1 Samuel 31:1-6 CSB
The Death of Saul and His Sons
1 The Philistines fought against Israel, and Israel’s men fled from them and were killed on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines pursued Saul and his sons and killed his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3 When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers found him and severely wounded him [LXX reads and he was wounded under the ribs].
Hebrew says literally: ‘the battle grew heavy against Saul’
Keyword ‘kbd’ (weight, honor, glory)
Saul is terrified (‘trembled greatly’)
Saul is ‘traumatizō’ (in Greek)
Who does Saul turn to?
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!”
Saul is all about himself.
Saul never mentions the name of the LORD.
The LORD is not in his heart or on his mind.
He is afriad of the ‘uncircumcised’ Philistines.
CONTRAST Jonathan (Ch14)
1 Samuel 14:6-7 CSB
6 Jonathan said to the attendant who carried his weapons, “Come on, let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will help us. Nothing can keep the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
7 His armor-bearer responded, “Do what is in your heart. Go ahead! I’m completely with you.”
CONTRAST David (Ch17)
1 Samuel 17:26, 36, CSB
26 “…Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
36 “…Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him. 46 Today, the LORD will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and [give your limbs and the limbs] of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the LORD saves, for the battle is the LORD’s. He will hand you over to us.”
What is Saul’s response in his moment of need?
4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!”
But his armor-bearer would not do it because he was terrified.
Even Saul’s own armor-bearer will not kill God’s anointed king
This is the 3rd time that servants of Saul have refused to obey his commands.
14:45 – people refuse to allow Jonathan to die after Saul’s rash oath
22:17 – guards refused to kill the priests of the LORD in Nob
Then Saul took his sword and fell on it.
What David refused to do…Saul now does himself
This is selfishness & cowardice & fear
5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his own sword and died with him. 6 So on that day, Saul died together with his three sons, his armor-bearer, and all his men.
7 When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel’s men had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.
Israel is utterly defeated. So they run. They flee.
1 Samuel 8:6-8 CSB
6 When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the LORD. 7 But the LORD told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. 8 They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods.
Israel wanted a king like all the other nations.
Now their king is dead.
All the things that we place on the throne of our hearts will eventually fail us.
They cannot provide for us what we need to fix our problem within.
Money. Career. Status. Possessions. Personal pride. Religions.
Family. Spouse. Perfect kids.
God is meant to be on the throne.
God is meant to be our king.
All the things we put in the place of God in our lives will fail us.
They will enslave us, abuse us & let us down.
1 Samuel 8:10-11, 18 CSB
10 Samuel told all the LORD’s words to the people who were asking him for a king.
11 He said…
18 “...you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the LORD won’t answer you on that day.”
Enough Money. Family. Spouse. Children. Health.
A good job. Provision. To have enough.
Daily bread. A place to call home.
Good things!
Gifts from God!
Be thankful. Praise him!
1 Thessalonians 5:16 CSB
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 3:15-17 CSB
15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs,[d] singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 They cut off Saul’s head, stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to spread the good news in the temples of their idols and among the people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and hung his body on the wall of Beth-shan.
The head of a king/warrior was a prized trophy in the ANE
Archaeologists excavating Beth-shan found 2 large, public buildings.
‘Temple of Ashtoreth’ & the ‘Temple of Dagon’
Beth-shan was important city…controlled 2 major trade routes
11 When the residents of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all their brave men set out, journeyed all night, and retrieved the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. When they arrived at Jabesh, they burned the bodies there. 13 Afterward, they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
Saul rescued the men of Jabesh-Gilead back in Ch 11
[CONCLUSION]
What can we take away from our study of Saul & David?
How am I similar to Saul?
How am I similar to David?
David is meant to point us to Jesus.
Isaiah 53:3-12 ESV
3 He was despised and rejected [forsaken] by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces[f]
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the [punishment] that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when [you make his soul] an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the [great],
and he shall divide the spoil with the [numerous];
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus is the king that we were created to serve