Samuel took a flask of oil and anointed Saul’s head -- a sign of kingship. He told Saul that the donkeys he'd been searching for had been found, so there was no need to continue the hunt.

Instead, Samuel sent Saul to Bethel, the hill of God. It was a holy place, and the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Bethel represented a knowledge of celestial things. (See Arcana Coelestia 1453[2].)

Samuel told Saul that he would meet a group of prophets at Bethel. When Saul arrived there, he met them, and he immediately felt the Spirit of the Lord and prophesied with them. When Saul returned home, the people who knew him realized that something about him had changed. Had he become a prophet?

Then Samuel called the people together at Mizpah again as he had when they first asked for a king. He reminded them about how they had rejected the Lord. Then he began a selection process, drawing lots to determine who would be their first king. The tribe of Benjamin was chosen, then the family of Matri, and ultimately Saul. However, Saul was reluctant, and was hiding. They searched for him, found him, and brought him before the people. The people saw his outstanding appearance and height, and accepted him as someone suitable. Samuel explained how the kingdom would work, and also wrote it in a book. Then he sent the people to their own homes.

Right away, there were hints of future trouble. Some people, referred to as children of Belial, doubted that Saul was the man to lead them, and they did not bring him gifts.

The children of Belial symbolize false ideas that are derived from evil, hellish loves. They are associated with the worship of other gods.

In the Word, gifts symbolize an introduction, to “initiate goodwill and favour.” These people did not trust Saul, and didn’t try to create a good relationship with him. (See Arcana Coelestia 4262[2-3].)

It was important that the kings of Israel were anointed with oil. It was a mark of the representative role that they were to take. As mentioned in the previous chapter, they could not represent the Lord in the loving way that priests could. Instead, they could represent His truth. They could be examples of what it means to live by and enforce the law and to provide order.

The oil that Samuel used to anoint Saul also has a symbolic meaning. It represents the Lord as the good of love. (See Arcana Coelestia 9954[1, 10].) Swedenborg writes that the reason priests kings were anointed is that through this they represented the {w219}, in His Divine humanity. (See Apocalypse Revealed 779[2].)

In a number of places in Scripture it is said that each of us has been made “kings and priests to God.” (See especially Revelation 1:5 and 5:10.) This means that our lives can evolve, with the Lord’s guidance, so that everything about us can be an expression of both His love and His teachings, as they exist as a unity. This is what is means to become the “image and likeness of God” as described in Genesis 1:26.

3009. As to the second point - that Messiah, Anointed, or King is the same as Divine Truth - this is clear from very many places in the Word, and has been shown frequently in explanations; as in 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069. The Lord Himself also teaches the same in John,

Pilate said to Jesus, Are you not then a king? Jesus answered, You say it, because I am a King. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice. John 18:37.

From this it is clear that the Divine Truth itself is at the root of the Lord's being called 'the King'. The reason why kings were anointed and consequently called the anointed was that 'the oil' with which they were anointed meant good, 886, 2832. Also the truth, meant by 'king', was derived from good and was accordingly truth grounded in good, so that the kingly office with them represented the Lord as regards Divine Truth which is derived from Divine Good, and so represented the Divine marriage of good within truth, whereas the priestly function represented the Divine marriage of truth within good. The latter is meant by Jesus, the former by Christ.