1 Samuel 10:1-16

Saul among Prophets

10 Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over His inheritance? When you go from me today, then you will find two men close to Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys which you went to look for have been found. Now behold, your father has [a]ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ Then you will go on further from there, and you will come as far as the [b]oak of Tabor, and there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a jug of wine; and they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from their hand. Afterward you will come to [c]the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is; and it shall be as soon as you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and a lyre before them, and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what [d]the occasion requires, for God is with you. And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.”

Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed [e]his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. 10 When they came to [f]the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them. 11 It came about, when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied now with the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 A man there said, “Now, who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 Now Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they could not be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 So Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But he did not tell him about the matter of the kingdom which Samuel had mentioned.

We see at the end Saul is apparently still wrestling with all this in his mind. When his uncle asks about the journey, it seems he knows something has happened to his nephew, but Saul doesn’t want to talk about it. Instead, he tells him about the donkeys.

But God wasn’t finished with Saul, and didn’t let Saul’s doubt stand in the way of the plan He had for His people Israel. Sometimes, we may wonder about the things God calls us to also. We might think God is “off his rocker”, but He has an advantage we do not. He knows the future, and everything that will happen if we follow His plan.

So go ahead, be a little shocked, surprised, even doubtful about what God has asked you to do. But don’t go the other direction, or you might end up in Jonah’s shoes, and those are pretty messy shoes.

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