"Can Anyone Become A Prophet?"

Scripture Passage

1 Samuel 9:1-12:25

Scripture Focus

“How did the son of Kish become a prophet?” (1 Samuel 10:11 NLT)

Observation

Today’s reading feels like harvest time—where all sorts of fruit is ripe for the pickin’! Consider these random thoughts…

What must it have felt like for Saul when Samuel announced, “You and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes!” (9:20)? Wow! It’s no wonder that, when it was time for the “reveal,” Saul was found “hiding among the baggage” (10:22). You’d be hiding, too. Of course—metaphorically speaking—isn’t that where we spend much of our time—“hiding among the baggage” instead of engaging the task to which we’ve been called?

How about what transpires following Saul’s public acclamation as king? “…a group of men whose hearts God had touched went with him” (10:26). What a blessing to Saul those men must have been! How much lighter the leadership load when others share the challenges with united hearts!

How about the fact that, when the Spirit of God comes upon Saul, he becomes “very angry” (11:6)? We don’t like our leaders angry, but here, at least, anger was a valid response that resulted from the moving of the Spirit of God!

All that’s secondary to what I really am enjoying today—the response of some of the people to the Saul’s prophetic outbursts. 1 Samuel 10:11-12 says…

When those who knew Saul heard about it, they exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet? How did the son of Kish become a prophet?”

And one of those standing there said, “Can anyone become a prophet, no matter who his father is?” So that is the origin of the saying “Is even Saul a prophet?” (1 Samuel 10:11-12 NLT)

I love it—“Can anyone become a prophet?” Obviously, this was intended as an insult…a dig…a shot—sort of like Nathanael’s response to Philip regarding Jesus and His hometown:

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46 NIV)

The thing I love is how God’s choice of Saul as one through whom the Spirit of God can move (or even of Nazareth as the hometown of the Messiah-King) speaks to His incredible grace. What we often see as impossible—because of status, background, the lack of natural giftings, a broken personal history or current struggles—God sees as absolutely possible…because of who He is!

God’s call may leave you (or others who know you) staggering in disbelief. But about unbelievable things, Jesus said…

"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26 NIV)