1 Samuel 13:1-23
Samuel Judges Saul’s Sin
Saul was 30 years old when he became king. He ruled over Israel for 42 years.
Saul chose 3,000 of Israel’s men. Two thousand of them were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel. One thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul sent the rest back to their homes.
Some Philistine soldiers were stationed at Geba. Jonathan attacked them. The other Philistines heard about it. Saul announced, “Let the Hebrew people hear about what has happened!” He had trumpets blown all through the land. So all the Israelites heard the news. They were told, “Saul has attacked the Philistine army camp at Geba. Now the Philistines can’t stand the Israelites.” The Israelites were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
The Philistines gathered together to fight against Israel. They had 3,000 chariots and 6,000 chariot drivers. Their soldiers were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash. It was east of Beth Aven. The Israelites saw that their army was in deep trouble. So they hid in caves. They hid among bushes and rocks. They also hid in pits and empty wells. Some of them even went across the Jordan River. They went to the lands of Gad and Gilead.
Saul remained at Gilgal. All the troops with him were shaking with fear. He waited seven days, just as Samuel had told him to. But Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal. And Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the friendship offerings.” Then he offered up the burnt offering. Just as Saul finished offering the sacrifice, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to greet him.
“What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “I saw that the men were scattering. I saw that the Philistines were gathering together at Mikmash. You didn’t come when you said you would. So I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down to attack me at Gilgal. And I haven’t asked the Lord for his blessing.’ So I felt I had to sacrifice the burnt offering.”
“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You haven’t obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. If you had, he would have made your kingdom secure over Israel for all time to come. But now your kingdom won’t last. The Lord has already looked for a man who is dear to his heart. He has appointed him king of his people. That’s because you haven’t obeyed the Lord’s command.”
Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul counted the men who were with him. The total number was about 600.
Israel Doesn’t Have Weapons
Saul and his son Jonathan were staying in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. The men who remained in the army were there with them. At the same time, the Philistines camped at Mikmash. Three groups of soldiers went out from the Philistine camp to attack Israel. One group turned and went toward Ophrah in the area of Shual. Another went toward Beth Horon. The third went toward the border that looked out over the Valley of Zeboim. That valley faces the desert.
There weren’t any blacksmiths in the whole land of Israel. That’s because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews might hire them to make swords or spears!” So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines. They had to go to them to get their plows, hoes, axes and sickles sharpened. It cost a fourth of an ounce of silver to sharpen a plow or a hoe. It cost an eighth of an ounce to sharpen a pitchfork or an axe. That’s also what it cost to put new tips on the large sticks used to drive oxen.
So the Israelite soldiers went out to battle without swords or spears in their hands. That was true for all of Saul’s and Jonathan’s soldiers. Only Saul and his son Jonathan had those weapons.
Jonathan Attacks the Philistines
A group of Philistine soldiers had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.
1 Samuel 14:1-23
One day Jonathan, the son of Saul, spoke to the young man carrying his armor. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go over to the Philistine army camp on the other side of the pass.” But he didn’t tell his father about it.
Saul was staying just outside Gibeah. He was under a pomegranate tree in Migron. He had about 600 men with him. Ahijah was one of them. He was wearing a sacred linen apron. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub. Ahitub was the son of Eli’s son Phinehas. Eli had been the Lord’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
Jonathan planned to go across the pass to reach the Philistine camp. But there was a cliff on each side of the pass. One cliff was called Bozez. The other was called Seneh. One cliff stood on the north side of the pass toward Mikmash. The other stood on the south side toward Geba.
Jonathan spoke to the young man carrying his armor. He said, “Come on. Let’s go over to the camp of those fellows who aren’t circumcised. Perhaps the Lord will help us. If he does, it won’t matter how many or how few of us there are. That won’t keep the Lord from saving us.”
“Go ahead,” the young man said. “Do everything you have in mind. I’m with you all the way.”
Jonathan said, “Come on, then. We’ll go across the pass toward the Philistines and let them see us. Suppose they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you.’ Then we’ll stay where we are. We won’t go up to them. But suppose they say, ‘Come up to us.’ Then we’ll climb up. That will show us that the Lord has handed them over to us.”
So Jonathan and the young man let the soldiers in the Philistine camp see them. “Look!” said the Philistines. “Some of the Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” The men in the Philistine camp shouted to Jonathan and the young man carrying his armor. They said, “Come on up here. We’ll teach you a thing or two.”
So Jonathan said to the young man, “Climb up after me. The Lord has handed them over to Israel.”
Using his hands and feet, Jonathan climbed up. The young man was right behind him. Jonathan struck down the Philistines. The young man followed him and killed those who were still alive. In that first attack, Jonathan and the young man killed about 20 men. They did it in an area of about half an acre.
Israel Chases the Philistines Away
Then panic struck the whole Philistine army. It struck those who were in the camp and those in the field. It struck those who were at the edge of the camp. It also struck those who were in the groups that had been sent out to attack Israel. The ground shook. It was a panic that God had sent.
Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin saw what was happening. They saw the Philistine army melting away in all directions. Then Saul spoke to the men with him. He said, “Bring the troops together. See who has left our camp.” When they did, they discovered that Jonathan and the young man carrying his armor weren’t there.
Saul said to Ahijah the priest, “Bring the ark of God.” At that time it was with the Israelites. While Saul was talking to the priest, the noise in the Philistine camp got louder and louder. So Saul said to the priest, “Stop what you are doing.”
Then Saul and all his men gathered together. They went to the battle. They saw that the Philistines were in total disorder. They were striking one another with their swords. At an earlier time some of the Hebrews had been on the side of the Philistines. They had gone up with them to their camp. But now they changed sides. They joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Some of the Israelites had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim. They heard that the Philistines were running away. They quickly joined the battle and chased after them. So on that day the Lord saved Israel. And the fighting continued on past Beth Aven.
