Sorry it took me so long to get back to the story of King Saul. I got distracted by Esther.
Why Esther?
Because, I discovered that Saul and Esther were both from the tribe of Benjamin! Maybe you already knew that. -maybe I heard it before too but forgot. I guess that's how it goes with "discoveries," they usually have previously been "discovered"!
Hear me out though, not only were they from the same tribe, but the name, "Kish the Benjamite" appears in both Mordecai's and Saul's genealogies. Mordecai's Grandfather was Shimei who, at one point, cursed Kind David! But, I am getting sidetracked. Let's go back to young King Saul, small in his own eyes, a new hero for the people of Israel.
1 Samuel chapter 13 contains the next main story in King Saul's life. It begins by recording that Saul was thirty years old when he became king and he reigned for forty-two long years. I don't know how old he was at this time, but he had been King long enough to get an army together. His son, Jonathan, was old enough to be a soldier. And, here come the Philistines. Their old rivals.
It seems the Philistines and Israelites fought regularly. I'm glad we have organized sports now. Football season is more palatable than war season. But, evidently battles were all the rage back then, so, for whatever reason, Jonathan decided to strike first that year. The Philistines were, understandably, upset and ready to fight. However, Jonathan's Dad had only given him 1,000 soldiers, and, now that the Philistines were bringing in the big guns, it was time to call in the reinforcements.
As soon as Saul heard that his son was in over his head, he sent out the alarm. He called for the reserve soldiers and anyone who could help. Israelites near the battlefield watched as the Philistine army grew every day. Many people hid in caves, or cellars, or even fled the country. 30,000 Philistine chariots ready to fight against 3,000 Israeli soldiers. It didn't look promising.
But, now they had a king, just like the Philistines. The soldiers were scared, but they showed up, for the most part. Their king would tell them what to do.
Now, Saul knew that even though he was "king", he couldn't just go to war without God on their side. He knew they would need divine favor to win against the Philistine army.
Samuel was the prophet at that time. He was the one who was in charge of making the sacrifices and communicating with God. Samuel told Saul he would meet him in Gilgal in 7 days.
So, here Saul is, waiting in Gilgal for Samuel to show up and bless the army so they can go to battle, but Samuel is nowhere around. The army is already super nervous. People are getting impatient, and some are leaving. Saul might not have an army left if Samuel doesn't show up soon.
Day 7 arrives, and Samuel still isn't there. The soldiers start packing up to go home. Wait! Saul is king, right? Why are we waiting for old Samuel? Saul knows where the animals are to sacrifice. He has watched Samuel do it many times.
"Go get the sacrifice!" he orders.
Soon Saul is offering sacrifices to God and asking for His blessing.
Of course, he is just finishing the ceremony when who should show up but Samuel!
Saul went out to meet him, but he didn't even have a chance to say, "Shalom!"
Samuel said, "WHAT... HAVE... YOU... DONE?"
Evidently Saul knew more than he let on, because he knew exactly what Samuel was referring to. And, like any King, or human, he blamed everyone else.
"The people said they were all going to leave, and the Philistines were right over there about to attack us, and you weren't coming! I HAD to sacrifice. I didn't want to, but they made me do it. It wasn't my fault!!" King Saul blubbered frantically.
Samuel didn't feel sorry for him, or for the people.
"That wasn't a very smart thing to do, Saul." Samuel said. "If you had made better choices, then God would have chosen to continue your line as King, but, since you decided you didn't need to listen to God's commandments, and you decided you could just make up your own rules about who could do the sacrificing around here, guess what? God has His eye on someone else who will make a much better king than you! This man has a heart after God." with that, Samuel left.
King Saul decided to regroup and see how many soldiers he had: 600
That was all that was left.
Not only that, but no one had swords except for Saul and Jonathan. See, the Philistines were the blacksmiths. So, if anyone needed anything sharpened, they had to cross enemy lines, including swords!
Well, they were in it too far to back out now.
The Philistines were preparing to attack.
Young Jonathan turned to his armor bearer and asked him if he would go with him to attack a group of Philistines. He had a great idea and the faith that God would help them, even though they were severely outnumbered. His armor bearer agreed, and they snuck off without telling Saul. They ended up climbing up a cliff area and killing 20 Philistines.
I guess this really caught the Philistines off guard. I Samuel 14:15 says they all started shaking so badly that the ground trembled.
Saul's watchman saw the once intimidating Philistine army melting away and immediately reported to Saul what he was seeing. It appeared someone was attacking their enemy.
"Quick! Count everyone and see who isn't here!" Saul commanded.
It was Jonathan and his armor bearer!
Saul went to talk with Abijah, the local priest. He was a grandson of Eli (the priest who raised Samuel). He asked him to bring the ark of the covenant. As Saul and Abijah talked the commotion got louder on the battlefield. Hebrews who had joined the Philistines switched sides and started fighting with Jonathan. People came out of hiding to join the fight. The Philistines were on the run, but the farther they ran the more Hebrews they met, running to join the fight.
Saul quickly told his men (I guess the 600-man army that was still with him) that anyone who ate anything that day would be cursed. No stopping to eat! They had a war to win!
By late afternoon the soldiers were dragging. The battle had led them into a wooded area. Jonathan hadn't heard his father's order. Seeing a beehive, he stuck the end of his spear into the hive and ate some honey.
"Guys, come over here. I found some honey!" I imagine Jonathan inviting.
Everyone just stood there staring at him. Exhausted from the battle, but loyal to the king.
"Your Dad told us we would be cursed if we ate anything before sunset." someone explained,
Jonathan looked at these hardworking, brave men. They were obviously exhausted. A bit of honey would give them the boost of energy they needed to continue. But no one dared to cross the king.
When night fell, the soldiers came across a heard of animals, they began killing them and eating the meat raw they were so hungry.
Saul built an altar, so they could cook their meat. Then, he suggested they attack at night next time.
"As you wish." his loyal men agreed.
So, Saul went to find Abijah and ask him if God was okay with them continuing the fight at night. But, he received no answer.
"God isn't answering me! Who sinned? Somebody sinned!" Saul demanded. "Find out who sinned. Whoever sinned will die, even if it is my own son, he will die."
No one spoke. Jonathan was a hero. All he had done was eat a bit of honey. He hadn't even heard the command. He didn't deserve death. The command was a manmade rule and Saul was treating it as if it was a law of God. Not one person revealed Jonathan's "sin."
Saul was a king, not a priest, and definitely not a god!
Saul drew lots and it came up that Jonathan was at fault. When he questioned him, Jonathan admitted his wicked act of eating honey during the day and agreed he deserved to die.
The people wouldn't hear of it.
"If it wasn't for Jonathan we would have lost the battle!" they cried. "Please, he didn't do anything worthy of death."
Saul had no choice but to listen. He calmed down. He packed up and went home. Everyone went home, even the Philistines.
And, that was the end of the battle. Israel had won. But, somehow, Saul had lost. He had lost the kingdom, Samuel's support, and the respect of the people. Even Jonathan didn't look at him the same way. Although it would be a long time before Jonathan would admit that his dad couldn't be trusted with the kingdom. This was the day Saul changed from being a humble servant of God, to a prideful, know-it-all. This was the beginning of the pride that led to his fall.
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