Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has anointed thee prince over his inheritance?
Samuel takes Saul aside on the road out of the city and pours oil on his head in private. Israel's first king is made by a prophet acting for God, not by a crowd. Three acts fill one moment: the oil, the kiss, and the words that explain both. (Older translations say "captain over His inheritance." Several of the writers quoted below use that wording.)
Samuel does not just anoint Saul. He tells him what the ceremony means. One writer sets out three things in what Samuel says.
Samuel points out three things to Saul, explaining the meaning of the ceremony just performed. He reminds him of the nature of the government to which he is called. He was anointed to be "captain," a commander, which speaks of honour and power. But he was a commander in war, which speaks of care and toil and danger. As to the origin, he says, "The LORD has anointed you." By Him he was to rule. So he must rule for Him, in dependence on Him, and with an eye to His glory. As to the end of it, it was over God's inheritance. He was to take care of it, protect it, and order its affairs. He was like a steward set over His estate, to manage it for His service and give an account of it to Him.
The oil was not decoration. It marked out a man for a job and stood for the only power that could carry the job through.
Samuel pours the holy anointing oil on his head, and Saul receives the kiss of the prophet's blessing — perhaps also in acknowledgement of his allegiance to him. This anointing with oil was a picture, of course. It stood not only for God's appointment to a specific service, but for the qualification that came with it. The oil, as symbol of the Holy Spirit, would point to the only power in which he could carry out the responsibilities of that place. The prophet, speaking for God, had now put him into it.
Saul is anointed from a flask. David, later, is anointed from a horn. One writer draws a lesson from the two containers.
David was also anointed with a horn of oil, in contrast to Saul, who was anointed using a vial of oil (1 Sam. 10:1). The horn speaks of stability, whereas a vial is something fragile. All of the kingdoms of this world have come to an end or will come to an end. There is only one kingdom that will last forever, the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the anointed one whom God has designated to be the King of kings.
Commentators read Samuel's kiss in two ways. One takes it as the prophet's own act of allegiance, given in private.
It was done in private, and it shows what spirit Samuel was of. He was the first, and without any show, to confess his allegiance to the king — his king from then on. It was his pledge to Saul, and before God, of his loyalty and full delight in the Lord's choice: the raising up of this man of Benjamin, his neighbour.
Another reads it as a message from God to Saul. The same writer then turns to the signs Samuel promised, and to who really held authority.
The anointing oil speaks of the Holy Spirit, who alone can give power to enable a king to rightly rule in Israel. Did Saul discern in this that he could be enabled only by God? Samuel also kisses him. That shows that God's kindness and love was fully available to Saul, if he would receive it. Then Samuel gives him three signs of an unusual kind, meant to speak to his soul. Notice how plain it is here that though Saul was to be king, Samuel held practical authority over him, as the representative of a higher kingdom than Israel's.
Samuel had denounced Israel's demand for a king. Then he anointed one anyway.
The man of faith is told to expose and denounce every step that goes against dependence on God. But once he has done so, he can wait patiently while man's independence is on trial. More than that, he will sanction and acknowledge it, so far as he has divine authority... What a discipline for Samuel to act in this way! He shows us the graceful action and calm submission of one who practises dependence on God... Only that man is truly dependent who will not run ahead of events. He submits patiently to an order of things which will end in failure, though that failure is not yet plain.
- Origin — the office did not start with Saul, or with Israel's demand. "The LORD has anointed you." So Saul was to rule for God and in dependence on Him.
- Gift — the oil pictures the Holy Spirit, and it gave not only the appointment to the work but the power to do it.
- Reach — the people were never Saul's own. He was a steward over God's inheritance, set to protect it and one day give account of it.
- Fragility — Saul gets a flask, David a horn; the containers hint that only Christ's kingdom lasts.
- Response — Samuel kissed the man who replaced him and carried out God's word, even for a system he had denounced. Yet the prophet still spoke for a higher kingdom, and Saul stayed under it.
When thou goest from me to-day, thou shalt meet two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to thee, The asses are found which thou wentest to seek, and behold, thy father has dismissed the matter of the asses, and is anxious about you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
Samuel has just poured oil on Saul's head and named him ruler over Israel. Now he tells the new king exactly what will happen on the road home. The first sign sends him to a graveside. There two men will hand him news about the lost donkeys, and about a father who has stopped worrying over animals and started worrying over his son.
The tomb sits on a strip of Benjamin's land reaching down toward Bethlehem. The spot was still marked long afterwards.
Bethlehem is first mentioned in connection with Rachel's death (Genesis 35:16-20), and her tomb was "in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah" (1 Samuel 10:2). This bit of land belonged to the tribe of Benjamin and dipped down into the land of Judah. About a mile north of Bethlehem, on the main road from Jerusalem and Bethel, a little building marks the site of her tomb to this day.
Saul might well have doubted the man who had just anointed him. What Samuel foretold would settle the question.
Seeing it all come true, just as the man of God had said, would convince the new captain that Samuel was truly a prophet of the Lord, and that his appointment was valid. He had known nothing of this before, so he might have doubted it. As a result, Saul must have felt that his responsibility was great. It was not to be taken lightly or handled carelessly.
Saul was a Benjamite, and this grave is where his tribe began. Rachel died giving birth there and named the baby Ben-oni; his father renamed him Benjamin.
The meaning of this sign was less obvious than the meaning of the other signs. Still, Rachel's tomb should have reminded Saul that the son of the mother's sorrow was the son of the father's right hand (Genesis 35:18). By natural descent, Saul was the son and heir of the one who was born there.
One writer traces that pair of names first to Christ, then back to Saul.
To carry out the purposes of grace, Jesus in willing humility and infinite love became Ben-oni, the Son of His mother's sorrow. Being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. But, raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, He is revealed to faith as the Son of His right hand. Rachel's tomb should have reminded Saul that, with all his advantages, he was still a Ben-oni. He could cover that name with Benjamin only by faith. Only faith would mark his future with divine power and blessing instead of human sin and sorrow.
The order matters. The grave came before the crown.
