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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 that Jehovah hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance? |
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 art departed from me today, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, the asses which thou wentest to seek are found; and, lo, thy father hath left off caring for the asses, and is anxious for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? |
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| 3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the oak of Tabor; and there shall meet thee there three men going up to God to Beth-el, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: |
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| 4 and they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread, which thou shalt receive of their hand. |
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| 5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they will be prophesying: |
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| 6 and the Spirit of Jehovah will come mightily 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 let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion shall serve thee; 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 unto thee, to offer burnt-offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come unto thee, and show thee what thou shalt do. |
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| 9 And it was so, that, when he had turned his back to go 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 band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily 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 beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? |
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| 12 And one of the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? |
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| 13 And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. |
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| 14 And Saul’s uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses; and when we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel. |
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| 15 And Saul’s uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. |
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| 16 And Saul said unto his uncle, he told us plainly that the asses were found. But concerning the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, 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 unto Jehovah to Mizpah; |
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| 18 and he said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I 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 saveth you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and ye have said unto him, No, but set a king 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 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel 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 brought the tribe of Benjamin near by their families; and the family of the Matrites was taken; and Saul the son of Kish was taken: but when they sought him, he could not 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 asked of Jehovah further, Is there yet a man to 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 hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, Long live the king. |
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 Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before Jehovah. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man went to his house. |
Write it in a book – By divine direction. R1145:3
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| 26 And Saul also went to his house to Gibeah; and there went with him the host, 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 certain sons of worthlessness said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present. But he held his peace. |
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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