1 Samuel 10:20

SAUL WAS CHOSEN BY THE CASTING OF LOTS

"Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of the Matrites was taken by lot; finally he brought the family of the Matrites near man by man, and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him he could not be found. So they inquired again of the Lord, "Did the man come hither"? and the Lord said, "Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage." Then they ran and fetched him from there; and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. And Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people." And all the people shouted. "Long live the king"!"

There is proof in this narrative of the prior anointing of Saul, otherwise there could have been no motivation whatever for Saul's hiding himself in the baggage.

That the Lord indeed was responsible for such an action as casting lots is affirmed in the Bible:

The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord

- Proverbs 16:33.

(Note what is said in 1 Samuel 10:22.)

"He has hidden himself among the baggage" (1 Samuel 10:22). An unbelieving comment on this is that of G. B. Caird, "There is no reason why Saul should have hidden himself among the baggage."[16] This is exactly the kind of blindness that results from the false theory of "two different sources." The true explanation of this was given by Keil, "Samuel had already informed Saul that he would be taken by lot."[17] The prior anointing of Saul had made his choice by lot a foregone certainty. How did Samuel know? He was inspired of God! Of course, this is incomprehensible to unbelievers.

"They inquired again of the Lord" (1 Samuel 10:22). "The word here translated `inquired' is a technical term for lot casting by means of the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:20; Numbers 27:21; 1 Samuel 22:10; 1 Samuel 28:6; and 1 Samuel 30:8)."[18]

The word "again" as used in 1 Samuel 10:22 implies that the casting, of lots on this occasion was, "A religious ceremony implying the use of the Urim and Thummim,"[19] implying also the ministration of the High Priest. This means that Samuel did not personally supervise the casting of lots. The suggestion that any kind of fraud entered into this is untenable.