Samuel Anoints Saul - 1 Samuel 10:1-16

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I want to welcome you all to Kootenai Community Church Adult Sunday School.

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And this morning, once again, we'll be back in the book of 1 Samuel. We left off last time in chapter nine.

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And last time we had a major transition in chapter nine in which leadership is chosen for a kingdom rule, which was the demands of the people and the request of the elders to Samuel.

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So before we begin, let's open in prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you this morning for your grace each day.

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We thank you, Lord, for those that you have been ministering to in their health in this body.

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We pray that you'd continue to minister strength and healing. And Father, we thank you for your word.

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And we thank you this morning that we have the privilege of gathering together as your people.

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As we look at your word this morning, we pray that your Holy Spirit would grant us understanding and illumination.

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We recognize apart from your Holy Spirit, that we can do nothing to honor and please you.

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It is because of Christ, your Son, who suffered and died on the cross and rose again and sits at the right hand of the

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Father, that we have the way of salvation.

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We pray that you would guide us and direct us and that we may glorify you. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Well, I'm gonna do a quick review of chapter nine, mainly because just an overview of some of the highlights because we went through the entire chapter last time and it covered a lot of ground.

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So I just wanna point out some of the highlights of what has happened thus far.

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Chapter nine begins with the lineage of Saul, who was a

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Benjamite. The first portion of the chapter begins with a man by the name of Shish.

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Now, it looks like it's gonna be pronounced Kish, but in the Hebrew, it's pronounced

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Shish. He had some livestock, some donkeys that ran off.

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So he sent his son Saul to go after these donkeys and he also sent a servant along with him.

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In verses 11 and 12 of chapter nine, we read this.

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As they went up to the slope of the city, they found young women going out to draw water and said to them, is the seer here?

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They answered and said, he is. See, he's ahead of you.

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Hurry now, for he has come into the city today for the people have a sacrifice on the high place today.

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Then when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, behold, the man whom

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I spoke to you, this one shall rule over my people.

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Then the following events, Samuel meets Saul, he invites him to his home for a meal, he gives them the choice, select cut of meat that was set aside for the priest to offer.

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He gives this to Samuel, he sits him at the head of the table with his servant along with the other 30 guests that he had.

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They had their meal and following that, Samuel said something to Saul, which was perplexing.

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He says, I am the seer, go up for me to the high place for you shall eat with me today.

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In the morning, I will let you go and tell you all that is on your mind. As for your donkeys, which were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them for they have been found and for whom is all desirable in Israel.

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Is it not for you and for your father's household? That what

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Saul said was spoken to by Samuel, he said those words to Samuel.

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Samuel at that point demonstrated a little bit of humility and so Saul replies this way, am

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I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin?

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Why then do you speak to me in this way? So Saul was perhaps showing some humility, but then he says in regards to that statement by Samuel and for whom is all that is desirable in Israel, he took that to mean that while he was a

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Benjamite from a wealthy family, yet amongst all the other

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Benjamites who had wealthy families, they were the least. So he responds in this way, am

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I not a Benjamite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribes of Benjamin?

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Why then do you speak to me in this way? Least of all the families in the tribe of Benjamin.

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So he identifies the tribe of Benjamin as one of the smallest tribes of Israel and his family was well off.

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They had livestock and for the most part, Saul was assigned to take care of that livestock.

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So for him, he was thinking, well, we may be well off, but we couldn't afford to do anything for buy anything in Israel.

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And yet Samuel was referring to the position that he was going to hold in Israel.

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He would be the first king over Israel. Now, I remind you back in chapter nine as well, when

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God informed Samuel of what he was going to do and appoint Saul, he was going to appoint him a prince over Israel.

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And why did he say it that way? Anyone? Why would the

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Lord tell his servant, prophet Samuel, I will appoint him prince over Israel rather than king over Israel?

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Earl? Jesus is the king, was the king over Israel.

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So there was a theocratic rule. The Lord directed, provided, protected them from all their calamities, all their enemies, and yet they rejected him.

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Why? They wanted to serve their idols. They didn't want to follow

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God's law or honor God with their lives. Samuel then brings

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Saul and his servant into the hall and they sat him at the front of the head of the table.

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And then Samuel instructs Saul and his servant so they might, he tells

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Saul, send your servant ahead. This is after the meal, after they stayed overnight, and Samuel is walking

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Saul back. So he speaks to Saul and he said, send your servant ahead.

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I want to speak to you. He wanted to speak to him in private. He didn't want anyone else there. So he directed the servant to go ahead of him.

