First Samuel 10:8

The Bible says in First Samuel 10:8-16, “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.[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.” Saul had a tremendous start. We have said this more than once because it is made obvious to us over and over. God gave Saul natural abilities. God put Saul in the nation of Israel and evidently in a great family. God brought the prophet Samuel to Saul and gave Saul the word of God and the will of God. Saul was converted. Saul was given the Spirit. Saul prophesied with the prophets. What a great start. Everything lined up just right. Of course, if you know the end of the story, then you know that it ended terribly for Saul. How greatly he failed. Saul’s life is not known for how it started, but for how it ended. The Lord put the story of Saul in the Bible so we will learn from it. Be careful. Do not let happen to you what happened to Saul. Stay close to the Lord. Keep your priorities right. Watch your heart. When you fail, quickly ask the Lord to forgive you before you go further down the path of sin and further away from God. The opposite is also true. Maybe you have gone away from the Lord for a long time, and now you are closer to the end. Saul was known for what he did at the end: not for how he began. Serve the Lord Jesus at the end of your life, and that is what you will be known for.

The Bible says in First Samuel 10:17-19, “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.” One of the reasons that the Israelites wanted a king was a bad memory. If you are going to keep following the Lord throughout your life, there are certain things that you must forget and there are certain things that you must remember. Forget the things that are bad, such as your sins. That is, forget about them if you know that Jesus is your Savior and therefore your sins are forgiven. But people who are not forgiven need to remember their sins so that they will want to be cleansed through confession to Christ. The Israelites had forgotten how much God had taken care of them. They forgot that God was their king, and that they did not need a human king like the heathen.

The Bible says in First Samuel 10:20-24, “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 inquired 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.” This is the day that Saul was to be anointed as King of Israel, and yet he is still unsure of himself and shy. Those are better attributes than would later be his when he was king and fearful and arrogant and murderous thinking that he might lose his position as king.

The Bible says in First Samuel 10:25-27, “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.” Of course, Samuel was a writer of books of the Bible. As far as we know Samuel wrote Judges, Ruth, First Samuel, and part of Second Samuel. God touched the hearts of certain men over the ages to write books that became part of the Bible. Why were the words of certain men God’s words, but words of other men were not? It says in Second Peter 1:21, “ For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” It also says in Second Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

First Samuel 10:26 shows another way in which Saul got off to a good start. He surrounded himself with the right type of people. They were the ones “whose hearts God had touched.” How could someone who started so well end up so terribly? That is because every day is a new challenge. Every day there are decisions to make. First Corinthians 10:12 says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Also, make sure you keep walking in fellowship with Christ through daily confession of sin.

The Bible says in First Samuel 11:1-3, “Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.[2] And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.[3] And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.” One thing that these verses show is that this was a time of great violence and cruelty. Nahash the Ammonite told the Israelites in Jabesh-gilead that he would let them all go as long as they surrendered to him and allowed him to put out each person’s right eye. Unfortunately, the violence and cruelty of people is reappearing in these last days. Perhaps it is related to the great falling away and secularization of society. Jesus will fix it when He returns.

The Bible says in First Samuel 11:4-7, “Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.[5] And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.[6] And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.[7] And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.” Once again we see that when Saul first becomes king, he does very well. He cares about the people, he motivates, he leads. In verse seven Saul also joins himself to Samuel the prophet, the person who is the closest to God in the kingdom. Not many leaders do that. What a start to his career. What a start to life. But there are spiritual dangers ahead.

The Bible says in First Samuel 11:8-15, “And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.[9] And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.[10] Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.[11] And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.[12] And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.[13] And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.[14] Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.[15] And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.” Saul led the people to victory, of course, with the blessing of God. The victory united the people behind Saul their leader. Citizens of a country do need to support their leader. Christians are told to do this. Romans 13:1-7 says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.[2] Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.[3] For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:[4] For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.[5] Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.[6] For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.[7] Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” If a nation is not united behind their leader, then there will be great trouble ahead. God is not the author of confusion. He wants us to be able to live in peace and harmony. If you want your nation to be a better nation, then it starts by you being a better citizen and a better Christian. Notice that it says in verse fifteen, “they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal.” They combined their obedience to their leader with their understanding of their need to look to the Lord and depend upon the Lord. This kind of faith is a good thing. If only more people came to Christ and had such an attitude of obedience and submission both to God and to their governmental leaders.

___________________________________________________