To match God's thoughts, Saul's history had to start at Rachel's tomb. It was up to him to become the son of Jacob's right hand, the Benjamin of God, if a merely natural man could reach that place. Rachel's tomb could be the beginning of his kingship. Death could cut him off from his entire past and make way for a new life for him. It would be a life coming out of death, in which he would walk freely as the Lord's anointed.
Another writer turns this toward service. Serving God starts with refusing self.
It is by Rachel's tomb, at the grave of the old self, in refusal of all the excellence of mere nature, that faith is to learn its first lesson. If there is to be true service for God, it must be on the basis of the refusal of self. Here Saul was to learn that the donkeys were found; and, at the grave of self, one learns how useless all his past activity was. His father now longs for him.
Saul had searched and failed. The donkeys turned up without him.
Here two men meet him to let him know that, apart from his labour, the donkeys he sought are found. God can work without us just as easily as He can with us. He has no need of us. But He does have that heart of love to which our own human affections, which He gave us, truly testify, however faintly.
The sign was full of meaning, and Saul missed it.
Two men meet him by Rachel's tomb, a spot of unusual interest to Saul — at least it ought to have been. It was the place, as is well known, where the foundation of his family had been laid. His father was sorrowing for Saul, not for his property, which in fact was found. But Saul had no eyes to see, nor ears to hear according to God.
- Grave. Saul's road to the throne ran past a tomb — his tribe's starting point, where self must die before a king can rule.
- Name. Rachel called her son Ben-oni, the son of her sorrow; Jacob renamed him Benjamin, the son of his right hand — sorrow covered by blessing.
- Gift. The donkeys were found without Saul's searching: God can work as easily without us as with us.
- Love. The father stopped caring about the property and ached for his son — human affection pointing to God's greater heart of love.
- Sight. Saul had no eyes to see and no ears to hear; a sign is worth nothing without the faith to read it.
And thou shalt go on forward from thence, and shalt come to the oak of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God, to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three cakes of bread, and another carrying a flask of wine.
Saul has just been anointed king, and God has marked out his road home in advance. This second sign sets him among three strangers going up to worship. The place, the number and the loads all say something about the God he would now serve.
The men are going up to God at Bethel, the place where God met Jacob in his exile. That history is the point of the sign.
Bethel was the first stage of Jacob's journey, the place where God promised the banished Jacob that He would never leave him. Israel lay in ruins, yet God showed the future king that He keeps His promises, so that Saul might govern his conduct by that faithfulness. Saul should have seen that the promise of Bethel held good for him too, and that he could count on God's protection.
That faithfulness was the one thing the collapse around them could not touch.
There were people who had faith in the God of Bethel — that is, that God would never leave His unchangeable promise to Jacob. Everything else might be gone; but God's connection with Israel could not be broken. This became the resting-place of faith. God could not fail.
Saul was about to lead a nation in a bad state. This sign showed him that faith had not died out in it.
Did he not take this as proof that God was at work in Israel? That no one had forgotten the famous scene where God pledged to carry out His purpose for their father Jacob? A remnant was there; its witness was enough, more than enough; not just two men but three.
The sign before this one met Saul at a tomb.
From the tomb (death) Saul passes on to the oak (strength). What strength it gives to know that God has kept at least a few for Himself! They can lay hold on Him and count on His faithfulness. That is strength for anyone who wants to walk with God and please Him in an evil day. Elijah missed this. That is why he complained at Horeb, "I, even I only, am left." The discouraged prophet soon learned that seven thousand others had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:13-18). Somehow the prophet had overlooked them!
The three loads are not random provisions. Commentators read them as the offerings a worshipper brings to God, and they read the number three itself in more than one way.
The number three has special meaning here, for one man was to carry three young goats and another three loaves of bread. They were going up to meet the triune God at Bethel, which means "the house of God." They carried full provision with them: a blood-sacrifice, a meal offering and a drink offering (a skin of wine). All of this was surely a reminder that Saul too would have to deal with God. He should come prepared, with proper sacrifices and a real concern for the house of God.
Each load points to Christ.
Each of the three men Saul met carried a load of good things. Here is enough indeed, and Saul was welcome to share in it. The young goats speak of Christ in death; the loaves, of Christ come as man; and the wine, of His precious blood. The two or three who may come together in any place today, depending on the Lord, may count on being fed.
The men greet Saul and hand him bread. The future king arrives with nothing, and worshippers feed him.
They ask after him. The man who had nothing to give the prophet was to receive the food he needed from them. He had found favour with them, so he should have joined these men of faith.
The bread they hand him belongs to God, and that says something about where a ruler's supply comes from.
Would this not tell Saul that the king's food would truly come from God, who moved the hearts of His people? For these loaves were offerings genuinely brought to God. What is more, the people's generosity should have been an example for Saul to take to heart. He should not simply expect things from others, as those in authority often do.
Saul met the men, took their bread, and walked on.
Saul understood neither of the signs, though they were clear and instructive to the eye of faith.
Older translations read "plain of Tabor"; the word is better rendered "oak."
The 'plain of Tabor' in 1 Sam. 10:3 should be read the 'oak of Tabor'.
- Bethel first. The road leads to the place where God promised Jacob He would never leave him. Everything else in Israel could collapse; that promise could not.
- Three witnesses. Not two men but three. Faith was still alive in Israel, and the witness to it was more than enough.
- Full hands. Goats, bread and wine: sacrifice, meal offering and drink offering. Commentators read them as Christ in death, Christ come as man, and His precious blood.
- Bread shared. Saul comes with nothing and eats what belonged to God. A ruler's supply comes from God, through the giving of His people.
- Eyes that could not see. Every sign was plain to faith. Saul walked through them and understood nothing.
And they will ask after thy welfare, and give thee two loaves, which thou shalt receive of their hands.
Saul has just been anointed in private, and Samuel now hands him a series of signs that will meet him on the road home. This one is the quietest. Three strangers on their way to worship will greet him and hand him bread. Will Saul read anything in it?
The men are on their way up to Bethel, where God had promised to carry out His purpose for Jacob. Commentators point out that their number mattered: three men, not two.
