1 Chronicles 10:1 – 14 “Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him.
Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run it through me, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died. So Saul died together with his three sons and all his house.
The Philistines Possess the Towns (1 Samuel 31:7–10)
When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities. The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.
Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul (1 Samuel 31:11–13)
When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, all their men of valor set out and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days. So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
The whole problem of kingship began because the Israelites rejected God as their king and demanded a human ruler. The prophet Samuel was horrified and distressed, but God told Samuel that the Israelites were not rejecting Samuel but rather rejecting God. God chose a warrior named Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe noted for its fierce warriors, to become king. Judging by appearances, Saul LOOKED like a king! Saul was tall, handsome, strong, and courageous. There was only one problem: Saul did not truly believe in the God of Israel but rather viewed God as some kind of oracle or good luck charm. Despite the fact that God chose Saul to be king, Saul never actually prayed or sought to know God for himself but depended on Samuel. Saul became a victim of his refusal to believe for himself. Second – hand faith is no faith!
Saul’s military career was one of successes interspersed with mess – ups. When Samuel ordered Saul to wait at Gilgal until Samuel arrived to make sacrifices, Saul only waited until people began to get restless and then “felt compelled” to make the sacrifices himself. God had appointed Samuel as a prophet and Samuel also served priestly functions in addition because of God’s anointing. But Saul had no such calling from God, nor had God appointed him to make sacrifices. This incident marked Saul’s first major mistake. Then God ordered Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites; however, again Saul failed to obey. At that point, Samuel told Saul that God had rejected Saul from being king and that God was giving the kingship to a man who would honor Him. That man was David, the youngest son of Jesse from the tribe of Judah.
Once Saul realized that David was to be his successor, Saul did everything he could to kill David. Despite all Saul’s schemes, Saul’s son Jonathan and David became fast friends. The longer Saul’s persecution of David persisted, the more evident it became that Saul’s reign was going to end. Eventually, Samuel died, leaving Saul with nobody who would give Saul the world of the Lord. Saul’s last mistake was to consult a female medium, even though he himself had banished mediums from the kingdom. When the woman succeeded in summoning the spirit of Samuel, Samuel told Saul that Saul and his sons would die the next day. This prediction came true.
The next day, Saul and his sons fought a hot battle against the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. With all three sons dead and blood pouring from numerous arrow wounds, Saul fell on his sword and died rather than allow the Philistines to capture him. Saul’s armor bearer did the same. The Israelite army ran away, and those living in surrounding cities also evacuated to avoid being slaughtered by the Philistines.
When the Philistines found the bodies of Saul and his sons, they cut off Saul’s head, stripping off his armor and hung both the head and the armor in the temple of Dagon. Brave men from Jabesh – gilead came to Mount Gilboa, collected the bodies of Saul and his sons, and sent them back to Jabesh, where they buried the bones under an oak tree that was a local landmark. Then the people of Jabesh mourned and fasted for seven days. Part of the reason for this fast was to honor Saul, but also the men who had handled the bodies were ritually unclean and needed to cleanse themselves. Ezra’s final comment on Saul was, “So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.”
APPLICATION: What happened to Saul? Saul felt entitled! Saul assumed that being big and strong and handsome and brave was enough for God. Not once did Saul ever beg Samuel to instruct him in the ways of God. Despite the fact that God had ordered that any kings of Israel should make their own copies of the Law and study those copies for themselves, Saul never did it. Saul was great at taking charge but lousy at taking orders or being obedient. As long as things went well, Saul was fine. But whenever there was pressure from popular opinion, Saul would cave.
Several years ago, there was a famous American football player named O. J. Simpson. In the beginning, Simpson was fabulously successful as an athlete and moderately successful as an actor. Simpson’s mother was a strong Christian and had raised Simpson as a believer. But later in Simpson’s career, he lost his focus. Finally, Simpson’s beautiful wife was murdered, and it was unclear whether or not Simpson was responsible. A life with so much promise was now in ruins. What happened? Two contributing factors may have been a sense of entitlement engendered by early success, plus a failure to remain close to God.
There are very few of us who can actually handle success in a godly fashion. So many times, we lose sight of God and begin to trust in ourselves, failing to remember that it was God who brought us success in the first place. Spiritually, the only safe place for any of us to be is to get as close to God as possible. One dear friend who is now with Jesus used to pray, “Lord, help me love you more today than I did yesterday.” That’s a great prayer for all of us!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow You and not ourselves! Help us to remember that You are our Source of light and life and love. Please help us to love You more each day than we did the day before. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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