1 Samuel 31:1 says, Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. When the Philistines fought against the Israelites, the Israelites fled and fell down and were slain at Mount Gilboa. As Christians, we may be slain for our stand for God, as Christians often have been, but I don't believe that we should ever be running if this happens. Had Saul, and the people of Israel stood firm in their faith in God, I don't believe this would have been the outcome. Still, there may come a day that even if we do stand firm in our faith that we will lose our physical life, but we are forever secure spiritually, so there is no need to run. Verse two adds, And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. The Philistines chased the men of Isreal hard, and they slew Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua, Saul’s son. Jonathan had been loyal to David and to God, but he was still killed. Again, we may be faithful to God and still lose our physical life to those who oppose God, but we already have everlasting life with God spiritually if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. Verse three continues, And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers. The battle went badly for Saul and he was wounded by the archers of the Philistines. Things had really been going badly for Saul since he failed to be obedient to God. If we fail to accept the salvation made available by Jesus Christ, no matter how successful we may be materially, things will always be going badly for us spiritually. Verse four states, Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. Saul asked his armor bearer to take his sword and kill him, because he was afraid of falling into the hands of the Philistines. I believe that Saul could have still sincerely repented and turned to God and even if he were captured and killed he would not have been afraid and have wanted to kill himself. Since his armor bearer wouldn't kill him, Saul killed himself by falling on his sword. I also believe that things should never become so bad that as long as we have hope of getting better physically that we should ever kill ourselves. Verse five adds, And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him. When Saul’s armor bearer saw what he had done, he killed himself as well. Our actions may lead others to make bad decisions. If we are afraid of the enemies of God, this may lead others to be as well. Verse six continues, So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his men, that same day together. His men, his three sons, and Saul wee all killed that day. I have to wonder how different Saul’s story would have been had he chosen to be faithful to God. Though it may seem that God rejected Saul and Saul had no choice but to fail, I believe that he and we always make the choice about our relationship with God. He does not reject anyone but calls all to salvation, and we then make the choice of whether to accept His call to salvation or not. Verse seven states, And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were on the other side Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. When the other people of Israel saw that his men and Saul fell to the Philistines, they left their cities and fled. The Philthen moved in to live in their abandoned cities. If we abandon our position with God, we should not be surprised if sinful men move into what should be our place in the world. Verse eight adds, And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa. The next day, the Philistines found Saul and his three sons fallen at Gilboa. Though they were already taking possession of the cities, they evidently did not know the Saul was dead until now. Verse nine continues, And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people. The Philistines cut off Saul’s head and sent it and his armor into their land to publicize his defeat to the people and their idols. Not only were they taking credit for Saul’s defeat, they were giving credit to their gods as well. There are still people today who are killing Christians and giving credit to the gods when they do. Verse ten concludes, And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan. They displayed Saul’s armor in the house of Ashtaroth, one of their gods, and his body on the wall of another, Bethshan. Saul had killed himself to avoid being abused by the Philistines, but his body was still abused along with the bodies of his sons we find out later on. We will find that people of the world today will still do all that they can to discredit Christians. Verse eleven says, And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul; Verse twelve adds, All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. When the brave of Jabeshgilead heard what had happened, they went all night and recovered the bodies of Saul and his sons, and they then burned them in Jabesh. If the bodies were burned, the Philistines couldn't recapture them and abuse them any more. It is better to be totally destroyed physically than to allow anyone to use our life and death to bring honor to false gods. Verse thirteen continues, And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days. They then took the bones of Saul and his sons, buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted for even days. Saul may nor have been a great king, biput he was their first earthly king, so they mourned his loss.
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