I Samuel 9
Notes by Ivan Ho 10 May 2016
I Samuel 9:15-17
Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying, “Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.” So when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him, “There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people.”
Have you ever been in a situation when God revealed to you things about someone even before you met that person? Have you walked into a place and met someone for the first time and the Holy Spirit impressed upon your heart: “That’s the one!” ?
This was what happened to Samuel before Saul, whom he had never met before, came to him. But the day before God had already shown Samuel through His Spirit that he was about to meet the man whom God had chosen to be the commander of Israel. The Lord had given Samuel certain ideas about the new leader of Israel, that he was from the land of Benjamin and so on, but it was not until Samuel saw Saul for the first time that the Lord told him: “That‘s the one!”. Similar way of guidance from the Lord also took place when Samuel was to later on anoint young David to replace Saul as the king of Israel!
I wonder how many people can operate these days in such a powerful manner when the Lord reveals things to us concerning the destiny of nations? You might say: “That was Samuel, he was chosen to be the prophet over Israel!” That is true, not everyone will be the ones whom God sovereignly chooses to reveal things concerning the destiny of nations the way he revealed to people like prophet Samuel. But rest assured, God can and will reveal things to you and I, especially God‘s people, on matters pertaining to the kingdom of God, showing us things about situations and individuals, even those whom we have never met before, in relation to the destiny of God, not only for individuals but also concerning cities and nations!
You‘d better believe it, that we can operate in that level ie receive words of knowledge and words of wisdom because the Holy Spirit dwells in us who believe! It does not come to you and I because we are specially anointed or anything, but it happens simply due to our personal relationship with God.
Having said that, one needs to be careful, especially when someone, including people within the church, comes up to you and says: “I have a word from the Lord for you…” because familiar spirits can operate through these people as well. Familiar spirits can find out about your present and your past and they use that as a standpoint to try to tell you things about your future which they know nothing about! Familiar spirits can use knowledge about your present and your past and entice you into believing in things they predict about your future. They may even know your name and your address but so what? Any idiot can find out about these things so let‘s not be fooled! Too many people have been led astray away from their God given plan and destiny because of demonic deceptions, even within the church.
However, Samuel did not operate in deceptive ways, and through his relationship with the Lord, God showed him things concerning the destiny of the nation of Israel!
When God speaks to you about important decisions in your life, it‘s no longer just about you, but it is much bigger than you and I, for God has cities and nations in mind, and He reveals things to us concerning His kingdom! Take marriage for example, when God speaks to us prophetically about our marriage, it is not just so we can have a companion with whom we would start a family like everyone else but more so, He speaks to us matters concerning His kingdom purpose by revealing Christ to us! When the Lord spoke to Joseph about his marriage to Mary in a dream, God was not so much concerned about him having a nice marriage, but more importantly, Joseph was destined, together with Mary, to bring up our Lord Jesus who would become the Saviour of the world!