Again, as verses 3 and 4 tell us, three men were to meet him as he went to the oak of Tabor. They were on their way up to God at Bethel. One man was carrying three young goats, and so on. These men greeted him and gave him loaves of bread. Did he not gather from this a proof that God was at work in Israel? And that the famous scene where God had promised to carry out His purpose for their father Jacob was not forgotten? A remnant was there — enough testimony, yes, more than enough; not just two men but three. There was a more than adequate testimony to the reality of faith in Israel still.
What Saul receives is not ordinary food. The three men are carrying the material of worship, and the loaves handed to the new king come out of that store.
The number three has a special meaning here. One man was to carry three young goats, another three loaves of bread. It was the triune God they were going to meet at Bethel, "the house of God." They carried full provision for a blood-sacrifice, for the meal offering and for a drink offering (a bottle of wine). All of this was surely a reminder that Saul too would have to deal with God. He ought to be ready with proper sacrifices and a genuine concern for the house of God. They would greet Saul and give him two loaves of bread, which he was to receive. Would this not tell Saul that the king's food would come from God, who moved the hearts of His people to give it? For these loaves were what was really offered to God.
The same writer adds that their open-handedness was itself a lesson for a ruler:
The open-handed giving of the people should have been an example for Saul to take to heart. He should not have the attitude of simply expecting things from others, as those in authority often do.
Another writer reads the same gift as a picture of Christ, the food of His people, put into a king's hands by worshippers.
There he meets three men who are going up to Bethel, "the house of God," the place of communion and of divine sovereignty. They carry their offering with them. The three young goats remind us of the sin-offering. The three loaves of bread speak of the person of Christ, and of communion. The bottle of wine speaks of the precious blood of Christ, and of the joy that flows from knowing redemption through that blood. They would ask about his welfare. In this way he would already receive from their hands the greeting that was now his right as king. From them he would also receive the loaves of bread, which speak, as we have said, of Christ as the food for His people. A fitting reminder for a king — truly "royal delicacies."
The greeting and the gift do more than meet a need. They tie Saul to the men themselves, and they come before he ever meets the enemy.
They greeted Saul. Then, by an actual deed — the gift of the two loaves of bread he was to receive from their hands — they joined him to themselves. Note that all these steps came before Saul reached the hill of God, where the Philistines had a garrison. They were the strongholds faith needed for communion with God, and only by that communion could the fight with the enemy be carried on successfully.
God gave Saul the signs. One thing was missing in the man who received them.
If only there had been faith to enter into these signs and take them from God! There would have been an even more blessed opportunity for God to work and triumph. He never fails to answer living faith. But faith was the very thing Saul did not have.
- Sign. Three men on the Bethel road were witness enough that God was still at work in Israel.
- Supply. The loaves came out of what the men were carrying to God. The king's food would come from God, through the hearts of His people.
- Example. The people gave freely. A ruler is tempted to expect things from others instead.
- Fellowship. The greeting and the gift joined Saul to the faithful in Israel before he ever faced the Philistines.
- Response. Saul lacked the faith to take the signs from God's hand. Without that faith, all this help on the road changed nothing.
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.
Samuel's third sign sent Saul to Gibeath-elohim, the hill of God. Philistine troops held the place, and a band of prophets came down from it with music. The sign showed the new king two things at once: Israel's shameful weakness, and God's power still at work despite it.
The location itself was the message. Philistine troops sat on the very ground where God's power should have ruled.
The hill of God is the seat of the sovereignty and power of God in grace, where the Philistines (Satan's power) were. Yet we see a company of prophets — the Spirit acts in power despite the Philistines — a small remnant who praised the God of Bethel. So if there had been even a little faith, Saul could have known the thoughts of God. He was God's anointed, the one chosen to lead and deliver the people (1 Samuel 9:16). He might well have driven away the Philistines who were in the land of God. The Philistines are always the enemies in the land; the others are outside; these are in the land of God. The worst enemies of the church are those who are within.
The scene did not hide Israel's condition from Saul, and it was not meant to. Faith looks at the real state of things and still praises.
No doubt the state of Israel was dreadful. The people were terrified by their Philistine masters. But what of that, if faith was at work? Circumstances should never frighten the believer... To faith, the worst of times only calls us the more to make melody to Him. These prophets did not lack the testimony of joy and praise. Yet God would still have His people confess their real circumstances. It is always right, wise, and lowly to own the truth.
Saul was becoming king to fight Israel's enemies. But this sign put music and prophecy first.
The remedy for the state of things in Israel is not, in the first place, power. It is returning to God and submitting to Him. He must be lifted high in the very place where men have dishonoured Him, and this is what the spirit of prophecy does. So Saul meets a company of prophets here. Their many instruments of music show the joy and boldness that come when the heart returns to God. How small a thing is the enemy in the presence of God! And this joy in Him is the sure sign of the overthrow of all that sets itself against Him. Jehoshaphat's singers and trumpeters march at the front of the army. The Lord listens to them and gives the victory (2 Chron. 20:22). What a lesson for the Benjamite warrior, Saul!
The four instruments are not decoration around the prophesying.
These prophets did more than speak under the power of God. They came with lyre and harp. That is, there was the spirit of praise as well as of prophecy. In God's presence there is fullness of joy, and He dwells among the praises of His people. So worship should always go along with prophecy. When others called on Elisha to ask counsel of God, he called for a musician, so that his spirit might come fully into tune with the praise of God... This would remind Saul that knowledge alone, even divine knowledge, must never stand apart from priestly worship and joy. No one can fake such worship. It flows from a heart that knows the grace of God well, and that grace alone gives power for true service and testimony.
As to who these men were, one reference work identifies them with a group known elsewhere in Israel's history:
The "company of prophets" with lyre, tambourine, flute and harp, whom Saul met, were probably sons of the prophets. 1 Sam. 10:5.
Saul joined this company and prophesied with them. Later chapters show what that did and did not prove.
