I Samuel 13-14    Listen

Philistines: That new King of Israel is trouble (I Samuel 13:1-7)

1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
2 Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.
3 ¶ And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”
4 Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.
5 ¶ Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.
6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.
7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. ¶ As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

First we saw Saul's successful organization of troops and rebellion against the Philistines at Jabesh-gilead back in I Samuel 11 (see notes). Then in this passage we see Saul's son (Jonathan) attacks them at Geba. They've had enough; the Philistines decide to bring their overwhelming forces against Israel to put this uprising down once and for all - 30,000 chariots, 6,000 men on horses and innumerable foot soldiers. Well, many of the Israeli soldiers run and hide in the caves at the sight of this awesome Philistine force, and some of them run away across the Jordan.

Incidentally, verse 1 has caused considerable confusion in the minds of scholars with the wording that is less than clear in their minds. To them it is unclear because of what they expect it to say - not what it actually says. They expect it to follow the pattern of the typical introduction of the kings of Israel and Judah presented in the books of First and Second Kings along with First and Second Chronicles. In those books we commonly see a declaration of the age when the particular king began reigning along with how many years he reigned. Therefore, they are convinced that verse 1 here must have originally followed the same pattern and some words were lost in transmission over the centuries. I'm not comfortable with that view, nor were the editors of the KJV and NKJV; these two translations translate the sentence from the words provided in the Hebrew text. Other translations, however, insert guesses right into the English text without basis for their guesses. Some of those translations place their guesses in brackets or italicize them, but others simply add their conjectures to this verse without providing any indication regarding their actions. Although the wording of verse 1 does seem a little vague, I think it best to stick with the original text on this one - a verse which seems to indicate a transition in Saul's reign and not a formal declaration of his reign.

With the acceptance of verse 1 at face value (to actually mean what it says), we then understand that in the second year of Saul's reign he appointed a permanent army of three thousand men. Everyone else who fought did so as reservists. Then we see in verse 2 a fast forward through Saul's reign down to the appearance of his son Jonathan; he is an adult leading his own troops at this point in time. We obviously have been spared the details of two or three decades of Saul's reign between chapters 12 and 13. Then, in chapter 13, we see the turning point in Saul's reign.

Saul gets on Samuel's wrong side (I Samuel 13:8-14)

8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.
10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 ¶ And Samuel said, “What have you done?” ¶ Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash,
12 then I said, “The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 ¶ And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

Saul's getting mentally prepared for battle with the Philistines; he's checking items off his battle checklist. Oh yeah...then there's the pre-battle burnt sacrifice; Samuel is supposed to come take care of that, but seven days have passed and he's not here. "No problem; I'll do it myself," Saul decides. Samuel emerges just as Saul's finishing up with the sacrifice, and Samuel is fumed. What exactly was Saul's sin here? Notice verse 13, "You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you." The passage makes it clear that Saul had a commandment from the Lord himself that he violated. Samuel then declares that Saul's reign as king will end with Saul - no descendant kings. Whoops! That's too bad for Jonathan. Pay close attention to verse 13. Samuel says that had it not been for this act by Saul, it would be Saul's throne (and not subsequently David's) that is to be established forever.

So...what's God looking for in a king's resume anyway? There it is in verse 14, "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart..." It is interesting to note that King David, Saul's successor, was noted for that trait.

Notice the following verses regarding David's heart:

• Solomon compared to David: I Kings 11:4 (see notes), "For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David."
• Jeroboam compared to David: I Kings 14:8 (see notes), "...you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes"
• Abijah compared to David: I Kings 15:3 (see notes), "And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him; his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David."
• The Apostle Paul's words concerning David: Acts 13:22 (see notes), "And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.'"

David would end up being that "man after his [God's] own heart." This incident marks the point at which it was declared that Saul's descendants would not occupy the throne of Israel. Later, in I Samuel 15:10-23 (see notes), Samuel would decree that Saul's actual kingship would be prematurely cut short.

For more information regarding David's commendable relationship with God despite his personal shortcomings, read the notes on Psalm 51 (see notes). Despite these shortcomings, God established an unconditional covenant with David (see notes on the Davidic Covenant).

