The Hour of Crisis

As we return to our studies in 1 Samuel, we find Saul preparing to launch war against the Philistines. The chronology in 13:1 is very difficult to interpret and some defect apparently has occurred in the copying of the source texts; the Hebrew actually says Saul is 1 year old when his reign begins! In any case, it is not difficult to understand that one of Saul’s first steps as king is to establish a small standing army of three thousand men, which he divides between himself and his son Jonathan. Then, when he is satisfied with his men, he decides to test them by sending Jonathan to attack a Philistine garrison, perhaps the one near where he prophesied (10:5–10). We are not told the outcome of this attack, but when word of the action filters back to Philistia, it provokes a furious response. Matthew Henry speculates that the attack on the garrison is a violation of a treaty, which might explain why the author of 1 Samuel tells us that it makes Israel “an abomination” in the Philistines’ eyes. But whether or not a treaty is involved, the Philistines certainly do not intend to let the subjugated Israelites grow restive. They muster and invade Israel, bringing an incredible thirty thousand chariots, six thousand cavalrymen, and “people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude.”

In response to this invasion, Saul “blows the trumpet throughout all the land,” summoning every able-bodied man to war and gathering them at Gilgal. On the day of Saul’s anointing, Samuel had told him that, after he prophesied, he should “do as the occasion demands,” then go to Gilgal and wait seven days until Samuel should come to make sacrifices and offer prophetic direction (10:7–8). Perhaps in assembling his small force and striking the Philistine garrison, Saul has been “doing as the occasion demands,” that is, preparing an attack on the enemies who have placed a yoke on Israel. If so, he has done well. But Samuel does not come to Gilgal right away. And as the massive Philistine army draws near, Saul’s men begin to lose heart. Some, we are told, hide themselves “in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.” Others take flight across the Jordan to the lands of the eastern tribes. Saul himself and some of his men wait it out, but they are trembling. A major test of character has come upon the king of Israel. In April’s first study, we will see the regrettable outcome.