1 Sam 10:2 “When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’
In the scripture above, Rachel means ewe, or a female sheep, and in the Hebrew culture a female represents something spiritually immature. Sheep symbolize the flock, or those in the church, so Rachel’s tomb represents a place where the dead church is buried. Benjamin means Son of the South, or the side of blessings (the blessings in Deuteronomy were pronounced from the hill on the south side). The word ‘territory’ can mean a border, and Zelzah can mean a dark glow, or shadow.
The first place Samuel focuses Saul on is a tomb, and both the timing and the place are very specific. The two men Saul will meet are by the tomb, which represents death and is in the place of the dark glow, on the boundary of blessings (Benjamin). This verse places Saul’s first prophetic meeting, after being anointed as prince over God’s children, between darkness and light, death and blessings.
Matt 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
From scriptures such as this one in Matthew above, we know darkness can have a source of light, but it is a counterfeit light, it is a dark glow.
This is a rather ominous place for Saul to meet these two men, by a tomb in the territory of the dark glow, on the border of blessings. Saul is to meet two men where the spiritually immature sheep (among God’s people) are buried. The two men represent the prophets and apostles, and they are meeting him where the dead church is buried.
Deut 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live”
In the next verse, Saul is being urged to move on from there. He is not to stay in the place of the dead church, but to move on to a place of blessings.
1 Sam 10:3 “Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.”
The word “farther” sounds like a repeat of “you shall go on from there,” but there is a subtle difference. In Hebrew, the word was not ‘farther’ but ‘forward,’ and means going beyond, to remove, being far removed, or far away. The literal translation is, “and you shall go on from there, and forward, and come to the oak tree…”
We saw in 1 Sam 10:2 that the prophets would meet Saul by the tomb of the dead church in the territory of the dark glow, or a spiritually dark place, on the border of blessings. Then here in verse three, Saul is being told he is not to stay in that dark place of death, he is to go forward, to be far removed from the place of the dead church.
This is also a warning to all of us, that we are not to remain in the dark place of the dead church system, but to be far removed from it. We are to continue growing, far away from the place of spiritual death.
The oak tree, and trees in general, represent righteousness. An oak is considered a particularly strong tree, characterizing a strong or mighty person of righteousness.
Ps 1:2-3 “but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water…”
Isa 61:3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
This is specifically the oak of Tabor, and Tabor means “broken region or broken pieces,” also “purifying, or clarifying”. Bethel means house of God. In 1 Samuel above there are three men going up to God at the house of God, meaning they are going up to a high place spiritually. Since this is a positive thing, we can take the positive meaning of Tabor, which is purifying or clarifying. The oak tree represents righteousness, so Saul is coming to a place of purifying, near righteousness (God will make him righteous), to meet three godly men who themselves are going even higher.
“… come to the oak of Tabor…” The words ‘come to’ can be translated as ‘attain to,’ coming to a beautiful place, or coming to where one belongs, which gives a deeper meaning to this verse. Saul is being told to be far removed from the place of spiritual death, and to come to the place of being a strong, righteous oak tree, so that God may be glorified (See Isa 61:3 above). This is what we are all to attain to.
There is more here. Goats are for meat, equating to the mysteries of the word, and bread is the word of God. Wine is a symbol of transformation, because turning grapes into wine is a process of transformation. Wine is also a symbol of the marriage covenant, and the mysteries of God’s word, which have the power to transform us. It is also a symbol of Christ’s shed blood on the cross (wine is the “blood of the grape”).
The three men were going up to the house of God, they left Saul with 2 loaves, but they took the meat, the wine, and the third loaf of bread with them. Two loaves of bread were for the two thousand years of the church age, and the third loaf was held for the third day, or Kingdom age. What these three men took with them is what is being released now, in this third day, and that is the meat of the word and the power of the blood, along with the third loaf of bread.
Dan 2:28-29 “but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be.”
As was previously mentioned, the mysteries, represented by the three goats, or meat, are being withheld from Saul, who is a picture of the religious system for the church age (which we will see with more clarity later in 1 Samuel).
1 Cor 3:1-2 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. KJV
Another thing to note about 1 Samuel 10:3 is how the word ‘three’ is used three times. When something is used two or three times it means it is established. Three also stands for new life, and certainly, Saul was about to start a new phase of his life. Also, the number three points towards the third day, and this verse clearly points us to things that will happen on the third day, such as the release of the meat, or mysteries, and a deeper understanding of the power of the blood of Christ, therefore the power we have through Him.
Notice how the wine (or the blood of Christ) was withheld from the church age.
Heb 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
There are many mysteries encoded in the Bible about how evil will pervade the church for the first two thousand years after Christ, which is also known as the church age. The blood of Jesus is precious, and not to be trampled on by evil or ignorant people. Therefore, God withheld it, and is only releasing the full power of it now, in this third day.