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Introduction

As 1 Samuel comes to a close, the life of Saul comes to a miserable end. As we will see, the manner of his death was a fitting picture of the way he had lived his life throughout the course of his reign. His reign was a long pattern of self-destruction, and in the end, Saul took his own life—the final act of self-destruction. He died the way he had lived, destroying himself.

The Text

“Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. . .” (1 Sam. 31:1-13).

Summary of the Text

The chapter begins with the Philistines attacking, and they routed the men of Israel. As they fled from the Philistines, the carnage took place on the mountain Gilboa (v. 1). The Philistines were in hard pursuit of Saul and his three sons, and they successfully killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua (v. 2). In the next verse, the battle was going hard against Saul, and he was badly wounded by the Philistine archers (v. 3). The language here indicates an ongoing battle, which means it was not an utter rout. His wounds apparently made it impossible for him to continue the fight. Saul then told his armor-bearer to kill him, to keep the Philistines from abusing him. The armor-bearer refused, and so Saul fell on a sword, taking his own life (v. 4). When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he followed him, doing the same thing (v. 5). And so Saul, his three sons, his armor-bearer, and a number of other men with him, all died on the same day (v. 6). The men on the other side of the Jordan (not very many miles away), when they saw that the battle had gone badly for them, evacuated their cities, which the Philistines then occupied (v. 7). The Philistines came around the next day to strip the dead, and it was then that they identified Saul and his three sons (v. 8). They decapitated Saul, stripped his armor, and sent the armor to their homeland in triumph (v. 9). They displayed his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth—similar to how the Israelites kept Goliath’s sword at the house of the Lord. Saul’s body was then hung on the wall of Beth-shan (v. 10). When the men of Jabesh-gilead heard what had happened, their valiant men went there and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons, brought them back and burned them (vv. 11-12). After that, they took the remaining bones, buried them under a tamarisk tree, and fasted for seven days (v. 13).

We should say a quick word here about the story of the Amalekite at the beginning of 2 Samuel who tried to ingratiate himself with David by falsely claiming to have killed Saul. The story was false (conflicting with this narrative), and David convicted him on his own terms. We should rather trust the author of 1 Samuel than a self- aggrandizing (and not very smart) Amalekite.

Burial and Cremation

The customary biblical approach to the dead is that of burial. The customary pagan approach is that of burning the body in cremation. The difference has to do with making a good testimony about the hope of resurrection, and not because it is somehow harder for God to raise someone who has been burned than one who has been buried. The resurrection is not threatened by any degree of decomposition, however it happens.

For example, Joseph gave instructions about his bones, and he did this because he wanted to make a declaration of his faith (Heb. 11:22). In this passage, the heroic men of Jabesh-gilead burned the bodies of Saul and his sons because wanted to prevent any further dishonor to the bodies. This was the whole point of their mission. Jonathan is not going to be short-changed on the day of resurrection. Later in the story, David has the bones of Saul and Jonathan (and presumably the others) moved from this place to the family tomb (2 Sam. 21:12-14). Among the Israelites, there is one other mention of burning bodies (apart from unique penal or sacrificial situations), and it is found in Amos 6:10, where the concern is apparently to stop the spread of contagious disease. Under ordinary circumstances, though, the biblical pattern for dealing with the bodies of the faithful is through burial—in sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

A Study in Failure

The trajectory of Saul’s life had certainly been one of spiraling failure. He was characterized by his stiff-necked and close-fisted jealousies, and it was by this that he destroyed himself. By the end of his life, it could not be said that the Philistines had killed him—he had done it himself. It could not be said that David had removed him from the throne—he had done it himself. It could not be said that anyone other than Saul was responsible for the disaster of his final days. Saul did all of this by his own hand or, more specifically, by his own devouring envy. His end was decisive—he was struck with arrows, pierced in his belly, had his head cut off, and then he was burned.

He was buried under a tamarisk tree. The last time we saw him there, he was holding a tyrant’s spear in his hand, and lying about David (1 Sam. 22:6).

