The Signs

2. June 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello, yesterday we left off with Samuel telling Saul to allow his servant to go ahead of him so that He could give Saul a word from God.  Our text today gives us the message from God.

I Samuel 10: 1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you leader over his inheritance? 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?’” 3 ”Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them. 5 ”After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 ”Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.” 9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. (NIV)

Our lesson today deals with the signs from God to prove to Saul that he is the Lord’s chosen for King over his people.   We talked a little yesterday about call narratives.   A call narrative is simply a body of literature in the bible that deals with the call of God on one’s life.  You will find throughout these narratives that there is a consistent theme.   Let’s look at the overall composition of a call narrative.

(1)  The call from God

(2)  Self-doubt/Denial on behalf of the person called

(3)  Divine Assurance

(4)  Commission

(5)  Sign

In summary, the narrative has the actual call of God given either directly or through a spokesperson for God to the person.  The person then goes through a series of self-doubt or denial where they reasoned in their mind why they are either not deserving of the call or feel that they are inadequate for the job.  God will then re-assure the person and encourage them that God will be with them and that they will prevail.  The actual commission or charge or plan will be given as to what the Lord will require of them Then God usually will give them a sign to confirm that what has just been told to them is true and sometimes the re-occurring themes of  self-doubt and assurance are repeated before there is finally acceptance of the call.

I said all that to say; that these same elements are presented in the call of Saul.  Let’s analyze it:

The call-  You will be King over my people Israel.

Self doubt/denial- Saul complains that he is the least among his tribe and his clan and was questioning Samuel as to if he was sure he had the right man.

Divine Assurance-  Samuel invites Saul to dinner- gives him the portion that was kept for him and assures him that God has chosen him and anoints him with oil and again tells him that God has appointed him as leader over his inheritance.

Commission- King over Israel- sometimes the call and commission are the same.

Sign-  In today’s lesson we get the signs- they are as follows:

(1)  Saul will meet two men at Rachel’s tomb and they will say to him that the donkeys have been found and now his father is worrying about him.

(2)  Saul will meet 3 men going up to God at Bethel and one will be carrying 3 young goat, another three loaves of bread and another a skin of wine and they will greet him and offer him 2 loaves of bread which Saul is instructed to accept.

(3)  Saul will go to Gibeah and as he approaches the town, he will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with instruments and they will be prophesying.  The Spirit of the Lord will come upon Saul with power and he will begin prophesying with them.

If you analyze other calls such as Moses, you will clearly be able to see this same pattern.   Just look at the call of God on your life and did you find yourself going through a season of self-doubt, inadequacy, fear, denial, and then God strengthened you and may have given you signs before you finally surrendered to the call of God for your life and then the commission of the specifics of what you were to do were revealed. 

Our text today closes with “God changed Saul’s heart.”   I don’t know what all that entailed or what kind of heart Saul had before for the scriptures do not offer any more detail but we do know that God turned him into another man.    Wow!!!!!!!

Well, enough for today, we will finish our story on tomorrow and soon our first king in the monarchy will be crowned.

Stay encouraged!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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