Calling Saul of of 3,072 Years Ago !

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                    

And Saul sent a message to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baRvVPg6G1Y 

King Saul was born in about 1050 BCE since we know that King David, his successor, ruled from 1010 to 970 BCE.  So we can say that Saul was a man of 4,200 generations ago being that each year is made up of 4 generations of 25 years each.  That's going back a lot of generations, and we know how different our children's music is from our generation.  We've gone from "In the Mood" to Hip-hop.  How different can you get?  I grew up with the Big Band era of World War II.  I can't even call music of today as music. We are one generation different, well, maybe two. 

David was called in to sooth King Saul's mind.  He played the lyre (small harp) and sang songs to Saul.  Music played its part then, as well. It's thought be some doctors today that Saul was suffering from depression caused by all the stress he was under.    Saul's battle against the Ammonites, as well as his last battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, was fraught with difficulty. It is postulated that Saul experienced epileptic-like fits and assumedly suffered from some kind of 'depression' as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder .

Back in the 11th century BCE, Saul became the 1st king of the Israelites who had been governed by judges from each of the 12 tribes, elders who were the natural leaders of each tribe.  The population saw that other people were being ruled by one King, and they clamored for the same, because at that time they were being threatened militarily from the Philistines and the Ammonites.  So the prophet Samuel, also another judge and in his old age,  was asked to select a king for them.  He chose Saul, and the members of his tribe were all for him as well.    He must have thought up that phrase, Better Call Saul.

Samuel came from a levitical family, meaning from the tribe of Levites that produced Moses and his brother Aaron, people who Moses chose as the Cohens or leaders of the religion.  He lived on Mt. Ephraim and at Ramah in the land of Zuph.  His mother caused him to be taken in and taught by the Nazirite group.  He became a prophet as he foretold the destruction of the House of Eli.  After the death of Eli and his sons and the  defeat of the Israelites by the Philistines at the battle of Aphek, Samuel tried to restore the traditional religious worship. 

 He lived in Ramah and judged the Israelites in the sacred towns of Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, preparing the way for national unity.  On his own,, groups of prophets were formed to guide the people.  In his old age, when external pressure grew, he acceded to the demand for a king and picked Saul.  He went to Bethlehem where he anointed David as Saul's successor.  

For roughly two centuries, Israel had existed as a loose confederation of tribes, dependent for their unity upon bonds of religious faith and covenant that were renewed periodically in cultic ceremonies at the central shrine at Shiloh. By Saul’s day, however, the tribal rallies were no match for the superior iron weapons and chariots of the Philistines, who were pressing ever deeper into the central highlands.

Saul was the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin.  He was a well-to do member of the tribe.  The tribe occupied territory between Ephraim and Judah, which included Jerusalem.  On one occasion,, it was almost exterminated in a war with the other tribes as told in Judges 19-21.  The territory was a bone of contention between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah after the division of the kingdom after Solomon died, and eventually, was partitioned between the two.  Most of Benjamin's population was swallowed up with Judah after 721 BCE when the Assyrians attacked the northern 10 tribes.  

Kish was a Benjamite of the family of the Matrites (1 Samuel 9:1; 14:51;  1 Samuel 10:21), and there is some question over whether he was the brother or son of Ner (1 Chronicles 8:33 and 9:39; 1 Samuel 14:51). The question may be resolved by reading both Ner and Kish as sons of Abiel.  The Matri (plural: Matrites, Hebrew: מַּטְרִי) were one of several ancient Israelite clans from the Tribe of Benjamin. They were the clan of the family ...

Saul's first move was to at once organized a trained army and attacked their enemy, winning battles.  They had a great victory at Michmash stopped the Philistine danger, and punitive expeditions were undertaken against the Moabites, Ammonites, and Arameans.  According to the Tanakh, (Hebrew Bible), the Battle of Michmash (alternate spelling, Michmas) was fought between Israelites under Jonathan, son of King Saul and a force of Philistines at Michmash, a town east of Bethel and south of Migron in about 1025 BCE.  

When the Philistines launched a united attack,, Saul was only able to fight defensively and fell with his 3 sons including Jonathan in the battle on Mt. Gilboa.  A surviving son, Ishbosheth, was temporarily acknowledged as his successor over part of the country.  Saul's death led to the temporary domination of the Philistines, but the groundwork he laid for national unity eventually proved effective in establishing a strong and independent Israelite monarchy.  

Besides warring, Saul worked on their Israelite religion that Moses had handed down to them and worked on purifying it, such as getting rid of witchcraft.  He did run into disagreements with Prophet Samuel, though, who ended up selecting David to take over the kingship. 

 Now, Moses  was born in 1391 BCE and Saul was born in about 1050 BCE, which was 341 years before, or 1,364 generations before by our enumerating standards of today.  Judaism was new, and I can see how they would have disagreements back then, in the period of the formation of Judaism.

Kish the Benjaminite was not only the father of Saul, first king of the first Israelite Commonwealth.  He was also a herder who cared about his animals.  Kish sent Saul to find them and, on the way, Saul, a head taller than anyone, attracted the attention of a group of young maidens.  He was a handsome young man and the young ladies kept him talking for a while. All he wanted to achieve was the return home of his father’s donkeys, and while in the area, he wished to meet Samuel the Prophet (pictured).  Although Samuel told him that Kish’s animals had been found, Samuel had other ideas for Kish’s son and crowned him King of Israel.

In those days, it was very important to know who your father was, as it was part of your name; Saul ben Kish (Saul, son of Kish).  Last names hadn't been invented yet.  This way, if Saul was used as a name by many others, they could tell which family this one was from, and that was important, too.  So when writing history, the son of was most always mentioned, especially with common names. 

Jonathan was the oldest son of King Saul.  He was very brave fighting against the Philistines in their wars and this made him  very popular with his own people.  They even saved him from death after he had unwittingly  incurred the death penalty (I Sam.13-14). 

Jonathan's devoted friendship with David, whom he defended against his father's anger, became well known.  When he died in battle with his father, Saul, David was so upset that he wrote his famous lament (II Sam.1:17-27.) 

 Oh precious One of Israel--upon your heights lie the slain! How have the mighty fallen!.....Saul and Jonathan,, beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death not parted.  They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.  Oh daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who would clothe you in scarlet with finery, who would place golden jewelry upon your clothing, how have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle--Jonathan, slain upon your heights?  I am distressed over you, my brother Jonathan, you were so pleasant to me!  Your love was more wondrous to me than the love of women!  How have the mighty fallen and the weapons of war gone to waste?  

So sad that their descendants are still crying out this lament today, I'm sure.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saul-king-of-Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrites_(family)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652967/

http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222012000100009#:~:text=Saul's%20battle%20against%20the%20Ammonites,%2Dtraumatic%20stress%20disorder%20(cf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baRvVPg6G1Y  Lyre music being played.