1 Samuel 31:1-2 Samuel 2:7 "How the Mighty Have Fallen" It is perhaps worth asking, why should we care? Why do the dynastic squabbles of 11th century BC Israel matter to a congregation of Americans in the early part of the 21st century. 3,000 years later, so what?! It only matters because of what God is doing here. I continue to be astonished at the parallels between the books of Samuel and Luke. I knew that both have major Kingdom themes, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but it does neatly fit together! 1. The Death of Saul (1 Samuel 31:1-7) The battle of Mt Gilboa marks the end of the reign of Saul. Here, less than ten miles from Nazareth, in the region later known as Galilee, Saul will meet his end. Why did the Philistines choose to launch their attack so far to the north? They are 40 miles away from their home base in the south. The only answer can be that the Philistines are launching an all-out assault in an attempt to overthrow Saul and Israel. The hill-country of Ephraim and Judah has proven difficult terrain. Their hope is that by coming down from the north, through the Valleys of Jezreel and Harod, they can cut out the heart of Israel, leaving pockets to the north, south and east which can then be dealt with piecemeal. In other words, they are using the same strategy that Joshua used (coming from the East). Saul enters this battle with the promise of Samuel that he will die. Yet he still goes forth into battle. Whether out of a sense of resignation or defiance, we cannot tell. But we are told that Saul's three sons were all "struck down" by the Philistines. Having watched his sons fall around him, Saul himself was now hard pressed. When the Philistine archers saw him, they fired a volley of arrows against him and he was badly wounded. So he asked his armor-bearer to kill him. Does this sound familiar? Judges 9:54 says that when Abimelech, the first king in Israel, was mortally wounded by a woman, "He called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and said to him, 'Draw your sword and kill me...'" In Abimelech's case, the armor-bearer complied. But Saul's armor-bearer feared greatly. He could not lift his hand against the LORD's anointed. He understood that Saul was Israel's Messiah. Perhaps God was giving the kingdom to David, but Saul's armor-bearer understood that it would be a sin to strike the LORD's anointed. And when Saul instead falls on his own sword killing himself the armor-bearer follows suit. While misguided and wrong, you can appreciate the armor-bearer's sentiments. If the Messiah is dead, what is the point of living? The tragedy of the armor-bearer's suicide is that he was mistaken. Saul was no longer the LORD's anointed. Certainly in the act of taking his own life he demonstrated that the Spirit had left him. Verse 6 summarizes the whole day: Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together. This does not necessarily mean that every Israelite soldier died that day. It means that the whole Israelite army was defeated. Why did Israel follow Saul? It was obvious to Jonathan that the Spirit had left his father. It was obvious to all Saul's servants that David was the man of God's choosing. It was obvious to all of Israel that David was the better warrior! So why did they follow Saul? Because Saul was the LORD's anointed. David would wait until 1) the LORD strikes him, 2) his day will come to die, or 3) he will go down into battle and perish. (1 Sam 26:10) And so Israel followed the LORD's anointed even to their death. It would be tempting to make political analogies (and throughout the history of the church, many have made political analogies: you must obey even wicked rulers.) And certainly, Paul makes it clear that we are to obey even wicked rulers. There is nothing in the Bible that encourages revolution against lawful authority. But that is not the point of Saul. Because Saul is the LORD's anointed. The point that we need to learn is that we must follow the LORD's anointed, wherever that leads us. Even if it leads to death. Had Saul told Jonathan about his meeting with the medium of Endor? Maybe. Maybe not. Would it have made a difference? Probably not. Jonathan would have said in his heart, "Amen. So be it. God has determined that I must die so that his anointed one may rule. Blessed be the name of the LORD!" And David's greater Son has told you the same thing! Whoever would come after me, must take up his cross, deny himself, and follow me. Jonathan laid down his life in the service of his father that is true but even more in the service, nay, for the love of David. He must increase. I must decrease. Whose kingdom are you seeking? For the love of Jesus, die to self, so that the Messiah may live through you! But when the Israelites in that region saw what had happened, they fled. The Jezreel and Harod Valleys and even many on the other side of the Jordan deserted their cities, knowing that there was nothing to stop the Philistine army. And the Philistines took over the north-central portion of Israel. This will form the context for the next 7 years and 6 months, as David and the house of Saul battle for the supremacy. Who is better suited to defeat the Philistines? Who will lead us against our enemies?! 2. The Valiant Men of Jabesh-Gilead (31:8-13) The next day the Philistines discovered how significant their victory was! As they came to spoil the slain, they discovered the king of Israel lying among the fallen. So they cut off his head and stripped his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. The messengers of the Philistines, bringing the gospel of the Kingdom of Dagon! Your enemy, King Saul, is dead, and now the forces of Dagon have controlled northern Israel. The enemies of the Philistines have been overthrown! Such is the end of Saul. Saul's death signals the (apparent) defeat of Yahweh. 1 Chronicles 10 adds the detail that they put his head in the temple of Dagon. This may mean that the Canaanite city of Beth Shan had a temple of Dagon. (Archeological remains from Beth-Shan suggest that the Philistines controlled Beth-shan for some time or at least had a significant presence here). More likely this means that the Philistines took Saul's head back to their own cities. The author of 1 Samuel may have found this too distasteful and so refrained from mentioning this part. But he does say that they cut off his head and "sent messengers" throughout Philistia. 