Wednesday Bible Study: All the kings, men part 2

 

Yes, not your typical beginning of a WBS post, but I mentioned last time that I think perhaps Saul wasn't exactly the sharpest sheep in the fold, and we'll be expanding on that as we go on.  Not to pick on him, but to try and establish that, in picking Saul, God was trying to show Israel looks don't make the man.  Another lesson that didn't take- and still doesn't.

When we left off, Samuel was about to start slowly leading Saul to the point where he could announce him as the king God picked.  The first attempt is a rather sideways connection between Saul and the fact that Israel had just demanded a King:

1Sa 9:20  (Samuel speaking to Saul) As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?" 

 

Plain English- You and your Father's house is what Israel was asking for! Then, after Saul goes through a long drawn out version of "Who, me?", Samuel brings him into the feast awaiting them in the prophet's house- which was put together just for Saul:

1Sa 9:23  And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, 'Put it aside.'"
1Sa 9:24  So the cook took up the leg and what was on it and set them before Saul. And Samuel said, "See, what was kept is set before you. Eat, because it was kept for you until the hour appointed, that you might eat with the guests." So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 

After eating and sleeping on it overnight, Samuel spoke directly the next morning.  Getting him to send his guy Friday on ahead (another sign, perhaps- Daddy Kish saying,  "Don't let that big dummy out of your sight!"), Samuel makes things perfectly clear by anointing Saul as king.  Then he gives him 3 signs that (he hopes) will prove to Saul that God did indeed pick him.  The first is a sign meant to build his self-esteem, by showing his father DOES worry about him:

1Sa 10:2  When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, 'The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, "What shall I do about my son?"'

The second is a sign to show that God will take care of his needs:

1Sa 10:3  Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.
1Sa 10:4  And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.

And the third is a sign of God's supernatural favor on him:

1Sa 10:5  After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying.
1Sa 10:6  Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 

 

Then Samuel tells him to do what he deems right, until Samuel will meet him 7 days hence to declare him king before the people.  And this itself will be a sign- a sign Saul will later show he failed to heed.  But for now, the signs came true.  While the writer doesn't go into the fulfillment of the second sign, and saves the first for last, he has an interesting incident during the second sign.  Let me give you the text, and then chop it up:

1Sa 10:9  When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.
1Sa 10:10  When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.
1Sa 10:11  And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, "What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
1Sa 10:12  And a man of the place answered, "And who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" 

First: "Another heart": Samuel had told him he would be turned into 'another man', and the commentators differ on what exactly that means. One says it gave him a clearer view of the Philistines around them, and a desire to overthrow their oppression; another explains he now was able to, paraphrased, think like a king.  Myself, I attach it to what it was attached to, and believe he now was able to consider spiritual things for the first time, because he then joined the prophets in their prophesies.

Second: "all those who knew him previously"... this is ancient Hebrew for, I think, "Look at this!  The dummy is now a prophet?"  But now, their opinion of Saul was going to have to change, as pointed out by this mysterious 'man of the place', who took their mention of Saul's father and said, "So, who is YOUR Father?", knowing they would claim God as Father- and now God was Saul's Father as well, which backs up my thoughts on the first item.  This is the first step in his becoming 'not such a dummy'.

But the rift between Father and son, unstated as such, continues in that when he reaches the edges of dear old dad's territory, it's not dad that greets him:

1Sa 10:13  When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.
1Sa 10:14  Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, "Where did you go?" And he said, "To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel."

This uncle is someone you meet by name soon- Abner, the head of Saul's future army, and loyal to the end.  Now, just in case you aren't convinced of my theory (for theory it is) of Saul's family dynamics, consider.  David's father sent him out on errands just like Saul's- for example, the one that ended in the killing of Goliath- but when he had to go on the run, dad-and mom- accompanied him.  Saul becomes king, and though Uncle Abner (1 Chronicles 9:39 is your proof of this) became part of his staff, dear ol' dad NEVER gets mentioned again, except in the phrase "Saul, son of Kish" and genealogies.

Now, one pregnant statement from Samuel to Saul was, "Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you." 'What your hand finds to do' basically means, 'act according to circumstances'.  And when we see how Saul handles that end of things next time, we'll see that being 'another man' isn't as easy as it looks.