Samuel Anoints Saul
v1 Then Samuel took a jar of oil and poured the oil over Saul’s head. He kissed Saul. He said, "The Lord has anointed you as the leader of the people that he owns. v2 After you leave me today you will meet two men. They will be near Rachel’s grave at Zelzah. This is in the country that belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. The men will say, 'Someone has found the donkeys that you have been looking for. Your father has stopped thinking about his donkeys. Now he is worried about you. He keeps asking, ‘What shall I do about my son?’
v3 Then you will go on from there until you reach the big tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They are going to the town of Bethel to worship God. One man will carry three young goats. Another man will have three loaves of bread. The other man will have a leather bag full of wine. v4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread. You must accept the bread. v5 Then you must go to the place of worship at the town of Gibeah. There is a Philistine camp there. When you arrive, you will meet a group of prophets. They will come down from the place of worship. They will be playing music on their instruments: harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. And they will be prophesying. v6 The Spirit of the Lord will take control of you. You will prophesy too. You will become a different person. v7 When all these things happen, do whatever you need to do. God is with you.
v8 Go ahead of me to the town of Gilgal. I will certainly come down to you there and give burnt sacrifices and friendship offerings. You must wait for 7 days. Then I will come and tell you what to do."
Commentary
Samuel anointed Saul in private first. He told Saul that God had anointed him as a leader. Men did not choose Saul, God chose him. In verses 17-25, all the Israelites saw that God chose Saul. Then in 11:1-15 the Israelites gave honor to Saul in public. The phrase ‘the people that he (God) owns’ (verse 1) refers to the people of Israel. These people belonged to God. God was their king. The people did not belong to Saul. Saul was a leader under God’s rule. Samuel kissed Saul. This showed respect for him as a ruler.
Saul was probably very surprised by what Samuel said to him. He needed evidence to prove that Samuel’s words were true. So, Samuel told him about three things that would happen on his way home. This would show him that God had especially chosen him. We do not know where Zelzah (verse 2) and Tabor (verse 3) were. And we do not know whether they were towns or just an area of land. Rachel was Jacob’s wife. She died when she gave birth to their son Benjamin (Genesis 35:16-20). The tribe of Benjamin includes the people who came from the family of Benjamin.
The first event showed that Samuel’s words about the donkeys were true. Saul did not have to think about the donkeys anymore. The second event showed that he was a very important person. The three men had food for the priest. But they gave some of it to Saul instead.
The third event happened at Samuel’s home town. The Philistines kept attacking the land of Israel. They had a camp at Gibeah. In 9:16 God said that the king would save his people from the Philistines. The group of prophets (verse 5) was different to single prophets. The single prophets listened to what God said and told people God’s words. The groups of prophets usually lived together near places of worship. They prophesied when the Spirit of God took control of them. This means that they played instruments and they sang. They shouted and danced with great excitement. They may have looked as if they were out of control. Harps and lyres are instruments with strings. Tambourines make a sound when you shake them. Flutes are instruments that you blow into.
Saul's New Character
v9 Saul left Samuel and went on his journey. As Saul left, God gave him a new character. And everything happened just as Samuel had said that it would. v10 They arrived at Gibeah and a group of prophets met them. The Spirit of God took control of Saul. He prophesied with the prophets. v11 There were some people who had known Saul for a long time. They saw him prophesying. They said, "What has happened to the son of Kish? Has Saul really become a prophet?"
v12 A man who lived there asked, "Who is the leader of these prophets?" Now there is this famous phrase "Has Saul really become a prophet?" This is when it started. v13 When Saul stopped prophesying he went up to the place of worship.
v14 Saul’s uncle asked Saul and his servant, "Where have you been?" Saul said, "We were looking for the donkeys. We could not find them so we went and visited Samuel."
v15 Saul’s uncle said, "What did Samuel say to you."
v16 Saul said, "He told us that someone had found the donkeys." But Saul did not tell his uncle that Samuel had anointed him as king.
Commentary
The above events showed Saul that Samuel’s words were true. Everything happened just as he said it would. This proved that God was with Saul. Saul could not change himself, but the Spirit of God changed him. Then he had to do what God told him.
