CHAPTER 13

(1093 B.C.)

WAR AGAINST THE PHILISTINES

¹Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel (this statement of Verse 1 is the sad record given by the Holy Spirit that Saul only reigned two years in fellowship with God; his entire reign was forty years [Acts 13:21], which means that for thirty-eight years he was not in fellowship with God; the length of time between Verse 1 and Verse 2 was approximately twenty years; they are passed over in silence by the Spirit of God),

²Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in Mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan (his son) in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.

³And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it (Jonathan is a fine illustration of the possibilities and energies of a Divinely-given Faith in the face of hostile circumstances both of parentage and environment). And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear (Jonathan acted in the energy of Faith, Saul in the energy of nature; Jonathan would call his people Israelites, as God called them; Saul called them Hebrews, as the Philistines called them).

⁴And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines (Saul, as a natural man, and as Gods officially-appointed king, could follow the impulse of faith in the heart of Jonathan, but he did not personally possess it; that which seeks its strength in the wisdom and energy of man can never go beyond the source from which it springs), and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal (Israel held in abomination by the Philistines presented a far cry from that which God had intended!).

⁵And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven (whenever Faith acts, Satan opposes; and, hence, the Philistines are found quickly encamped against Israel; Satan, who knows and dreads the power of Faith, brought up his agents in multitude as the sand which is on the seashore).

⁶When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits (this is a sad commentary as it regards the people of God; they were to be the head of all nations, but instead they are hiding in pits; regrettably, spiritually speaking, this is the condition of the modern Church!).

⁷And some of the Hebrews (used here contemptuously) went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead (ran away in a cowardly manner). As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling (trembling for fear).

SELF-WILL

⁸And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him (scattered from Saul; Williams says, It is plain from Verses 8 and 13 that Samuel, from the mouth of the Lord, had commanded Saul to summon the people to Gilgal, and there to wait seven days for him; and this was purposely designed by God as a test as to whether Saul would subject himself to Gods Will or act in the energy of his own. As we shall see, he didnt pass the test).

⁹And Saul said, Bring hither a Burnt Offering to me, and Peace Offerings. And he offered the Burnt Offering. (He did not offer it himself, but rather by the hand of the attendant Priest, Ahiah, who was, we know, with him [14:3]. Saul, who was in charge, and who gave instructions for such to be done, is said to have done it himself. By Saul doing this, it showed that he had no confidence in what the Sacrifices represented; they were to him a mere ceremony. Millions presently treat the Cross in the same manner. It is just a ceremony!)

¹⁰And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the Burnt Offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.

¹¹And Samuel said, What have you done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you came not within the days appointed (but he did!), and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;

¹²Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a Burnt Offering. (Saul had, as men have today, a religious argument in favor of his disobedience. He had his eyes upon the people, as recorded in Verse 11, and not upon God and His Commandments.)

SAMUEL ANNOUNCES JUDGMENT

¹³And 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 would the LORD have established your kingdom upon Israel for ever.

¹⁴But now your kingdom shall not continue (Sauls line would not continue as king; he did not lose the throne because of the power of the Philistines, but rather because of the fault that was between his heart and God): the LORD has sought Him a man after His Own Heart (that man would be David), and the LORD has commanded him to be Captain over His People, because you have not kept that which the LORD commanded you. (Had Saul truly repented, he might have been forgiven; for Gods threatenings, like His Promises, are conditional. There is no fatalism in the Bible, but a loving discipline for mans recovery. But behind it stands the Divine foreknowledge and omnipotence; and so, to the prophetic view, Sauls refusal to repent, his repeated disobedience, and the succession of David were all revealed as accomplished facts Smith.)

SAULS ARMY

¹⁵And Samuel arose, and got him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men (this small number was to face the 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, plus foot-soldiers as the sand which is on the seashore [Vs. 5]).

¹⁶And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash (Saul represents modern Christendom as officially the visible Kingdom of God upon Earth, but corrupted and enslaved; yet within this broken kingdom it is still possible for Faith to win her victories, as Jonathan won his, even as we shall see).

¹⁷And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leads to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual:

¹⁸And another company turned the way to Beth-horon: and another company turned to the way of the border that looks to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness (the conduct of the Philistines is that of men overconfident in their strength).

¹⁹Now there was no smith (blacksmith) found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears (this accounts for the contemptuous disregard of Saul by the Philistines; the people were disarmed, and resistance impossible; the picture here is truly sad! Those who professed to be the people of God and heirs of the Promises are found unarmed in the presence of enemies who despoil them; but Faith in God may be exercised no matter what the condition of the People of God may be; and God will ever honor it):

²⁰But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.

²¹Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.

²²So it came to pass in 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 with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. (Only Saul and Jonathan had a spear. So, not only were there but 600 Israelites who were to face this horde of Philistines, but even the 600 had no weapons of war. This is a perfect picture of the modern Church, which has no spiritual weapons in order to engage in spiritual warfare, because it doesnt understand the Cross respecting Sanctification [Rom. 6:3-14].)

²³And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.