The richest and most abundant gifts cannot fill the emptiness that sin has made in the soul. Only Christ, and believing in Him from the heart, can fill it. A man may be enlightened. He may taste the heavenly gift, share in the Holy Spirit, and taste the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. And he may still fall away. He may preach with the gift of Paul, but if that is all, his gift and his use of it will not save him (1 Cor. 9:27). As Rutherford said, "Preaching is not Christ," though it may be about Him. And as Matthew Henry said, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
Everything in the sign was legible — to faith:
But neither of the signs did Saul understand, though they were clear and instructive to the eye of faith.
- The place. Enemy troops held the hill of God, the very ground where His power should have ruled. The worst enemies, then and in the church now, are the ones inside.
- The honesty. Faith does not pretend the ruin away. It faces the real condition and makes melody to God anyway.
- The order. Music and prophecy come before the battle. God is honoured again where men dishonoured Him, and victory follows.
- The pairing. The instruments beside the prophesying show that knowledge of God belongs with worship and joy no one can fake.
- The test. Saul shared in the gift, prophesied, and stayed Saul. Signs and power do not fill the emptiness sin makes. Only Christ and faith in Him do.
And the Spirit of Jehovah will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
This is the third and greatest of the signs Samuel gave Saul, and it comes at the very place where the Philistine garrison sat. It raises a hard question: can God's Spirit change a man in plain sight and still leave him unsaved?
The place matters. Saul receives this power in front of the enemy he was made king to defeat.
He is brought to the hill of God, and there — a remarkable spot — he finds the Philistines dug in and secure. So he stands face to face with the difficulties before him. The people had wanted a king to fight their battles, and the Lord had given him to be their captain, to rescue them above all from the Philistines, their most bitter and their strongest enemies. He could have done it, had he proved obedient. For here, in full sight of the enemy, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and at once he is seen prophesying with the prophets, with all the marks of joy and triumph. The battle was the Lord's, so he could well rejoice, for then the victory was sure.
Faith could have read these signs. One writer sets Saul beside the king who came after him:
The spirit of prophecy was also given to him (v. 6). But Saul understood none of the signs, though they were clear and full of instruction to the eye of faith. David was the opposite of this, and pictured Christ as King.
What changed in Saul, and what did not?
He was "turned into another man" — that is, he changed from a clumsy country youth into a king-like man who could fill the throne with dignity — and he was made to speak in prophecy. It was a wonderful "sign" (verse 7)... yet Saul was never born again. He went further and further from God, and died under the sentence of His anger. Having "sign gifts," then, is no proof of holiness or real devotion.
There is a line between the Spirit using a man and the Spirit saving a man. It runs through the conscience.
When the conscience stands in the presence of God and bows to His judgment, the Spirit of God acts in saving grace. He does not use the man as a mere instrument; He blesses his soul. In a word, it is salvation. But even where there is no work in the conscience, and so no salvation, the power of the Spirit may be so great that for the time the man under it becomes another man.
Saul is not the only case. Others had great light and stayed unchanged inside:
God gave the same gift to Balaam. The Spirit of God came on him, his eyes were opened, he had the knowledge of the Most High and saw the vision of the Almighty (Num. 24), yet all this light never reached the darkness of his soul... Nothing can fill the emptiness that sin has made in the soul — not the richest and most abundant gifts — short of Christ and heart-belief in Him... As Rutherford said, "Preaching is not Christ," though it may be about Him; and Matthew Henry, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
Saul was to meet the prophets while music played. That detail carries a lesson:
The prophets were not only speaking by the power of God. Lute and harp played with them. That is, there was the spirit of praise as well as of prophecy... This would remind Saul that knowledge alone, even knowledge that comes from God, was never to be cut off from the worship and joy of a priestly heart. Such worship cannot be faked. It flows from a heart that knows the grace of God well.
The Spirit's power came as an offer for a whole reign, not for one day only. But it came with a condition:
By this God was showing that He was willing to lead Saul by the power of His Spirit as Saul took the kingdom. But Saul had to see for himself that he could expect this guidance only if he submitted to the Spirit of God... Sadly, Saul ignored this spirit of submission to God in his ruling of Israel.
- Place — The Spirit came on Saul at the hill of God, where the Philistines were dug in. God gave the power in full view of the enemy Saul was to defeat.
- Power — The change was real. A country youth became a man who could fill a throne, and he prophesied. But it changed what he could do, not what he was.
- Conscience — The Spirit can use a man as an instrument and never touch his conscience. Where the conscience bows to God, the Spirit acts in saving grace.
- Proof — Gifts prove nothing about holiness. Balaam saw visions of the Almighty and stayed dark inside. "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
- Response — God was willing to lead Saul by His Spirit through the whole reign. Only submission would keep that guidance. Saul ignored it.
And it shall be, when these signs shall come to thee, thou shalt do as thy hand shall find; for God is with thee.
Samuel's final word to Saul comes after three predicted signs, and it gives the new king both a freedom and a promise. Everything turns on two things: could Saul read those signs, and would he act under the God who gave them?
Samuel told Saul in advance whom he would meet at each stop. The journey was worth only what Saul could take in.
Samuel anointed Saul, and gave him the first kiss of allegiance. He then sent him on a journey as instructive in its way as that of Elijah on the day he was taken up. He was to meet "signs"; but was he able to read them, and profit by them? The Lord once said to His disciples, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear." The crowd around them were dull of heart, hard of hearing, and their eyes were closed.
The reason given for acting is not Saul's ability but God's presence with him. Writers tie that presence to the Spirit coming on Saul a verse earlier. That power rested on him from outside. It never lived inside him.
The lesson for Saul was "God is with you." What king ever had so favourable a start to his career? The Holy Spirit did not live within him. The Spirit came upon him instead, as with the soothsayer Balaam. That help was always there for him, if only he could have valued it. Sadly, the flesh is hopeless! Every provision God gives is in vain. "You must be born again."
The command sounds open-ended, as though Saul could now do whatever he judged best. One writer reads the phrase as God's offer to lead him, an offer that depended on Saul's submission.
God was in this way showing His own willingness to lead Saul by the power of His Spirit as Saul took the kingdom. Saul still had to realize, however, that he could expect this guidance only by submitting to the Spirit of God. Samuel implied as much when he told him to do what his hand found to do once these things happened. Sadly, Saul ignored this spirit of submission when he came to rule Israel.