And yet, despite the fact that Saul fell to his death in this great catastrophe, we see even in this tragic conclusion, the height from which he fell. The men of Jabesh-gilead who retrieved his body were the first Israelites whom Saul had delivered from their enemies (1 Sam. 11:5-11). They were still grateful for what Saul had done in his better days. This is true also of David, who delivers one of the noblest eulogies ever (2 Sam. 1:17ff).

40 Years for Nothing

This book begins with a leader of Israel dying, along with his sons, as the result of a disastrous battle. The book ends the same way. The book begins with the Philistines in the ascendancy, and the book ends in the same way. The book begins with a great Philistine victory in battle, and it ends the same way. And yet, Saul’s appointed mission had been to deliver Israel from the Philistines (1 Sam. 9:16).

Saul did not do what he was commissioned to do. We are devoted to good works that God has commissioned us to do (Eph. 2:8-10), but our lives will go exactly as Saul’s did—unless we trust in the greater David, the Lord Jesus. He is the only one who perfectly fulfilled the mission that was entrusted to Him. Therefore God has highly exalted Him—as He did with David in a type—and this is why we can walk in the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to do.

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Introduction

This chapter recounts a victory that David has over the Amalekites, a battle that occurs at the same time that Saul is being overcome by the Philistines. David comes into a great victory on the third day, and his persistent adversary Saul dies at the same time. Although this passage tells of David’s victory, a large portion of the text deals with David as the gift-giver, David as a generous-hearted king.

The Text

“And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way . . .” (1 Sam. 30:1-31).

Summary of the Text

David and his men took three days to get home, and when they got there they found it had been burnt by the Amalekites (v. 1). They had not killed anybody, but took all the women and children captive (v. 2). David and his men came back to devastation (v. 3). They all wept until they had no more ability to weep (v. 4). David’s two wives had been taken as well (v. 5). David was in great trouble; his men were talking about stoning him. But David encouraged himself in the Lord (v. 6). He summoned the ephod that Abiathar had (v. 7). The prophetic word told him to pursue the Amalekites and that they would recover everything (v. 8). And so they took to the chase (v. 9). When they got to the brook Besor, 200 men had to be left there (v. 10). Remember they had all been on the march for three days already.

As they continued their pursuit, they found an Egyptian in the field, and they fed him (v. 11). When they did this, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten for 3 days and 3 nights (v. 12). David found out who he was, and why he was abandoned there (v. 13). He outlined the course the raiding Amalekites had taken (v. 14). David asks if he can lead them to the Amalekites, which he agrees to do upon the condition of being spared (v. 15). When he led them there, they were spread all over the place, celebrating (v. 16). David attacked them immediately, and the fighting lasted into the next day (v. 17). Only 400 of them escaped (the total number that David had with him to begin with). David recovered everything and everyone (vv. 18-19). David was given all the spoil (v. 20).

On the return, they came to the men who couldn’t cross the Besor, and they came out to greet David (v. 21). The men of Belial that David had with him wanted to give them their own wives and children only, and send them off (v. 22). David answers in terms of the Lord’s generosity to them (v. 23). David rules in terms of the law (Num. 31:25-31), but he also legislates in the spirit of it (vv. 24-25). When David returned home, he distributed from the spoil to the elders of Judah, in all the places where David and his men were accustomed to go (v. 26-31).

The Third Day

Paul tells us that Jesus rose on the third day in accordance with the Scripture (1 Cor. 15:4). But how was this in accordance with Scripture? It was not so much a specific prophecy as it was something in agreement with the motifs of Scripture, in harmony with some repeated themes. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days (Matt. 12:40). On the third day the Lord will raise us up (Hos. 6:2). The first sign of life in the creation week was on the third day (Gen. 1:11-12). Isaac “died” and came back to life on the third day of their journey to Moriah (Gen. 22:4). The Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel at Sinai on the third day (Ex. 19:11,15-16). These days are not just counters; they signify.

