TOPIC:
SAUL IS ANOINTED KING BIBLE
TEXT:
1 Samuel 8:1-20; 9:17-27; 10:1-12
MEMORY VERSE:
But the people refused to listen... “No”, they said, “we want a king over us (1 Sam 8:19, NIV).
TARGET:
To help the child know that it is possible for a child of God to ask God for something God does not want him or her to have.
OBJECTIVES:
During and after the lesson, each child will show that he or she understands the lesson by:
Giving instances of how one can ask for something that is not the will of God.
Desiring and asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit as a child and a servant of God.
OUTLINE:
The People Ask for a King - 1Sam 8:1-5
Samuel Warns the People - 1 Sam 8:6-20
God Chooses Saul to be King - 1 Sam 9:1-27
Samuel Anoints Saul as King - 1Sam 10:1-12
INTRODUCTION:
Today, we will hear a story of how the people of Israel asked God for what He did not want them to have. Although God gave them the thing they asked for, God was not happy with their request. Like these people, there are times we also ask for wrong things, things that are not God’s will for us.
LESSON COMMENTARY
1. The People Ask for A King - 1Samuel 8:1-5
The nation of Israel was a small country surrounded by many nations. All these other nations had their own human kings but Israel had not human king like those other nations around them.
God had chosen the nation of Israel to be His own nation. He did not want “Israel to have a human king like other nations.” God wanted the nation of Israel to be called “the nation of God” peculiar, unique or different from all other nations of the world and God himself would be their own King.
The people of Israel did not like to be without a human king. Though God was their King, they could not see God. They wanted to have a human king like other nations; a king they could see, from day to day. In addition they did not like how Samuel’s children, who were helping their father in his work, were doing, (children, we should not neglect our parental training). So they selected all the elders and went to Samuel and asked him to appoint them a human king so they might be like other nations.
2. Samuel Warns the People - 1Sam 8:6-20
When Samuel heard what the elders said, he was not happy himself. However, Samuel prayed to God all night concerning the people’s request. God told Samuel that He was not happy with the demand of the people.
Samuel told the elders of Israel what God had told him. That He was not pleased with what they asked. But the people of Israel were too hard to change. They insisted they wanted a human king. God then told Samuel to do what the people wanted.
3. God Chooses Saul to Be King -1 Sam 9:1-27
God continued to love and care for the people even though they had made a foolish decision. God told Samuel that He, God, will send a young man named Saul to him. And Samuel was to anoint this Saul to be the king of Israel.
It happened that Saul was at that time, looking for his father’s donkeys that had strayed away. When Saul could not find the donkeys he went to see Samuel. It was then that Samuel told Saul that he would become the king of Israel. After the message, there was a feast and Samuel invited Saul to the feast. Saul was given a place of honour and treated like a king, Samuel later told him that God had chosen him to be the king of Israel. Saul was surprised. He didn’t expect he would be king.
4. Samuel Anoints Saul as King - 1 Sam 10:1-12
As Samuel and Saul were walking along the way, Samuel took the vessel containing the holy anointing oil and poured it on the head of Saul. Samuel kissed him saying, “the Lord anoints you as the ruler of His people Israel. To convince Saul that God had really chosen him, God, through Samuel, gave Saul three miracles. One of the miracles was that the Holy Spirit would come upon him along the way and his attitudes would be changed and he will be given the ability to think wisely. And it happened just like that. As Saul was going, he met a group of prophets and suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon him and he started to speak like a prophet of God. The people were surprised and wondered when Saul became a prophet. That was how Saul was chosen by God and anointed by Samuel as king of Israel.
APPLICATION:
One man strongly desired for something. Realising that it was only God who could give it to him, he began to tell God about it in prayer, He prayed and prayed but the answer did not come. He prayed for one year, two years, and still nothing happened. After ten years, he was praying one day when God showed him a matchet. And a voice told him that if God gave him what he was asking for, he would use it as a matchet to “cut off his own neck.” It meant that what the man was asking for would destroy him That was how the man knew that he was asking outside God’s will for himself.
This teaches us that God’s children should always ask or pray according to God’s will. The people of Israel failed to ask according to God’s will.
QUESTIONS:
Who did God want to be the king of Israel?
(A) God himself
(B) Pharaoh
(C) Elijah
(D) MosesWhat was the name of the king God later gave to the Israelites, following their demand?
(A) Isaac
(B) Jacob
(C) Esau
(D) SaulWhat happened to Saul when God anointed him king of Israel that made him to prophesy?
(A) Saul went to school to learn prophecy
(B) Saul’s father taught him how to prophesy
(C) God filled Saul with the Holy Spirit
(D) Samuel taught Saul how to prophesy.What two lessons can we learn from today’s lesson?
(A) We should not seek to pray for God’s will in everything
(B) We should seek to pray for God’s will in everything
(C) the Holy Spirit is no longer relevant in our lives today
(D) We should ask God to give us His Holy Spirit as He gave to Saul.
DAILY BIBLE DOSE:
Mon: Let God Be Your God - Ex 20:1-5
Tue: Beware of Unholy Desire - 1 Sam 8:1-7
Wed: Dangers of Unholy Request - 1 Sam 8:9-18
Thu: Rejoice in Your King - Ps 97:1-12
Fri: Requesting outside God’s Will - Ps 106:13-15
Sat: Requesting in God's Will - Rom. 8:26-27
An exclusive publication of the General Council of Assemblies of God Nigeria.
