The Third Sign and the Test.
1 Samuel 10:5-8.
1892 4 No one can carefully read Samuel's description of the third sign without being impressed with the importance of it. The former were remarkably suggestive, and if the force and application of them had been understood by Saul they were calculated to furnish him with needed and valuable instruction for the new and important position which he was thenceforth to occupy. But the last was more than this. It was accompanied with a marvellous gift of power — the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Such a gift to such a man invites inquiry; may we enter upon it with unquestioning faith in the inspired record. It will not be without profit to have our attention directed to the amazing extent of privilege and blessing that has been bestowed on men, and, as to themselves, bestowed in vain. The same gift was conferred on Balaam. The Spirit of God came on him, his eyes were opened, he had the knowledge of the Most High and saw the vision of the Almighty (Num. 24), yet the darkness of his soul was not reached by all this light. We are solemnly warned against his doctrine, his error and his way, and he perished with the enemies of God. Coming to the time of our Lord, we have the case of Judas Iscariot whose privileges exceeded all that ever went before him. Prophets and kings desired to see those things which he saw, and to hear those things which he heard, but were not so favoured: he was also numbered with the apostles and obtained part of the ministry, preaching the kingdom of God and working miracles, yet he was guide to them that took Jesus, and afterwards destroyed himself. Still later after the descent of the Holy Spirit, we find some who were made partakers of the Spirit and shared in other christian privileges, yet, notwithstanding all, fell away* and crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame (Heb. 6:4-6).
{*It is not "if they shall fall away," as in the A.V., but "and fell away," as in the R.V.}
These are serious cases and are made known to us for a serious purpose. The void that sin has made in the soul cannot be filled by the richest and the most abundant gifts, short of Christ, and heart-belief in Him. A man may be enlightened, have tasted of the heavenly gift, been made partaker of the Holy Ghost, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, and yet fall away. He may preach with the gift of Paul, but, if that he all, his gift and the exercise of it will not save him (1 Cor. 9:27). As Rutherford said, "Preaching is not Christ," though it may be about Him; and Matthew Henry, "Saul prophesying among the prophets is Saul still." However great the difference in dispensational gifts and blessings, it will be found that the grand essential for man remains the same all through. Not light, nor even power will suffice, though both are needed. From Abel onward the great concern of the soul can only be met and answered by the Lamb of God and faith in Him. As John Forster said, "I only found relief from poignant sorrow and anxiety on account of my sin by placing a simple reliance on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for acceptance before God"; and the most gifted must come to this, or be a stranger to true peace.
"Of sinners chief — what but the blood
Could calm my soul before my God?"
We do not forget that our subject is Saul, but to refuse the further light afforded us in later scriptures would he to deprive our inquiry of all point and application to ourselves and our times. There are, it is to be feared, those who like to bear the christian name, to share in christian privileges and even aspire to christian offices, without true conversion to God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is therefore of great moment to know to what lengths the flesh can go, to have before us examples, such as those already quoted, men upon whom the Spirit of the Lord came, men who have had the gift of prophecy and who have preached to others, yet were not saved. "The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned" (Heb. 6). The showers which fall on both do not change, but do make manifest the true nature of the soil. In David, upon whom the Spirit of the Lord came (1 Sam. 16:13), we have an example of fruitful ground; in Saul, of a barren waste.
But let us apply ourselves to the facts as narrated. After leaving Rachel's sepulchre, Saul might have been reminded that, though now an anointed king, he was but dust, a Benoni, the son of his mother's sorrow, and that God alone could make him a Benjamin, His instrument of power; but after parting with the three men going up to God to Bethel, who could have taught him to put his trust in the God of Jacob, ever faithful to all His promises, he is brought to the hill of God, and there (remarkable spot) he finds the Philistines securely entrenched. He is thus face to face with the difficulties before him, for the people had desired a king to fight their battles and the Lord had given him to be their captain, to deliver them especially out of the hand of the Philistines, their bitterest as well as their strongest enemies. He could well have done it, had he proved obedient; for here, in the sight of the foe, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he is at once seen prophesying with the prophets, with all the accompaniments of joy and triumph, the psaltery, the tabret, the pipe and the harp: the battle was the Lord's, therefore he might well rejoice, for then the victory was sure. To awaken faith in his soul, speedy proof of this was afforded him. When the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead sought deliverance from Nahash the Ammonite, in the energy of the Spirit he called out the people, led them victoriously against the enemy, and rescued Jabesh. That he was a gifted man was thus put beyond question, and nature will appreciate gift. He was admired of all, was at once confirmed in the kingdom, and he and all the men of Israel rejoiced together greatly (11). With Samuel only was there reserve. He was not carried away by the popular enthusiasm, and the Lord sent thunder and rain in wheat harvest to confirm His word of warning (12).