Saul was standing at the hill of God, and Philistine troops held the place. Driving them out was the obvious thing his hand could have found to do.
Saul had been anointed to deliver Israel; but he showed from the start how short-sighted man's choice is. He was supplied with enough power, and told to "do what your hand finds to do" when he reached the hill of God. Yet he did not drive out the Philistine garrison stationed there. He may not even have seen how out of place they were. He also met the company of prophets there, just as Samuel had said. It did him no good, except that it brought glory to himself. He could become a vessel for God to speak through, while ignoring God's word to him.
The very next verse sends Saul to Gilgal to wait seven days for Samuel. The two instructions belong together — released to act, and held to a place.
The prophet then leaves him, as it were, to God. When all these signs came to pass, he could act under God's guidance, for God was with him. At the same time, Samuel warns him to go on down to Gilgal and wait there for his coming... So we see Saul set free to act as God guided. We also see him checked, and reminded that his place is at Gilgal. Gilgal is the place of self-judgment, where a man refuses all the excellence and glory of nature.
Saul received real power and used it. Yet the gift never made him a new man.
A man may be enlightened. He may have tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come. And he may still fall away. He may preach with the gift of Paul, but if that is all, his gift will not save him. As Matthew Henry said, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."... The showers that fall on both do not change; they only make plain the true nature of the soil. In David, on whom the Spirit of the Lord came, we have an example of fruitful ground; in Saul, of a barren waste.
- Signs given. God went ahead of Saul with signs meant to teach him; the question was whether his eyes and ears were open to read them.
- Power given. The Spirit came upon Saul from outside, not from within. God gave him every provision, and he valued none of it.
- Freedom given. "Do what your hand finds to do" is not a licence for self-will; The guidance comes only to the man who submits to the Spirit.
- Limit given. The same word that released him to act sent him to Gilgal to wait — liberty paired with self-judgment.
- Result. Saul stood at the enemy's garrison with power in hand and did nothing. The same rain that made David fruitful left Saul a barren waste.
And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to thee, to offer up burnt-offerings, [and] to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings seven days shalt thou wait, until I come to thee and inform thee what thou shalt do.
Samuel has just anointed Saul and given him signs to confirm the call. In the same breath he sets a place, a deadline, and a person Saul must wait for. Saul is free to act, yet still bound to one appointment. Two years later that appointment undid him.
Commentators note that the order matters.
With the signs completed, Saul receives a new direction for action, because signs are not everything; the Word is also needed. He is directed to go down to Gilgal and to wait seven days until Samuel should come to him to show him what he is to do. Later on we shall see the result of this order, when after two years the king decides to go down to Gilgal (1 Sam. 13:1).
Gilgal carried its own message for any Israelite who heard the name.
Samuel warns him to go down to Gilgal and there wait for his coming, where burnt offerings and peace offerings were to be offered up to God. He was to wait there seven days, everything held in suspense, waiting for the coming of the prophet. So we see Saul set free on the one hand to act as God guided. On the other hand he is checked, and reminded that his place is at Gilgal. To an Israelite that place spoke of self-judgment, and of refusing all the excellence and glory of nature.
The seven days are not idle time. They fix where blessing comes from, and through whom.
But Samuel is still the only one whom God recognises as the link between Himself and the people. It is when Saul has had to do with Samuel that he is another man. He must wait for Samuel, so that he may know what to do, and that blessing may rest on him. In this way he must acknowledge that blessing is tied to the prophet, and not act without him. He must wait for him with perfect patience — seven days. Such patience bows to God's testimony, and will not look for blessing apart from His ways.
This verse is not describing something Saul did that week. Writers connect it to the crisis two years later, in 1 Samuel 13. They also show why the earlier gathering at Gilgal does not fit.
This is surely the time Samuel meant when he said to Saul at his anointing, "Then go down before me to Gilgal … and show you what you shall do." He cannot have meant the day Saul was made king at Gilgal. The record mentions no burnt offerings there; only peace offerings were sacrificed. As a prophet of the Lord, he could foresee this time of distress with Saul, and had promised to come to his relief. Saul understood it that way too; but he thinks he cannot wait, and so goes ahead without the prophet.
The days of waiting were themselves a test.
Saul was still to depend on Samuel. So Samuel told him to wait at Gilgal seven days, until the man of God arrived. Then burnt offerings and peace offerings would be offered as they should be. Waiting times are a hard test for restless flesh. Two years later, a similar waiting time was Saul's undoing. Patience! Patience! Patience! The New Testament presses it everywhere. It is the lesson most needed by souls who would walk with God, and serve Him here below.
Commentators trace the failure to how Saul rated the instruction itself.
Did he say in his heart something like this? "After all, that seven-day appointment was only an arrangement Samuel made. He may have forgotten it, or he may have been mistaken." But wait! Samuel's arrangement was not everything… Samuel was, without a doubt, the judge God raised up for his days. And the Word of God required full obedience to his instructions. Saul disobeyed. What looked practical to him swayed him, and he treated the Word of God, spoken through Samuel, as only Samuel's opinion.
Coming close to the end of the wait was not the same as obeying.
God would test him to see whether he would wait. He had not almost held out. He had only shown the state of his soul. There is no such thing as almost obeying the Lord.
- Word — signs confirmed Saul's call, but a word from God directed him. Guidance comes by God's Word, not by signs alone.
- Place — at Gilgal he was to stand still. That place spoke of self-judgment, and of refusing all that nature could boast in.
- Person — the seven days bound Saul to Samuel, and taught him not to look for blessing apart from God's ways.
- Delay — the appointment reached two years ahead, to a moment of real pressure. A crisis tests what we hear in calm days.
- Test — waiting is a hard test for restless flesh. Saul failed it, treating God's word as one man's opinion. There is no such thing as almost obeying.
And it was [so] that when he turned his back to go away from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day.
As Saul turns to leave Samuel, God changes him — and every sign the prophet had promised arrives the same day. The question the whole chapter forces is simple: was Saul made a new man inside, or only fitted for a throne?
