56 – Israel’s New King Comes Calling

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

We have been deeply studying Saul as a type of the Son of Perdition. This account portrays Saul’s arrival in ancient Israel which, if we’re paying attention, will happen the same way for the end times son of perdition when he comes on the world scene. 

We will also learn why Samuel performed sacrifices without retribution from YHVH. Haven’t you ever wondered how he got away with performing sacrifices when he wasn’t a priest and scripture says sacrificing away from YHVH’s gates is as if you have sacrificed to devils (Leviticus 17:1-9)? 

1 Samuel 9:6 The servant said to him, “Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man who is held in honor. All that he says surely happens. Now let’s go there. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.” 

Samuel reiterates the reputation he has earned which was that his word always comes to pass making him the epitome of YHVH’s definition of a true prophet, and the opposite of a false prophet whose words only sometimes or never come to pass. Given the truth of this and given that Samuel had thoroughly explained the hell Israel would suffer under a human King, Israel still decided to have a human King instead of YHVH, their divine King (1 Samuel 8). 

Saul’s servant knew there was a man of God in this city because this may have been Samuel’s hometown, Ramah, which was Ephraimite territory where Saul and the servant had been searching for his father’s asses. 

YHVH has now chosen the man who will lead Israel – Saul. His foray into Ephraimite territory looking for his father’s asses will now find him walking right into the destiny YHVH has for him – to be King of Israel. 

1 Samuel 9:7 Then Saul said to his servant, “But, behold, if we go, what should we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our sacks, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?” 

Samuel did not charge a fee for his services. No man of God ever does. It was a custom then as now to bring a gift, an offering, to one who performs services for the people of Israel. 

1 Samuel 9:8 The servant answered Saul again, and said, “Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” 

The 4^th part of a shekel was enough to give Samuel as a gift of honor, but it took a ½ shekel to be redeemed (Exodus 30:13). 

The servant symbolizes the future false prophet who will pave the way for the son of perdition to enter the world stage. Saul’s servant was “paying” the way for Saul to become King of Israel. 

What does the ¼ shekel tell us about Saul and the son of perdition, Saul’s servant and the false prophet? They will fall short of redemption. 

1 Samuel 9:9 (In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come! Let’s go to the seer;” for he who is now called a prophet was before called a seer.)
1 Samuel 9:10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said. Come! Let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was.
1 Samuel 9:11 As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?”

The motif of maidens drawing water goes back to the earliest account of the patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob. Isaac’s wife, a maiden, was found by Eleazar, Abraham’s servant, drawing water. Jacob’s wife, Rachel, was found the same way. Moses also met his wife in the setting of drawing water. This is important to understand because the water always tells us there is something spiritually significant to what is going on in the story. There is a deeper understanding to comprehend.

1 Samuel 9:12 They answered them, and said, “He is. Behold, he is before you. Hurry now, for he has come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place.

I want to address what appears here to be Samuel sacrificing on a high place. Samuel’s sacrifices are greatly misunderstood.

The first problem with the notion that Samuel performed sacrifices is that he was not in the line of Aaron. Some people claim he was a priest, but even if he was, priests were not permitted to sacrifice just anywhere like Samuel did 3 times.

Samuel was not an unofficial priest of YHVH nor was he from the line of Aaron, the only authorized line assigned by YHVH to officiate over sacrifices. First of all, YHVH never changed His mind about who could serve as priest, thus YHVH never made anyone into an unofficial priest. He was from the line Kohath. I addressed this in another teaching, “The Prophecy Of Samuel’s Parents”.

This leaves us in a quandary, then, because it appears to be an impossible situation to understand. However, there are legitimate and scriptural reasons why Samuel sacrificed to YHVH and YHVH accepted them.

So, how did Samuel allegedly get away with doing sacrifices since YHVH’s Israelites could not sacrifice in the open field? Let’s read that scripture.

Leviticus 17:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Leviticus 17:2 “Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded,
Leviticus 17:3 Whatever man there is of the house of Israel, who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,
Leviticus 17:4 and hasn’t brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to offer it as an offering to Yahweh before Yahweh’s tabernacle: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people.
Leviticus 17:5 This is to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.
Leviticus 17:6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood on Yahweh’s altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
Leviticus 17:7 They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.’
Leviticus 17:8 “You shall say to them, ‘Any man there is of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,
Leviticus 17:9 and doesn’t bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to sacrifice it to Yahweh; that man shall be cut off from his people.