The groups of prophets had had to learn to prophesy. So people were surprised when Saul started to prophesy. They knew that no one had trained him. He had not behaved like this before. In verse 10, the "Spirit of God" means the Holy Spirit. The phrase "he prophesied" means that Saul behaved like a prophet. It does not mean that he became a real prophet. The same thing happened to Saul in 19:24. But it did not affect the way that he behaved afterward. The Holy Spirit only changed Saul’s outer behavior. The Holy Spirit did not enter Saul in the way that he entered people in New Testament times.
Many people did not like groups of prophets. The prophets behaved in strange ways. Perhaps people thought that a bad thing had happened to Saul. Perhaps they did not want him to join with the prophets. In verse 12 the question "Who is the leader of these prophets?" was an insult. It meant "We do not know their leader so these prophets are not important." The people had no respect for the prophets. And the people had no respect for Saul when he behaved like the prophets.
In Acts 2, some people insulted the disciples (people who followed Jesus) when the Holy Spirit came. The people thought that the disciples had drunk too much wine. 1 Corinthians 2:14 refers to a person who does not have the Holy Spirit. This person cannot understand what the Holy Spirit does.
Saul’s uncle did not know that Kish had lost his donkeys. Saul told his uncle only part of what Samuel had said to him. Saul kept everything else a secret.
Saul Becomes the First King of Israel
v17 Samuel sent a message to all the people of Israel. He told them to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. v18 He said to them, ‘This is a message from the Lord, the God of Israel. The Lord says, “I led you Israelites out from the country of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control. And from the control of other nations that gave you trouble.” v19 The Lord saves you from all your troubles and difficult situations. Now you have refused to accept the Lord your God. You said, “No. We want a king to rule us. So, come and stand in front of God. Stand together in your tribes and as families."
v20 Each tribe went forward. God chose the *tribe of Benjamin. v21 Each family group from the tribe of Benjamin went forward. And God chose the family group of Matri. Then God chose Saul, son of Kish, from the family of Matri. They looked for Saul but no one could find him. v22 So they asked the Lord, ‘Has Saul come here yet?’ And the Lord said, ‘Yes, but he is hiding among the luggage’.
v23 So they ran to Saul and brought him out. When Saul stood with the people, you could see his head above everyone else’s head. v24 Samuel said to all the people, ‘Here is the man that God has chosen. There is no one else among the people as good as he is’. Then the people shouted, ‘May the king live for a long time’.
v25 Samuel explained to the people all the duties and rights of a king. He wrote them in a book. He put the book in the holy place. Then Samuel told the people to go to their own homes. v26 Saul went to his home at Gibeah. A group of brave men went with him. The men went with Saul because God gave them the desire. v27 There were some other men who caused trouble. They said, "We do not think that this man can save us." They did not approve of Saul. They did not bring him any gifts. However, Saul said nothing.
Commentary
In chapter 8 the Israelites went to Samuel and asked him for a king. God said that he would give them a king. So Samuel sent the people home. Now Samuel called the people together again and gave them their king. We do not know whether there was a short or a long time between these two meetings.
First, Samuel reminded the Israelites that they refused the Lord as their king. Samuel did not declare Saul as their king. Instead, the people saw that God chose Saul. We do not know how this happened. In the Old Testament, the priests used the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30). We do not know what these were. However, they were a definite way that God told the priest his decision. They involved a choice. This contrasts with the messages of the prophets which could be true or false. Each tribe had thousands of people. Probably the leader of each tribe went forward. In verse 19, ‘stand in front of God’ may mean that they stood in front of an altar at Mizpah. Each family group had hundreds of people in it. God was able to choose Saul even when Saul was not there.
Saul knew that God had chosen him but Saul hid. Perhaps he was afraid and did not want to be king. But when the people saw their king, they were very happy. They thought that Saul would be a good king. The Israelites had never had a king before. So Samuel had to explain about the king. The king was not to be like the kings of the nations around Israel. A king had duties. God expected him to do particular things. He had to lead the people the proper way. The king also had rights. He could tell people to do things for him. God also had rules for a king. He gave these rules to Moses in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. The ‘holy place’ (verse 25) was the place of worship. It may have been a building. When Samuel finished all this, the people went home.
God was kind to Saul. He gave Saul a group of brave men to help him. They stayed with him at Gibeah. But a few people did not like Saul. They wanted to make trouble. They refused the man that God chose. This often happens, even now, when God chooses someone for a job. Saul behaved the right way. He said nothing.
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