Something real happened to Saul. His aim and his thoughts changed. Yet one writer draws a careful line between that change and salvation.
Saul was not a converted man. Yet after Samuel anointed him, God gave him another heart. The aim of his life changed, and his thoughts ran so far in another direction. (1 Sam. 10:9.) David was a saint of God, a man after His own heart. (1 Sam. 13:14.)
Another writer traces the change to the Spirit Himself, at work through a company of prophets even where Israel's enemies, the Philistines, held the ground.
Divine resources were not lacking and, despite the Philistines, the Spirit could act in power and in grace… It was due to the Spirit of God that Saul, joining the prophets, became His instrument for Israel, and that "God gave him another heart" (vv. 6-9).
Some take this verse as proof of a conversion Saul later lost. One writer answers that the Spirit coming on a man for a task differs from the Spirit's work in a man.
The Spirit came upon him as a prophet; but this in no way proves that he was converted. At conversion a man is born of the Spirit, and then indwelt by the Spirit. But God may use a wicked man like Balaam as His mouthpiece (Num. 24:2); and Saul was used in this way, not only at the beginning of his career, but even after God had rejected him as king (1 Sam. 19:23).
The same distinction is drawn from Saul's later life, where the Spirit's power produced action but never obedience.
Although the Spirit of God had come upon him, we do not find his heart changed. The Spirit empowers him, and he defeats enemy armies. But to be turned into another man proved to be merely an outward thing with Saul… But true obedience to God and His word was simply not a part of his character. This was his ruin.
The signs of that day were not a mere detail. Everything that met Saul pressed on him at the deepest level, and still left his own will free.
Samuel had even told him that as he prophesied he would receive another heart. That is, there would be a change that looked lasting. At the same time it left things open to Saul's own will. Everything that was to happen to him that day… would work with power on his heart, mind and conscience. If there was real life toward God in him, he would find here a complete overturning of his whole past.
This new heart belongs to a list of gifts. Before any test came, God had already done everything short of saving Saul.
With Saul, the first king between the Lord and His people, it is important to see that three great things were reached for him personally. He was turned into another man. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him. And God was with him. Short of the saving call, perhaps, God had then done for Saul all He could do — and what a remarkable list it is!… Responsibility only begins after grace and goodness have done their utmost, whether we look at the kingdom or at this king.
The change reached Saul's whole character. That is what makes his story a warning.
And so we read that at once after his anointing, when he left Samuel to return home, he "was turned into another man." He was gifted to rule and made brave in war, as fitted a king. More than that, his whole character took on a religious tone… A mere change of character counts for nothing with God, even when religious forms go with it, so long as the heart has not received the gospel of His grace by faith.
Set beside this, the renewal the prophet Ezekiel promised is of another order altogether.
The moral renewal that Ezekiel predicts goes down to the deepest foundation. It gives a man a new heart and a new spirit, so that by instinct he desires what is good and walks in obedience… it is not the altering of a nature that already exists, but the giving of a nature that is entirely new. The new heart is "given." The new spirit is "put within you." It is to start anew from the very first.
- Given — the new heart was God's gift, not Saul's achievement. His aim and his thoughts ran in a new direction.
- Empowered — the Spirit came upon him as a prophet. That is not the same as being born of the Spirit and indwelt by Him.
- Grace first — another man, the Spirit upon him, God with him. Grace did all it could before any test came. Only then did responsibility begin.
- Signs — every sign arrived that same day and pressed on heart, mind and conscience. Real life toward God would have overturned his whole past.
- Warning — a religious tone counts for nothing without faith in the gospel. The heart God gives in new birth is a wholly new nature, not an improved old one.
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.
Saul is on his way home after Samuel privately anointed him, and at the hill of God he meets the band of prophets Samuel had described. The Spirit rushes on him and he prophesies with them — which raises the question the rest of his life answers: what exactly does such power prove about the man who receives it?
This third sign met Saul at Gibeah — the hill of God, held by the enemy. One writer notes how the signs grow, and what the prophets were doing there.
The enemy was camped on "the hill of God" — what a state of things! We too must expect to meet the enemy's power, at work not only outside, but also among those who "profess and call themselves Christians." But Saul would meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place (note the growth: two men at Zelzah, three at Tabor, a whole company now), with instruments of music — a harp, a tambourine, a flute and a lyre. Remarkable! Music and song in front of the enemy. Why not? The enemy's power is serious, but it need not frighten us. When Saul met the prophets, the Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he prophesied too. So, set against the devil's work, there is the power of the Holy Spirit.
The same scene should have taught Saul something about the nation he was to lead.
Finally Saul would come to the hill of God, the seat of His power — and in fact it was in Philistine hands, invaded and ruled by the enemy. He had just met those in Israel who stayed faithful to God at Bethel. Here he should have faced the true state of the people, and it should have spoken to his conscience. But in this very place God was entering into relationship with Israel through the prophets. God's resources were not lacking. Despite the Philistines, the Spirit could act in power and in grace.
Victory over the Philistines was within reach, on one condition.
He could well have done it, had he proved obedient. Here, in sight of the enemy, the Spirit of the Lord came on him, and at once he is prophesying with the prophets, with all the marks of joy and triumph. The battle was the Lord's, so he might well rejoice, for then the victory was sure.
One writer sets this moment beside the day the Spirit came on David.
The historian uses the same words of Saul and of David. But the Spirit coming on a man in that way does not have to mean a lasting supply of spiritual power. With Saul, the Spirit came on him this way in chapter 10:10 and chapter 11:6. With David, the Spirit came on him from that day forward. Was Saul, then, less well supplied than David? Not at all. As long as he was on probation, God gave him the Spirit in power whenever he needed it.
Saul really did become "another man." That is not the same as a new heart.
Even where there is no work in the conscience, and so no salvation, the power of the Spirit may be so great that for a time the man under it becomes another man. After Samuel anointed Saul, the Spirit of the LORD came on him, and he became another man. Later the Spirit of God came on him again, and he prophesied as he had before. But neither time was there any work in his conscience, or change of heart.