How are we going to fight without weapons? (I Samuel 13:15-23)

15 ¶ Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men.
16 ¶ Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash.
17 Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to Ophrah, to the land of Shual,
18 another company turned to the road to Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19 ¶ Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.”
20 But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle;
21 and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads.
22 So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.
23 ¶ And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

Saul organizes his army as the Philistines are surrounding his forces. Saul and his meager army of 600 weaponless foot soldiers are encamped at Gibeah, 3 miles north of Jerusalem. Just 4 miles northeast of Gibeah, that massive, well-equipped army of Philistine soldiers is prepared for battle. Then the Philistine forces spilt into four divisions and surround the Israeli rag-tag army. Hey! We have a big problem here - no weapons! The Philistines had confiscated them and made blacksmithing a forbidden trade among Israelites (verse 19). In the whole army, only Saul and Jonathan had swords; the rest of the makeshift Israeli army carried garden and woodworking implements. Let's do a quick, rough calculation of the odds: 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and innumerable foot soldiers with real weapons VERSUS 600 men with two swords and garden tools. Oh, well...just fight with what you have, and let God do the rest.

This would appear to be a regional conflict with the Philistines. Enemy people were still firmly entrenched throughout Israel all the way into the reign of David after King Saul. As a matter of fact, King Saul was a battle king. He didn't sit up in a palace and rule his kingdom; he fought. Apparently there was insufficient time to gather a larger army from the fighting-capable men of Israel for this battle. The fact that these folks in Gibeah (located within Benjamin's territory) were so dominated by the Philistines that they were not even allowed to have their own blacksmiths verifies that they had been totally victimized by these Philistines up to this point.

Jonathan gets a crazy idea...and it works! (I Samuel 14:1-15)

1 Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2 And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men.
3 Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’S priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
4 ¶ Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5 The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.
6 ¶ Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few.”
7 ¶ So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.”
8 ¶ Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them.
9 If they say thus to us, “Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.
10 But if they say thus, “Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For the LORD has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.”
11 ¶ So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.”
12 Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something.” ¶ Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
13 And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them.
14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.
15 ¶ And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling.

The man representing the priesthood is on the scene with Saul here. His name is Ahijah; most believe that this is Ahimelech, great grandson of Eli. You will recall that Eli was the one who raised Samuel. Ahijah is present for the purpose of representing God's will. We see in verse 3 that he was "wearing an ephod." The ephod was the vest worn by the high priest as specified in Exodus 28-29 (see notes). In the Ephod was contained the Urim and Thummim, special stones that provided the priest with a special knowledge from God regarding the correct course of action. (Click here to for more information on the Urim and Thummim.) Anyway, the priest was apparently present for the purpose of assisting in the formulation battle plans as God's representative.

Jonathan leaves the camp with his armor bearer...without consulting his dad or the high priest. He decides to toss out his own fleece before God. He'll just walk up to the Philistines and see what they say. If they say, "Just wait - we're coming after you," then we'll do nothing. But, if they say, "Bring it on; let's see what you got!" then we'll (just the two of us) wade right in and let them have it. What a crazy idea! But it works; they slay about 20 of the Philistines - just the two of them. Then they have some significant supernatural help from God when God sends an earthquake at the moment Jonathan and his armorbearer finish their attack. Look at those Philistines panic! They turn on themselves, and the Israelites hiding in the caves come out to fight. Sweet victory!

Incidentally, you gotta love what Jonathan says in verse 6 regarding their chances here when he says, "...For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few." He's telling his armorbearer that when God's in control, it doesn't matter how many comprise your assault force. Obviously he learned a lesson or two from the Gideon episode back in Judges 6-8 (see notes).

Meanwhile...the earthquake is heard by Saul's troops (I Samuel 14:16-23)

16 Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude, melting away; and they went here and there.
17 Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Now call the roll and see who has gone from us.” And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there.
18 And Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here” (for at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel).
19 Now it happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle; and indeed every man’s sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion.
21 Moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
22 Likewise all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle.
23 So the LORD saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth Aven.