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So then that ends, summarizes chapter nine. As we enter chapter 10, let me read the text.

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I'll read the first 16 verses and then if we go from there

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I'll continue. Verse one of chapter 10. Then Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head, kissed him and said, has not the

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Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance? When you go for me today, then you will find two men close to Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelza.

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And they will say to you, the donkeys which you went to look for have been found.

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Now behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you saying, what shall

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I do about my son? Then you will go on further from there and you will come as far as the oak at Tabar.

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And there three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you.

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One carrying three goats, another carrying three loaves of bread and another carrying a jug of wine.

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And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread which you will accept from them from their hand.

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Afterward, you will come to 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 lyre before them.

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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.

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It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires for God is with you.

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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.

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You will wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.

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Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart and all those signs came about on that day.

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When they came to 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.

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It came about when all who knew him previously saw that he had prophesied now with the prophets that the people said to one another, what has happened to the son of Shish?

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Is Saul among the prophets? A man there said, now who is their father?

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Therefore it became a proverb. Is Saul among the prophets?

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When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. Now Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, where did you go?

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And he asked and he said to look for the donkeys when we saw that we could not be found, we went to Samuel.

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Saul's uncle said, please tell me what Samuel said to you. 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

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Samuel had mentioned. So as we begin this portion, the first thing that Samuel does is anoint

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Saul. He begins by taking a flask of oil, which is in the

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Hebrew, it actually says a vial of oil and poured it on Saul's head. This practice was initiated back in the book of Exodus, chapter 29, verse seven.

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It says this, then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.

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Now in that period, that practice was done with the priest. They were anointed and consecrated and sent out.

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This consecration process was to be carried out on all the priests.

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Throughout the scriptures, the office of king often appears as the most sacred, and it is the king, not the priest, who is especially called

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Jehovah's anointed. We see in chapter 12, verse three,

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David says this, here I am, bear witness against me before the Lord and his anointed.

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He was speaking at that time, he was running from Saul and he had a chance to take

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Saul's life, but he didn't do it because he would not harm

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God's anointed. In chapter 12, verse five, he says this, he said to them, the

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Lord is witness against you and his anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.

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And he said, he is witness. Then again, in chapter 16, verse six, this is

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David speaking, when they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought surely the

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Lord's anointed is before him. This reference in 12 .3,

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Samuel at this point, this was speaking of Samuel, he was defending his integrity before all of Israel and the king, his anointed.

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And it's referring to Saul because the king of Israel represented the authority and power of God.

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Now we'll find out with these very first orders that he gives

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Saul that the prophet works directly and gives direction to the king by instructions given from the

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Lord himself to the prophet. So Saul is gonna be directed by Samuel.

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Continuing on chapter one, chapter 10 in verse one, after Saul had poured the oil on Saul's head,

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Samuel had poured oil on his head, he kissed him. This was to signify both homage to Saul and to give him the symbol and token of his allegiance.

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Then Samuel said, has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over his inheritance?

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His inheritance refers to, is used in reference to Jehovah's chosen nation,

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Israel. In verse two says, when you go from me today, you will find two men close to Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelza.

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And they will say to you, the donkeys, which you went to look for have been found.

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Now behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you saying, what shall

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I do about my son? Samuel had already anointed Saul as ruler over Israel.

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Perhaps at this point, Saul was not only confused but apprehensive.

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After Saul did not, he didn't consider himself worthy to be set apart or anointed by the man of God to judge the people, who judged the people

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Israel now to become their prince. Saul was just a man from the tribe of Benjamin, from a family that was well off and most prominent.

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From this point on, the king became known as the

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Lord's anointed. We find this in chapter 24, verse six.

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And we find it in verse 10 of chapter 24, chapter 26, nine, 11, and 23.

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So this term, the Lord's anointed is referring to the king. This familiar

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Hebrew term is derived from the same verb, which is masash in the

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Hebrew, which means anoint. David would also be known as the Lord's anointed.

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Ultimately, Jesus, the Messiah came from David's lineage. Samuel anointed

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Saul to be leader over the Lord's inheritance Israel. Samuel tells

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Saul four signs that he will have along the way which would confirm that God had indeed chosen him king over Israel.

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First, the message of two men, verse two. When you go for me today, then you'll find two men close to Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelza.

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Now, Zelza was located near Bethlehem. The whole geography of Saul's wanderings is very obscure, even from some of the conservative history scholars that have done research on all the locations of the geography of the

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Old Testament. In Wilson's book,

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Lands of the Bible, places Zelza to the west of Bethlehem in the neighborhood of the tomb of Rachel, even though that is very obscured today.

