1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lordand you will save them from the hand of theirsurrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lordhas anointed you to be prince over his heritage. 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are
1.What does this anointing with oil mean?
The origin of anointing was from a practice of shepherds. Lice and other insects would often get into the wool of sheep, and when they got near the sheep’s head, they could burrow into the sheep’s ears and kill the sheep. So, ancient shepherds poured oil on the sheep’s head. This made the wool slippery, making it impossible for insects to get near the sheep’s ears because they would just slide off. From this, anointing became symbolic of blessing, protection, and empowerment.
In Bible times, people were anointed with oil to signify God’s blessing or call on that person’s life (Exodus 29:7; Exodus 40:9; 2 Kings 9:6; Ecclesiastes 9:8; James 5:14). A person was anointed for a special purpose—to be a king, to be a prophet, to be an builder, etc. There is nothing wrong with anointing a person with oil today. We just have to make sure that the purpose of anointing is in agreement with Scripture. Anointing should not be viewed as a “magic potion.” The oil itself does not have any power. It is only God that can anoint a person for a specific purpose. If we use oil, it is only a symbol of what God is doing.
Another meaning for the word anointed is “chosen one.” The Bible says that Jesus Christ was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit to spread the Good News and free those who have been held captive by sin (Luke 4:18-19; Acts 10:38). After Christ left the earth, He left us the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). Now all Christians are anointed, chosen for a specific purpose in furthering God’s Kingdom (1 John 2:20). “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). gotquestions.org.
This is a private anointing. Later Samuel will demonstrate publicly by lots that Saul has been chosen by the Lord, not just by Samuel.
2. Who was Rachel?
Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, had died on the road to Bethlehem while giving birth to Benjamin. Her tomb had become a notable landmark. Benjamin was the favorite son of Jacob.
So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. Gen 35:19-20 (ESV)
3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
3. Why does Samuel give Saul 3 signs to look for?
He is establishing his credibility. So much of what Jesus did in the gospels was for the purpose of establishing his credibility. Even the Pharisees had to admit that the miracles he did had to be from God. When you raise a man from the dead or heal a man blind from birth, it hard to argue with things like that.
4.“The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them”, Does the Holy Spirit still operate in the same manner today as it did in Saul’s day?
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (ESV)
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.John 14:16-17 (NKJV)
This is similar in some ways to the way the Holy Spirit operated in the Old Covenant but also very different. In the New Covenant the Holy spirit is in us.Scripture teaches that all believes are indwelt with the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Christ,
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Romans 8:9 (ESV)
……and then it seems that He, the Holy Spirit anoints (gifts and enables) some to do certain tasks. I believe pastors are commissioned and anointed by God. Does that mean that all pastors are legitimately called and spiritually empowered by God. Certainly not
5. What does it mean to prophesy?
prophets. The bands of prophets with which Samuel was associated (as also the “sons of the prophets” with whom Elijah and Elisha were associated; see note on 1Ki 20:35) appear to have been small communities of men who banded together in spiritually decadent times for mutual cultivation of their religious zeal. lyres … harps.The actions of individual prophets or groups of prophets were sometimes accompanied by musical instrument.prophesying. Here appears to designate praising God inspired by the Holy Spirit accompanied with musical accompaniment. MSBN
6.“you will be changed into a different person.” Was Saul changed into a different person?
Yes to a certain extent.changed into a different person. God’s Spirit would enable Saul to change from being a donkey wrangler to being Israel’s king.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matt 7:22-23 (NKJV)
‘I do not believe that he was converted. If I sound like I am prejudiced against Saul, I will tell you why. It is not because of the material we have already covered concerning him but what is coming that makes me believe that Saul was not genuine, and certainly not genuinely converted at all. Someone is bound to say, “But the Spirit of God came upon Saul and he was a different man.” Yes, but it does not say that he became a new man. After all, didn’t the Spirit of God come upon Balaam? And we have no proof that he was converted. What about Judas? Christ sent out twelve disciples, and we are told that all of them performed miracles. Did Judas perform miracles? Certainly he did. Would you say that Judas was converted? So let us withhold making a final decision about Saul—although I seem to have already made one. JVM
We should probably not interpret the reference to God changing Saul’s heart to mean that at this time Saul experienced personal salvation. This always takes place when a person believes God’s promise, and there is no indication in the context that Saul did that at this time. Probably it means that God gave him a different viewpoint on things since he had received the Holy Spirit. Some interpreters have taken this as Saul’s conversion.In Hebrew psychology the heart was the seat of the intellect, emotions, and will. CN
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Cor 5:17 (ESV)
