By Andrew Williams
Series: The Year of the Prophet- Month 3: The School of the Wilderness (Preparation)
Week 11: The Cave of Adullam (Processing Rejection)
Anchor Scripture: “And he said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.'” — 1 Samuel 24:6 (NKJV)
The Teaching
In the School of the Wilderness, one of the most agonizing exams is The Saul Test. A “Saul” is a leader who was once anointed by God but has become insecure, religious, or even antagonistic toward the “new thing” God is doing. If you are called to the prophetic office, God will almost certainly place you under a “Saul” for a season.
Because of your prophetic sight (Day 3), you will see the flaws in this leader before anyone else does. You will sense when the “spirit of the Lord has departed” from their ministry. You will perceive their insecurity, their manipulation, and their “Saul-like” tendency to throw spears at the very people who are trying to help them. The test is not whether you can see the problem; the test is what you do with that information.
David had Saul “delivered into his hand” in the darkness of a cave. His men urged him to kill Saul and take the throne he was already anointed for. But David understood a prophetic secret: You cannot be a king until you have learned to serve a Saul. David refused to “touch the Lord’s anointed.” He knew that if he used his own hand to remove a leader God had placed there, he would be building his own future kingdom on the foundation of rebellion. The Saul Test is a test of your honor versus your giftedness.
Prophetic Insight
The “Saul” in your life is not your enemy; they are your “tutor” in the spirit. They are being used by God to scrape the “usurping spirit” out of your soul. If you use your prophetic gift to gossip about a leader’s flaws, to undermine their authority, or to “help God” remove them, you have failed the test. A true prophet protects the office of the leader even when they cannot respect the actions of the man. You must learn to wait for God to do the removing. If God put them there, God is responsible for taking them down. Your job is to stay in the cave of Adullam and keep your heart clean. Honor is the only thing that qualifies you for the next level of authority.
The Activation
Think of a leader (past or present) who has “thrown a spear” at you or who you know is out of alignment with God. Today, make a “Covenant of Silence.” Refuse to speak a single negative word about them to anyone. Instead, pray for them. Ask the Lord: “Help me to honor the anointing that was once there. Give me the grace to wait on Your timing for justice.”
Daily Prayer: Lord God, I thank You for the ‘Sauls’ in my life. I thank You for the pressure they have placed on my character. Forgive me for any time I have stretched out my hand in rebellion or gossip against those You have anointed. I choose the path of David today. I choose to honor the office and wait for Your Hand to move. Keep my heart pure in the cave. Amen.
