God's Hand on Saul
Notes
Transcript
A. Rapport for the time
You ever know something that someone else doesn’t know and you allow them to learn it for themselves? You might give them enough information about the topic that they desire to go search for themselves and learn so much more as God reveals himself to them and teaches them an aspect of themselves they never knew before. God is always transforming us and teaching us.
B. Reading of the text
C. Review of the text
Last week—Samuel told Saul about the donkey he was looking for before he could even ask the question. And we thought well surely you can’t have much doubt in your mind about the instructions that come from God and are delivered by Samuel to Saul. Yet, God knows your needs more than you do.
D. Relevance of the text
You and I understand from reading the text that Saul in is in the hands of God even though we know things he doesn’t know. He is in the process of learning what it means to find rest in God’s hands and to see the hands of God work in his life but still has doubt.
Can you relate to that this morning in your own life. You believe in the providence of God and know he is sovereign but are struggling in the midst of life not to doubt that God is more than capable of transforming you into what He desires you to be.
T.S.
I. Proof
I. Proof
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 Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
Samuel has yet to say to Saul YOU WILL BE KING. In this passage the term prince is translated for us but it could also mean leader. The reminder to Saul(although I’m not sure he needs it) is written for us the reader to see that this was God’s work in the life of Israel. God had chosen Israel long ago and the Messiah will come from the Israelites to be our salvation. God is using Saul on this day to get closer to that moment when God will bring the fullness of salvation to us in Christ Jesus. On this day he will establish his ways using Saul. Look at the end of the verse: anointed you to be prince over his heritage.
Saul is anointed-with oil. In the OT this is a picture of God kissing Samuel with the Spirit of God.
Here Isaiah explain.
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
God is anointing Saul to be Leader over his Heritage.
Heritage—is an indisputable possession that cannot be transferred to another.
Heritage—is an indisputable possession that cannot be transferred to another.
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
26 And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
God on this day will anoint Israel a leader they can see but in no way do they stop being God’s people. They may desire a King to look like the other nations but they will never be like the other nations because Israel is God’s heritage. They are called to be his possession that they might represent him.
God is willing to give 3 signs to Saul and Samuel will tell them exactly what they will be.
First one in vs. 2
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 found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’
This is exactly what Saul said would happen back in:
5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us go back, lest my father cease to care about the donkeys and become anxious about us.”
Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah many things happened at this spot. Remember Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. Around this site is the place that God reminded Jacob of his promises
9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.
10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel.
11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.
12 The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”
2nd sign in vs. 3-4
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.
Three men head to Bethel to make an offering to the Lord. They give a portion of their sacrifice to Saul. This is telling Saul that he now has a special status in the hand of God-He has been separated out by God, anointed, to serve a purpose for God.
Bethel is another place that God spoke to Jacob:
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Every step that Saul takes seems to remind him and us that Israel is God’s Heritage-possession.
3rd sign vs. 5-6
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.
Gibeath-elohim--”The hill of God”
Philistines are a problem again. In this case the Spirit of God will rush upon Saul and he is turned into a new man. Understand the Spirit in the OT does not indwell people and regenerate like in the NT. The Spirit in the OT is often their to equip a person for a time to perform a task for God. For Example.
Bezaleel:
30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship,
32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze,
33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.
34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.
35 He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.
Sampson:
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done.
Saul was now prophesying before the others and they saw a different man.
7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down 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.
God gave him another heart—literal translation: “God changed him for another heart,” Saul was now set to have the Holy Spirit come upon him and ultimately to lead God’s people.
T.S. 3 signs would give the proof to Saul needed to understand all that is happening to him. He will be changed and all will happen just as Samuel has told him. He will become a Proverb because of the drastic change.
II. Proverb
II. Proverb
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?”
Understand when Samuel comes to Kish everyone knows him. They know his family they have seen him grow up, they know to say “what has come over the son of Kish? This was not the Saul they knew and wanted to know what has happened to him. They don’t know that he has been anointed to be leader of all Israel yet. In fact, they won’t know that for awhile longer. The question is asked “who is their father?” This is simply asking who is the leader of these prophets that are prophesying that Saul has joined in on.
I believe this is the only one of the signs that we are given more detail to because we need to know just how extraordinary it was for the Spirit of God to rush upon Saul and transform him into a prophet in an instant. Are you able to see the power of God. Saul in the hands of God can be used however God sees fit. Saul didn’t need to sign up for anything or figure things out all on his own. He must simply follow directions from the King of all Kings and the Lord of Lords.
III. Perspective
III. Perspective
Placating…?
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.
Saul climbs the hill that the prophets had descended. It was not time for him to tackle the Philistines or to go rushing around ordering people to do what he says as King. Instead, I see this time of trying to gather himself and put into perspective all that has happened to him. His uncle happens to be on the hill and wants to know what Samuel said to him. That makes sense, your nephew has been seen prophesying and seems completely different from before wouldn’t you want to know what Samuel said?
Saul tells the uncle about the donkeys but that is all. Nothing else. Why? Well depends on if you come to Saul with all you know about Saul or you have put down what you know just to be with Saul in all this. Is it humility he is showing by not saying I’m king? Is it a lack of understanding on his part? Is he just saying what he thinks will get rid of the uncle the quickest?
What if this is Saul just being human? How much has happened to him in a short time. He has just run into a really big God that has shown off in many ways and Saul has been informed that God will make him leader of Israel. What would you do with that information?
How do you deal with God being God in your life. We started today with:
Can you relate to that this morning in your own life. You believe in the providence of God and know he is sovereign but are struggling in the midst of life not to doubt that God is more than capable of transforming you into what He desires you to be.