King Saul

In short

The first (human) king of Israel. Ever. He was handsome and tall (1Sa 9:2) and from a wealthy family (v. 1), so therefore he was a great leader, right?

Why he is important

He is 74% of the book of 1 Samuel (23 of 31 chapters). It is a messy 74%.

Stories about Saul

• Chosen by the LORD (1Sa 9:15-17)
• A prophet (1Sa 10:10-13) for like a day
• Victorious in battle – that one time (1Sa 11:1-11)
• His son Jonathan was a successful military leader (1Sa 13:3, 14:1-23)
• Vowed to kill Jonathan (1Sa 14:44)
• Disobedient to Samuel (1Sa 13: 11)
• Disobedient to God and rejected as king (15:23)
• Had a servant named David (1Sa 16:21); yep, the David that would be the next king (16:13)
• Jealous of David’s success (1Sa 18:7-9)
• Tried to kill David over (1Sa 18:11) and over (19:10) and over (23:15), etc.
• Has an enemy to kill 85 priests of the LORD (1Sa 22:18)
• Visits a medium (1Sa 28:7)
• Dies in suicide (1Sa 31:4)
• Reigned 40 years (Acts 13:21)

Theology and doctrine

Jacob prophesied hundreds of years before Saul and David that “The scepter shall not depart from Judah” (Genesis 49:10).

Every king from David onward was from the tribe of Judah, even on to Jesus Christ (Mt 1:1-16).

But… Saul was not. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. I don’t see this as a problem, though. The way I read the prophecy, it’s, “once someone from Judah becomes king, that family line will remain in power until the messiah.”