Saul

• Saul's Selection as King
• • God's selection of Saul (1 Sam. 9:1-10:27)
  • • Saul's father sent Saul in search of his lost donkeys - this search eventually brought Saul and Samuel together
    • God informed Samuel that Saul was the one whom He had chosen to be Israel's first king
    • Samuel anointed Saul and gave him a series of signs to look for that would confirm his selection as king
    • God's spirit filled Saul (1 Sam. 10:9) - when Saul encountered a band of prophets at Gibeah, he also began to prophesy (1 Sam. 10:10-13) - Saul's prophesying gave birth to a proverbial saying in Israel (1 Sam. 10:11-12)
    • Samuel then called the people together at Mizpah and allowed God to confirm His choice of Saul as king - in general, the people seemed satisfied although some were opposed (1 Sam. 10:27)
  • Why Saul?
  • • Physical appearance - Saul was handsome and tall (1 Sam. 9:2, 10:23) - he looked like a king should look and certainly represented the physical best of Israel
    • Politically acceptable
    • • Saul was unknown and posed little threat to established tribal leaders
      • Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin
      • • Benjamin was fairly centrally located, specifically between the largest tribes (Judah to the south, Ephraim and Manasseh to the north)
        • Benjamin was small - doubtful Benjamin would take over the other, more powerful tribes so other tribes had little to fear
    • Simply God's choice - although it is easy to see Saul had the physical appearance of a king and was politically acceptable to everyone, room also must be left for less obvious bases for the choice (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7)
• Saul's Kingship
• • Successes
  • • Saul began his reign like a judge (1 Sam. 11:1-15)
    • • He delivered the people of Jabesh-gilead from the Ammonites (1 Sam. 11:1-13)
      • The people then renewed the kingship at Gilgal (1 Sam. 11:14-15) - maintaining one's status as king apparently rested solely on military victories
    • Saul won convincing victories over the Philistines (1 Sam. 13:2-14:52) and the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15:1-9)
  • Difficulties
  • • God's rejection of Saul
    • • Reasons for his rejection
      • • Instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive and offer a sacrifice before a battle, Saul offered the sacrifice himself (1 Sam. 13:8-15) - as king Saul probably believed he was a priest or at least head of the cult as was the case in other nations
        • Saul jeopardized the life of his son Jonathan, a favorite of the people by making a vow that Jonathan was unaware of (1 Sam. 14:1-52)
        • Saul did not enforce the ban in one of his battles (1 Sam. 15:1-35) - Samuel killed King Agag when Saul refused
      • The king was supposed to follow God (Deut. 17:18-20) but Saul did not so God removed him
      • When God rejected Saul, He removed His spirit from him and sent an evil spirit to torment him (1 Sam. 16:14) -this was clearly intended to punish Saul but the people would have suffered too by having their leader unfit for service - furthermore, in a monotheistic system God was obviously responsible for Saul's unstable condition
    • Tension with David
    • • David proved to be a better warrior and more charismatic leader than did Saul - it must have been difficult for Saul to have been king when someone else was looked to for leadership and heroics (1 Sam. 18:6-9)
      • Even Saul's son, Jonathan, switched to David's side (1 Sam. 19:1-20:42)
    • Some never wanted Saul as king (1 Sam. 10:27) - some may have believed as Samuel did that a king was unnecessary (1 Sam. 8:6) or at least that Saul should not be the king
• Saul's Death
• • Saul and the Medium of Endor (1 Sam. 28:3-25)
  • • As Saul prepared to battle the Philistines, he had no one to advise him because Samuel had died
    • Although Saul had forbidden the practice of contacting the dead, he disguised himself and turned to a medium to conjure up Samuel's spirit
    • The woman succeeded and Saul promised her immunity from prosecution
    • Samuel told Saul the Philistines would win the victory and Saul and his sons would die
    • The woman fed Saul and then he left
  • The Philistines defeated Israel and Saul's sons, including Jonathan, were killed - Saul was mortally wounded (1 Sam. 31:1-10)
  • • Saul asked his armor-bearer to kill him so he would not die at the Philistines' hands but his armor-bearer refused to kill the king even as David earlier had done (1 Sam. 24:1-22, 26:1-25)
    • Saul committed suicide by falling on his sword - his armor-bearer then followed suit
    • The Philistines found Saul and his sons, beheaded their corpses, and fastened the bodies to the wall of Beth-shan
  • The courageous men of Jabesh-gilead which Saul had earlier saved from the Ammmonites (1 Sam. 11:1-15) retrieved the bodies and buried them
• Summary of Saul
• • No one knows how long Saul reigned (1 Sam. 13:1) - obviously he was not respected or remembered positively
  • His years were filled with moderate successes and great difficulties
  • His task of being Israel's first king was almost impossible - no one knew what to expect - Saul learned the hard way what God and the prophet Samuel did and did not expect - as first king, David may not have done much better
  • Saul is one of the more tragic figures in the Hebrew Bible

Artwork by Lucas van Leyden from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art (c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97