Bible in One Year Day 106 (1 Samuel 9-10, Psalm 50)

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Day 106:  Saul is Chosen 

Agape Bible Study 

1 Samuel 9 - 10 

1 Samuel 9:1-10 ~ The search for Kish's Donkeys

Saul is a member of the tribe of Benjamin. His father is a wealthy and influential man of rank and status (literally "a mighty warrior") in the tribe of Benjamin. That his genealogy is given is a sign of the status of his family, despite Saul's self-deprecating claim to humble birth in 9:21.

Question: How is Saul described? Why is his description important to the story?
Answer: Saul is a tall and handsome young man in the prime of life. Then as now, being attractive is an important asset in one's political career; perception often being more important than content.

You may recall from the Book of Judges that the Benjaminites were skilled left-handed warriors (Judg 3:15; 20:16; 1 Chr 12:2), and they were nearly wiped out in a disastrous civil war between the tribes (Judg 20-21). Now the tribe that was threatened with extinction will become prominent among the other tribes because Israel's first king will come from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul (sha'ul), whose name is derived from the root sha'al "to ask," can be linked to Hannah's statement in 1:20. Notice that this young man is going about the normal routine of his life as his destiny is altered just as other Biblical men and women experienced divine intervention during the normal routines of their lives. 

The story of Saul's encounter with Samuel is another example of God quietly working behind the scenes as He guides by His providence the destiny of men and women and the events in salvation history. Saul's home was probably on the border between Ephraim and Benjamin. 

Question: What is interesting about Saul's exchange with his servant?
Answer: The reader gets the impression that Saul is not a natural leader. It is his servant who comes up with a plan for finding the donkeys and the means for paying the "man of God."

1 Samuel 9:11-13 ~ Saul seeks Samuel

The town is located on a hill, and on their way up to the town, Saul and his servant meet some girls going to the well outside the town to draw water. Asking about Samuel, Saul and his servant do not use the term nabi/navi, normally translated "prophet." Instead they use what is described as an old fashioned term, ra'ah, from the prime root "to see." Biblical scholars assume that since the original text used the archaic word that was for later generations was an unfamiliar term that a scribe at a later date added the explanation.

Question: What was God's law concerning animals offered in sacrifice to Him? See Dt 12:8-12.

Answer: According to the Law of the covenant, sacrifice could only be offered at God's Sanctuary altar (Dt 12:11-14).

However, God gave the Israelites permission to kill animals for food wherever they were living after they had settled into the land of Canaan (Dt 12:15). It is therefore unlikely that the feast Samuel is attending is a religious communion sacrifice, a zebah ha-shelamin, a "feast of peace," since the communion sacrifices could only take place at the Sanctuary and the animal had to be offered to God by a chief priest on God's sacrificial altar during a worship service.

The girls are friendly and very chatty, perhaps charmed by Saul's good looks. They tell Saul and his servant that the prophet will share a communal meal with guests at the top of the hill. Verse 13 suggests that the animal(s) for the feast were slaughtered and cooked before Samuel arrived and the guests were only waiting for him before they began the meal. The girls' response to Saul suggests that Samuel has come to preside over the banquet. However, we will come to realize that this meeting is not by chance and that Samuel, directed by God, has planned this meal in Saul's honor. It will be an inaugural feast.

1 Samuel 9:14-21 ~ The Meeting with Samuel that redirects Saul's Life
It has been three days since Saul went looking for his father's donkeys (verse 20). The number three is always significant in Scripture, often symbolizing some important turn of events in moving forward God's plan for man's salvation.

Question: What do we learn from what at first appears to be a chance encounter between Saul and Samuel in verses 15-17?
Answer: We discover that God's providence is at work in this meeting to fulfill the Israel's request for a king.

The events that have taken place and the choosing of Saul are by God's will and guided by His providence. Every step of Saul's journey has been directed by God. Up to this point God has remained hidden behind human events as God guided Saul and his servant in their search for the lost donkeys.

Question: What does God's revelation to Samuel tell us about God's reason for permitting Israel to have a king?
Answer: God's reason is not the same as the people's reason for wanting a king. They want to be like "the other nations", but God's wants to save them from their suffering by anointing a king as His agent to defend them and to lead them in conquering their enemies.

Question: Why does God tell Samuel to "anoint" Saul?
Answer: Anointing was a ritual sign in which a man or an object was set aside for a divinely chosen task in service to God.

