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| 1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain 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 to day, 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 the care of the asses, and sorroweth 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 plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, 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 hands. |
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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 company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: |
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| 6 And the spirit of the LORD 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 let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion 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 to 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 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 beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among 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, 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 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 no where, 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 of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.
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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 the LORD to Mizpeh; |
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| 18 And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD 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 kingdoms, and of them 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 And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD 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 when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, 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 When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and 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 inquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. |
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 the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save 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 the LORD. 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 there went with him a band of men, 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 shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. 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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