So what can a gift not do? One writer answers with two short sayings.
Sin leaves a void in the soul that no gift, however rich, can fill — nothing can, short of Christ and heart-belief in Him… A man may preach with the gift of Paul, but if that is all, his gift and his use of it will not save him. As Rutherford said, "Preaching is not Christ," though it may be about Him; and Matthew Henry, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
The change was real. The people who had known Saul all his life were still not convinced.
Through him God could have taken up His relationship with Israel again, but faith was not active, and those watching the scene are not fooled. Saul is changed into another man and prophesies, yet the people who knew him before have no confidence in him. "Is Saul also among the prophets?" And a man from the same place answers, "And who is their father?" Does Saul have the same father as God's servants?
- Place — The Spirit came on Saul at the hill of God while the enemy held it. The prophets made music there anyway. The Spirit's power is God's answer to the enemy's presence.
- Power — Saul received the power his new task needed, in sight of the very enemy he was sent to beat.
- Probation — On Saul the Spirit came whenever the need arose; on David, "from that day forward." Same words, different men.
- Proof? — The gift changed Saul into another man without touching his conscience. Power is not conversion, and the neighbours' question showed they knew it.
- Point — Nothing but Christ fills the void sin makes. A man may prophesy and preach with great gift, and still be, as one writer quotes, "Saul still."
And it came to pass, when all that knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
Men who had known Saul all his life could not believe their eyes. The son of Kish was prophesying with a company of prophets. Their question came from shock, not praise. It raises a hard question: what does such a moment prove about a man, and what does it not prove?
The shock makes sense only because Saul's reputation was the opposite. He had little to do with Samuel, though the prophet lived nearby.
This is even more remarkable when you remember how close they lived. Gibeah of Saul was not more than twenty miles from Samuel's headquarters at Ramah. It shows how little interest Saul took at that time in public affairs, or in the welfare of Israel. Every godly Hebrew would have cared deeply about such things… But most serious of all, Saul had no piety. You can gather this from his not knowing the prophet… "Is Saul also among the prophets?" shows that his lack of interest in spiritual matters was well known.
This sign carried an offer inside it. God was showing the new king that He was ready to lead him.
before-note-none
Along with this sign, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul. This turned him into virtually another man as he prophesied among the prophets. By this God was showing His own willingness to lead Saul by the power of His Spirit as Saul took the kingdom. But Saul himself had to realise something. He could expect this guidance only if he submitted to the Spirit of God.
There is a sharp line here. The Spirit may use a man as an instrument without ever touching his conscience. Saul is the proof.
When the conscience stands in the presence of God and bows to His judgment, the Spirit of God acts in saving grace. He does not use the man as a mere instrument. He blesses his soul. In a word, it is salvation. But where the conscience is not touched, there is no salvation. Even then the power of the Spirit may be so great that for a time the man under it becomes another man… Saul prophesied like this twice, and on neither occasion was there any work in the conscience or change of heart.
The same warning reaches beyond Saul to spiritual gift itself. Even the greatest gift leaves a man where it found him.
Sin has made an emptiness in the soul. The richest and most abundant gifts cannot fill it. Nothing can, short of Christ and heart-belief in Him… A man may preach with the gift of Paul. But if that is all, his gift and his use of it will not save him… As Matthew Henry said, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
The crowd asked about Saul; one bystander asked about the source. Commentators treat that second question as the wiser one.
One person who lived there asks a discerning question: "But who is their father?" The source of the prophecy was the important thing. The questioner could tell that this was not Saul's normal character. But if it was a true prophecy, it came from God.
Another writer hears distrust in the same words. The question asks whether Saul belongs to the same family as God's servants.
Saul is changed into another man and prophesies. Even so, those who knew him before have no confidence in him. They ask, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" And one from the same place answers, "But who is their father?" Does Saul have the same father as God's servants?
The question stuck. It passed into common speech in Israel and was used far beyond Saul's case.
When, shortly after, he was seen among the prophets and prophesying with them, everyone who knew him was astonished to find him in such company and so occupied — so much so that "Is Saul also among the prophets?" became a proverb, used whenever anyone was seen acting out of character.
One writer counts up what Saul received before he was ever tested. That, he says, is the ground of Saul's accountability.
Three great things were done for Saul himself. God turned him into another man, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and God was with him… Responsibility begins only after grace and goodness have done their utmost… Grace in fact creates our responsibilities, whether then or now, and it supplies what we need to fulfil them.
- Known — everyone knew Saul cared nothing for God. That is why the neighbours who grew up with him were stunned to see him prophesy.
- Given — the Spirit came on him as a sign that God was willing to lead him as king. The gift was real, and Saul had to submit to it.
- Not saved — the Spirit's power on a man is not saving grace reaching his conscience. Saul among the prophets is Saul still.
- Sourced — one bystander asked not about Saul but about the prophets' father. A true word's worth lies in who sends it.
- Accountable — grace did its utmost for Saul first. Only then did responsibility begin. Grace creates our responsibilities and supplies what we need to meet them.
And a man of that place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?
Saul had just prophesied with a company of prophets, and the people who knew him could not believe it. This verse gives their two responses: a local man's question about the prophets' father, and a proverb that Israel repeated for years.
Saul's earlier life gave his own town no reason to expect him among the prophets.
Saul's town, Gibeah, was no more than twenty miles from Samuel's base at Ramah, which makes this all the more remarkable. Most serious of all, Saul was not marked by piety. You can see this in how little he knew of the prophet. Had he cared about spiritual matters, he would surely have known something of the man of God who traveled in circuit. Even the servants knew of him. Samuel went his rounds around the country, judging and teaching the children of Israel in the knowledge of the Lord, but Saul's family home had never welcomed him. "Is Saul also among the prophets!" shows that his lack of interest in spiritual things was widely known.
Another writer points to where Saul's care actually went.
Though he was careful about his own things, he seems, at least so far, to have had no great care for the things of God, because at this time he does not even know Samuel personally, who was then the great witness for God in the land.
The saying spread beyond Saul.
