Yesterday we learned that while Saul and the servant sought the donkeys, the Lord was revealing to Samuel that he's about to meet the first king of Israel. He said, "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel." Prophecies from the Lord are specific. We've talked before in our study of the Old Testament about the proof of being a prophet and about how a prophet had to be able to accurately predict, with some specific details, something that will happen in the near future. The prediction had to come true exactly as the prophet said it would. If the prediction for the near future did not come true, nothing the man said about the far off future was to be trusted. The Lord didn't give His prophets vague, unspecific messages that were open to all sorts of interpretation; He clearly said what He meant to say because there's no point in giving people messages that can't be understood or that won't be recognized when the events come to pass. The Lord tells Samuel to expect a man to arrive at this same time on the next day and He tells him the man will be a Benjamite. This is how Samuel will know he's anointing the right man.
When Samuel arrives back at Ramah he spots the stranger in town. The Lord says to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern My people." This is where we concluded yesterday's study. Saul spots Samuel coming through the gate to the city. "Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, 'Would you please tell me where the seer's house is?' 'I am the seer,' Samuel replied. 'Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will send you on your way and tell you all that is in your heart. As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found.'" (1 Samuel 9:18-20a)
Samuel says, "I'm the seer and I've been expecting you. You don't need to worry about those donkeys that wandered off three days ago. They've already been recovered." Saul has said nothing to him about any lost donkeys, much less that they have been missing for three days, but Samuel knows all about them and knows exactly how long Saul has been looking for them. On top of that, it's clear to Saul that Samuel knew he was coming. Samuel isn't the least bit surprised to find this stranger waiting for him at the gate; indeed, he appears to be ready to receive him with great hospitality. He also reveals that he's aware there are things weighing heavily on Saul's heart, for he says that in the morning he will "tell you all that is in your heart". Many Bible scholars have taken this to mean Saul was very concerned for the nation of Israel and that he was deeply troubled by the way the Philistines kept relentlessly making incursions into Israelite territory. We won't find Saul being a very spiritually-minded man but he loves his country and is a civically-minded man. He's worried about the future of Israel but may have thought to himself, "What can I do, though? I have a desire to lead my people and help them get out from under the oppression of the Philistines but how can somebody like me deliver my people?" Samuel now gives a very clear hint as to how Saul can help his people: "And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?" (1 Samuel 9:20b)
Saul is aware that the majority of the Israelites have decided they want a king over them. In his heart I think he has political aspirations but believes he has no hope of being considered for the position of king. Certainly he has not put himself forward as a candidate. He's busy going about business as usual for his father's estate and no doubt he expects to spend the rest of his life doing the same things he's always done. When Samuel says what he says to him about all Israel turning toward him, he realizes this is a reference to the kingship. We know he does because this is how he replies: "Saul answered, 'But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?'" (1 Samuel 9:21)
Saul may have dreamed of becoming king and leading the army of Israel but he did not believe he had any hope of seeing that dream come true. His father is a well-to-do man who is highly respected, as we were told earlier in our chapter, but this family is from the smallest tribe of Israel and from the smallest clan of the tribe of Benjamin. Compared to men of influence from the larger tribes, Saul's father Kish is really just a big fish in a small pond. This is not a family from which anyone would expect the first king to be elected. Outside of their own clan, people probably don't even know who Kish and Saul are.
Samuel pays no attention to Saul's surprised and modest protests. He continues on with his plans for the day---plans which were put in place as soon as the Lord advised him the king was coming. "Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the hall and seated them at the head of those who were invited---about thirty in number. Samuel said to the cook, 'Bring the piece of meat I gave you, the one I told you to lay aside. So the cook took up the thigh with what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, 'Here is what has been kept for you. Eat because it was set aside for you for this occasion from the time I said, 'I have invited guests.' And Saul dined with Samuel that day." (1 Samuel 9:22-24) In yesterday's passage the women at the well told Saul that the seer was coming to attend a special feast. The women apparently didn't know the reason for the feast but now we find out that it was planned by Samuel after the Lord told him to expect the arrival of the king. When Saul was speaking with the women at the well he had no idea that this feast was being planned in his honor! How could he have known since he was unaware that the seer was expecting him or that the seer would anoint him as king of Israel? Now he finds himself seated as the most important guest at the feast, being served the best portion of the meat. In treating him this way in front of thirty esteemed and influential guests, Samuel is clearly putting him forward as the preferred candidate for the position of king. And since Samuel is a prophet, the people know that the person he puts forward as king is the man the Lord has told him to promote.
Saul's day has turned around for the better! When he arrived at Ramah, exhausted and frustrated and hungry, and with weightier matters than a few lost donkeys on his heart, he never imagined that the Lord had told the seer to expect his arrival, much less that he'd soon be seated as guest of honor at the home of Israel's judge and most well-known prophet of the time. In his wildest dreams it never occurred to him that his political and military aspirations had any chance of coming true. While he went about his duties on his father's estate, he may have sometimes daydreamed about how he'd govern the nation if he were king or about how he'd plan battle strategies against the Philistines, but he had no inkling he'd soon have the opportunity to do the things he wanted to do for his country. As we've said before, Saul won't be a very godly man but that doesn't mean the Lord won't be able to use him politically and militarily to do some good things for Israel. Saul has valuable skills and talents that can be of benefit to his nation. In tomorrow's passage Samuel will speak privately with him regarding what he is being called to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment