Michael's Abbey Bible Study - 1 Samuel Chapter 10

1 Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him and said, "Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over His inheritance? Samuel takes out a flask of sacred oil to anoint Saul. Holy anointing oil is specified in Exodus 30:23-25. And while when Samuel was a boy the priests neglected and violated the law regularly, it is likely that Samuel corrected that in his many decades as judge of Israel and prophet of God. The mixture would be liquid myrrh, fragrant cinnamon, fragrant cane, cassia, and olive oil.
This anointing was done privately. Later Samuel will show Israel that the Lord chose Saul by casting of lots.
Samuel again uses a rhetorical question to state something profound. It is not Samuel who is anointing him, but God was through Samuel his agent. This is a reminder that even though he will be king instead of God, he is still responsible to God. This is also the meaning of Saul being ruler over God's inheritance, which refers to both the land and people of Israel as promised in the covenant with Abraham. Saul will be the caretaker, like when Joseph was put in charge of Potiphar's entire household or when he was put in charge of all of Egypt. The owners were always Potiphar and Pharaoh, just like Israel will still belong to God after Saul becomes king. The word translated here as ruler is nagid in Hebrew, which was translated as prince in 9:16. Just like then, this is short of being king.
2 "When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, 'The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, "What shall I do about my son?"' Now Samuel tells Saul what will happen on the way back to his father's estate with a lot of detail, and a powerful sign. Scripture doesn't specify why there were these prophecies about such mundane things. But the normal purpose of signs and wonders is to demonstrate that God is operating at that time and through that person. In this way several things would be absolutely confirmed to Saul that are important for a king to keep in mind. First, that he is under God who knows all and is all powerful. Even the tiniest detail of the future is known to Him. Second, that his appointment to be king was real and from God. And finally, that Samuel was indeed the prophet of God and his words should be heeded. Also, this allowed Saul to test Samuel to be a true prophet of God. And these signs will serve to confirm that God will be with him when he confronts the enemies of Israel.
3 "Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the oak of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine; Going up to God is a way of saying they were on their way to make a sacrifice at Bethel, although this was a relatively short journey for them. The list of things they were carrying are the combination required for a sacrifice according to Mosaic law, an animal, grain and drink offering.
4 and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. Two of the three loaves of bread being carried will be given to Saul. The grain offering and drink offering goes to the priests. At the meal the previous day the portion of the sacrifice set aside for Saul was what would have gone to Samuel. Thus here is a second time that the priest's share was given to Saul. This emphasizes that being king is a sacred duty like the priesthood, responsible to God and held to a higher standard. Not being a priest, let alone not being a Levite, Saul would likely have rejected such an offer. But Samuel specifically tells him to take them. As Saul is now God's anointed, even if not yet king, it would be right for him to receive such gifts.
Notable is that the knowledge of Saul being selected to be king is only known to Samuel, Saul, and God. Thus, it was divine prompting that led these men to give the majority of their grain offering to Saul. God's hand continues to move.
5 "Afterward you will come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. This was not a particularly sacred location, but the name of the city. The city Gibeath-Elohim literally means hill of God. The mention of the garrison being Philistine means it was constructed by them during one of the periods of Philistine oppression, not that it was currently occupied by Philistines. This was well inside Israel territory at this time, a few miles north of Jerusalem. That this was used as a point of reference is foreshadowing of Saul's delivering Israel from Philistine oppression.
That these prophets were coming down from the high place means they were returning from worship there. They were continuing to prophecy as they walked home. It is certainly possible those who had instruments were still playing them as they went.
Some translations use the plural for the instruments. However, in Hebrew The words for the instruments are all singular. Those translators who use the plural are making the assumption that this is figurative language rather than literally only one of each instrument. And they assume that Samuel was imprecise here and just generally meant they would have instruments. However, Samuel's prophecy is very specific in all other points, so this is likely also specifically referring to one of each instrument. Thus this would be another confirmation of the accuracy of the prophecy.
Either way, it is very likely that there were far more prophets than instruments. Worship is more than just music. It is also reading and speaking scripture, teaching Godly principals, praying, and giving thanks to God.
6 "Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. The Spirit, or ruach of Yahweh only appears in 1st & 2nd Samuel in connection with Saul and David, the Lord's anointed. The verb come is tzolchah in Hebrew, which really means rush rather than just come. The Spirit rushing upon is only in the stories of Samson, Saul and David.
Saul will then prophesy with the prophets. That he is changed into another man does not mean he will cease to be Saul. This is more like being equipped by the Spirit to do things he could not do on his own, like winning battles or prophesying.
