Today we begin 1 Samuel Chapter 9.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click HERE.
For the King James Version, click HERE.
Boy, the Lord is not one to waste time.
Right off the bat we’re introduced to the family from which Israel’s first king would hail.
We’re told he would be the son of Kish (who was the son Avi’el) who hailed from the tribe of Benjamin.
Then the genealogy continues on until we’re introduced to Saul.
Now Kish is described as “a mighty man of power”.
There are two key Hebrew words in that phrase.
The first one is GIBBOR or גִּבּוֹר which means possessing great physical strength.
The second word is CHAYIL or חַיִל which carries the sense of possessing material wealth and political power.
Incidentally, CHAYIL is also the same word that’s translated as “virtuous” in Proverbs Chapter 31.
The point being communicated is that Kish’s family were tribal aristocrats.
They were one of the ruling clans in the territory of Benjamin.
Now I’ve already told what SHA’UL means.
Ya remember?
It means “the requested one”.
The Hebrew verb for “to request” is SHA’AL or שָׁאַל.
In the last chapter, God made a divine and prophetic play on words in response to the people’s “request” for a king.
You can read that article by clicking HERE.
Onwards.
So Sha’ul was described as a man of great charisma.
He was young, good-looking and we’re told he was taller “than all the people”.
By the way, the word for people here is AMMIM or עַמִּים.
This is a specific term used only to refer to God’s Chosen People.
So we’re not being told Saul was the tallest dude on the planet, only in Israel.
Scholars estimate he was either 40 or a bit younger at this time.
Now notice how God gave Israel the exact type of person worldly mankind prefers when left to their own sinful desires and tendencies?
I think the takeaway here is pretty obvious.
Saul was everything the world lauds.
He was tall, handsome, strong and came from a rich and politically powerful family.
Isn’t it interesting how those characteristics are pretty much the exact opposite of the Messiah upon his first visitation.
The Messiah was born in a manger, possessed a servant’s heart and hailed from a humble carpenter’s family.
I also find it interesting the main reason Yeshua was rejected as Messiah is because he didn’t possess the worldly qualities fleshly mankind admires and worships.
In other words, Yeshua didn’t first come as a strong and conquering warrior…
But he will homies!
Oh man will he ever.
And when he does, some serious cow dung is gonna hit the proverbial spinning fan!
Anyways, the point is God knew the people would take one look at Saul and happily accept him as their king.
And boy oh boy were they in for a rude awakening…
Of gargantuan proportions.
We’ll continue on with this fascinating tale the next time we meet.
SHAVUA TOV!
(Have a great week!)
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Come to me,
all you who are
weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you
and learn from me,
for I am gentle
and humble in heart,
and you will find
rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.”
-Matthew 11:28
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