Shortly after, people saw him among the prophets, prophesying with them. All who knew him were astonished to find him in such company and so occupied. So "Is Saul also among the prophets?" became a proverb. People said it whenever they saw someone acting out of character.
His neighbours were not paying him a compliment.
Those who remembered what he was like asked, as if in mockery, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" They repeated the question years later, in different circumstances. Clearly, up to that time he had shown no fear of God and no faith in Him. It was astonishing that he should take his place with them like this. Sadly, we know it did not last.
One man in the crowd asked something sharper than the proverb. He wanted to know where prophecy comes from.
One person, however, who lived there, asks a discerning question: "But who is their father?" The source of the prophecy was the important thing. The questioner clearly knew that this was not Saul's normal character. But if it was a true prophecy, it came from God.
Commentators differ on what the man meant. Another writer hears a challenge aimed at Saul himself.
Although Saul, changed into another man, prophesies, those who knew him beforehand have no confidence in him. "Is Saul also among the prophets?" And one of the same place answers: "But who is their father?" Does Saul have the same father as God's servants?
Saul did prophesy. The gift was real, and Saul is not the only case.
And Saul can prophesy too. But so have others of the same kind. Balaam the prophet prophesied while loving the wages of unrighteousness. Caiaphas the priest prophesied while he was thirsting for innocent blood. Judas the apostle worked miracles while he carried the heart of a traitor... A new heart, or "another heart," as a gift for office, had been given to each of them, and in the Spirit they prophesied or worked miracles. But all this tells us that it is not gifts that make us what we should be, and that nothing will do if the heart is not with God.
If gifts cannot make the man, what can?
Nothing can fill the emptiness that sin has made in the soul — not the richest and most abundant gifts — apart from Christ and heart-belief in Him... As Rutherford said, "Preaching is not Christ," though it may be about Him; and Matthew Henry said, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still."
- Reputation — Everyone knew Saul had no interest in the things of God. That is why his neighbours were shocked to see him among the prophets.
- Proverb — "Is Saul also among the prophets?" became common speech for anyone acting out of character. Years later people threw it at him again.
- Source — One man asked the better question: "who is their father?" What settles a prophecy is where it comes from, not who speaks it.
- Gift — Balaam, Caiaphas and Judas stand alongside Saul: real gift, real power, and no heart for God.
- Still — Only Christ fills the emptiness sin makes. Prophesying among the prophets left Saul exactly who he was.
And when he had ended prophesying, he came to the high place.
Saul has just been anointed in private, met a band of prophets, and been swept up into prophesying with them — and then, as suddenly as it began, it stops. He walks on to the high place the same man as before, and that raises the hardest question in his story: can God use a man in plain sight and leave him unchanged?
The phrase "when he had finished prophesying" matters. What came on Saul was real power, but it had an end point:
When the conscience is in the presence of God and bows to His judgment, the Spirit of God acts in saving grace. He does not use the man as a mere instrument; He blesses his soul. In a word, it is salvation. But even where there is no work in the conscience, and so no salvation, the power of the Spirit may be so great that for a time the man under it becomes another man... The Spirit of God came on Saul again later (1 Samuel 19:23), and he prophesied as before. But neither time was there any work in his conscience or change of heart. Indeed, on that second occasion his behaviour was evidence to the contrary... In all these cases the prophesying shows the Spirit's power — not power that saves, but power acting sovereignly, choosing His instruments according to divine wisdom.
The change was real, but it did not go deep. One writer sets Saul beside two other men as a warning:
This is a very serious thing to consider. Without a work of the conscience, the Spirit of God acting in power does not save a man. Under the influence of the Spirit, Saul had "another heart" and was "turned into another man." Later he is reproved, when he shows the true depths of his natural heart. All these natural qualities, and even the gift of prophecy given by the Spirit of God, did not make him a man of God! Balaam and Judas are dreadful examples of this.
Saul's neighbours knew him too well to be impressed. What they said about him outlived the day:
As a youth, Saul seems to have been very indifferent to the things of God... Then, soon after, people saw him among the prophets, prophesying with them. All who knew him were astonished to find him in such company and doing such a thing. So much so that "Is Saul also among the prophets?" became a proverb, said whenever anyone was seen acting out of character.
One man in the crowd asked a sharper question — where the prophesying came from:
Saul is changed into another man and prophesies. Yet those who knew him before have no confidence in him. "Is Saul also among the prophets?" And one of the same place answers: "But who is their father?" Does Saul have the same father as God's servants?
Everything Samuel had foretold happened that day. Saul read none of it:
Saul had neither eyes nor ears for God's teachings, and these foreshadowings of grace were lost on him. Having no faith, he failed to reap the immediate blessing. They were all to him mere circumstances. He was only a natural man; even his acquaintances had no high thought of him from his previous life, for when he prophesied they were amazed.
At the high place Saul meets his uncle and keeps the promise of the throne to himself. One writer sees real restraint in that, while the effect of the signs was still fresh:
Coming to the high place, Saul is met by his uncle, who asks where he and his servant had been. Learning that they had sought Samuel's help, his uncle wants to know what Samuel said to them. Saul tells him only that Samuel had said the donkeys were found. He says nothing about Samuel's words to him concerning the kingdom. At least at this time he showed no inclination to boast in his coming greatness. The effect of the signs he had seen had not yet worn off. He seemed in some measure rightly subdued by them. Yet later it appears that he forgot them completely, or at least forgot what they meant.
Another writer sees a promising surface that would not hold:
So far everything looks lowly and promising, as far as Saul is concerned. Flesh may go very far in imitating what is of God. But circumstances soon arise which show that it is all on the surface.
- Power — the Spirit really came on Saul. His prophesying was no fake: God was sovereignly choosing His instrument.
- Limit — "when he had finished" is the key phrase. The power came for a time, and it never reached his conscience.
- Proverb — his neighbours' amazement turned into a proverb about a man acting out of character.
- Source — the wiser question was not "Is Saul also among the prophets?" but "who is their father?" Test where a word comes from, not how impressive the speaker looks.
- Surface — flesh can imitate the things of God for a long while. Later circumstances show that nothing underneath has changed.