cming next Saul is abut t prphesy shwing the presence f the Lrd s Spirit The man is being prepared fr that intimate experience with the Lrd Mre imprtantly, this details prepares us t interpret an event that cmes later in Saul s stry in chapter 16 The Spirit f the Lrd will depart frm Saul at that pint We ll lk at the significance f that mment when we get there Fr nw understand that the cming f the Spirit n Saul fllws his heart change S we knw he has been made new by Gd s Spirit When Saul reached the pint f prphesying with the prphets in v.11, we re tld that the peple were amazed t see the sn f Kish suddenly amng the prphets Their shck was prbably a result f Saul s stunning appearance Prphets were generally nt a glamrus lt 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 1Samuel f 17 Hebrews describes them as men wh struck a rather pathetic pse And rightly s, since they were usually mistreated by the very nes they came t infrm But then yu have this really tall and really handsme yung man wrking with the ld, scraggly prphets It must have been a striking sight And the peple are incredulus S they ask if Saul is indeed ne f the prphets nw? Saul prphesying is clear evidence t Saul and everyne else that the Lrd s Spirit was present and wrking in him This was an utward display intended t demnstrate t the peple that Saul was indeed selected by the Lrd This display is in keeping with hw the Lrd typically wrks by His Spirit The Spirit f Gd wrks with the flesh f men t demnstrate the aninting and apprval f Gd Ntice in v.12 that smene asks Wh is their father? This questin means where is this pwer cming frm? And the answer is the Lrd in Heaven He is prmpting this display, which was the pint The peple are suppsed t see this display and make that cnclusin The peple cme t the wrng cnclusin, hwever They assume Saul has becme a prphet Time will sn tell that he hasn t becme a prphet He s becme a king But since this is the first time smene ther than a prphet has been aninted by the Spirit, their cnfusin is understandable 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 1Samuel f 17 Still, their mistake is memrialized in an idim asking Is Saul amng the prphets?? The questin is irnic, because Saul will turn ut t be the last persn yu might cnsider t be a true prphet S the fact that sme mistk him fr a prphet later becmes irnic humr After this mment, Saul prceeds t the high place t await Samuel as instructed, and a cnversatin begins 1Sam. 10:14 Nw Saul s uncle said t him and his servant, Where did yu g? And he said, T lk fr the dnkeys. When we saw that they culd nt be fund, we went t Samuel. 1Sam. 10:15 Saul s uncle said, Please tell me what Samuel said t yu. 1Sam. 10:16 S Saul said t his uncle, He tld us plainly that the dnkeys had been fund. But he did nt tell him abut the matter f the kingdm which Samuel had mentined. Naturally, Saul s uncle asks what happened t him while he was away Saul culd have tld him the whle stry Instead, he decides t nly mentin the dnkeys We culd see this as an example f Saul s humility Or we culd see this as an example f his duplicity Nw the time cmes fr the king t be revealed t the peple 1Sam. 10:17 Thereafter Samuel called the peple tgether t the LORD at Mizpah; 1Sam. 10:18 and he said t the sns f Israel, Thus says the LORD, the Gd f Israel, I brught Israel up frm Egypt, and I delivered yu frm the hand f the Egyptians and frm the pwer f all the kingdms that were ppressing yu. 1Sam. 10:19 But yu have tday rejected yur Gd, wh delivers yu frm all yur calamities and yur distresses; yet yu have said, N, but set a king ver us! Nw therefre, present yurselves befre the LORD by yur tribes and by yur clans. Samuel gives the peple the reminder f why they are receiving a king 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 1Samuel f 17 He reminds them that the Lrd has been faithful t bring them ut f Egypt and int the land by His wn hand Nevertheless, the peple rejected the Lrd s authrity ver them And demanded a king t rule them Nthing gd can cme frm a decisin frged in a desire t end the Lrd s rule ver His peple S we knw that whatever cmes next will necessarily be a prblem And s Samuel says t the peple with an minus tne that it s time t stand befre Lrd and get what they asked fr 1Sam. 10:20 Thus Samuel brught all the tribes f Israel near, and the tribe f Benjamin was taken by lt. 1Sam. 10:21 Then he brught the tribe f Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the sn f Kish was taken; but when they lked fr him, he culd nt be fund. 1Sam. 10:22 Therefre they inquired further f the LORD, Has the man cme here yet? S the LORD said, Behld, he is hiding himself by the baggage. 1Sam. 10:23 S they ran and tk him frm there, and when he std amng the peple, he was taller than any f the peple frm his shulders upward. 1Sam. 10:24 Samuel said t all the peple, D yu see him whm the LORD has chsen? Surely there is n ne like him amng all the peple. S all the peple shuted and said, Lng live the king! 1Sam. 10:25 Then Samuel tld the peple the rdinances f the kingdm, and wrte them in the bk and placed it befre the LORD. And Samuel sent all the peple away, each ne t his huse. 1Sam. 10:26 Saul als went t his huse at Gibeah; and the valiant men whse hearts Gd had tuched went with him. 1Sam. 10:27 But certain wrthless men said, Hw can this ne deliver us? And they despised him and did nt bring him any present. But he kept silent. At this pint, we might expect that Samuel wuld just pint t Saul and annunce he was the king But that s nt hw the selectin tk place Saul rises t king in three steps 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 1Samuel f 17 First, he was aninted by Samuel, indicating that the Lrd had determined t elevate him t that psitin But this aninting was entirely a private affair between Samuel and Saul Nw that the time has cme fr the peple t recgnize their new leader, the Lrd rchestrates a public mment t designate Saul In v.20 a lt is taken t designate which tribe wuld prduce the king And Benjamin is chsen by lt Then the Matrite family, which was Saul s family Finally, Saul is named by lt Clearly, this shws that the Lrd was wrking t ensure the prcess f lts arrived at the prper persn The prcess may have lked randm t an utsider But the peple f Israel understd instinctively that the utcme was a reflectin f the Lrd s will And it s still a truth tday, that n utcme in life is utside the cntrl f the Lrd When it fell t Saul, they culdn t find him S the peple inquired f the Lrd, thrugh Samuel, has this man cme yet? In ther wrds, they wnder if perhaps he has yet t be brn But Samuel answers that Saul is hiding amng the baggage The wrd fr baggage is a general Hebrew wrd fr armry r furniture r jars S it s likely Saul was hiding behind vessels used in the sacrificial wrship at this altar It s cmical, f curse, but why is Saul hiding? It seems t be a cmbinatin f fear and humility 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

