In the first installment of Shrek, the ogre named Shrek was happy living alone in the middle of swamp with no one to bother him. But, things changed quickly when his house was completely surrounded and occupied by the fleeing characters from all kinds of ferry tales. So, he set out to straighten things up to regain his solitary, secluded life in the swamp; to regain peace and quietness shut out from the world, he reluctantly agreed to Lord Farquaad who demanded Shrek to rescue and bring Princes Fiona from the supposedly fearsome dragon, but in reality a lonely creature that found true love with the talking donkey.
Shrek set out single-mindedly to rescue princes Fiona so that he could get his swamp back just the way it was, shut out from the world. But, as we all know that’s not how things turned out for him. A loner, antisocial, selfish creature falls in love with princes Fiona.
That is how our story unfolds for us in today’s Bible passage, 1 Samuel 9. It is a story of a young man seeking for the lost donkeys, but was made a leader over
1. Searching for donkeys.
The young man’s name is Saul. 1 Samuel 9:1 says that he came from the tribe of Benjamin. If you remember in the book of Judges, the tribe of Benjamin was almost wiped out due to the sins of people. So, in the context of Samuel, the tribe of Benjamin was the smallest tribe out of all the tribes. His father’s name was
Verse 2 characterizes him as “an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites- a head taller than any of the others.” Saul was a son of well known and well regarded man of standing; Saul himself was also a man of standing, well that is literally speaking, a giant among the Israelites.
His father’s donkeys got lost and he wanted his son to go and find them. So, we see Saul along with his servant venturing out to look for the lost donkeys. Consider what Samuel said about their journey in verse 20, they looked for 3 days without finding any of the lost donkeys. They must have covered quite of land in those three days!
After three days of journey to look for the lost donkeys, Saul was ready to call it quit thinking that his father would be worrying about him by now more than the lost donkeys.
But, the servant wanted to try one more thing; he wanted them to go and talk to a man of God, Samuel, who might be able to tell them which way they should go to find the lost donkeys. When seeking a prophet’s intervention, it was a courtesy to bring gift. Their food was no more; they had nothing valuable to offer to the prophet or that is what Saul thought. So, Saul hesitated.
But, it happened that the servant had a quarter of shekel of silver that is about three grams of silver. No longer hesitant, Saul took the charge now and led them to the town where the man of God was.
As they were going up the hill to the town, in verse 11, they met some girls who came out to draw water. The girls told them the seer, the prophet, Samuel, had just come to the town. And, he was heading to the high place to eat with the people he invited. His quests would not begin the meal until Samuel arrived to bless the sacrifice. The girls told them, “Go up now; you should find him about this time.”
The girls were probably thinking how lucky these guys were to come at just the right time to see Samuel. If the dinner started, they would have to wait until the meal was done since they were not invited. Saul and the servant probably thought that they were closer now to find the donkeys.
Now, was it really about luck as the girls might have thought or finding the donkeys? In the greater scheme, behind the scene, beyond their understanding, God was doing something special. Let’s see what it was.
2. Behind the scene, God was raising up a leader.
9:15 tells us that the day before Saul’s arrival the LORD revealed himself to Samuel and told him about a man’s arrival from the
When finally Saul showed up and Samuel caught sight of Saul, Samuel heard form the LORD, “This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people.” While this was going on in Samuel’s mind, verse 18, Saul asked Samuel, “Would you please tell me where the seer’s house is?” Saul had no idea who he was talking to or what was really going on behind the scene. He thought it was just about finding those lost donkeys, hoping the seer would help.
Samuel told Saul in verse 19, “I am the seer… Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you are to eat with me, in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart.” And, he told Saul that the donkeys were found and he no longer had to worry about them. He also said to Saul, “And to whom is all the desire of
Here was Saul seeking after the lost donkeys belonging to his father, but now he no longer needed to seek donkeys. Instead, he was told he would be the leader of
He asked Samuel in verse 21, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of
Isn’t this how Christian life is? We have pretty good understanding about ourselves, or at least we think we do just like Saul did. Without Christ, life is about seeking donkeys, but with Christ, we are the children of the living God.
Christian maturity is about becoming the person God wants us to be and doing the things that he wants us to do.
Samuel brought Saul and the servant into the hall where the invited guests were waiting for Samuel. Samuel had Saul and the servant seated at the head of the gathering. And he had the cook bring out the piece of meat he told earlier to set aside. And, he told Saul in verse 24, “Here is what has been kept for you. Eat, because it was set aside for you for this occasion.”
Behind the scene, Samuel called the quests of honor to a very special dinner. It was a dinner fit for the coronation of a king. The special dinner portion was set aside for the arrival of the God’s anointed. And, Saul had no idea.
Next morning, Samuel had Saul sent the servant ahead of them while Saul stayed with him awhile so that he may give him a message from God, 9:27.
And, we see in chapter 10:1-8, we see Samuel anointing him with the special sacred oil of consecration (Exodus 30:23-33; Ps. 89:20). Samuel said in verse 1, “Ha not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance?” And, he told Saul to anticipate three signs that would confirm indeed God was raising him up to be the leader of the Israelites.
· Meeting two men near Rachel’s tomb who will inform him that the donkeys were found and his father was worrying about Saul.
· Meeting three men at the tree of Tabor who will greet Saul and offer him two loaves bread.
· Meeting a procession of prophets and how the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him in power; enable Saul to prophecy along with the prophets and change him into a different person.
· When these signs were fulfilled, Saul was told that he could do whatever his hand found to do for God was with him; he was to act according to the strength given him by the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s will.
Applications
1. What are you seeking after? Do you know what God is doing behind the scene? Do you know how God wants to raise you up? Do you know who you are in Christ?
2. How do you know who you are in Christ? ----Do you wait for the message from God?
3. Are you helping others to discover who they are in Christ like Samuel did with Saul?
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