Samuel privately anointed Saul to be king and sent him on his way home. As he went he would find two men by Rachel's sepulchre, that reminder of him who was the father of Saul's tribe, son of his mother's sorrow, yet named son of his father's right hand (Genesis 35:1818And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin. (Genesis 35:18)).
In the light the New Testament affords, we can see that Benjamin was a type of Christ, the One of Israel's sorrow and setting aside, yet the Man at God's right hand.
It is properly the oak of Tabor, rather than the plain of that name, in verse 3. At this point Saul was to meet three men going up to God, to Bethel; faith was still in exercise in Israel and there were some, though few who remembered the God of Bethel, Him who had said to Jacob when in trouble that He would not leave him. The eternal God was for Jacob, and brought him back in peace. (Genesis 28:15; 31:1315And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. (Genesis 28:15)
13I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. (Genesis 31:13) and 35:7). These who sought God's presence now, gave food to the future king.
But the hill of God was possessed by the enemies of His people—a third sign or circumstance which should have spoken to the heart of one who had God's glory and His people's blessing before him. Here, at the public seat of God's strength, the power of the enemy is found,—true picture of the state of Israel at this time.
At this place, then, the Spirit of God came on Saul. and he was turned into another man: God here resumes the course of His relations with Israel, though Samuel was still the only one whom God recognized as the link between Himself and the people. It is when Saul has had to do with Samuel that he is another man; blessing was connected with the prophet.
The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Saul was not the indwelling, nor, we may judge, producing the new birth, both of which are so plainly told us in the New Testament. Scripture is silent as to any clear testimony that Saul was a converted man, and some of his acts lead to the conclusion that he could not have been. What is set forth in verses 6 and 9 to 13 is evidently the fitting of Saul to be an office bearer among the people of God.
Gilgal (verse 8) was another reminder, if Saul had faith to take it in, of an important stage in Israel's history. There the "reproach of Egypt" was "rolled away" (Joshua 5:99And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. (Joshua 5:9)); nature and all its connections were judged, in figure, and Israel, from the camp at Gilgal, was to enter upon the conquest and possession of the portion God had provided, in the strength of His arm. Alas, it had not been so, but the failure should have, to faith, only served to emphasize the character of Gilgal as God had indicated it.
Though God so provided for the future king as verses 6-13 have shown us, Saul's course shows him a self-seeking, self-important man. This will be more evident as we go on through his later history.
Samuel called the people together at Mizpeh, there delivering a solemn message from God before the formal choice of a king took place. God gave them their wish; He had not forsaken them, and He had, as we have before noticed, chosen for their king one of the best, in nature's reckoning, that the nation afforded. If "the flesh" as Romans 8 terms the natural man, could have served here, nothing was lacking.
God having set up a king, those who will not acknowledge him are "children of Belial."