Year 1, Day 296: 1 Samuel 10

Prophetic Evidence of the New

In Samuel 10 we begin with Samuel and Saul talking about the coming coronation.  Samuel gives Saul a few prophetic words as evidence of God’s plan in his life.  Now, we might ask why Samuel (or God) would do this.  After all, how many times in your life does someone come up to you and tell you about things that are going to happen in the future?  It doesn’t seem to happen very often with us, so why would it happen here?

The answer to this question is two-fold.  First, part of the answer is that God is doing something new.  Up until now, the Hebrew people haven’t been under a king.  Since they are going to be under a king, part of why God gives this prophetic message is because He is doing something new.  God often does this, let’s look at a few examples. 

When Jesus steps onto the scene in the New Testament, we hear God send John the Baptizer to announce the coming of something new.  When Jesus was about to die on the cross, He announced it to His disciples (and even the Jewish leaders in the form of parables!).  When Paul was going to be charged with opening up faith to the whole world via the Gentiles, he (and Ananias) received a vision telling him what to expect.  When God does something new, He announces it.

This leads us to the second reason that God gives these preparatory visions.  God wants those people with whom He is going to do something new to be prepared.  That’s quite significant.  God wants them to act boldly and confidently.  God wants them to understand what is going to happen and to step into the role that He has asked them to play.  Look at the examples in the prior paragraph.  Is each of those situations a time of preparation?  Does God not want to prepare the people around Jesus?  Does God not want to prepare the Apostle Paul and those who would disciple him?  That is exactly what is going on here with Saul.  God wants him to be prepared.  I’ll say more on this later.

Disclaimer

Before I speak on my next topic I need to make one thing very clear.  Please do not confuse what I am about to say with a conversation on salvation.  I am going to talk about Saul and his change of heart, and I do not want anyone to make the jump that what I am talking about is actually salvation. 

A New Heart

In this story we are clearly told that God gives Saul a new heart.  As he is going home, verse 6 and verse 10 clearly tells us that Saul received the Spirit of the Lord and he was changed into a new man.  Yet, we know that this change did not stick.  God rejects Saul as king.  We know that Saul does not live up to what God has empowered him to do.  Saul does have a moment with the Spirit of the Lord, he does prophesy, but he is not permanently changed.

I think I see a lot of this in today’s Christianity.  In many respects, Saul is the archetypical example of the “seed on the rocky ground” as told in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-9.  People receive the Word of God.  They are inspired by God’s presence.  Yet they wither quickly.  They don’t have the staying power to put God first.  They don’t have what it takes to make good decisions that will lead them into a lasting relationship with God.  The excitement passes; they wither and die.

So it is, I believe, with Saul.  Saul was given every opportunity.  Saul was literally handed the keys to the brand new shiny kingdom by God, and he didn’t make it.  He didn’t last.  He got distracted by the world, spiritually withered up, and died.  So we must be careful when we read this passage about Saul that just because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he was able to prophesy does not mean that the change was permanent.

Bringing It All Together

Now, let’s tie the two points together.  At his inauguration, Saul cannot be found.  He is hiding among the baggage.  What a sad statement.  Saul has been given visions and God had prepared him.  He has had the Spirit of God within him.  He has a strong body, a good mind, the support of loyal friends, a spiritual guide in Samuel.  He has every reason to trust in the Lord, and what does he do?  He hides from what God has called him to do.  We should know right there that things will not go well for this first king of the Hebrew people.

Saul fails because Saul is unwilling to see what the Lord is doing in his midst.  Saul fails to see what the Lord is doing because he fails to humble himself to God.  Rather than humble himself and do what the Lord has clearly asked of him, Saul asserts himself and hides. 

Lord, help us to not make this same mistake.

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