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There's no mention of Zelza. Zelza would be on the border of Benjamin, and they might have reasons for Saul and his companion not taking the most direct route to Gibeah.

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The news would be given to Saul that the donkeys for which you went to look for were found.

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Now, behold, your father has ceased to be concerned about the donkeys and is anxious for you, saying, what shall

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I do about my son? He didn't really care now he had the donkeys. His main concern, his father,

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Shish, was concerned about Saul. He had been gone for numerous days at this point, so his only concern would be for his son.

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Third, the procession, verses five and six. Afterward, you will come to the hill of God where the

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Philistine garrison is, which is in Gibeah, 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 delir before them, and they will be prophesying.

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The spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.

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This was key. He was giving him precise prophecy of what was going to happen when he left, and when he was changed,

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God had changed him. His Holy Spirit came upon Saul, and he was a changed man.

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When you return to Gibeah, he would meet a procession of prophets carrying various instruments.

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They would be prophesying. The Gibeah was also called the hill of God where the

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Philistine garrison is. Gibeah means a rounded hill, while rhema means height.

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The Philistine garrison was likely in Benjamin, about five miles north of Jerusalem.

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The Philistines may have had an outpost in that area. Samuel had established a school for prophets in which there were schooled in the ministry, and they were to carry out all the prophecy that they offer the duties of a prophet.

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The Hebrew scholars record that Samuel set up these schools, and these schools, their chief subject of their studies was focused on the law and its interpretation, and they were set up in other localities.

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So Samuel had set up schools to train the young prophets.

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They would study the law so that they could interpret the law for the people, and they also played instruments.

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So they were taught how to play instruments, and so they would be able to sacrifice and sing before the

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Lord. In the

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Old Testament, God's people would not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but God's Holy Spirit would come upon those whom would prophesy for him.

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So he would do so, and we find in Psalm 51, the penitent

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Psalm of David, David cries out to the Lord in repentance, but then he says this in verse 11 of Psalm 51.

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Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

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In the New Testament, we are indwelt by God's Holy Spirit. That's a permanent indwelling.

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In the Old Testament, God's Spirit would come upon the individuals who he would use to prophesy his word or carry out a specific ministry for him.

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So he could remove the Holy Spirit from them. But here we see that Samuel is completely transformed.

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Think about it. Here's a man who was basically a very good farm individual.

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He was skilled in husbandry. He took care of the animals. He fed them, cared for them, and was responsible for that area of service for his father on his father's farm.

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But he wasn't skilled in the word of God. He didn't have training in the law.

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Now, he's transformed, and he is gonna be trained in the law.

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That was one of the stipulations given in regards to those that would be king or rulers over Israel in Deuteronomy, I think it's 17, 14.

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In verse seven and eight, it shall be, when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires.

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For God is with you, and you shall go down before me to Gilgal. And behold,

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I will come down to you to offer burn offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait there seven days until I come to you and show you what you have done.

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You shall do. Now, here is the first time we see the relationship that the prophet has with the king.

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He gave him all the direction of what he was going to face, what he was going to do, and then he instructed him to wait there seven days for him.

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So he's the one that directed the king. Samuel told

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Saul, after the signs were fulfilled, he could do whatever the occasion required since God was with him.

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Saul would be able to determine what he should do. Then Samuel directed

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Saul to proceed him to Gilgal and wait for him there seven days.

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So there's his first directive from the prophet. So we might ask, well, why

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Gilgal? But we remember back in chapter nine, that is where Samuel called

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Israel to repentance because they had worshiped idols, they had violated

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God's law, and he called them to repentance. And then they won the battle over the

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Philistines at that time. That took place in Gilgal. So there was actual repentance over the nation of Israel because Saul rebuked them publicly and called them to repent.

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They offered sacrifices to the Lord and they won the battle against the

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Philistines at that time. In verse nine, the original

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Hebrew of this text is actually quite remarkable. It reads this way in verse nine.

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When he turned his shoulder to go from Samuel, God also turned for him another heart.

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God gave Samuel a changed heart completely. He was a different man.

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They wouldn't even recognize him as we'll see in the next few verses. When they came to 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.

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In verse 11, it came about when all who knew him previously that he prophesied with the prophets that the people said to one another, what has happened to the son of Shish?

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Is Saul among the prophets? This sign in verse 10 was the third sign and the only one that Samuel described in detail because there was a great sensation at Gibeah at Saul's home.

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When they came to the hill there, in the original Hebrew reads, when they came to Gibeah, his home, from the place where they had been in the company of Samuel.

