1 - 7 Revolt Against the PhilistinesSaul choses 3000 men from Israel. 2000 are with him at Micmash & 1000 are with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. Jonathan attacks a Philistine outpost at Geba, and Saul summons the people to Gilgal. The Philistines fight Isreal with 3000 chariots, 6000 charioteers and "soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore." The men of Israel hide.
7 - 15 Samuel Breaks with Saul
Saul waits 7 days to burn offerings (as Samuel requested), but he does not offer it at Gilgal. Samuel arrives and rebukes him, saying, "You have not kept the command of Lord. Now your kingdom will not endure." Then he leaves Saul, who now has only 600 men.
16 - 23 Preparations for War
Israel is definitely the underdog. Saul and Jonathan prepare for ware and they have to get a blacksmith to sharpen their plowshares into weapons. On the day of battle no soldier has weapons but Saul and Jonathan.
4 comments:
No weapons! He should have done what the Lord commanded.
Yeah, and you gotta give Saul credit for wanting to do the right thing. His fault was impatience - all his men were fleeing. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." I think Emily Dickinson said that.
Saul was 30 when he became king and reigned for 42 years.
In 10:8 Samuel instructs Saul to go ahead of him to Gilgal and wait 7 days until he arrives to ofer burnt and fellowship offerings and receive further instructions.
Saul goes, waits 7 days, but grows impatient and offers the offerings himself. His troops also get nervous and many desert. 600 were left.
Samuel reminds him that God wants a ruler "after his own heart" but, since Saul obviously isn't it, that his (Saul's) kingdom won't endure.
All the blacksmiths were Philistine. Israel's only weapons were bow and arrow and slingshot. Everyone took their farming tools to the Philistines to sharpen into weapons.
I don't really get this part. If they were fighting the Philistines, how could they go to them for anything? And how could the Philistines deny them blacksmiths?
That does seem like bad planning.
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