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| 1 Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because Jehovah has anointed thee prince over his inheritance?
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A vial of oil – Typifying the anointing of the holy Spirit. R4197:6, R5636:2
To be captain – Representing Jesus as the head of the Church. R3218:5
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| 2 When thou goest from me to-day, thou shalt meet two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to thee, The asses are found which thou wentest to seek, and behold, thy father has dismissed the matter of the asses, and is anxious about you, saying, What shall I do for my son? |
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| 3 And thou shalt go on forward from thence, and shalt come to the oak of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God, to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three cakes of bread, and another carrying a flask of wine. |
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| 4 And they will ask after thy welfare, and give thee two loaves, which thou shalt receive of their hands. |
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| 5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying. |
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| 6 And the Spirit of Jehovah will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. |
Spirit of the LORD – Controlling his words and actions rather than enlightening his mind in respect to the deep things of God. R4197:5
Another man – Similarly, those who believe God's message and accept the anointing of the holy Spirit also find new aims, new impulses, new hopes, new desires. R4197:6
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| 7 And it shall be, when these signs shall come to thee, thou shalt do as thy hand shall find; for God is with thee. |
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| 8 And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to thee, to offer up burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou wait, until I come to thee and inform thee what thou shalt do. |
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| 9 And it was so that when he turned his back to go away from Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. |
Another heart – Fixed his mind upon the more sober things of life and God's relationship to these. R4197:5
In the sense that he no longer had the "disposition" to be a farmer, but a divine "disposition" to be a statesman. It did not signify that he had become a New Creature in Christ. R5637:4
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| 10 And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. |
Spirit of God – An invisible power from God. R5637:3
The Bible makes a clean-cut distinction between the holy Spirit's operations upon men before Pentecost and since. R5637:3
God's holy Spirit qualifying Saul for king was a mechanical one and not the spirit of sonship. R5637:4
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| 11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him before saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? |
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| 12 And a man of that place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? |
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| 13 And when he had ended prophesying, he came to the high place. |
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| 14 And Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that they were nowhere, we went to Samuel. |
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| 15 And Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said to you. |
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| 16 And Saul said to his uncle, He told us for certain that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he told him not. |
He told him not – It was in harmony with the prophet's advice that Saul kept the matter of his anointing secret. R4197:1, R3218:2
So now, the people know not the Lord's Anointed, the matter is kept secret for a time. R3218:5
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| 17 And Samuel called the people together to Jehovah to Mizpah. |
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| 18 And he said to the children of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, *I* brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all the kingdoms that oppressed you; |
Delivered you – Samuel impressed upon the people the fact that no king could have done them better service than their great King, Jehovah. R3218:2
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| 19 but *ye* have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your troubles, and have said unto him, Nay, but a king shalt thou set over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Jehovah by your tribes, and by your thousands. |
Your adversities – Calamities or evils sent as chastisements. A125
Before the LORD – Israel's solicitude to have the Lord make the choice is in contrast with present-day wire-pulling for office. R3218:1
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| 20 And Samuel caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken. |
Benjamin was taken – Similarly today, the Lord is passing by the prominent people and choosing the little and the humble. R3218:5
Samuel cast lots so the people might know it was the Lord's choice. R3218:2, R5637:6
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| 21 And he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, and the family of Matri was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken. And they sought him, but he was not to be found. |
And Saul – Meaning "Desired"; typifying, in this case, Christ. "The desire of all nations shall come." (Hag. 2:7) R3218:5
They sought him – In due time search will be made to find the Lord's Anointed and he will be found at his second advent. R3218:5
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| 22 Therefore they inquired of Jehovah further, Will the man yet come hither? And Jehovah answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the baggage. |
Inquired of the LORD – The Christ of God will be the desired one of all nations. R3218:5
Hath hid himself – In marked contrast with some of the chief ones of the world and the nominal church. R3218:4, R5636:2
The stuff – Baggage piled up surrounding the camp. R3218:4, R5637:6
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| 23 And they ran and fetched him thence; and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. |
Fetched him thence – The Lord's Anointed shall be found at his second advent. R3218:5
He was higher – Representing the largeness and grandeur of character in those whom the Lord is choosing. R3218:6
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| 24 And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom Jehovah has chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted and said, May the king live. |
None like him – "Chiefest among ten thousand; the one altogether lovely." (Song of Sol. 5:10, 16) R3218:6
The people shouted – So the world of mankind will shout for joy when they shall realize the presence of the Christ of God. R3218:6
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| 25 And Samuel told the people the right of the kingdom, and wrote it in the book, and laid it before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. |
Write it in a book – By divine direction. R1145:3
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| 26 And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and with him went the band, whose hearts God had touched. |
Went home – Displaying patience, wisdom, humility. R5636:1
Went with him – It is because we see Jesus to be the Father's choice that we unite ourselves to him. R3218:6
A band of men – Typifying the Little Flock. R3218:6
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| 27 But the children of Belial said, How should this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no gifts. But he was as one deaf. |
Children of Belial – Children of the devil; representing those out of harmony with God, speaking evil of the members of the Body of Christ. R3219:1
They despised him – So mankind is not yet ready for the reign of the Royal Priesthood. R5636:2
He held his peace – Made no attempt to exercise authority, seeing that he had only half-hearted support from the people. R5635:2
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