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1 Samuel 10 — The first king of Israel was found hiding behind the baggage
8 min read
fresh.bible editorialwent looking for lost donkeys. He ended up standing in front of an old named , oil dripping down his face, being told he was the first king had ever had. That's the kind of day this was.
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What happens next is almost too human to believe. God confirms everything with three specific signs that all come true — and when the big public reveal finally arrives, the newly king is nowhere to be found. He's hiding. Behind the luggage. There's something deeply relatable about that.
The scene picks up right where the last chapter left off. had already told privately that God had chosen him. Now he made it official — taking a flask of oil, pouring it over Saul's head, and kissing him as a sign of honor. Then Samuel told him exactly what was about to happen:
"The Lord has Anointed you to be ruler over his people Israel. You will reign over them and deliver them from their surrounding enemies.
And here's how you'll know this is real: when you leave me today, you'll meet two men near Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin, at Zelzah. They'll tell you, 'The donkeys you were looking for have been found. Your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys — now he's worried about you, saying, "What am I going to do about my son?"'
After that, keep going until you reach the oak of Tabor. Three men heading up to God at Bethel will meet you there — one carrying three young goats, one carrying three loaves of bread, and one carrying a skin of wine. They'll greet you and give you two of the loaves. Take them.
Then you'll come to Gibeah-elohim, where the Philistines have a garrison. As you enter the city, you'll run into a group of Prophets coming down from the high place with harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, prophesying as they go. The Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them — and you will be turned into a different man.
When all these signs come true, do whatever your hand finds to do, because God is with you. Then go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come to you there to offer Burnt Offerings and Peace Offerings. Wait seven days until I arrive and show you what to do."
Think about how specific this is. Samuel didn't give some vague, "You'll feel a stirring in your spirit." He gave three concrete, verifiable predictions — encounters with exact numbers of people carrying exact items in exact locations. God wasn't just calling Saul. He was removing every possible excuse for doubt. "You'll know this is real because X, Y, and Z will happen in that order, today."
And the last sign was the big one. Not just a coincidental meeting, but a supernatural transformation. "You will be turned into a different man." God wasn't just giving Saul a title. He was giving him a new heart.
Here's what happened: all of it.
As soon as turned to leave , God gave him a different heart. And every single sign came true that day — exactly as predicted. When he arrived at , a group of met him, and the rushed upon him. He started prophesying right there alongside them.
And the people who knew him? They were stunned. The neighbors, the locals, the people who'd watched him grow up — they looked at each other and said:
"What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul really among the Prophets?"
One man from the area responded:
"And who is their father?"
That question became a — "Is Saul also among the Prophets?" — a saying people repeated for generations.
After the prophesying ended, Saul made his way to the .
This is what genuine transformation looks like. The people who knew Saul best couldn't the person they'd always known with the person standing in front of them. That's not a makeover. That's not "he read a leadership book." That's the kind of change that only happens when God does something from the inside out. The same guy who went looking for donkeys was now prophesying. And everyone noticed.
This is a fascinating detail. got home, and his uncle asked a simple question:
"Where did you go?"
Saul answered:
"To look for the donkeys. When we couldn't find them, we went to Samuel."
His uncle pressed further:
"Tell me — what did Samuel say to you?"
And Saul told him:
"He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found."
That's it. That's all he said. About the — about being as ruler over all of — Saul didn't say a word.
Why? We're not told explicitly, but sit with that for a second. He'd just been privately anointed as the first king of — oil still fresh on his head — and he didn't breathe a word of it to his own family. Maybe he was still processing. Maybe he was terrified. Maybe he was waiting for the right moment. But there's something telling about a man who just received the biggest calling of his life — and his first instinct was to keep it quiet. Remember this. It's going to matter.
Now the scene shifted to the public stage. called all of together at . And before he revealed who the king was, he had something to say — and it wasn't a celebration speech. Samuel stood before the entire nation and spoke on behalf of God:
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from every kingdom that was oppressing you.'
But today you have rejected your God — the one who saves you from every disaster and distress — and you've said to him, 'No, give us a king instead.'
So now — present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans."
This is heavy. God wasn't pretending this was fine. He wasn't sugarcoating their request. Through Samuel, he named exactly what had happened: they had a God who personally rescued them from every crisis, and they looked at him and said, "We'd rather have a human leader." He still gave them what they asked for — but he made sure they understood the weight of what they were choosing. doesn't mean God ignores the cost. Sometimes an incredibly loving thing is to be honest about what you're walking away from, even as he walks with you into what's next.
Then came the selection. brought the tribes forward, and the lot narrowed it down — from all of to the tribe of , then to the clan of the Matrites, then to one specific family. And the lot fell on , son of .
But when they went to get him — he wasn't there.
They looked everywhere. The man God had just publicly selected as king had vanished. So they asked the Lord directly:
"Is there someone still to come?"
And God answered:
"He has hidden himself among the baggage."
They ran and pulled him out. And when he stood up among the crowd, he was head and shoulders taller than everyone around him. Samuel said to the whole assembly:
"Do you see the one the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people."
And the crowd erupted:
"Long live the king!"
Let that scene sink in. The man God chose to be the first king of — the tallest person in the room, the one the had already transformed — was hiding behind the luggage. Not standing tall. Not stepping forward. Hiding. There's a kind of in that. And there's a kind of fear in that too. Sometimes the people God calls to the biggest assignments are the ones who feel least ready for them. That's not always a bad sign. The real danger isn't the leader who's nervous — it's the one who thinks they were born for this.
laid out the rights and responsibilities of the kingship, wrote everything down in a book and placed it before the Lord. Then he sent everyone home.
went home to . And with him went a group of men whose hearts God had touched — loyal soldiers, drawn to him not by politics but by something deeper.
But not everyone was on board:
"How can this man save us?"
Some people despised him. They refused to bring him a gift — which in that culture was a deliberate public insult. And Saul? He held his .
That last detail is easy to miss. The new king, publicly disrespected on day one, chose not to retaliate. He didn't defend himself. He didn't make an example of anyone. He just let it go. Early Saul had a quiet strength that later Saul would lose entirely. The man who could absorb an insult would eventually become a man who threw spears at the people closest to him. But right here, in this moment? He looked like exactly the kind of leader needed. The tragedy is knowing what comes next.