On the third day, Saul dies. On the third day, David weeps, seeks encouragement from God, and is raised up. And what a resurrection! On the third day, David finds an Egyptian slave who had been without food and water for three days. On the third day, the Amalekites are scattered. On the third day, David takes plunder from the adversary. On the third day, David gives gifts to men. On the third day back in Ziklag, David receives news of the death of Saul.

David Honored

David had sought encouragement from God, and God had granted it. When confronted with an obstacle, unlike Saul, David did not conclude that God had abandoned him. An obstacle was simply and opportunity to trust. He seeks God’s direction, and when he gets it, he follows it. When he follows it, what does God do for him? The one who honors God, God will honor. David smote them (v. 17), David recovered all (v. 18), David rescued (v. 18), David recovered all (v. 19), David took (v. 20), and so it was all David’s spoil (v. 20).

All of Scripture ties together. Moses was also in the wilderness for a time, and had to deal with the people wanting to stone him (Ex. 17:4). And Moses had to deal with this right before a victory over the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8). God loves to put on the same play over and over again, casting different actors in the same role. And they picked up stones to throw at Jesus (Jn. 8:59).

The Kingly Heart

A despot knows how to work with bribes and influence peddlers (1 Sam. 22:7). This is not the same thing as imitating the generosity of God. The cosmos works according to the laws of reciprocity without being a vending machine. You can trick a vending machine.

When 200 of his men grow faint, David is an understanding leader (vv. 9-10). When they come upon an Egyptian slave, they feed him—before knowing if he can be a help to them or not (v. 12). When they return to the men who had been left with the supplies, David makes a law for Israel—the supply corps shares in the spoil (v. 23). Compare this to the sons of Belial who thought they were being generous (v. 22). And David then gives gifts throughout the region (vv. 26-31).

The key principle is found in v.23, and in the heart of David. Freely we have received; freely let us give (Matt. 10:8).

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Introduction

The set-up for the battle of Mt. Gilboa had provoked Saul to seek out the witch of Endor. With that episode done, we come now to a fork in the road. Chapter 30 describes David’s victorious battle against the Amalekites, and chapter 31 describes Saul’s disastrous defeat at the hands of the Philistines. The book of 1 Samuel ends with that marked contrast.

The Text

“Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel . . ..” (1 Sam. 29:1-11).

Summary of the Text

The Philistines gathered together for war at Aphek (v. 1), the same place where they had captured the ark of the covenant earlier in this book, many years before. The lords of the Philistines were the kings of each of their five major cities. Achish was the last of them to arrive at the muster, and David came with him (v. 2). The Philistine leaders were dubious about the presence of Hebrew soldiers as they prepared for a great battle with the Hebrew nation (v. 3). Achish, with perhaps a lack of appropriate diplomacy, said, “Oh, that’s actually David” (v. 3). The Philistine leaders, with more insight than Achish had, were angry with Achish and demanded that David be sent back to wherever Achish was keeping him (v. 4). They knew that David could force a reconciliation with Saul by turning on them in the midst of the battle (v. 4), and they even knew the song that had turned Saul against David in the first place (v. 5). Achish summons David, and swears to him in the name of YHWH (v. 6). This indicates he was perhaps a convert, and assures David that he had found no fault with him at all . . . but the Philistine lords were of a different mind (v. 6). So Achish asks David to go quietly, lest trouble flare up with the Philistine lords on the spot (v. 7). David’s reply is filled with possible ironies. Why can he not go out and fight against the enemies of “my lord the king” (v. 8)? This is how David had spoken about Saul on various occasions (1 Sam. 24:8, 10; 1 Sam. 26:17-18). Achish says that David had been an “angel of God” in his sight, but the other guys don’t think so. They were afraid he would turn and become an adversary to them. Their word for adversary (v. 4) is satan. He asks David to get up and depart at the break of the new day (v. 10), which, as it turns out, was the break of Israel’s new day. So David returned home to Ziklag (v.11), and the Philistines advanced toward the death of Saul (v. 11).