The period of the judges was now closed. The king superseded the judge, but any attempt to set aside Samuel as the prophet-mediator would be contempt of the supreme authority of Jehovah, and of the provision of sovereign grace when sin had brought the nation to ruin, its priesthood gone and the glory departed. The word of the Lord was explicit as to this. Saul was to tarry for Samuel till he should come to offer the sacrifices and show him what he should do. Though his office and his gift were unchallengeable, he was not independent to use them as he pleased. Samuel was the one link remaining of connection with God. It was given to him to draw near to the Lord on behalf of the people and to communicate His will — a type in this of Christ. Were they to have a king who should do his own will in worship and service? David was a man after God's own heart. Why? Not because he was a prophet, how far from it! But because the Lord had said of him, "he shall fulfil all My will" (Acts 13:22). Saul, alas, was not this. He did his own. A more serious lesson can hardly be read to those who are in office or have gift in the church, for none are in greater danger of trenching on the mediatorship and authority of Christ; but a great house has diverse vessels in it, so we read in 2 Tim. 2:20. The office may be honourable, and the gift undeniable; but what is the vessel, and for whose use? The test is needed, and it is a serious one.
It was all well outwardly with Saul at first, but at length the impatience of the flesh refused restraint. His religion could do without Samuel, and he kept not the commandment of the Lord. He thought, doubtless, to cover his wilfulness by a show of piety, but it was a bandage for his own eyes only. Samuel's question, "What hast thou done?" showed that he was not blinded by it. Mere religiousness may make a man satisfied with himself, as Adam with his apron of fig leaves; but this question must come sooner or later, "What hast thou done?" and then all is upset. Saul's miserable pleading for an unlawful sacerdotalism was of no more avail than Adam's wretched device of laying the blame of his conduct on his wife (13).
The contrast in the next chapter is striking and beautiful. On the one hand we see exalted position, gift, numbers, religiousness and assumption. On the other two men out of the whole tribe of Israel relying on the strength of the Lord alone (14:6), united in His name and going forth in the mighty energy of faith to attack and overcome the Philistines, and to recover from their hand the possessions given of God but of which they had robbed them. That there were but two is an indication of the low condition of the people, but it had been lower. The first chapter of this book reveals yet greater weakness. Hannah was alone and in reproach; around her was either spiritual deadness or shameless wickedness, while judgment from the Lord, dishonoured in His sanctuary, was impending. It was at such a moment that it pleased God to reveal Himself by a name which He had not taken before, or rather, which is not found before in the scriptures. The time was come for such a revelation of the divine glory, so suited to encourage the faith of the weak in the presence of adverse power. Hannah was the first that we read of who cried to the Lord as Jehovah Tzebâôth (the Lord of hosts or armies, 1:11). David also met and overthrew Goliath in the might of that name (17:45), and looking forward to the final triumphs of Jesus in the earth, where He was crucified, in the spirit of prophecy, and in the loftiest strain, he applied it to Him in Psalm 24
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates!
Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory Shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
Jehovah Tzebâôth,
He is the King of glory."
How perfectly this ray of the divine glory shines now in the face of Jesus Christ, those who are oppressed may learn in a remarkable passage in James. "Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Yes, the labour question is before Him, and the balance of justice is safe in His hands. Be patient, Christian, His coming draweth nigh. As Jehovah Tzebâôth He heard Hannah's cry, so He hears yours. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."
But as to Saul, had he any real knowledge of the glory of the Lord or care for it? Who can seriously consider His course, and that last sad scene on Mount Gilboa, and entertain a hope of him? The events of his life are vividly portrayed by the Holy Spirit. They were "written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4); and here "our" is emphatic: we need them therefore. W. B.