15 1Samuel f 17 Saul is nt seeking t elevate himself at this pint, which is admirable And s the peple g lking fr him And when they find him, they realize he is a head taller than anyne else in Israel Certainly, this man must be the ne Gd has chsen, because...well, just lk at him! This is the first cnfirmatin that the Lrd s plan t appeal t the fleshly desires f the peple has been successful The peple are taken by Saul s physique Samuel feeds their fleshly respnse saying, See, there is n ne else like this guy And t that we get the predictable respnse, Lng live the king In ther wrds, the peple are cnvinced that Saul is a perfect match because f his apperance T be fair, they knw he was selected by lts t But I wnder what their respnse might have been if the lts had fallen upn a weak, shrt and cmely fellw Wuld the peple have been s quick t embrace him? Prbably nt And in time their fleshly impulses will prve their unding Samuel tells the peple the rdinances f the king, which are the rules that guide a king in Israel These were prbably similar t the rules Samuel gave the peple in the first place The king will d whatever he wishes And the peple will have n recurse Saul then retreats t his hme in Gilbeah, which is nly abut three miles nrth f the Old City f Jerusalem 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

16 1Samuel f 17 Yu can stand n Gilbeah tday, a suburb f the city f Jerusalem, and see the ld city clearly In that sense, we culd say that Saul was clse But he misses the mark He was Gd s chice, yes But it was a respnse t the peple s sinful desires And s he is the exceptin that will ultimately prve the rule Gd knew that Saul needed mre than merely ppular supprt t reign He wuld need military might t ensure he culd cnslidate pwer as king S the Lrd inclines the hearts f valiant men t supprt and defend their new king These men accmpany Saul t his hme But all is nt well in this new kingdm Sme wrthless fellws decided that this man culdn t be the right chice S immediately Saul is faced with ppsitin As we ll see, the Lrd was cmmitted t Saul, even thugh He s appinted a man f the peple s chsing, nt a man after Gd s heart He will defend Saul against these wrthless fellws Saul was nt withut wisdm hwever S he was wisely verlked their ppsitin fr the time being There wuld be a time t cnslidate his pwer And nw was nt that time 2015 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

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