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Full Episode
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. We've made it 100 days. Congratulations. I hope you're doing something to celebrate this milestone. All right, let's dive into today's reading. Have you ever heard of a Rube Goldberg machine? Let me describe one and see if this rings a bell.
Imagine dominoes falling over row by row until they hit a golf ball, knocking it into a paper cup, which is attached to a pulley system that drops the cup down and tips it over and spills the golf ball and you get the picture. All the things in a Rube Goldberg machine have to line up perfectly to accomplish each detail so that the next detail connects and the end goes off as planned.
It's very complicated. And that's why God is the best at Rube Goldberg machines. We see that in today's reading. Today, God lets Samuel know that he's the one in charge of appointing Israel's first king, and he gives him a heads-up that the man he has in mind is on his way to meet him. God arranged the circumstances of their meeting perfectly.
It involves getting some donkeys lost, putting an idea in the servant's head and a silver coin in his pocket, stationing some girls at the well at what was probably an unusual time of day to go to the well, and having it all line up not only with the arrival of Samuel back in town— but also with the feast and the timing God gave Samuel for when the new king would arrive.
Saul is a Benjamite, the tribe that was almost wiped out completely not long ago. Remember how only 600 men survived? And those survivors weren't viewed too highly among Israel because they caused Israel's first civil war. So apart from his appearance, Saul is an unlikely candidate to be king of Israel. But his appearance is the first thing noted about him in scripture.
As for his height, Jewish historians say the average Israelite male in those days was around 5'6". So if Saul was a head taller than everyone, that would make him about 6'3". So he was tall and handsome and probably dark because this is the Middle East after all. When he shows up on the scene, God tells Samuel, this is him.
So Samuel invites him to the feast and gives him the most desirable piece of meat, which was reserved for the priest. Then he invites Samuel to sleep on the roof, which was the most desirable sleeping spot because of the breeze. He's also careful to reveal a few details that confirm for Saul that he's a prophet of Yahweh. For instance, he's like, Oh, those donkeys you've been looking for?
They're home already. Then the next day as he's walking Saul and his servant out of the city, he pulls Saul aside and casually anoints him in the street by pouring oil on his head. And he basically says, you're the prince of Israel now, and God has a plan for you to rescue his people.
In case you don't believe me, let me tell you three separate things that are about to happen on your way home, in case you might be tempted to write off the first two as a coincidence. Then Samuel tells Saul to go to Gilgal and wait for him for seven days, and then he'll give him some instructions on what to do next. Put a pin in this thought.
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