Saul discovers that Jonathan and his armor bearer are not there while he's listening to the commotion from the earthquake. Saul is talking to Ahijah, the high priest, about the situation. Saul decides he'd like to have the Ark of the Covenant present for this battle. However, before anything can be arranged, the commotion among the Philistines increases and Saul dismisses the high priest from his mission.

The Philistine army is in disarray; in their flight, they turn on each other with their weapons. It also turns out that the Hebrew soldiers the Philistines had incorporated into their army were less than loyal; they switch sides and begin fighting for the Israeli army. But wait...there's more. Those Israelis who had hidden themselves to avoid fighting decide to come out and fight as well. The Israelites prevail - on to Beth Aven!

A little honey stops the campaign (I Samuel 14:24-46)

24 ¶ And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food.
25 Now all the people of the land came to a forest; and there was honey on the ground.
26 And when the people had come into the woods, there was the honey, dripping; but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
27 But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his countenance brightened.
28 Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food this day.’ ” And the people were faint.
29 ¶ But Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. Look now, how my countenance has brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.
30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?”
31 ¶ Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people were very faint.
32 And the people rushed on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.
33 Then they told Saul, saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood!” ¶ So he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a large stone to me this day.”
34 Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man’s ox and every man’s sheep, slaughter them here, and eat; and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.’ ” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night, and slaughtered it there.
35 Then Saul built an altar to the LORD. This was the first altar that he built to the LORD.
36 ¶ Now Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them.” ¶ And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” ¶ Then the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”
37 ¶ So Saul asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But He did not answer him that day.
38 And Saul said, “Come over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was today.
39 For as the LORD lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not a man among all the people answered him.
40 Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side.” ¶ And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”
41 ¶ Therefore Saul said to the LORD God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot.” So Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped.
42 And Saul said, “Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me.” So Jonathan was taken.
43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” ¶ And Jonathan told him, and said, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand. So now I must die!”
44 ¶ Saul answered, “God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.”
45 ¶ But the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.
46 ¶ Then Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

Saul's army is on a roll. He gets excited and issues a curse on anybody who eats before they finish off the enemy. One big problem though: his son Jonathan didn't get the word; he tastes a little honey and it perks him right up. However, upon being informed concerning Saul's decree, he even questions the wisdom of Saul's oath in verse 29-30. Though faint from hunger, Saul's army thoroughly thrashes these Philistines "from Michmash to Aijalon."

After the victorious outcome of the battle against the Philistines, Saul has to straighten out a little bit of deviation on his army's part in that they partook of the Philistine cattle in violation of Levitical guidelines i.e. draining the blood. He establishes an altar to set this issue straight. You will recall from verse 3 (see above) that the high priest is present wearing the ephod containing the Urim and Thummim. These items were commonly used to determine God's will through the process of casting lots. However, when Saul could not get a clearance from Jehovah to proceed further in pursuit of the Philistines, he decides there must be sin in the camp.

Here we go with the casting of lots again. For a more complete look at the practice of casting lots, click here. The lot falls on Jonathan identifying him as the snack culprit. Saul decides that Jonathan must die; after all, an oath is an oath. Hebrews were very serious about fulfilling their oaths regardless of how ill conceived. Jonathan even agrees that he himself must die, but the people talk Saul out of it. So, after a great day at battle, everybody goes home to live to fight another day. The campaign against the Philistines stops...over a little bit of honey. That wouldn't be the last fight that would be broken up by a little honey! (Take that last sentence as intended humor.)

Meet Saul's family (I Samuel 14:47-52)

47 ¶ So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he harassed them.
48 And he gathered an army and attacked the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.
49 ¶ The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Jishui, and Malchishua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal.
50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.
51 Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
52 ¶ Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him for himself.

It's finally time for introductions. Remember these people; we'll be coming back to many of them as we read on. Notice verse 52. Saul understood the value of a strong defense, "Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him for himself." There was no peace for Saul; he was a warring king with a carefully chosen army. In addition, we see in verse 47 that Saul also fought against Moab, Ammon, Edom, and against the kings of Zobah (north of Israel). In verse 48, toss in the Amalekites to round out Saul's battles against the enemies of Israel. However, without question, Saul's main war was with the Philistines.