1Sa 10:10 | KingComments | STEP | When Saul leaves Samuel, God changes his heart. This does not mean that He gives Saul new life, but He gives him the inner ability or wisdom to govern His people and make good decisions. It connects to where Samuel tells Saul that the Spirit of the LORD will become mightily upon him, transforming him into another man. The farmer’s son will become aware of his royal dignity. This will be seen in him and will be evident from his deeds. This shows that God makes everything available to Saul to make him competent for his task. However, they are only external characteristics, without any new life. New life is only given if there is repentance of sins and conversion to God with confession of sins. This never happened with Saul. All signs happen as is said to Saul. To the third sign the Holy Spirit goes into more detail because of the particularities associated with it. It becomes clear that spiritual manifestations are a completely strange thing to Saul. Others observe that he behaves ‘spiritually’ and mock his attitude. What they see now is amazing for them. They do not know Saul like that. Saul is therefore only a prophet outwardly; he behaves like a prophet among them. His life they have seen so far has nothing in common with that of the pupils of the prophets. It is clear that Saul is not characterized by any fear of God or faith in Him, but God’s Spirit shows what Saul should have been. To be king according to God’s heart, the guidance of God’s Spirit is needed. It is not about a new attitude, but about new life through new birth. “A man there” ( ) is someone from Gibeah or someone from the crowd standing around the prophets. The question “who is their father?” – and not ‘who is their president or chairman?’ – may mean a question about their ancestry, how they should be seen. This question can also mean: ‘Is their father also a prophet?’ i.e. ‘Do they have the prophetic spirit by virtue of their birth? When “father” means the head or leader of the prophets (cf. ; ), the question means: “What kind of leader do they have that they allow a person like Saul into their company?” The proverb says a lot about Saul. It is used to describe a totally unexpected and inexplicable phenomenon. It expresses the amazement about a person who appears in an atmosphere of life in which he has until then been completely strange, in which he has never shown himself.

‏ 1 Samuel 10:10

The Signs Happen

When Saul leaves Samuel, God changes his heart. This does not mean that He gives Saul new life, but He gives him the inner ability or wisdom to govern His people and make good decisions. It connects to 1Sam 10:6 where Samuel tells Saul that the Spirit of the LORD will become mightily upon him, transforming him into another man. The farmer’s son will become aware of his royal dignity. This will be seen in him and will be evident from his deeds.

This shows that God makes everything available to Saul to make him competent for his task. However, they are only external characteristics, without any new life. New life is only given if there is repentance of sins and conversion to God with confession of sins. This never happened with Saul.

All signs happen as is said to Saul. To the third sign the Holy Spirit goes into more detail because of the particularities associated with it. It becomes clear that spiritual manifestations are a completely strange thing to Saul. Others observe that he behaves ‘spiritually’ and mock his attitude. What they see now is amazing for them. They do not know Saul like that. Saul is therefore only a prophet outwardly; he behaves like a prophet among them. His life they have seen so far has nothing in common with that of the pupils of the prophets.

It is clear that Saul is not characterized by any fear of God or faith in Him, but God’s Spirit shows what Saul should have been. To be king according to God’s heart, the guidance of God’s Spirit is needed. It is not about a new attitude, but about new life through new birth.

“A man there” (1Sam 10:12) is someone from Gibeah or someone from the crowd standing around the prophets. The question “who is their father?” – and not ‘who is their president or chairman?’ – may mean a question about their ancestry, how they should be seen. This question can also mean: ‘Is their father also a prophet?’ i.e. ‘Do they have the prophetic spirit by virtue of their birth? When “father” means the head or leader of the prophets (cf. 1Chr 25:6; 2Kgs 2:12), the question means: “What kind of leader do they have that they allow a person like Saul into their company?”

The proverb says a lot about Saul. It is used to describe a totally unexpected and inexplicable phenomenon. It expresses the amazement about a person who appears in an atmosphere of life in which he has until then been completely strange, in which he has never shown himself.