After these events, every church leader chosen from among people in the Christian church has the inclination to go to Saul, shake his hand, and say: okay, so this has happened, what now?
It has become clear to you, as it has to each one of us, that we are not the Christ. We cannot represent God’s nation to God, we cannot withstand the storm of God’s judgment, because at the first gust of wind we are swept away. But Saul, my brother, do not let that discourage you. Being subject to Christ means there is a lot for you to do. We may point to him. You point forward, we point backward, but both of us, together, point to him, who is stronger than us. He entered the midfield between God and the people and the satanic violence broke out against him, but he has perfectly withstood all temptations.
Saul, my brother, you are not the Christ, but therefore you can, just as the other Saul, become a Paul, can’t you? A servant of Christ! That was a distinct possibility even after this fall.
How big does Christ become against the background of this chapter! He who was tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he was without sin (Hebrews 4:15)! He, our King who truly entered the breach and remained standing against the devilish violence. Do we really understand what kind of king we have, in whose shadow we shall live among the nations
(Lamentations 4:20)?
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.