Was Samuel sacrificing to devils? No, but there is confusion over what Samuel did. Official sacrifices performed in the Tabernacle after the establishment of Israel as the official nation of YHVH, as opposed to the legitimate but unofficial sacrifices of the patriarchs before Israel was established, has 2 components. Let me say it a different way. Before Israel, all sacrifices to YHVH were legitimate but they were unofficial. They were not presided over, officiated over, by an established priesthood. After Israel and its priesthood was established, official sacrifices had to be done at YHVH’s gates. No Israelite, including the priests, could offer sacrifices just anywhere. This alone lets us know that Samuel was not a priest from the line of Aaron.

Leviticus 17 says Israel’s sacrifices must be presented to the priest. The only place where the priests could accept sacrifices was at the Tabernacle. Thus, the definition of “YHVH’s gates” included not only the Tabernacle structure but a priesthood to accept the sacrifices and officiate. In other words, YHVH’s gates and His priesthood are the same thing; the gates and the priesthood are inseparable. YHVH’s gates are the first requirement.

The Tabernacle stood at Nob, but Nob was not the place of YHVH’s gates because YHVH had pronounced the Ithamar priesthood as illegitimate and had removed the line of Ithamar from His service forever as prophesied in1 Samuel 2:27-36 and 1 Samuel 3:14. On the day the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant, YHVH ripped the priesthood from that line (1 Samuel 4) which left Israel without His gates. So while there was a structure at Nob, the structure was a moot point because there was no legitimate priesthood to officiate over YHVH’s offerings. YHVH would not have accepted any sacrifices coming through that particular line.

The Ithamar priesthood, the men who served in this line, were still alive after Eli and his 2 wicked sons were killed and the priesthood ripped away, but they were hobbled, only functioning unofficially and as best they could under Eli’s grandson, Ahitub. They continued to bake the shewbread, light the incense and menorah, the work of the Holy Place but they could not officiate at the brazen altar. This situation created the problem of having no gates to take sacrifices to because there was no legitimate and authorized priesthood. It would remain this way until Solomon consecrated the temple at Jerusalem.

Also, there was no annual atonement because the priesthood did not have possession of the ark. Do you remember in 1 Samuel 7: 2 that “from the day that the ark stayed in Kiriath Jearim, the time was long; for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after Yahweh”? This is why. There was no Yom Kippur. There were no sacrifices because YHVH did not establish His gates at Nob and there was no official, legitimate priesthood there.

We now know that the first requirement for official sacrifices was that there must be YHVH’s gates which also have an authorized priesthood to officiate. Now let’s read about the second requirement for sacrificing.

Deuteronomy 12:11 then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.

Deuteronomy 16:2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.

Deuteronomy 16:6 but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt.

There were these 2 requirements for sacrifices: YHVH’s gates with a legitimate and authorized priesthood to officiate and in a place where He had established His name. He had established His name at Shiloh (Jeremiah 7:12-14), but that was now destroyed.

Without gates with an official and legitimate priesthood (requirement #1), and without YHVH’s name on the place (requirement #2), there was no official place for Israelites to sacrifice. This is why they resorted to doing unofficial sacrifices like their forebears – Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And this is why YHVH did not fault anyone, including Samuel, for sacrificing unofficial sacrifices to Him.

Notice also that the forebears always sacrificed within the borders of the Promised Land. In other words, the Israelites, following in the established pattern of the forebears, couldn’t go into Moabite or Syrian territory to sacrifice to YHVH there. All of the patriarchs only sacrificed inside YHVH’s borders of the Promised Land.

Here’s a message to those who claim believers should sacrifice to YHVH in the backyards wherever they live: Listen up! All sacrifices, both official and unofficial, must be performed within the borders of Israel! Don’t do this in America or anywhere else on earth. Do you sacrifices only in Israel!

By the way, this lack of gates with a legitimate priesthood and YHVH’s name is the reason David did not anger YHVH in chapter 21 by taking the shewbread. Had there been official gates with a legitimate priesthood and had YHVH’s name been on the Tabernacle at Nob, David might have been killed!