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That was in the original reading of the Hebrew. There God gave

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Saul a new heart and the spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied among the group of prophets there.

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Verse 11, it came about when all who knew him previously saw that he prophesied with the prophets.

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The people of Gibeah who had known Saul for many years saw him prophesying there. They were not understanding how he could do this.

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This man whom they had known for many years as the son of Shish who was a well -to -do farmer, they were baffled and asked what happened to the son of Shish?

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Is Saul among the prophets? Now by asking that question, this says something.

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From this question, two things are evident. First, that the schools founded by Samuel to train young prophets were held in high esteem by the

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Israelites. In King David's courts, all the posts that were held were held by prophets.

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The schools that were established by Samuel's were great educational institutions.

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The second that Saul had not, the second is that Saul had not shared in that education which raises the prophets in the class above the other people amongst the

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Israelites. Saul's previous life was altogether different from those that were disciples of the prophets.

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Verse 12, a man there said, now who is their father?

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Therefore it became a proverb. Is Saul among the prophets? Since Saul had not trained in the school of prophets that was established by Samuel, then

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Saul's prophesying was not the result of training but came to him by a divine influence.

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God himself enabled Saul to prophesy. So this

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Christian presupposes that perhaps one would have the prophetic spirit by virtue of their birth.

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So they thought because, well he was from the family of Shish perhaps they inherit somehow the spirit of prophecy or the ability to prophesy.

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This would explain why those that knew him asked this question, what has happened to the son of Shish?

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Is Saul among the prophets? The son of a well -to -do farmer, a

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Benjamite trained in the skill of husbandry? A man who took care of his father's livestock and his duties were his former skills now able to prophesy amongst

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Israel's prophets. Saul had caused those who had known him to be in a query.

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They didn't understand what had happened. They didn't understand what happened when God comes upon him with his

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Holy Spirit. They saw it lived out empirically. He prophesied with the trained prophets of God.

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But he was equipped by the Holy Spirit that had come upon him. God himself gave him that anointing.

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Verses 13 through 16. When he had finished prophesying, he came to a high place.

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Now Saul's uncle said to him and his servant, where did you go? And he said to look for the donkeys.

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When we saw that we could not be found, we went to Samuel. Saul's uncle said, please tell me what

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Samuel said to you. 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

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Samuel had mentioned. When Saul finished prophesying, he came to the high place and his uncle asked him and his attendant where they had been.

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So Saul told them they hadn't found the donkeys and they went to Samuel and had learned that the donkeys had been found.

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But he did not relate the words which had been spoken to him by Samuel concerning the monarchy.

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Saul's uncle, according to chapters 14 verses 51 and 52 would have been the man

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Abner. We'll find out about that later on. So it seems a bit curious that Saul's uncle rather than his father wanted to know what

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Saul's conversation was with Samuel. Commenters concluded that perhaps

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Saul's father, Shish, would have not been concerned or interested in the conversation that Saul had with Samuel because he would have been relieved now that his son had returned.

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That's what his main concern was at this point. However, Saul's uncle Abner was evidently interested in what

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Samuel had told Saul. Saul was quite different than he was before he left that was evident to all.

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This notable change in Abner's nephew caused him to be curious as to what transpired during Saul's meeting with the prophet

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Samuel. Now Josephus makes this observation on this portion of the text.

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It was prudent of Saul not to disclose what had transpired during that time.

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Saul had spent, that he had spent with Samuel and that he had been anointed prince over Israel.

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Saul may have been waiting upon Jehovah to disclose this anointing. Josephus commenting on this text states that Saul may have been cautious about what he disclosed to his uncle concerned possibly that Abner may have tried to take advantage of his nephew's position as prince over Israel.

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That would make sense. If he had wrong motives, then he wanted to know what exactly

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Samuel said to him because obviously he was a changed man now prophesying with the prophets of Israel, but he didn't tell him.

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He could have had poor motives. Verses 17 through 19.

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Then Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah and said to the sons of Israel, thus says the

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Lord, the God of Israel, I brought you from Egypt and I delivered you from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.

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But you have today rejected your God who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses.

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Yet you have said no, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the

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Lord by tribes and by your clans. Mizpah, of course, was the place in chapter seven where they had a public calling out of Israel by Samuel.

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And then they had a revival. That was in chapter seven, verses five through six.

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And chapter seven, five and six reads this. Then Samuel said, gather all

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Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the Lord for you. They gathered to Mizpah and he drew water and poured it out before the

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Lord and fasted on that day and said, we have sinned against the

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Lord. And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah. Now I explained back in chapter seven that this pouring out of the water by Samuel was a sign of repentance.

