Ep. 77 - Saul Made King

Last we left our story, Israel was demanding a king. Despite many years of Samuel’s amazing leadership, despite many years of peace and prosperity, despite the fact that God was supposed to be their king…Israel still really wanted a king. But you know who didn’t want Israel to have a king? God! And God warned the Israelites what would happen if they got a king. The king would take their sons and daughters to serve in his palace, the king would take the best of their fields and vineyards and olive groves, the king would take a tenth of their harvests and their livestock as a tax, and last but not least…all of the Israelites would end up being the king’s servants. Well, none of that sounds all that great! If that was what it was going to be like, who would want a king? But despite God’s merciful warnings, the Israelites would not change their minds…and stubbornly…they still demanded a king. And so, God told Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” (1 Sam. 8:22) But who would the king be? And how would this king be chosen? Well, let’s find out.

So even though the Israelites weren’t willing to listen to God about whether or not to have a king, they were at least willing to let God chose the king. And Samuel sent everyone home so that this king choosing could get started. Now, while Samuel was in Ramah beginning his search, all the way over in land of Benjamin, a man named Saul had begun his own search. Saul was the son of a mighty warrior named Kish. And when talking about Saul, the Bible says, “There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.” (9:2) So this guy Saul was the biggest and handsomest guy in all of Israel! But even though Saul was the biggest and handsomest guy, he still had the same responsibilities as just about anyone else would have had in those days…taking care of the family farm. And around the time that the king search began, what farm things was Saul doing? Well, pretty random…apparently somehow all the donkeys on the farm had gotten lost. And so, Saul’s father sent him to go searching for the donkeys along with a servant.

And it turned out that searching for these donkeys was no easy thing. Saul and the servant went all over the place looking for the donkeys. For three days they hiked all over the countryside looking and looking and looking. They travelled all over the land of Benjamin…but with no luck. Eventually, their search took them out of the land of Benjamin to the land of Zuph…which just so happened to be where Samuel’s home was…in the town of Ramah. And when they arrived in Zuph, Saul and the servant said to themselves…ya know what…Samuel’s town is just around the corner. He’s a prophet…so why don’t we visit him and see if he knows where these donkeys are. And so, up to Ramah they went. Unbeknownst to Saul, Samuel was actually waiting for him in Ramah. The day before, God had spoken to Samuel and said, “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” (9:16) And sure enough, right on time, huge and handsome Saul came strolling into town. And just when Samuel saw him, God said to Samuel, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over my people.” (9:17)

Of course, Saul had no idea that any of this was going on. And when Saul entered the gate of the town, he just walked up to the first person he saw (which just so happened to be Samuel), and asked him, “Please tell me, where is the seer’s house?” (9:18) And probably laughing to himself a little bit, Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer.” (9:19) Ah perfect! But before Saul had a chance to ask him about the donkeys, Samuel continued and said, “Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today; and tomorrow I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. But as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be anxious about them, for they have been found.” (9:19) On hearing this from Samuel, no doubt Saul was both amazed and relieved…the donkeys were safe and sound. God is good! But then, before Saul had a chance to enjoy his relief, Samuel continued and said, “And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and all your father’s house?” (9:20)

Now even though Samuel was being a bit…vague, Saul knew exactly what Samuel was getting at. You see, Saul knew very well about all the king frenzy going on in Israel at the moment. And he knew that there had been a big meeting in Ramah about it recently. And so, when Samuel said, ‘on whom is all the desire of Israel’, it was kinda obvious what Samuel was saying…that Saul would be king of Israel! But of course, this really caught Saul off guard. Along with all the king frenzy, no doubt there were many powerful families from the big tribes who were keen for the job (at that time, the most power tribes were Ephraim and Judah). Meanwhile, Saul was from one of the smallest families of the smallest tribe in all Israel…and Saul himself…well he was just a farmer. It didn’t really make sense! And so, Saul replied to Samuel and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? When then do you speak like this to me?” (9:21)

But Samuel was having none of it. Despite Saul’s reluctance, Samuel convinced Saul to stay the night. They ate together and talked together. And then the next day, as Saul was just about to leave, Samuel said to him, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us. But you stand here awhile, that I may announce to you the word of the Lord.” (9:27) Then Samuel took out a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, and kissed him. Now at this point, Saul is probably wondering to himself…is it at least possible that it’s just Samuel who wants me to be king? But then Samuel continued, and said to Saul, “It is not because the Lord has anointed you commander over His inheritance?” (10:1) And to prove that God wanted him to be king, Samuel went on to tell Saul exactly what was going to happen to him on his way home that day. First, he’d run into a couple of men in a town called Zelzah who would tell him that his donkeys had been found and that his father was worried. Then, at a terebinth tree in another town called Tabor, he’d run into three men – one carrying three goats, another carrying two loaves of bread, and the other carrying a wineskin – and they would give the two loaves of bread to Saul. Then, close to a Philistine garrison, Saul would run into a group of prophets carrying some instruments – a tambourine, a flute, and a harp – and they would be prophesying. (BTW kidzos, many times when the Bible is talking about prophets…its not talking about people who predict the future…but it just talking about people who give messages from God. In our day, we would call them pastors…or whatever you call the person in your church who gives the sermon. And when these prophets are “prophesying”, we would just call that “preaching”. It’s not always the case, but many times it is…like here with Saul.) And after running into these prophesying prophets, Saul would get caught up in the moment and start prophesying himself!