7 "It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. So after these three signs come to pass Samuel instructs Saul to act according to what is required by the circumstances, literally "do what your hand finds", in the sure knowledge that God is with him. What that action will be is not specified, only that it will be apparent. This is the only place where Saul is told that God will be with him in scripture.
8 "And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do." Gilgal was one of the four cities on Samuel's annual circuit as judge of Israel. But he was no longer in that position, which was going to be replaced by the king anyway. The reason for waiting for seven days is not specified, other than Samuel not being there before that. It may simply have been how it would be. But it could have been for a religious reason, such as a sabbath rest.
9 Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. The Hebrew is literally God gave him another heart. This is an expression for a new person with a new understanding. This probably refers to the Spirit coming upon him, which would give him a new perspective. Another way of putting it is Saul was now equipped by the Spirit to fulfill his new role.
10 When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. The Spirit of God coming on him mightily does not mean the Spirit wasn't already on him. It does mean the Spirit rushed on him beyond the normal, and this resulted in an extraordinary effect caused by the Spirit. In this case, Saul prophesied with other prophets. This was an external sign to others that Saul was God's anointed. When the Spirit would come on Samson he would have mighty strength.
There is a tendency for people to think that the Holy Spirit did not operate prior to Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension. This is usually because of a misunderstanding of what Jesus says about the Spirit in the Gospels.
John 16:7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."
However, scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit operated before this. Luke 1:15 says that John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. (This was a unique occurrence in scripture.) In Nehemiah 9:20 it explicitly states that God gave his "good Spirit" to instruct the Israelites, along with all the other things God did for them like giving them manna to eat. In Psalm 51:11 David asks God not to take his Holy Spirit away from him. The prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah all wrote of the Holy Spirit operating in their time.
Looking at scripture as a whole, what fits John 16:7 best is that the coming of the Holy Spirit upon all believers was the next step in God's plan of redemption for humanity. And Jesus ascending was the step prior. Regardless, we should not be so concerned with understanding everything about God because it's not possible. It isn't even necessary. It is pure arrogance to think we are even capable of understanding everything about God. We should try to understand what scripture reveals to us about God, and the third person of God which is the Holy Spirit, especially to keep us from error or even apostasy.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.
We should test every spirit, because we are easily deceived. If we were not, Paul wouldn't warn people not to be deceived over and over. How we test spirits is with scripture. When something contradicts scripture it not from the Holy Spirit, it is from an unholy spirit or our own fleshly desires.
11 It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" All who knew Saul would be the neighbors, those who grew up with him, and the older adults who were there as he grew up in his father's house. This was the visible evidence of the Spirit falling upon him, and was confirmation that he was favored by God. Thus when Saul would be publicly chosen as king he would be accepted by those who followed Yahweh.
12 A man there said, "Now, who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" The meaning of the "Now, who is their father?" is not known. There is no explanation or context given because this was a common saying or proverb of the time. Any attempt at explanation is speculation. That being said, what is clear is this does not refer to Saul being the leader of the prophets as the end of this verse and verse 11 asks if he is numbered among the prophets. A leader would not be questioned as to membership. It is possible that it concerns the origin of the prophecy, as God is viewed as the father of humanity even in the Old Testament. Thus, who is your father is a rhetorical question that this must be from God. However, that is just speculation.
13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. The high place in verse 5 refers to the holy place the other prophets would be coming from when they will meet Saul. It is possible that this verse refers to Saul going there to worship himself, and that would certainly be understandable for one who had just experience the rushing of the Holy Spirit upon them. On the other hand, it could simply refer to the location of his father's estate.
14 Now Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, "Where did you go?" And he said, "To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel." 15 Saul's uncle said, "Please tell me what Samuel said to you." 16 So Saul said to his uncle, "He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned. This interaction between Saul and his uncle informs us that Saul kept the full events to himself. This was probably at the direction of Samuel. That he would be king will be revealed by the drawing of lots, making it clear that this was the will of God and not Samuel. Samuel was still the prophet of God, widely respected and listened to as prophet. That was why Kish's head servant said that all Samuel says comes true in 9:6. This is probably why Saul's uncle was so keen to hear what the prophet of God said to Saul. At issue was the failure of Samuel's choice of his sons to be judge of Israel. This most likely meant that anyone he even seemed to be responsible for choosing would be questioned and not supported. Thus keeping this under wraps was important and using a method that could only be guided by the hand of God was needed.
17 Thereafter Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah; It is unknown how long has passed between the time Samuel dismissed the elders of Israel who came to Ramah to demand a king until now when Samuel summons them to Mizpah to give them a king. It was probably months, mostly likely less than a year, but was at least weeks.
18 and he said to the sons of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.' Samuel foot stomps that this is from God. All prophecy was from God. But by beginning with this phrase he is stating that he is faithfully relaying God's word. The word from God begins with a reminder that Yahweh delivered them from Egypt and all the others who oppressed them.