Question: In the Catholic Church when are holy oils used in a Sacrament? When are they used for other purposes?

Answer: Holy oils are used in the administration of the three Sacraments which impart a permanent character: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. Holy oil is administered with a different purpose in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick where it is used to give the sick spiritual aid and strength and to perfect spiritual health including the remission of sins. Anointing oils are also used in the blessing of altars, bells, and sacred vessels used in the Mass.

While it is true that the tribe of Benjamin is the smallest, having been decimated in the civil war with Israel about fifty years earlier, it is not true that his family is the "least of all the families" of Benjamin. His father is admired as a "mighty warrior" (8:1) and his family is wealthy (only the wealthy owned donkeys).

1 Samuel 9:22-25 ~ Saul is the Guest of Honor at the Banquet

Question: What does Saul discover when he is taken into the banquet hall?

Answer: He discovers that he is the guest of honor.

The portion that Samuel instructed the "cook" (the literal Hebrew is "butcher") to set aside for Saul is the choice portion. That the cook/butcher says "this is what is left" suggests the rest of the meat was distributed to the other guests and this choice piece kept in reserve for Saul. Saul receives the right thigh and the fatty sheep's tail. Sheep in the Middle East have large, broad tails consisting of fat. The fatty tail of a sheep was considered a delicacy. If this had been a communion sacrifice and a sacred meal, all fatty portions, including the tail, would have been given to Yahweh according to the Law.

Saul spent the night in the town. It was common for the flat roof of village houses to be used for extra sleeping space especially in the warm summer months.

Samuel Anoints Saul

1 Samuel 9:26-10:8 ~ Samuel anoints Saul King of Israel
In 10:1-8 Samuel keeps his promise from 9:19 to send Saul on his way with information concerning his future.

Question: What three "signs" does Samuel tell Saul will be confirmation that all that is happening to him is God's plan?
Answer:

1. Saul will meet two men near Rachel's tomb who will tell him about the donkeys and his father's concern for him.
2. At the Oak of Tabor he will meet three men on their way to Bethel with three kids, three goat kids and a skin of wine who will give Saul two loaves of bread.
3. At Gibeah Saul will meet a group of prophets accompanied by music who are in spiritual ecstasy. At that point the spirit of Yahweh will seize upon Saul and he will prophesy with the prophets and be a changed man.

Note the repetitions of the number three:

1. three encounters
2. three men
3. three kids
4. three loaves of bread
5. the third man carrying wine

1 Samuel 10:9-16 ~ Saul is seized by the Spirit of Yahweh and returns to His Father's House

That "God changed his heart" indicates that Saul became a changed person with a new perspective on life with a new understanding of his destiny. 
Question: What happened when Saul came across the group of itinerate prophets?
Answer: When Saul came across the prophets the spirit of God "seized on him" and he began prophesizing with them.

When Saul arrives at his home village, his uncle questions him about his absence. It is uncertain why it is Saul's uncle who questions him unless his uncle is the older brother and a clan leader.

Question: What is curious about Saul's response to his uncle?
Answer: He does not give any details about his encounter with Samuel or being anointed by Samuel to be a "prince" of Israel.

1 Samuel 10:17-21 ~ The National Assembly chooses a King by Lot
Samuel called a National Assembly at Mizpah. He began his address to the tribal assembly by condemning the Israelites for rejection Yahweh as their one divine King, reminding them again of God's great works on their behalf during the Exodus liberation.

Question: How is Samuel going to reveal God's choice of a king for Israel?
Answer: By the casting of lots.

Prior to the Holy Spirit filling and indwelling the Church at Pentecost in 30 AD, discerning the will of God was determined by the drawing of lots or by the High Priest casting the urim and thummim, sacred lots worn on the breastpiece of the High Priest that were cast in order to obtain guidance from God (Ex 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:21; Dt 33:8; 1 Sam 23:9-12; 28:6).
Question: What are some occasions when the drawing of lots was used to determine the will of God or the answer to a question? See Josh 7:14-18; 18:10; 1 Sam 14:41; Lk 1:9; Acts 1:23-26.
Answer:

1. To determine the guilty party in the violation of the curse of destruction at Jericho.
2. To determine the division of the Promised Land among the twelve tribes.
3. To determine guilt of the Israelite who violated Saul's vow.
4. To determine the priest with the honor of offering the incense during the liturgical worship service.
5. To choose the man to replace Judas Iscariot as the twelfth Apostle.

