About 1 Samuel 9
1 Samuel 9
In chapter 8 we saw the people of Israel request a king for themselves, someone who they can see and can rule over them. In this chapter, we will see the anointing of Israel’s first king.
Up until this point, Israel has been ruled by God through judges. Samuel was one of these judges, and by God’s approval, agreed to give Israel the king they were asking for.
This chapter starts off introducing us to a “wealthy, influential man named Kish from the tribe of Benjamin.” (1 Samuel 9:1, NLT) and then it goes down his family line.
“His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel—head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.”
I don’t know if you’ve come to realize at this point, but the Bible doesn’t mention people just because. The mentioning of Kish and going down his family line and tribe means that it’s important. Similarly, the mention of his son Saul in the next verse tells us that he is someone need to pay attention to.
Here are a few things to note about Saul from just this one verse:
“most handsome man in Israel”
Calling attention to Saul’s attractiveness here may be intended to underscore the fact that appearances can be deceiving as we will later see mentioned in chapter 16:7: But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
“Taller than anyone else in the land”
Saul is one of the only Israelites singled out for his tall statue. This description identifies him as being like the kings of other nations. Other people or groups described as being tall are generally enemies of Israel, these are:
The Nephilim [Numbers 13:33]
Emin and Anakites [Deuteronomy 2:10]
Goliath [1 Samuel 17:4]
The four descendants of the giant Goliath [2 Samuel 21:15-22]
An Egyptian [1 Chronicles 11:23]
The Cushites [Isaiah 18:1-2]
The Sabeans [Isaiah 45:14]
The Amorites [Amos 2:9]
We also learn a bit more about Saul in the verses that follow:
“Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.” So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them. When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, “Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” But the servant replied, “Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.” Saul said to his servant, “If we go, what can we give the man? The food in our sacks is gone. We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?” The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have a quarter of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take.””
Let’s break this down as well:
Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father were lost
This is a literary motif of a bad shepherd; a good shepherd does not first and foremost, lose the animal he’s shepherding. Secondly, a good shepherd does not wait to be told to go and find his lost animal, he takes it upon himself to search for it. This analogy of the shepherd is used to describe Saul throughout 1 Samuel. Not only is Saul inept at leading animals, but he is also incompetent when leading people. It is a reflection of the kings from other nations who do not follow God’s law.
So Saul and his servant go and look for the donkeys, but they couldn’t find the donkeys anywhere [1 Samuel 9:4, NLT], another echo of Saul’s incompetency. His inability to locate a herd of large animals displays his ineptitude as a shepherd.
Then in verse six we see the servant taking the lead: but the servant replied… and later in verse 8, we see that the servant is prepared, unlike Saul:
The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have a quarter of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us what way to take.”
1 Samuel 9:8
As we continue down this chapter, we see that our hunch about Saul being someone important confirmed:
“Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.” When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the Lord said to him, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.” Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?””
So we see here that the Lord had informed Samuel of the coming arrival of the man that will become Israel’s ruler. God tells Samuel that this man will deliver the Israelites from the Philistines, and again states that He is giving His people a king because they asked for it: their cry has reached me. The Amplified versions says:
For I have looked upon [the distress of] My people, because their cry [for help] has come to Me.
1 Samuel 9:16b, AMP
When Saul arrives though, he doesn’t even recognize Samuel, highlighting Saul’s spiritual blindness. Moreover, as Samuel proceeds to speak to Saul, we see that Saul doesn’t think much of not just himself but his family and his tribe:
“‘“I am the seer!” Samuel replied. “Go up to the place of worship ahead of me. We will eat there together, and in the morning I’ll tell you what you want to know and send you on your way. And don’t worry about those donkeys that were lost three days ago, for they have been found. And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes.” Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?”’”
Take note of this inferiority syndrome because a lot of us have it.
God tells us we’re going to do something great for His kingdom, but our response is: how can this be? I did this and that, and my family is this and that. Or like Saul: I’m only just from this place, it’s the most unfavorable place to go to, and my family is not important, in fact, is the least important and most likely to be overlooked. Mind you, his dad was described as a wealthy and influential man in the very first lines of the chapter.
How we see our lives is not always the way others see it. More importantly, it’s not the way God sees it, for God sees our hearts, He sees the gifts and talents inside of us. He knows all the potential that lies within us and all He wants is to come alongside us to bring them to life.
Saul was not the perfect candidate to be king of Israel; his leadership skills sucked. But physically, he fit the role of a king. He is the perfect example of a counterfeit: outwardly perfect, but inwardly not it.
Now mind you, God does not make mistakes, nor does he place us in a position to fail. We fail when we stop trusting Him.
As we dive deeper into 1 Samuel and see Saul becoming King and walk through his reign, we will see that appearances can indeed be deceiving.
