Day 21 · 1 Samuel 9–10; 13; 15
Old Testament · Phase 3 · Conquest, Judges & Monarchy
Saul anointed king; Saul's failures and rejection
1 Samuel 9–10
Section titled “1 Samuel 9–10”Saul Chosen as King
1Now there was a Benjamite, a powerful man, whose name was Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. 2And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites — a head taller than any of the people.
3One day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, and Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants and go look for the donkeys.”
4So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find the donkeys. He and the servant went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they went through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them.
5When they reached the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, “Come, let us go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”
6“Look,” said the servant, “in this city there is a man of God who is highly respected; everything he says surely comes to pass. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.”
7“If we do go,” Saul replied, “what can we give the man? For the bread in our packs is gone, and there is no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?”
8The servant answered him again. “Look,” he said, “I have here in my hand a quarter shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God, and he will tell us our way.”
9(Formerly in Israel, a man on his way to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer.” For the prophet of today was formerly called the seer.)
10“Good,” said Saul to his servant. “Come, let us go.” So they set out for the city where the man of God was. 11And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
12“Yes, he is ahead of you,” they answered. “Hurry now, for today he has come to the city because the people have a sacrifice on the high place. 13As soon as you enter the city, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not eat until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; after that, the guests will eat. Go up at once; you will find him.”
14So Saul and his servant went up toward the city, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the high place.
15Now on the day before Saul’s arrival, the LORD had revealed to Samuel, 16“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him ruler over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
17When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke; he shall rule over My people.”
18Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and asked, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?”
19“I am the seer,” Samuel replied. “Go up before me to the high place, for you shall eat with me today. And when I send you off in the morning, I will tell you all that is in your heart. 20As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them, for they have been found. And upon whom is all the desire of Israel, if not upon you and all your father’s house?”
21Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of Benjamin? So why would you say such a thing to me?”
22Then Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them into the hall, and seated them in the place of honor among those who were invited — about thirty in all. 23And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion I gave you and told you to set aside.”
24So the cook picked up the leg and what was attached to it and set it before Saul. Then Samuel said, “Here is what was kept back. It was set apart for you. Eat, for it has been kept for you for this occasion, from the time I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul dined with Samuel that day.
25And after they had come down from the high place into the city, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof of his house.
26They got up early in the morning, and just before dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way!” So Saul got ready, and both he and Samuel went outside together.
27As they were going down to the edge of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stay for a while, and I will reveal to you the word of God.” So the servant went on.
Samuel Anoints Saul
1Then Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over His inheritance? 2When you leave me today, you will find two men at Rachel’s tomb in Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you seek have been found, and now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and started worrying about you, asking, “What should I do about my son?”’
3Then you will go on from there until you 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. 4They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hands.
5After that you will come to Gibeah of God, where the Philistines have an outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place, preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.
6Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be transformed into a different person.
7When these signs have come, do as the occasion demands, for God is with you. 8And you shall go before me to Gilgal, and surely I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you are to do.”
Samuel’s Signs Fulfilled
9As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all the signs came to pass that day. 10When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied along with them.
11When all those who had formerly known Saul saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12Then a man who lived there replied, “And who is their father?” So the saying became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
13And when Saul had finished prophesying, he went up to the high place.
14Now Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?”
“To look for the donkeys,” Saul replied. “When we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.”
15“Tell me,” Saul’s uncle asked, “what did Samuel say to you?”
16And Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
Saul Proclaimed King
17After this, Samuel summoned the people to the LORD at Mizpah 18and said to the Israelites, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hands of the Egyptians and of all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’
19But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and afflictions, and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.”
20Thus Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. 21Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the clan of Matri was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they looked for him, they could not find him. 22So again they inquired of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the LORD replied, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
23So they ran and brought Saul, and when he stood among the people, he was a head taller than any of the others. 24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”
And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.
26Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, and the men of valor whose hearts God had touched went with him.
27But some worthless men said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him and brought him no gifts; but Saul remained silent about it.
1 Samuel 13
Section titled “1 Samuel 13”War with the Philistines
1Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. 2He chose for himself three thousand men of Israel: Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. And the rest of the troops he sent away, each to his own home.
3Then Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”
4And all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked an outpost of the Philistines, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines!” Then the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.
5Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
6Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns. 7Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, remained at Gilgal, and all his troops were quaking in fear.
Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice
8And Saul waited seven days for the time appointed by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the troops began to desert Saul. 9So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered up the burnt offering.
10Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11“What have you done?” Samuel asked.
And Saul replied, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me, and that you did not come at the appointed time and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, 12I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will descend upon me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
13“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the LORD.”
15Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. And Saul numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.
Israel without Weapons
16Now Saul and Jonathan his son and the troops with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Michmash. 17And raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three divisions. One headed toward Ophrah in the land of Shual, 18another toward Beth-horon, and the third down the border road overlooking the Valley of Zeboim facing the wilderness.
19And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.” 20Instead, all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles. 21The charge was a pim for sharpening a plowshare or mattock, a third of a shekel for sharpening a pitchfork or an axe, and a third of a shekel for repointing an oxgoad.
22So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hands of the troops with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.
23And a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Michmash.
1 Samuel 15
Section titled “1 Samuel 15”Saul’s Disobedience
1Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. 2This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them on their way up from Egypt. 3Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
4So Saul summoned the troops and numbered them at Telaim — 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 5Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.”
So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.
9Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to devote them to destruction, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.
Samuel Denounces Saul
10Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, 11“I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.”
And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.
12Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”
13When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
14But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.”
16“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
17And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel 18and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
20“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
22But Samuel declared:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obedience to His voice?
Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice,
and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He has rejected you as king.”
Saul’s Confession
24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.”
26“I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.”
27As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 29Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
30“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
31So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
32Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”
Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33But Samuel declared:
“As your sword has made women childless,
so your mother will be childless among women.”
And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.