Israelites probably chose the high places for sacrificing, as was the case in this chapter, which likely served 2 purposes. One, it showed that YHVH is greater than the demon deities that rebellious Israelites sacrificed to, and two, sacrificing to YHVH there could reclaim the high place and the surrounding area for YHVH once again.

So, the false doctrine that Samuel was given “a pass”, or that YHVH overlooked Samuel’s sacrifices because of his prophetic office, are heretical and antithetical to Kingdom Law and instructions in Leviticus 17.

Another notion I’ve heard is that Samuel was actually in the line of Melchizedek somehow which would supposedly legitimatize his sacrifices. That also is not true. YHVH would never re-establish the line of Melchizedek until Yeshua came. He had split the Melchizedek line through Jacob’s prophecies of his sons in Genesis 49 by giving the Kingship to Judah, the priesthood to Levi and the blessing to Joseph. That line only came back together in one individual again through Yeshua.

Here in chapter 9, it is easy to get the impression that Samuel sacrificed at a high place on the day he met Saul if you don’t read carefully. Samuel did not perform the sacrifice. An unnamed person did so. Samuel only blessed it.

1 Samuel 9:13 As soon as you have come into the city, you will immediately find him, before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards those who are invited eat. Now therefore go up; for at this time you will find him.”

Samuel was not performing the sacrifice. He went to the high place to bless it after someone else performed the sacrifice. Otherwise, Samuel would have still been officiating at the high place rather than coming out of his house where he “accidentally” ran into Saul.

And now we can get back to Saul and Samuel’s meet-up.

1 Samuel 9:14 They [Saul and his servant] went up to the city. As they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them, to go up to the high place.

This is not a coincidence because…

1 Samuel 9:15 Now Yahweh had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying,

YHVH will reveal the son of perdition through His prophet(s). The prophets at the end of days, the true prophets (you will need to know who they are), will know! And they will announce it when the son of perdition arrives on the world stage! It will be abundantly clear for those with ears to hear and eyes to see. This is what I meant in my opening paragraph.

1 Samuel 9:16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He will save my people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to me.”

How extraordinary is YHVH to His people even after they reject Him as they did then and as they are doing now! Saul was YHVH’s replacement and He knew what Saul was, yet He will use Saul to save His people from the Philistines. What a wonderful and awesome covenant-keeping God we serve. Even when we are walking contrary to Him, He still keeps His part of the covenant!

1 Samuel 9:17 When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh said to him, “Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! He will have authority over my people.”
1 Samuel 9:18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gateway, and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
1 Samuel 9:19 Samuel answered Saul, and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you are to eat with me today. In the morning I will let you go, and will tell you all that is in your heart.
1 Samuel 9:20 As for your donkeys who were lost three days ago, don’t set your mind on them; for they have been found. For whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you, and for all your father’s house?”

Saul was about to learn what was in his heart which suggests Saul, like most of us who are not aware of everything that is in our heart, neither was he. At this point, he was probably thinking only about his father’s asses but Samuel’s statement quickly changed that. “For whom is all that is desirable in Israel” was a question about what was on every Israelite’s mind, including Saul’s: who would YHVH choose to be King of Israel, and then Samuel answers the question. “Is it not for you and all your father’s house?” It was Saul.

1 Samuel 9:21 Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me like this?”

Saul understood immediately! YHVH was choosing him! But why? He was the least of family and his family was the least in the tribe of Benjamin. Saul counted himself among the least of all Israel. Saul’s reply was one of humility, not feigned humility, but true humility and probably a sense of surreality, also. “This can’t be real”. Men may start well and with good intentions but then come to ruin because of what is within their hearts: lust for power and wealth, usually. That night of vigil, Samuel would speak with Saul about his heart and would advise him about watching over his heart. Samuel was a seer who already knew Saul’s character which Saul could correct if he wanted to.

We have traveled from Samuel as a seer, a visionary, and not just a prophet, to Saul and his servant meeting up with Samuel by divine appointment, to Samuel doing sacrifices, have learned that today’s prophets will recognize and reveal the son of perdition just like Samuel recognized and revealed Saul, and we have now ended with an assessment of Saul’s character, him not really knowing his own heart which will prove to be a problem in his Kingship.

A lot was packed into this teaching. It may be that I have given you much new information to chew on, so I will now end this teaching.