It's God Who Matters: 1 Samuel 10:1-10
So long as we trust God to empower and guide us, what does our own experience level and social status matter? The prior sentence feels dangerous. It allows for unproven and immature leaders to take leadership roles. It counters human ability to vet candidates and denies attempts at gatekeeping power and status. It makes us trust God rather than trusting social conventions.
As Samuel walks Saul out of Ramah, he pauses for a private anointing. Saul becomes king, but only Saul and Samuel know. Samuel needs a week before making the announcement public, probably because Samuel knows he needs time to muster the tribal elders and convince them Saul is God’s choice.
Saul receives three signs as evidence of God’s hand. The Bible describes only event occurring, but it claims all three events happened. Saul didn’t come from an elite household, and he certainly wasn’t trained in the lifestyle of being elite. Saul would doubt God’s choice in him because he was a normal Hebrew plucked out of the midst of the people. The signs would help Saul begin to see himself as God desires.
The fist sign is meeting two men from his father sent out to make sure Saul knows the donkeys were found. This isn’t news to Saul; Samuel told him as much the prior day. This encounter demonstrates God’s chosen leaders can rely on Him. Affirming Samuel’s earlier message shows Saul Samuel can be trusted. More importantly, the message demonstrates God can care and resolve greater circumstances in our life and the lives of those about whom we care.
The second sign is meeting three men headed to Bethel to offer a sacrifice. Saul receives a portion of their sacrifice to sustain him and his servant as they journey home. This meeting demonstrates a lesson Saul witnessed the prior night: God supplies our needs. God’s generous hand provides our daily ability to get what we need to live. As those men go up to Bethel to make a sacrifice to God, their willingness to sacrifice to God provides sustenance to the community.
The final sign is a meeting with prophets. Saul was a normal man, but upon meeting the prophets he was filled with the Spirit and prophesied. This event demonstrates Saul’s capacity to encounter God and respond. Saul was a regular guy, if not a bit on the clueless side. But anyone filled with the Spirit of God can take appropriate actions because God’s Spirit is never clueless. Saul’s background is insignificant compared to the power of God to show him the righteous thing to do.
Each of these events are designed by God to help Saul overcome doubt. Doubt is natural, especially for normal people who don’t see the big picture to the same degree as God. Fortunately, God is the one who empowers and guides us. So long as we trust God to empower and guide us, what does our own experience level and social status matter?
