1Samuel chapter 10 comments

 

1Samuel 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 hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? 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.

 

Samuel executes the office of a prophet, anointing Saul to be king, under the Lord’s anointing.

 

Psalm 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

 

Samuel pays Saul rightful homage as God’s anointed. He then rightly predicts events that will confirm to Saul his appointment. Finally, Saul is commanded to wait for Samuel to come to him at Gilgal. We don’t learn until later about Saul’s failure. Here it is assumed he will be true to God’s anointing.

 

In the three events to befall Saul immediately I see three things. First, he is blessed by an earthly burden, the search for his father’s animals, being relieved and his father’s concern turning to him. Then, he will receive an offering from the men he meets, as they give him two of three loaves of their bread offering that would be for God at Bethel. Then, he will be born again in a sense and in type,and receive the Spirit of God upon him and prophesy as a prophet.

 

6  And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

 

These things are tokens of God’s approval. But Samuel is to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings at Gilgal. Saul prophesying does not give him that authority. That belongs to Samuel.

 

1Samuel 10:9 ¶  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. 10  And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11  And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? 12  And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? 13  And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. 14  And Saul’s uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel. 15  And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. 16  And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

 

God fulfilled Samuel’s prophecies for Saul and game Saul the inspiration to respond to those signs. Saul, though, is keeping it a secret from his uncle of Samuel’s anointing of him.

 

John Gill wrote that this other heart was not given in a moral or spiritual sense but in the wisdom and prudence to govern men. Notice that the Spirit of God came on him but did not indwell him. This is much how God dealt with Samson.

 

1Samuel 10:17 ¶  And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh; 18  And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: 19  And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands. 20  And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. 21  When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. 22  Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. 23  And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. 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. But he held his peace.

 

God has already chosen Saul to be king but He has Samuel create this ceremony to break His choice on the people in a way they could deal with, a way that was plausible. Saul was reluctant and had to be fetched.

 

In verse 19 God reaffirmed what He had said previously revealed to us in chapter 8. The demand for a human king was a rejection of God’s rule. It is noted at the end of the chapter that Saul did not have universal acceptance as monarch over Israel.