7. What does Samuel mean“do whatever your hand finds to do”?
do whatever your hand finds to do. Saul is to take whatever action is appropriate when the situation presents itself to manifest publicly his royal leadership
Saul is a pragmatist. He is streetwise, he’s good at figuring out what to do as far as worldly things. What the Israelites really want is a king who will deliver them from their enemies. They want a king who will go before them into war (8:19-20). And specifically, they want a king who will deal with Nahash, the king of the Ammonites (12:12). The proof of Saul’s kingship will be clinched if Saul can successfully lead them into war. Chapter 11 is all about just this.
Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” 9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart.And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. 14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything. 17 Now Samuel called the people together to the Lordat Mizpah.
8. What happened at Mizpah in the past?
When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah. 1 Sam 7:6
This was a point of major repentance for the entire nation. National revival. When Spurgeon began preaching in London and began calling for individual personal confession and repentance, nobody had ever heard of such a thing. Because of the poverty and misery in 19th century England the people were hungry for the word of God and more than a just a relationship with a church they were looking for a personal relationship with God that first begins with guanine repentance. His little church about the size of HFBC quickly grew to over 12 thousand with people lined up for blocks trying to get an opportunity to hear him preach. This was a Mizpah for London.
18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.” 20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the Lord, “Is there a man still to come?”and the Lord said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
9. Why was Saul hiding in the baggage?
Saul has a hard time living up to what everybody expects him to be.
But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1 Sam 15:22
23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” 25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home.
10. What were the regulations of kingship?
14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lordyour God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. Deut 17:14-20 (ESV)
26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.
11. Who were these valiant men?
Saul likewise goes to his house, accompanied by a group of valiant men whose hearts God has touched. These men seem to be something like Saul’s “secret service,”accompanying him wherever he goes, protecting him from any who might wish to harm him. These valiant men are further evidence that Saul is indeed God’s choice for Israel’s king. David had a group of valiant men who loved and protected him. Uriah was one of them. These were guy who would take a bullet for the leader. This is what made David’s sin even more terrible.
27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
12. Why would some troublemakers despise Saul?
There were some, however, who did not support him. They were evidently looking on Saul’s natural abilities as essential to Israel’s success and were forgetting that Yahweh was the real source of her hope. Saul was a wise enough man not to demand acceptance by every individual in Israel .The reason he failed later was not because he lacked wisdom.
NIVSN……………….NIV Study Notes.
JVM ………………….J Vernon McGee,
ACC ………………… Adam Clarke’s Commentary
BN ……………………Barnes Notes
WBC………….…….Wycliffe Bible Commentary
CN ……….…………..Constables Notes
IC……………….…….Ironside Commentary
NET…………….…….Net Bible Study Notes.
JFB……………………Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
VWS………………….Vincent Word Studies
CMM………………..Commentary on Matthew and Mark
BDB……………..….Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Darby……………….John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT
Johnson……………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.
NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary: Matthew and Mark.
EHS………………….Expositions of the Holy Scriptures
CPP…………………The Complete Pulpit Commentary
SBC…………………..Sermon Bible Commentary
K&D…………………Keil and Deilitzsch Commentary on the OT
EBC……………….…Expositors Bible Commentary
CBSC……………….Cambridge Bible for Schools and College
GC……………………Guzik Commentary
RD…………………..Robert Deffinbaugh
NSB …………………The Nelson Study Bible
MHC…………………Matthew Henry Commentary
ESVN……………..….ESV Study Bible Notes
MSBN……………….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
CSTTB………………..Chuck Smith Through the Bible
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