1 Chronicles 10:8

1 Chronicles 10:8 says, And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.  While the Philistines were stripping the bodies of the Israelites of everything of value, they came across the bodies of Saul and his sons.  For all his failures, Saul had been involved in the battle.  Even if we fail at times as Christians, we must always be willing to be engaged in the battle against sin and evil in the world, even if we die in the battle.  Verse nine adds, And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people.  After stripping Saul, the Philistines took his head and armor to be put on display in their land before their idols and people.  They saw the defeat of Saul as a defeat of God as well.  People who worship other gods still have this view today.  Verse ten continues, And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.  They displayed Saul's armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head to the temple of their god Dagon.  Again, this was to show that their god was more powerful than Saul's God, but they were wrong, and so is anyone who claims some other god is more powerful than our God today if we are Christians.  Verse fourteen states, And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, Verse twelve adds, They arose, all the valiant men, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.  When the men of Jabesh Gilead heard what had been done to Saul by the Philistines, we are told being men of valor that they took the bodies of Saul and his sons and buried them under the oak of Jabesh and fasted seven days.  If we hear of bad things being done to Christians today, we need to be people of valor and do all that we can under God's guidance and power to stop it.  Verse thirteen continues, So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;  We are told that Saul died for his sins and for seeking guidance from an unfamiliar spirit, or a spirit not of God.  All sin will bring death a death penalty, but Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all sin for all time when He died on the cross, and through faith putting our faith in Him, we can avoid the penalty of death.  Verse fourteen concludes, And enquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.  We are also told that God was responsible for the death of Saul and not the Philistines.  It was actually Saul's refusal to follow God that led to his death, and if we refuse to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we will end up spiritually dead, forever separated from God.  God then turned the kingdom of Israel over to David, because Saul was not obedient to Him.  If God had called us for a purpose, we must look to Him for guidance in carrying it out.  Otherwise, He may give our role in His kingdom to someone else.