The book of 1 Samuel chapter 10 gave us an interesting reading about what happened to Saul as a result of his encounter with Samuel, the prophet of God.
First, let us see the background of our study to have a clear picture and understanding of the background settings, and we need to go back to 1 Samuel chapter 9.
In 1 Samuel 9:1-2, it says, “now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and goodly:
It was said further that there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.
It happened that the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.
Please, there is something that we need to learn in 1 Samuel 9:5-8. According to verses 5 to 8, when Saul and his servant have come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leaves caring for the asses, and take thought for us.
And his servant said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go.
Then said Saul to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God: what have we?
And the servant answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver: that will I give to the man of God, to tell us our way.
The lesson is that there are many people who will never find their way in life without consulting a prophet (pastor) of God. Meaning that it is not wise to join others to abuse and mock the prophets of God, as they are often the ones that could show us your way in life.
Please read the rest of the story in that chapter. Eventually, Saul meets Samuel and God had instructed Samuel to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel.
The book of 1Samuel 10:1 reads, “Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
The aftermath of Samuel anointing Saul can be seen in 1 Samuel 10:5-13 where Samuel told Saul saying, “after that, thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines:
And it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tablet, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:
And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.
And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.
And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
And it came to pass, when all that knew Saul before-time saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?
And one of the same places answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore, it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
Even though we used Saul as the character for our lesson, but the main subject or emphasis of our discussion is me and you, what God is to do with us as he dealt with Saul.
After God had finished dealing with us in the year 2022 and as David said in Psalms 126:1, “When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion(our captivity), we will be like them that dream.
And it is then that those who knew him aftermath will be dazed and will be asking, saying, are you among that company of great men/women.? No longer,”Is Saul among the prophets?
In other words, in 2022 if Jesus tarries, we will be found among the company of men and women that people least expected us to be. Some will be found dining with kings and governors.
However, the important thing is our ability to learn from the account of what happened to Saul. First, what happened to Saul was a result of his having an encounter with Samuel, who anointed him.
That is, in the olden days in Israel, no king was ever crowned and reigned as king without being anointed with oil by any of the prophets of God. In other words, God had put the oil for the anointing of the king in the hands of his prophets.
Assuming Saul had not encountered Samuel, he would not have been anointed at that time he was. That is to say that many are struggling to reign in life because their head lacked the oil of anointing for them to reign.
If reigning in life, therefore, is your desire, and if you want people to ask about you as they asked about Saul, saying “Is Saul also among the prophets”? We need to have encounters with God and his prophets.
This is the end of part one, please keep a date with us as we will continue next in part 2 next. Shalom!