19 "But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have said, 'No, but set a king over us!' Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans." The hammer falls as Yahweh declares you have rejected me in favor of a human king. So be it. Implied is that they will regret this. So they are instructed to organize by tribes and clans within each tribe so lots may be drawn. This was a way of randomly choosing, like drawing straws. In this case, God is expected to guide the choosing so the one he wants will be picked. That it comes to Saul shows that God's hand was operating here.
In the New Testament, we are expected to use our wisdom to make the best choice we can. When choosing a replacement for Judas in Acts 1:23-26, they narrowed the list to two candidates who were both a good choice, then drew lots to pick one of them. Scripture doesn't say that God intervened. But it doesn't matter because either one was a good choice.
20 Thus Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the Matrite family was taken. And Saul the son of Kish was taken; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. This details how the drawing of lots occurred, Benjamin from among all the tribes, and so on until Saul was chosen. Interestingly, when choosing from the family, (clan is probably more accurate,) Saul was not present, yet the lat fell to him. It would seem that the process involved representative tokens for each possible choice, and this probably was so at each level rather than pointing to people themselves. Saul already knew he was chosen, but was not present for the drawing of lots.
22 Therefore they inquired further of the Lord, "Has the man come here yet?" So the Lord said, "Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage." The inquiring further of the Lord does not mean casting of lots, but a more direct communication, almost certainly only with Samuel. The plural pronoun most likely means the people turned to Samuel as the intermediary between God and Israel.
Many commentators and preachers make a big deal about Saul hiding among the baggage. While it is certainly possible that Saul was hiding because he didn't think he was worthy or up to the task of being the king, that is purely conjecture that is not found in scripture. What is detailed in scripture is that everything up to now was done in secret between Saul, Samuel and God. Thus Saul steering clear of the proceedings is more likely due to Saul trying to maintain that secrecy. Him being present prior to being selected would have been inappropriate as he wasn't one of the leaders of Israel yet, and it could have tainted the perceptions of the drawing of lots. It's like the person who knows about the surprise party pretending he's caught off guard by keeping far away from the party preparations.
23 So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. This repetition regarding the height of Saul emphasizes the shallowness of the people in wanting a human king instead of God.
24 Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people." So all the people shouted and said, "Long live the king!" The language Samuel uses to proclaim Saul to be the king is deliberate and formulaic to protect him from potential rivals. This is the one Yahweh has chosen makes it clear that this is a divine anointing. That he is incomparable emphasizes that he has sole claim to the throne. However, it is not Samuel who calls him king. It is the people who first declare Saul to be king.
25 Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. Samuel told the people the regulations of the monarchy, then wrote them down, and then placed them before Yahweh by placing them in a sanctuary, most likely either the altar at Mizpah, or the one Samuel had built at Ramah. Samuel was the intermediary between Yahweh and Israel, like Moses was. And he would be the intermediary between Yahweh and the king as well. So it was fitting for him to write down the constitution for this monarchy. It is likely that a copy of the rules of the monarchy was also written for Saul to refer to.
In Deuteronomy 17:18 a future king is directed to write for himself a copy of the law of Moses in front of the priests. Thus he would have his own copy directly at hand to refer to. Of course, leadership language in the Old Testament often meant an underling would do the actual labor. But that is not always the case.
And once again Samuel sends the people to their homes as he did in the past, not Saul.
26 Saul also went to his house at Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. Saul also returns home, but not alone. Warriors whose hearts were touched by God to serve as warriors for the king went with Saul. They were chayil, men of worth, literally men of strength, ability, wealth and military might. As for Saul, he went back to work on his father's estate as before. Despite being declared king by the leadership of Israel, he humbly went back to farming. It is most likely that Kish made a place for these warriors, providing them with shelter and food. And it is likely that they trained in the ways of battle to be prepared to serve their king. While Saul continued to train to be a king by being a servant to his father and to work the land. Shepherd leadership is a common theme in both testaments. Even Pharaoh made a claim to be the benevolent shepherd as one of the two badges of his office was a shepherd's crook. (The other was the flail which was used to thresh grain, and could be used as a weapon to defend livestock from predators.)
27 But certain worthless men said, "How can this one deliver us?" And they despised him and did not bring him any present. But he kept silent. Beliyyaal in Hebrew means wicked, worthless, and/or good for nothing. Grumblers are going to grumble. Haters are going to hate. They were themselves despicable, and despised Saul. Tradition called for tribute to a new king. But these would not do so and therefore made their distain for Saul public.
Saul kept silent, but took note. That is a wise leader to show patience, and also take note of who supports them and who does not.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.

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