The casting of lots narrowed down the selection of God's kingly agent tribe by tribe and clan by clan until it was determined that Saul son of Kish was God's choice, but Saul could not be found. This was a necessary procedure even though Samuel had received God's instructions to anoint Saul. The people had to have a demonstration of God's divine selection of Saul.

1 Samuel 10:22-27 ~ A Reluctant Saul is Proclaimed King by the Tribes of Israel

Question: Why was Saul hiding among the pack animals that carried the possessions of the tribal representatives to the assembly site?
Answer: We can only assume that Saul did not want to take up the responsibilities of the destiny that had been thrust upon him.

Question: Why is what happens next is significant? 

Answer: Samuel announces that kingship over Israel is not to be exercised without limitations. Israel is to have a constitutional monarchy.

Question: Following the people's acclamation, Samuel performs what three legal actions?
Answer:

1. Samuel explained the king's limited, constitutional rule.
2. Samuel wrote the laws down in a book.
3. He placed the book "before Yahweh."

Question: What were the two opposing reactions to Saul's election as Israel's king? What is the implication of the second reaction?

Answer: Some "worthy/valiant men" immediately attach themselves to Saul as royal retainers, while others described as "worthless men" refuse to treat God's choice of Saul as Israel's king with respect. Their affront is not only against Saul but against God.

This tall and good looking young man who lacks confidence to the point of hiding from his election to kingship seems an unlikely choice to be Israel's first divinely elected king. Yet Moses, in the beginning of his divine call, was also timid and lacked confidence to the point of pleading with God four times that he was inadequate for the mission (Ex 3:11, 13, 4:1 and 10). However, Moses trusted God and completely submitted himself obediently to God's will for his life. As a result, he grew into his role as Israel's liberator and fulfilled his destiny by becoming the great leader God intended that he should be. It is a lesson for all of us that when God calls us to serve Him that He will always give us the means to fulfill our divine destiny if only we demonstrate our faith and trust by placing our lives obediently in the hands of the Master. Sadly, it is a lesson Saul fails to learn, and instead of a glorious history as Israel's first king, Saul's story is tragic.

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A Daily Defense

DAY 106 Matthew’s Missing Generations

CHALLENGE: “Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus omits some generations and thus is wrong.”

DEFENSE: In Israelite genealogies, it was permitted to skip generations. 

Hebrew and Aramaic don’t have terms for “grandfather,” “great-grandfather,” “grandson,” “great grandson,” and so on. Any male ancestor was called a father (Hebrew, ’ab, Aramaic, ’ab, ’abba), and any male descendant was called a son (Hebrew, bēn, Aramaic, bar). Thus, prophesying the birth of Jesus, Gabriel tells Mary, “The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32).

David lived a millennium before Jesus, yet he is called Jesus’ father. Similarly, both Jesus and Joseph are called “son of David” (Matt. 1:20, 9:27). This made it possible to skip generations in genealogies, whether they ran forward (“Joram was the father of Uzziah”) or backward (“Uzziah was the son of Joram”).

Richard Bauckham notes: That a family descended from one of the sons of David had at least an oral genealogy must be considered certain. This does not, of course, mean that it would be a complete genealogy. 

Oral genealogies, like many of those in the Old Testament, regularly omit generations, since their function is not to preserve the memory of every name in the list but to link the family with an important ancestor who gives it its place in the community (Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church, 341). 

Matthew skips generations for literary purposes, grouping his genealogy in three sets of fourteen generations (Matt. 1:17). 

The reason may be to stress Jesus’ connection with David. In Hebrew and Aramaic, David (DVD) adds up to fourteen (D = 4, V = 6, D = 4). Matthew would have expected his readers to recognize that the generations he skips are recorded in the Old Testament. In 1:8, he says Joram was the father of Uzziah (aka Azariah), but 1 Chronicles 3:11–12 shows three generations between the two. The missing names are Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. These three figures were kings of Israel. Their stories are told between 2 Chronicles 22 and 25. When Matthew skips three Jewish kings in the line of David—well known to the audience from the Old Testament Scriptures—he expects his readers to recognize the literary device he is using in the genealogy.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist