The Life and Times of

The Aftermath of Defeat (31:7-10)

7 And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, with those who were beyond the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled; then the Philistines came and lived in them. 8 And it came about on the next day when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they cut off his head, and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 10 And they put his weapons in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.

The author of our text uses a technique popular with writers of television dramas. Do you remember seeing television movies where the hero is in a very precarious spot, then suddenly something terrible happens, and the reader is left to assume the worst . . . all through the commercials? But somehow, after the commercial break, we discover the hero didn’t really die as we had been led to assume. This is what our author does in our text. We are left to assume that Saul finishes himself off, followed thereafter by his armor bearer. Then, suddenly in chapter 1 of 2 Samuel, we find Saul is not really dead at all.

A young Amalekite comes to David with Saul’s crown and bracelet and the story of how Saul finally dies. He arrives at Ziklag to inform David of Israel’s defeat by the Philistines and tells David he has escaped from the camp of Israel. He happened upon Saul he reports, and the king was leaning on his sword near death, but his life was still lingering. Saul begged him to come near and kill him, and the young man obliged. He then comes to David, thinking he might be rewarded. Surely David will be delighted to learn that his enemy is dead. This is the young man’s second mistake of the day, and both of them cost him his life.

The death of Saul and his sons is reminiscent of the death of Eli and his sons in chapter 4. In both instances, death and defeat comes at the hands of the Philistines. In both cases, fathers and sons die in the same day. In both defeats, not only the leader dies, but many Israelites as well. The Philistines’ victory is an individual disaster (for Saul and Eli, Saul’s sons, and Eli’s sons), and a national disaster (for Israel).

Clearly the author of our text is choosing to focus on Saul more than on his sons or the nation Israel. For example, we are not told how Jonathan dies, although we would very much like to know and although we would expect him to die like the champion he was, fighting to his last breath. Before we look at the way Saul dies, let us pause to recall that when Saul is killed, many Israelites also die, and many other Israelites turn and flee, as we are told in verse 7. Those on the other side of the valley and across the Jordan (who are not the focus of the Philistine attack) see the defeat of Israel and the death of Saul and his sons, and know there is no hope of defeating the Philistines. They flee for their lives, abandoning their cities, which the Philistines then occupy. This great defeat not only reduces the size of Israel’s army, it reduces the size of Israel.

It is important to note here that Israel, as well as Saul, is being divinely disciplined. You may remember that Saul was the king the Israelites demanded in chapter 8, and that their demand to have a king was evidence that they had rejected God as their king (1 Samuel 8:7-8). It is not just for Saul’s sins that Israel is defeated and many die; it is for Israel’s sins as well. In 1 Samuel 12, Samuel very closely links the conduct and destiny of Israel and their king:

13 “Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 “If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. 15 “And if you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. 16 “Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. 17 “Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king.” 18 So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. 19 Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.” 20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. 21 “And you must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. 22 “For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. 23 “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. 24 “Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 “But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away” (1 Samuel 12:13-25, emphasis mine).

In verses 8-10, we see that Saul does not get what he wants. He does not receive what he asks from his armor bearer in his two-fold request:

(1) He does not wish to be killed by the uncircumcised.

(2) He does not want anyone to make sport of him (perhaps like the Philistines did with Samson – Judges 16:23-25).

Saul is not granted his request. First, he is killed by the uncircumcised. Saul’s sword does not kill him nor does the sword of his armor bearer. The arrows of the Philistines (31:3) and the sword of the Amalekite (2 Samuel 1:9-10) kill Saul. Saul is indeed killed by uncircumcised hands. This is all as God meant it to be and how God said it would be:

17 “And the LORD has done accordingly as He spoke through me; for the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, to David. 18 “As you did not obey the LORD and did not execute His fierce wrath on Amalek, so the LORD has done this thing to you this day. 19 “Moreover the LORD will also give over Israel along with you into the hands of the Philistines, therefore tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. Indeed the LORD will give over the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines!” (1 Samuel 28:17-19)

It is not a matter of coincidence that Saul is killed by the hands of the Philistines (28:19) and by the hand of an Amalekite (28:18). A kind of poetic justice is described here. Saul is reaping what he himself has sewn. He is killed by uncircumcised hands because God said this was the way he would die. No matter how hard Saul tries to change his destiny, he cannot succeed at thwarting God’s will or His word. Is his death not one more attempt to disobey God, one final act of rebellion?

Like the first, Saul’s second request that his enemies not make sport of him is denied. First, Saul is hit by a number of Philistine arrows, which literally drain the life out of Saul. His slow, agonizing death is not a pretty sight. Saul does not go out looking good. After Saul is dead, his armor is stripped from his body and his head cut off. The Philistines must really enjoy this. And then they take Saul’s armor and his head and parade them around their cities, taking them into the temple of their god. All of this mocks not only Saul. but his God. The final indignity for Saul is that his body, along with the bodies of his sons, is fastened to the wall of Bethshan. The indignities Saul suffers in death could hardly be worse.