Now of course this all seemed super random to Saul…not to mention a bit crazy…especially the part about him prophesying. I mean, despite how tall and handsome he was, Saul was kind of a shy guy. Prophesying definitely wasn’t up his alley! So, Saul went on his way…probably confident that absolutely none of that was going to happen. But wouldn’t you know it, it all happened exactly as Samuel had predicted. He ran into the two men who indeed told him about that his donkeys had been found and that his father was worried about him. Right after that, he ran into the three men…one with goats, one with loaves of bread, and one with a wineskin…and they gave him the bread. Then he ran into the prophets. And what were they carrying? You guessed it…a tambourine, a flute, and a harp! Wow…it was all happening! But surely shy guy Saul wasn’t going to do any prophesying, right? You bet he was! And the Bible says, “then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among the prophets.” (10:11) In fact, not only did Saul prophecy, but he prophesied so well that all the people who heard him were like…this is awesome! And knowing Saul and how shy he usually was, the people said to themselves, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” (10:11)

But even after all this happened, even after it was super clear to Saul that God wanted him to be King, Saul was still not at all excited about it. Saul was perfectly happy being a farmer for his father. He didn’t have the first clue as to how to be a king. Saul didn’t want to be king of anything…least of all Israel. So, when Saul got home, he didn’t get right into the king stuff. Instead, he just went back to life as normal…maybe secretly hoping that the whole king thing would just go away. In fact, when he got home, he didn’t even tell his family anything about what had happened! But of course, the king thing wasn’t just going to go away. And not too long after Saul’s anointing, Samuel called for another big meeting in Mizpah (if you kidzos remember, the last big meeting in Mizpah is when they made Samuel to be judge and when God sent the thunderstorm to defeat the Philistines). Everyone came and everyone knew that a king would be chosen. But who would it be? No one knew…except Samuel…and of course a reluctant Saul.

Once all the Israelites were gathered together, Samuel said to them, “Present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.” (10:19) …which they did. Now, because the choosing of the first king of Israel would undoubtedly be a big deal to the Israelites…and maybe even something that the tribes would fight about…it couldn’t just be Samuel anointing some guy. The choosing of the king needed to be something that everyone could see and understand. Now, the Bible doesn’t say exactly how this choosing was done, but based on how the story goes…it was probably done by casting lots. With casting lots, someone would bring around a bunch of lots (or pieces of straw) that were the same length…except for one piece which was shorter than the rest. And whoever drew the “short straw” was the one who was chosen. It was a common way of either picking someone randomly, or, as in this case, allowing God to choose. And because casting lots was something that everyone could see and understand, it was much more likely to be accepted by the people.

And so the casting of lots began. And it was done in an organized way. First the twelve leaders of the twelve tribes came forward and drew lots, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. Then heads of the clans in the tribe of Benjamin came forward, and the clan of Matri was chosen. And so on and so forth until…you guessed it…Saul was chosen. But when the big moment came, Saul was nowhere to be found. They looked everywhere and just couldn’t find him. The Israelites had to actually ask God…where is this Saul guy? And God had to tell them…he’s just over there…hiding behind some farm equipment. And so, the Israelites had to go get him. And when they dragged him back to the assembly, and after everyone had a chance to look at him, Samuel piped up and said, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” (10:24) And indeed, the people looked at Saul…and boy he was a tall guy…and boy he was a handsome guy…just like what the Israelites thought a king should look like. And the people, seemingly happy with God’s choice, shouted, “Long live the king!” (10:24)

After the big meeting was over, Samuel sent everyone home…including Saul…who went right back to the farm. The only thing that had really changed for Saul is that now there were some “valiant men” who started following him around everywhere. Apparently, these men were super excited about having a king and wanted to start following one as soon as possible. But other than these guys hanging around, it was pretty much back to normal life on the farm for Saul. But not everyone was excited about Saul being king. For whatever reason, some Israelites were not happy with Saul, and they started saying, “How can this man save us?” (10:27) The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly why these people weren’t happy with Saul. Maybe they didn’t think that a simple farmer was the right choice…maybe they had been expecting a renowned warrior to be king to lead them in the upcoming battles against the surrounding nations…maybe they had been secretly hoping that God would choose them to be king…who knows. But whatever the reason, there were definitely more than a few people who were unhappy. So what was going to happen? Would the Israelites follow Saul? Would any of the surrounding nations be invading anytime soon? Would Saul even step up when the time came? Well, we’ll find out all about it…next time.