SAUL’S THIRD SIGN LEFT HIM A DIFFERENT MAN
Samuel had predicted a divine encounter, or a change that would make Saul a different man. He indicated that Saul’s third sign would leave him a different man. The plain of Tabor seemed like a significant place for such a thing to happen.
When he arrived at Tabor, Saul met three men. The first one was carrying three goats. The second one was carrying three loaves of bread, and the third one was carrying a bottle of wine.
What on earth could this passage mean?
We are told that the three men were going up to Bethel to offer sacrifices. This was taking place during a time when the ark and the tabernacle were not in any settled place. God had not yet declared the permanent place of His choice.
Bethel was a place where at least these three knew Jacob had experienced a vision from God. Jacob had seen angels ascending and descending from Heaven at Bethel. It was a place where he had wrestled with God. He had a broken hip as proof, but he had prevailed, and God blessed him there. You can read more of that story here: https://www.thefellowship.site/archives/2014/3/12/god-and-jacob-at-bethel-gen-351-15#:~:text=Jacob%20finally%20arrived%20at%20Bethel,dies%20and%20is%20buried%20there.
So, Jacob built an altar at Bethel. These men Saul met on the way were going to the most sacred place they knew existed at the time.
PARALLEL STORY
How can we understand exactly who these men might have been?
Sometimes it helps to look back within the scriptures and study other people at different times to see if the same things happened at another time in the same way.
Following through and searching for patterns, we know Abraham met Melchizedek after a victorious battle, Melchizedek had bread and wine which he shared with Abraham. This happened after Abraham had given an offering of one/tenth of his wealth to God.
Saul did not bring an offering though.
We already know from the fact that he did not have any money to pay Samuel, or anything to give to show appreciation to Samuel for his services. Saul explained to his servant that he had nothing of value to give. Saul’s servant helped him out though. He provided an offering he had found along the way to Samuel for Saul.
This was almost the same situation happening over again. Saul had nothing to offer, but he joined in with the three men he met who were carrying goats (for sacrifices), loaves of bread (as a grain offerings) and wine (a fellowship offering.) All Saul could offer was himself.
Looking back this should give us a huge clue as to how Saul’s kingship was going to transpire. He had nothing to offer. Nothing at all, but for some strange reason, God had chosen him to be Israel’s first official king.
I believe God was teaching Israel what became of a nation who wanted their own way over God’s way. This makes the choice of Saul seem more reasonable and acceptable. He had all of the outward appearances of a kingly man. Saul was handsome, tall and stately to look at. Inside though, he was lacking in wisdom and understanding. His compassion for others went about as far as the nose on his face.
The fact that Saul depended on others to show his worship to God should become one of our first clues regarding his character traits. However, this will become more relevant in our future studies.
THE THREE MEN
The offerings of the men Saul met on the way were sacrificial offerings designed to ask after one’s welfare. These men were greeting Saul in a friendly manner. The approach was to offer to pray for his blessing and anointing from God. Interesting to note is the fact that this was just as Saul’s servant had done previously. Though Saul wasn’t very godly himself, he was constantly surrounded by those who were.
The second man gave Saul two loaves from the sacrificial offerings. This was a “double portion.” These offerings were very sincere and intentional. They intended for Saul to accept their gifts, as a blessing to the anointed of God. https://www.womanofnoblecharacter.com/tribe-of-benjamin/, https://divinenarratives.org/the-role-and-legacy-of-benjamin-in-the-bible/.
The scriptures mention no names.
I still wonder who these three men could REALLY be?
SIMILAR AND PARALLEL
Another similar experience happened to Abraham long before Saul was born. Three unexpected guests appeared at the door of Abraham’s tent. They were God, in temporary human form and two others who appeared to be of holy origin. Abraham offered them meat, bread and cheese. He was paying homage to God.
This was when Abraham and Sarah learned they would have a child from God in their old age. The first part of the journey for the three who appeared in the form of men was for blessing Abraham. The last part of their mission was to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
God’s stories often contain such parallel messages. In most of these parallel stories the righteous are blessed, and the unrighteous are punished.
So many stories within the story come to mind here.
PROPHETS WITH MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Moving on in our present story of Saul’s journey to being the King of Israel, we hear that Saul was to receive from the three men and move on toward the hill of God.
This “hill of God” was a place of worship for the people of God, but is was also a place where a garrison of the Philistines existed. The Philistines were letting The People of God worship at that location, but they were also maintaining careful control over them and taxing them for living in the land which God had given to them.
Through this sign for Saul, we see the plight of all of God’s people. It is that hard struggle and the continuous wrestling to overcome which is constantly and repeatedly required by God from us. The wrestling is the way for us to come out of slavery and human bondage to the flesh. We must persevere to live in God’s intended abundance. He knows more than we know about what is best for us. God has seen the end of things. All we can see is the moment of the times in which we live. Wisdom begins by trusting God when you cannot see exactly what He is doing.
SAUL’S THIRD SIGN KNOWN BY THREE MEN
Saul meets a company of prophets coming down from this high place called Bethel. They possessed and carried a psaltery, a tabret, a pipe, and a harp. It is said that they were able to prophesy.
Take note of the fact that one of the prophets carried a harp. This will be important to remember when we study further and discover how Saul always wanted David to play the harp for him. Perhaps this first experience with these prophets influenced Saul. That could be the reason he related prophecy with the playing of a harp from a Godly man.
SAUL IS A DIFFERENT MAN
Saul changed. We are told that he became a different man. From that point on, Samuel said that God would be with Saul. Samuel also explained more. Once these signs fell in place, he noted that Saul would always know what to do next.
Next week we will think deeper about the meaning of these signs given to Saul.