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Water was precious to their lives and he took clean, fresh water and poured it out as a sacrifice before the

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Lord and then publicly acknowledged their sin before them.

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Now back in chapter 10, verse 17, after Samuel had secretly anointed

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Saul by the command of God, he must make provision for public recognition of the man of God who he had chosen on the part of his people to rule over them.

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So he called the people of Israel to gather now once again at Mizpah and first gave them a public review.

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He reminds the Israelites once again that Jehovah had brought

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Israel up from Egypt and delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing them.

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As a result, the man to appoint a king over them like all other nations was granted by the

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Lord. So going back, when they sent the elders to Samuel demanding that they now have a king like all other nations, then what happened?

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Samuel warned them of what would take place if a king was to rule over them.

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They would no longer have their sons and daughters. They no longer had their property be used on their own behalf, but everything would be under the command and use of the king at his will.

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He could take any of their livestock, he could take their sons as his servants and their daughters as perfumers and some of them for their concubines.

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They had complete control and that would be their punishment. They rejected

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Jehovah the King of Israel and chose a king like all other nations.

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As we continue in 1 Samuel and then 2 Samuel, if I live that long, then we will find that they will pay greatly for this demand because of the punishment that will be rendered unto the

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Israelites. Israel had rejected their

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God and who had delivered them from all their calamities. God had protected his people.

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Yet they continue to reject God and his law. They didn't want anything to do with his law.

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They didn't wanna obey it, they didn't wanna read it and they didn't wanna obey God. As we go forth, we're not gonna go much further because of time constraints, but in verse 20 and 22, it reads, thus

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Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by Lot.

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Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin nearby its families and the Matrite family was taken.

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And Saul, the son of Shish was taken, but then when they looked for him, he could not be found.

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Therefore they inquired further of the Lord. Has the man come here yet?

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So the Lord said, behold, he is hiding in the baggage. He's right over there.

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When they gathered at Mizpah, when he called all the Israelites at Mizpah, they brought all their belongings and they had all their baggage, stacked their tents, whatever they had with them was all stacked up.

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Where was Saul? He was hiding behind the luggage. Here he is, he had been anointed personally by Samuel.

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Now Samuel was gonna anoint him publicly before all Israel and he's hiding.

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What reason? Maybe he still humbly thought that he could not take this great position and it could have been fearful, which would have been an awesome thing to think about.

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Being king and ruler over Israel, all of Israel, all the tribes, all 12 tribes.

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Now he was the one chosen by Samuel, God's prophet. So I have to ask at this point, what is it that Christians look for?

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Do they look to God for all their needs? Do they look to a president?

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We're in a year of election now, so there's much talk amongst

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God's people about who's going to be elected. If this individual's elected, we'll be able to have a reprieve for another four years perhaps.

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But if these others, this other man's elected, this nation will no longer be a constitutional nation.

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So there is great concern and we should vote according to whom we would think would best suit for this office.

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But that's not what we should look for. We should look to God in his sovereign hand because he says something in Proverbs that is key that we should always remember.

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And I'm gonna take you to that. It's in Proverbs chapter 16, verse 33.

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The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the

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Lord. So we know that we serve a sovereign God who is sovereign over everything.

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Should we be responsible citizens? We should be model citizens. We have the freedom to vote, we should do so.

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But we should also recognize that we are first God's servants.

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That is first and foremost. He has granted us his Holy Spirit. He has given us his word.

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We have the ability with this for everything in life and godliness.

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So yes, we should be model citizens in this country. We should be law abiders unless it goes against God's word.

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But we should always be submissive to authority. These are commands given to the

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Christians. So as we look at this whole process, Samuel was approached by the elders of Israel.

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That's the state that they were in of sin to come and demand that he now appoint a king.

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After the warning was given, they still said, but we shall have a king like other nations.

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Now they will, and it will begin to change their lives. And all those areas of warning that God gave

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Samuel to warn the people of Israel were given. They heard it, and yet their response was no, but we will have a king like other nations.

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Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, which is complete for everything we need for life and godliness.

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May we be able to honor your word, obey your word, and learn from your word that we might honor and serve you with all our hearts as you work in and through your servants through the power of your

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Holy Spirit. We pray now, Lord, that as we continue this collective worship, that we honor you with our song and praise and hymns that you might be honored and blessed by your children.

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And may your children be able to have their hearts prepared for this worship and to receive your word.

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And may you be glorified in this time of our worship. And we pray this in Jesus' precious name, amen.