1 Samuel 10:7-9 - God changed Saul's heart

10:7,8

On witnessing all these signs (perhaps when the Pharisees asked Jesus for a “sign” they were thinking of something along these lines?)Saul was to “do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you”. God does not always give us direct detailed instructions. Sometimes He fills us with His Spirit, our hearts are inclined towards Him, and then we can just get on with it. Samuel is then told to go down to Gilgal and wait there for seven days for Samuel. Samuel would offer burnt offerings and give Saul further instructions. Note that Samuel tells Saul he must wait. This is where all the trouble will start, for Saul will not fulfil this command.

10:9

All the signs that Samuel had spoken of came to pass. Also “God changed Saul’s heart”. This seems a little problematic. There were some things that happened, as we will read about in the next verse, but there was no long term change in Saul. He will very soon be rejected as king because of his disobedience.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 - Their work will be shown for what it is

3:13

There is a day of judgement, when the worth or otherwise of what we have done will be shown. We should always bear in mind that there is a day of judgement, a day when the truth is made known. We can fool ourselves or others for a time, but we can never fool God. On the final day our work will be tested with fire.

3:14,15

On that final day if our work proves to have been of eternal value we will receive a reward. Otherwise we will suffer loss, though we ourselves will survive, but only just. We need to approach our work for Christ with utmost seriousness, for it is a serious business. Paul says those who build with hay or straw will escape but only as one escaping through the flames. The implication of this is that our lives are meant to be much richer than that (not in the prosperity gospel way!), much more worthwhile.

1 Samuel 10:3-6 - The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you

10:3,4

Samuel now gives further events that will happen. When Saul reaches the “great tree of Tabor”. Large trees could act as significant landmarks, like the Sycamore Gap tree near Hadrian’s wall did before it was felled. There Saul would meet three men going up to worship, carrying three young goats, loaves and a skin of wine. They would offer Saul two loaves of bread, and Saul was to accept them. These events taking place could leave Saul in doubt that Samuel knew what he was talking about.

10:5,6

Samuel still has further revelations. At Gibeah he would meet “a procession of prophets”. These prophets would have various musical instruments being played before them, and they would be prophesying. The prophesying here would probably be ecstatic praising of God, rather than what we might think of as prophecy (i.e. in the Isaiah sense). 

1 Corinthians 3:11,12 - There is only one foundation, Jesus Christ

3:11

The most important thing in building is that we build on the right foundation, and the only good foundation is Christ and His work on the cross. If we build on any other foundation what we build will ultimately collapse. This can (and has and does) happen by building on relieving poverty, on “social justice”, even on evangelism. We should do these things, we should help the poor, we should be concerned for justice, we should evangelise, but these must not become the foundation of what we do, they must come out of a love for Christ.

3:12

Building on the right foundation is not enough, one has to pay attention to what one is building with. On the plus side one can use gold, silver, or costly stones. There are various pictures of the temple in both the old and new testament that this draws upon (e.g. Isa 54:11,12; Rev 21:18). Alternatively, one might build with wood, hay or straw. Such things would prove to be worthless, wood could actually be put in the positive category. The church can sometimes get involved in things which superficially look attractive, but ultimately prove to be worthless.

1 Samuel 10:1,2 - Has not the Lord anointed you?

10:1

Now being alone with Saul, Samuel takes a flask of olive oil and pours it on Saul’s head. He was anointing Saul. He tells Saul “has not the Lord anointed you ruler over His inheritance?” The Septuagint has a rather longer version of 10:1, see the footnote in most Bibles. Note that Saul is ruler over his inheritance. Anything we ever have authority over is God’s. None of us ever have authority over anything for our own sake, it is always for Christ’s sake, whether it be family, church or in the secular world. We do well to remember that.

10:2

Samuel then tells Saul some further things that will happen to him after he leaves Samuel. The purpose of this was probably to demonstrate the authenticity of Samuel’s words. Rachel’s tomb was a notable landmark at the time. Saul would meet two men there who would tell him that the donkeys had been found, and that his father was now worried about Saul. This sort of proved Saul right in his earlier thoughts (1 Sam 9:5).

1 Corinthians 3:9,10 - We are fellow workers in God's field

3:9

“For we are fellow workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building”. This sums up what Paul has been saying thus far. Paul and Apollos were on the same team! The Corinthians needed to see Paul and Apollos as working together, not competing against each other. They also needed to see themselves as God’s field and building. If I say I am following this person or that person I am sort of putting myself in charge, I choose my destiny. But that is not the way it is. It is God who chooses our destiny, He is the one at work in us.

3:10

Paul now builds upon the latter point he has been making. Paul laid a foundation, he is the one who founded the church in Corinth. But he did so by the grace of God. There is an important point here. We can sometimes think that claiming to be nothing is a humble thing to do. In a way it is, but when we are in Christ we are not useless. In Christ we become useful, God achieves things through us. He involves us in what He is doing, but all this is by grace, it is based on His goodness and greatness, not on our goodness and greatness. So God had used Paul to lay a foundation in Corinth, establishing the church there. He then used someone else to continue that work, to build upon the foundation. We should never claim it is “my church” in the sense that it belongs to me, or I own it. It is right to say it is “my church” in the sense that I belong to the church. So we should be careful how we build.

1 Samuel 9:24-27 - Samuel talked with Saul

9:24

Meat had been set aside for Saul. Further evidence of everything having been put in place. Sometimes people seem to draw a dichotomy between God doing something, and there being a process. This is a ridiculous thing to do and only serves to demonstrate the paucity of their thinking. With what we are reading about here we can look at it in two ways, as indeed the Bible does! On the one hand we have the description of the process: donkeys going awol, Saul setting off to find them and failing to do so, etc. All these things were real. On the other hand we see that God is sovereign, and His purposes were being worked out. The two perspectives are not in opposition. Joseph being sold into slavery is perhaps the prime example of this. The events were real, and the other brothers were responsible for their actions, and Joseph’s honourable behaviour was also important. We should not draw false dichotomies.

The thigh was the portion usually set aside for the priest, and Samuel keeping it for Saul was indicative of the importance of his future position.

9:25-27

They then came down from the high place and Samuel spoke to Saul. This took place on the roof of his house, this would be a cool place for them to meet. We are not actually told at this point what Samuel said to Saul. In the morning Samuel tells Saul to get ready to leave. As he was sending Saul on his way, Samuel tells the servant to go on ahead, for he wants to speak privately to Saul.