(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Samuel 10:1–8, “Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee. And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.”
Even though Samuel knew that he was giving his job, one that he enjoyed, to another man, he obeyed the Lord and did as he was told. He anointed Saul to be king over Israel, culturally and spiritually this was a highly significant event and, later, it changed the course of David’s life. In order to confirm that this was from the Lord, Samuel told Saul what events would transpire in the immediate future. Samuel told Saul that he would meet two men at Rachel’s tomb, an important landmark, who would tell him that the donkeys had been found and his father was now concerned about him. Saul would then meet there men, one carrying kids, one carrying bread and the third carrying a bottle of wine. These men would give him some of the things they were carrying and then finally Saul would meet some prophets who and he would join them in prophesying. Remember that Samuel had not met Saul before that day and Saul didn’t even know who Samuel was so it would have been impossible to arrange all these things beforehand. However, everything that Samuel predicted happened. After that Saul was to go to Gilgal and wait for Samuel. Gilgal was a very important place because this is where the Israelis renewed their contract with the Lord after they entered the Promised Land. (Joshua 5:9, “And 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.”) At that stage they no longer had any of the stain of their slavery in Egypt, where the Egyptians tried to commit genocide by killing all the baby boys. This was the place chosen where Israel would be introduced to their new king and become, for the first time in the history, a monarchy with the king of their own choice. (compare Deut 17:15, “Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.”) They would soon have their own king but not the king that the Lord had chosen.
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