Irony and Loyalty

David had been true to Saul, and yet Saul was treacherous toward him. David had been (understandably) false with Achish, and yet Achish was true toward him. Saul attacked David multiple times; Achish defended David multiple times. Achish had made David his bodyguard for life (1 Sam. 28:2), while Saul had chased David out of his service. The Gentile king swore by YHWH and declared an innocent man innocent. The Israelite king swore by YHWH and declared an innocent man guilty. David is in a truly tight spot.

Setting the State for the Final Contrast

Given how tight the chronology is here, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that David was fighting the Amalekites in chapter 30 at the same time Saul was fighting the Philistines in 31. David fights and is victorious, while Saul fights and is utterly defeated. David fights with the Amalekites—and it was Saul’s disastrous disobedience with his Amalekite victory that set his disintegration in motion. The prospect for Saul’s battle looked very bad, and it was bad. The prospect for David’s battle looked very bad, and it was good.

Cliffhanger Sanctification

You have heard before that God loves cliffhangers. He loves them because He loves what happens to us when we learn to trust Him in the tight spot. Trust learned there is a lesson long remembered. On the mount of the Lord it will be provided (Gen. 22:14). The Red Sea was not divided until the last possible moment, when the Israelite multitude had water lapping at their toes, and an Egyptian army at their back (Ex. 14:10). Trust God one day at a time (Matt. 6:34), and this of course includes those days when there is no apparent means of deliverance. And then here is this instance. David was penned in, and it looked as though he was going to have to choose between treachery toward a king who had been treacherous toward him and treachery toward a king who had been very kind to him.

We can be sure of two things here. One is that if it had come to the point, David would have behaved as the Philistine lords predicted he would. The second is that David was trusting God that it would not come to that point, and God honored his trust. God did this by using the anger of the Philistine lords, and He uses all things, to His glory. As He tells His great story, the holy God is not contaminated by unholy instruments, any more Tolkien was contaminated by Gollum.

Book Learning

We all want to learn godly steadfastness, which is good, but our problem is that we want to learn all of it from books. We can and should learn “the plan” from books. After all, God wrote a book for us. The problem does not lie in the possession of a book, or in the reading of it, or in the study of it. All such things are good. The problem occurs when we come to think that studying the playbook that the coach gave you is the same thing as showing up for the game. Some Christians show up for the game without knowing the playbook at all, and sure, they have their problems. Other Christians (let us call them “Reformed”), write massive tomes showing the greatness and wisdom of the playbook, and they provide us with detailed commentaries on the playbook. They find which plays are arranged as a chiasm. Since a football team has eleven players, everything is some kind of chiasm.

Why is this so easy to do? Scripture says that a man deceives himself in three ways, and all of them seem appropriate here. He deceives himself when he hears the word without doing it (Jas. 1:22), he deceives himself while claiming religion with an unbridled tongue (Jas. 1:26), and he deceives himself when he thinks he is something when he is nothing (Gal. 6:3). Why do we not take the field in order to run the plays? Well, there appears to be another team out there.

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Introduction

The miserable King Saul is now approaching the very end of his life, and he is terrified. In that terror, he casts about for a word of certainty, but what he is given provides no comfort for him.

The Text

“And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men . . .” (1 Sam. 28:1-25).

