1 Samuel 10:2 Commentary and Bible Study

But then in the appointment there are to be a number of signs: at least three, possibly four. This is important, because Saul doesn't appear to be a very spiritual man. We have already observed that he doesn't appear to have been acquainted with the principal place of worship. He was son of a powerful and wealthy man in his region, but it doesn't seem to have been a devout, a pious home. Nevertheless this is the man who is going to be anointed to be king. How can he be sure about the word of Samuel? Signs are therefore given him, and very significant signs at that.Samuel says what will happen to him, and it comes to pass. ‘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.’ We don’t know where Zelzah is precisely; it's only mentioned here in the Old Testament. ‘And they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found, and lo, thy father had left the care of the asses and sorroweth for you.’ This is the first of the three signs. The great significance of this first sign, of course, is that it is going to authenticate Samuel. What Samuel says will prove to be true, and that will confirm to Saul that he has indeed been anointed king of Israel. But there is a bigger sign here. Like the signs that we are used to in the New Testament – the signs of Christ – they have significance beyond simply being supernatural. The signs of Christ didn't only demonstrate that he was the divine Son of God. They did that, but they did more. They were also demonstrations of how he would save, how he would bless souls. The healing signs were signs of how he would spiritually save, and they are very significant and full of instruction, and so are these signs. Saul is to draw near to Rachel's tomb. That was a most venerated place to the tribe of Benjamin, because Rachel had died there while giving birth to Benjamin, the father of the tribe. A Benjamite would stand solemnly before the tomb of Rachel, and weep for Rachel, and think back across the history of their fathers and how God forged a nation and called them together. It was an emotional place, a place of deep feeling, a place of solemnising and thoughtfulness. So Saul is sent somewhere to be solemn for a change, and to be serious, and to think of his place in the. grand scheme of things: the history of God's people. He would think of his mortality. He would think of the history of his people, a very strange history. And he would be reminded that this was his own tribe, a people under the direction, the management, and the care of God. Surely he would be reminded of his privilege and his responsibility as a king; he would be acting for God, and he better stay close to the prophet because he would need guidance and he would need instruction.