Signs fulfilled

3. June 2009 by Bernice Davis.

Hello:

Today, in our text we have the fulfillment of the signs that were to come to Saul to prove that what God had said about him was to take place.  Let’s look at the story:

I Samuel 10:9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 A man who lived there answered, “And who is their father?” So it became a saying: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place. 14 Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?” “Looking for the donkeys,” he said. “But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.

We will not go any farther today, because the text following today’s lesson deals with Samuel’s introduction of the first king of Israel to the people and how Saul is presented as king.  We will deal with those issues on tomorrow.

Okay, we are here…… we have arrived at the study of the monarchy.   Let’s review.   We started off with the birth narrative of Samuel.  Samuel was born to Hannah and Elkanah and his mother was barren.   The literature entailing Samuel’s birth is called a barren woman motif.  Just like the call narratives, they all have similar themes.    The woman is barren; she is considered an outcast by the community or considered to have sinned ( for in the Israelite mind, barrenness was punishment from God).   The woman would seek God on behalf of a child, the child would be granted but would be an extraordinary child with a special calling and mission on his life.  You can find these same themes in the birth narratives of Samson, John the Baptist, Leah, Rachel, etc. 

Samson is raised up in a perverted season and is trained under Eli the high priest.  He becomes a judge over Israel and was a mighty prophet in the land.  The bible says that not one of his words fell to the ground.   Samuel becomes old and his sons are not men of integrity so the people now demand a king like all the other nations.

Samuel is grieved by their request and God comforts Samuel and lets him know the people have not rejected Samuel but they are actually rejecting God.  God tells Samuel to tell the people that HE will provide them with a king but they will be sorry because eventually the king will one day enslave their sons and daughters and misuse the people.   Knowing this, the people demand a king anyway, and God gives Israel its first king Saul.

Tomorrow, our text will deal with how Saul is identified to the people as their king and the people’s response.

Stay encouraged and don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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