Summary of the Text

The chapter begins with a Philistine determination to go to war with Israel (v. 1). Achish invites David to go, and David agrees. Achish then says that David will be his personal bodyguard (v. 2). We are then reminded that Samuel had died, and was buried. Further, Saul had suppressed the mediums and the necromancers (v. 3). The Philistines mustered their forces, and Saul gathered all his troops on Mt. Gilboa (v. 4). When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was terrified (v. 5). Saul then inquired of the Lord, but did not hear back—neither by dreams, nor by the Urim, nor by prophets (v. 6). So Saul asks his servants to find him a medium, and he is told that there is one at Endor (v. 7). So Saul took off his royal robe, disguised himself, and came to her and asked for her services (v. 8). The woman suspects a trap (v. 9). So Saul swore in the name of the Lord that she would be safe (v. 10). So she asked who she should summon, and Saul replies that Samuel should be brought up (v. 11). When the woman saw Samuel, she realized that her client was Saul (v. 12). Saul reassures her, and asks what she had seen. She replies she had seen a judge (lit. gods) coming up from Sheol (v. 13). When she describes him and his robe, Saul prostrates himself (v. 14). Samuel asks why he has been disturbed, and Saul tells him his dilemma (v. 15). “Why ask me?” Samuel asks (v. 16). The Lord is going to do what He spoke through me before (v. 17), only this time David is mentioned by name (v. 18). This all goes back to Amalek (v. 18). Within the next day, Israel will be defeated, and Saul and his sons will be with Samuel (v. 19). Saul collapsed at this information (v. 20). The witch appeals to him, asking him to eat (vv. 21-22). Saul initially refuses, but she and his servants prevail upon him (v. 23). She prepared a meal for them, they ate, and then departed (vv. 24-25).

Some Background

David is being set up—and it looks as though he might be in a really bad jam. But he is nevertheless trusting in the Lord. Saul is also in a dilemma. He tries to get help from the Lord, on his own terms, but when that fails, he turns away. The Lord did not speak to him by kingly means (dreams), or by priestly means (the Urim), or by prophets. These were lawful means of getting guidance and direction. Throughout Scripture, God gave Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Solomon dreams—but for Saul nothing. And Saul had no access to the ephod, which was with David in Ziklag, and he had murdered all the priests of Nob. He used to have a prophet, Samuel, but would not do what Samuel said. Saul takes off his kingly robe in order to meet a dead Samuel, dressed in his prophetic robe. Samuel tells him that his kingly robe will be removed for good within a day.

The Bible and Magic

Saul had rightly suppressed the practice of witchcraft in the land (v. 9). But there was still a demand for their services—they were still around. The law clearly forbade this kind of thing (Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:10-12; 1 Sam. 15:23). But what kind of thing was it? Mediums consulted the dead, and necromancers spoke on behalf of the dead. The two went together (Is. 8:19). There was a great deal of spookaloo special effects involved— Isaiah speaks of wizards who “chirp and mutter.” So the indications are that the “familiar spirit” that this woman had was simply a demon who impersonated the dead. When she got the real deal Samuel, she was astonished.

But Samuel here was a prophet—one who foretold the future when he was alive and when he was dead. He was identified by his robe, the robe that Saul had torn as a sign that he was going to have the kingdom torn from him.

In our rejection of this prohibited wizardry (which must be a robust rejection), we must not make the deadly mistake of thinking that it is a choice between occult miracles on the one hand and the natural laws of Jeffersonian Deism on the other. Moses split the Red Sea. Moses had a staff that turned into a snake that could eat other staves turned serpents. Elijah made meal and oil last way past their natural limits (1 King 17:16). Jesus turned water to wine, walked on water, and raised the dead. What should we call that? Certainly not magic in one sense—but certainly magical in another.

What is the distinction? The basic distinction is between autonomy, rebellion, disobedience and manipulation on the one hand, and obedience and wisdom on the other.

Point of No Return

Earlier in this series we considered the possibility that Saul was saved. He certainly wrecked his life and his reign through his disobedience, and he got to the point where he could not hold things together. He was a tyrant, and he never escaped the consequences of his sins. But there is another hint here—Samuel tells him that within a day, he and his sons will be with Samuel (v. 19). This could simply mean that he will be dead like Samuel. But Samuel came up out of the earth, indicating he was from Sheol (Hades). If Samuel was in “Abraham’s bosom,” then there is a possibility that Saul would join him there among the forgiven.

Saul ended his life trying to “hear” from Samuel, and then he partook of a table of demons. His attempts to manipulate and control came to a sorry end. He took an oath “as the Lord lives,” telling a medium that he would not obey the law of God in her instance. The result should not be surprising. Thus always to compromisers.

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