Lawrence Boadt writes,
Chapters 8 through 15 then move on to describe how Israel
got a king. The danger from the Philistines was so great that the tribes
themselves realized they would not have a chance unless their forces were
united more effectively under a single military leader. They even lacked iron
weapons such as the Philistines had, having to fight with less effective bronze
(1 Sam 13:19-22). The people begged Samuel to give them a king “as other
nations have” (1 Sam 8:5). Samuel warns them of the dangers of giving so much
power to one person, but they insist, and God gives in, telling Samuel: “At
this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin whom you are
to anoint as commander of my people Israel. He will save my people from the
hands of the Philistines for I have witnessed their misery and heard their cry
for help” (1 Sam 9:16). Yet only a chapter later, Samuel says, “Today you have
rejected the Lord your God who delivers you from all your evil and disasters,
by telling him, ‘No! Set a king over us’” (1 Sam 10:19). Thus even the early
traditions show a mixed reaction to the decision to have a king.
Most scholars see at least two separate strands of
tradition. One can be called the pro-Saul
version. It is found in 1 Samuel 9:1-10:16 and 11:1-15. The other version is an
anti-Saul source found in 1 Samuel
8:1-22, 10:17-26, and 12:1-25. The book’s editors have joined these two
accounts and made them into a statement which gives both sides of the issue. It
reveals that Samuel was reluctant to have a king, but accepted the people’s
demands when God made the choice evident in Saul, who stood “head and shoulders
above the rest of Israel” (1 Sam 9:2).
One of the things that stood out to me in this
reading of this section of 1 Samuel was the statement that as Saul “turned away
to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart” (1 Samuel 10:9). This is what we
each need God to do for us, give us a heart of flesh in place of a heart of
stone (Ezekiel 11:19). However, just as clearly, Saul had a heart that wavered
in his service to the Lord. This becomes evident as the story progresses.
However, even at the beginning, we see Saul wavering, as he tries to run away
from kingship, hiding himself “among the baggage” (1 Samuel 10:23).
God helps the wavering Saul by providing him with
warriors whose hearts God has also touched (1 Samuel 10:26). Then, after the
provocation of Nahash the Ammonite, we see the spirit of God come upon Saul in
power and his anger is greatly kindled (1 Samuel 11:6). The spirit of God seems
to work here in Saul in a way similar to that of Samson in the book of Judges.
There seems to be little if any connection between what the rest of the Bible
would see as moral holiness and the work of the spirit in Saul.
Despite the fact that Samuel sees Israel as going
down a wrong road by choosing to have a king, he says, “far be it from me that
I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you” (1 Samuel 12:23).
This is a good reminder to all of us that we need to continue to pray for
family members, friends, and others, even when we think, or especially when we
think, they are making wrong choices. There comes a time when we need to stop
talking to others about what we perceive to be their wrong choices and continue talking to God about the matter.
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