Study Desk

and they started saying, "No other God is like the Lord ! Who can go near him and still live? We'll have to send the chest away from here. But where can we send it?"

"Don't stop praying!" they told Samuel. "Ask the Lord our God to rescue us."

"Wait!" the servant answered. "There's a man of God who lives in a town near here. He's amazing! Everything he says comes true. Let's talk to him. Maybe he can tell us where to look."

"Great!" Saul replied. "Let's go to the man who can see visions!" He said this because in those days God would answer questions by giving visions to prophets. Saul and his servant went to the town where the prophet lived.

and had almost reached the edge of town when Samuel stopped and said, "Have your servant go on. Stay here with me for a few minutes, and I'll tell you what God has told me." After the servant had gone,

Go on from there until you reach the big oak tree at Tabor, where you'll meet three men on their way to worship God at Bethel. One of them will be leading three young goats, another will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and the last one will be carrying a clay jar of wine.

After these things happen, do whatever you think is right! God will help you.

As Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God made Saul feel like a different person. That same day, everything happened just as Samuel had said.

When Saul arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. The Spirit of God suddenly took control of him, and right there in the middle of the group he began prophesying.

When everyone had arrived, Samuel said: The Lord God of Israel told me to remind you that he had rescued you from the Egyptians and from the other nations that abused you.

God has rescued you from your troubles and hard times. But you have rejected your God and have asked for a king. Now each tribe and clan must come near the place of worship so the Lord can choose a king.

God had encouraged some young men to become followers of Saul, and when he returned to his hometown of Gibeah, they went with him.

Then the Spirit of God suddenly took control of Saul and made him furious.

Then you saw that King Nahash of Ammon was going to attack you. And even though the Lord your God is your king, you told me, "This time it's different. We want a king to rule us!"

They told Samuel, "Please, pray to the Lord your God for us! We don't want to die. We have sinned many times in the past, and we were very wrong to ask for a king."

"That was stupid!" Samuel said. "You didn't obey the Lord your God. If you had obeyed him, someone from your family would always have been king of Israel.

The whole Philistine army panicked—those in camp, those on guard duty, those in the fields, and those on raiding patrols. All of them were afraid and confused. Then God sent an earthquake, and the ground began to tremble.

At that time, Ahijah was serving as priest for the army of Israel, and Saul told him, "Come over here! Let's ask God what we should do."

Saul said, "Let's attack the Philistines again while it's still dark. We can fight them all night. Let's kill them and take everything they own!" The people answered, "We will do whatever you want." "Wait!" Ahijah the priest said. "Let's ask God what we should do."

Saul asked God, "Should I attack the Philistines? Will you help us win?" This time God did not answer.