31 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.
4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.”
But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. 6 So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.
7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. 8 So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
1 Samuel 31
Dear God, okay, here we go again. There’s so much here in each paragraph. I feel like I need to bullet-point what I’m seeing:
- Would David and his men have made a difference? If they had been with Saul instead of absent or with the Philistines, would Saul and his sons have lived? We will never know, but it certainly seems that way. Were you maybe ready for Saul’s reign to end and to start the David era? Was this part of the plan. Saul was around 72 now so he lived an extraordinarily long time. It’s too bad his and his sons’ deaths weren’t peaceful.
- The poor armor bearer. He was in a terrible situation too. I don’t know that I’d have behaved any better. Probably worse. I do not know who this person is, and his name is lost to history, but I do not envy him being faced with mercifully finishing off Saul. Then watching Saul kill himself. What a terrible day. What was left to do but kill himself? I suppose he might have felt some guilt for letting Saul get wounded in the first place and not being able to protect him.
- The people back home decided it was time to evacuate. I don’t think I’ve noticed this before. The army was defeated. It was time to take what they could and run from the Philistines. How horrific too. All of this is just horrific. It’s a reminder of just how evil and cruel people can be to each other. And I’m including David in that and what he did to the villages where he killed and plundered to make a living.
- After the Philistines established control over the local towns, they returned to the battlefield to assess the damage and see what they could take from the slain soldiers. Weapons. Jewelry. Clothing. Whatever was on them. Then they found the great prize of Saul and most of his heirs-apparent, so they took them as trophies and put them in their temple.
- Now, this last paragraph reminds me of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea when they take Jesus’s body after the cross and care for it. The men of Jabesh-gilead sent their mightiest people to go and care for the bodies of Saul and his boys. What a great act of respect and mercy! I am sure there were a multitude of motivations in their action. Perhaps some pride. Perhaps some shame in letting it happen in the first place. Perhaps respect and love. Whatever the reason, it was a noble thing to do. Just like Nicodemus and Joseph, when they thought all was lost for the man they believed in taking the time to care for him. And maybe their motivations were as varied as the men of Jabesh-gilead that day.
Father, thus ends the tragic story of Saul. Part of me wonders if it would have been better if you had just left him alone when he was looking for the lost donkeys way back in 1 Samuel 9. But you had a plan and our lives are not our own. We get one life to live, and we think it is so precious, but as I’ve said many times in these prayers, life is cheap. I am 1/6 billionth (or so) of the earth’s population. I am 1/110 billionth of the earth’s history of humans. What gives me the most meaning is if my life is truly worth nothing to me, but is used by you as part of your plan. While my life is so small, you are the one true God, and if my life can be used in some small way by you then I become part of something so big that it doesn’t matter what it costs me. So I offer myself to you. I love you. I am here to serve in whatever way you wish.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 