Names And Hearts Change

            Saul repents to Samuel, entreating him, “. . . I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice” (I Sam. 15:24).  At Samuel’s refusal to return with Saul in I Samuel 15:27, 28, to worship he turned, “around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, ‘The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. . .’”  Interestingly, Saul refers to God to Samuel, as your God, rather than my God in two instances (I Samuel 15:21, I Samuel 15:30).  In I Samuel 10:9 the scripture says, “So it was, was he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart . . .”   Ezekiel 11:19 prophetically promises, “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh. . .” (KJV)  God promises to give us a new name in Revelation 2:17, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (KJV).  Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle; the name Paul means, “little”(Lockyer, ATMOTB, Page 269).  How ironic it is that King Saul sought an earthly kingdom and lost everything while egomaniacally trying to please the people; while, Pharisee of the Pharisees, Saul of Tarsus gained the Spiritual Kingdom and lost every worldly thing, while preserving his integrity, and not pandering to the status quo.

Lockyer, Herbert.  All the Men of the Bible.  Grand Rapids:  Zondervan Publishing House, 1958.



Give Us A King!

The prophet Samuel, being of protracted age, appoints his sons, Joel and Abijah as judges over Israel. I Samuel 8:3 explains, “But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice” (NKJV).  How intriguing it is that man’s fleshly motivations have altered negligibly in the ages since.   The elders of Israel came to Samuel at Ramah and requested that he grant them a king as the surrounding nations possessed.  How soon they had forgotten how God had rescued them from the Philistines and the peace that was given to them with the Amorites (I Sam. 7:7-14).  The people vacillate from worshipping the Ashtoreths to worshipping the prospect of a human king, even after being saved by God’s own hand.  Samuel, although displeased, brings the people’s request before the Lord.  The answer he receives from God is most poignant, “. . . Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should reign over them” (I Sam. 8:7).  God then issues a dire admonition regarding their future king.  This “sought after” leader would plunder Israel and furthermore, “. . . you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day” (I Sam. 8:18).  Against this grim prophetic caution the people’s response was, “. . . No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (I Sam. 8:19, 20).  This is proof positive that the people are not able to lead themselves; as if the incident with the golden calf at Mount Sinai was not evidence enough.   In today’s Christian social climate, this mind set could be translated as the desire for a glossy “picture perfect” pastor who brings massive numbers in attendance at a large state-of-the-art church building rather than desiring a deep relationship with God.