1 Chronicles simply makes explicit that the message was accompanied by a visual aid! Compared to other cities in Israel, Beth-shan is relatively unknown. But Beth-Shan is one of the oldest cities in the region, and even in Saul's day, Beth-shan was one of the leading cities of the region. It was located at the junction of the Jordan Valley with the Jezreel Valley and the Harod Valley. In Joshua 17 we are told that the Israelites failed to drive the Canaanites out of Beth-Shan, and then we are never told of the capture of this rather large and important city. By Solomon's day we know that Beth Shan was an Israelite city, because Solomon establishes it as one of his 12 key cities, but we should not be surprised to hear that it had a temple to Ashtaroth a generation earlier. (Later, it will become Scythopolis the westernmost city of the Decapolis in Jesus' day) Beth-Shan was a symbol of Israel's failure, sitting right in the heart of Israel! But when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 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 Beth-shan, and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days. Jabesh Gilead is 12 miles east of Beth-shan, across the Jordan. We've seen Jabesh Gilead before. Jabesh is the city that Saul rescued. It is almost certainly the city of Saul's fore-mother. (The fact that they come to rescue his bones just about seals the deal). The mothers of Benjamites come from either Shiloh or Jabesh Gilead (Judges 21). Given that Saul rescued the city, and that they now rescue his bones, it is almost certain that Saul was related to Jabesh Gilead. Not only that, but Jabesh Gilead is the city of cowards. They did not come out to fight against Benjamin in Judges 19-21 (and were slaughtered for that reason) and then they trembled before Nahash the Ammonite. But now Jabesh Gilead redeems itself! In a heroic act, the valiant men of Jabesh Gilead bring home the bones of their king. We do not exactly understand why they burned the bodies of Saul and his sons. We know from Jeremiah 34:5 and 2 Chronicles 16:14 that the Israelites would burn spices at the death of a king. 2 Chronicles 21:19 says that when the evil king Jehoram died, the men of Judah made no fire as they did for his fathers because he killed his brothers with the sword. Is it possible that this is the point here? Because they buried their bones in Jabesh. If they had cremated Saul and his sons, you would expect to hear that they buried their ashes... Either way, this is spoken of as a great and noble act. The men of Jabesh-Gilead are heroes who risked their lives for the honor of the house of Saul. 3. David and the Amalekite's Version of the Death of Saul (2 Samuel 1:1-16) But now what will happen? There is one more son of Saul along with a handful of grandsons. How will David respond to the news of Saul's death? Will he make a run for the throne? I should at this point make sure that you understand that in the original, there is no such thing as "2 Samuel." 1-2 Samuel is all one book. The book of Samuel was so long that they put it into two scrolls, and the death of Saul was such a convenient dividing line, that everyone divided their Samuel scrolls in the same place, and now we talk about 2 Samuel. I'm pretending that the division doesn't exist, because for all practical intents and purposes, it doesn't! Verse one reminds us that David has just finished doing what Saul was ordered to do: strike down the Amalekites. And on the third day since David returned from striking down the Amalekites, a man comes running from Saul's camp. Now, I can't help but notice the time sequence: David came to Ziklag "on the third day" after he left the Philistine camp in Aphek. David then pursued the Amalekites all day and caught up to them and struck them down "from twilight until the evening of the next day." (2 Sam 30:17) So that makes it the fourth day Here in 2 Samuel 1 we hear that David spent days 5 & 6 in Ziklag, and on the third day the seventh day in Samuel's reckoning David receives word of Saul's death. The runner came with dirt on his head and clothes torn a sign of mourning. And he announces that he has escaped from the camp of Israel, and declares that Saul and Jonathan are dead. When David asks how he knows, the man says that Saul had asked him to kill him. As proof of his story, he offered David Saul's crown and armlet. Surely he expected some reward! This is good news, right?! But David responds by tearing his clothes and weeping and fasting for Saul and for Jonathan, and for the people of Yahweh and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword And he asked the young man, "where do you come from?" And he answers, I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite. What has David been doing for the last 16 months? Killing Amalekites finishing the job that Saul had failed to do! And now an Amalekite claims to have killed Saul! And David said, How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed? And so David ordered that the Amalekite be executed. Some may find this mode of justice unfair. After all, the Amalekite had not really killed Saul. But David's point is that Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the LORD's anointed.' (Further, if Saul had done as God commanded, this Amalekite would never have been born!) The Amalekite's confession was not coerced. It was freely given with the hope of reward! You can imagine the Amalekite hearing his death sentence saying, "Oh, it really wasn't me he committed suicide he fell on his own sword!" But David is not only executing judgment on a confessed regicide, he is also making a clear statement that he will not tolerate disrespect for the house of Saul. He is a shrewd politician. He understands that his actions are being watched. He must demonstrate that he will be a wise and righteous king, who will not countenance those who try to win his favor with dishonesty! 4. David's Lament (2 Samuel 1:17-27) And so David wrote a lament over Saul and Jonathan, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah. (After all, at this time, that is the only group who is likely to follow him). "How the mighty have fallen." The structure of the Lament is rather simple. The Psalm opens with a couplet, introducing the refrain: Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! (19) Then comes a quatrain focused on the rejoicing of the Philistines: Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. (20) Then follows three quatrains focused on the battle, and the fall of Saul and Jonathan: You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. (The shield of Saul was not anointed the Holy Spirit had left him and so there would be no sacrifices, no offerings to rejoice in victory) From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. (They were valiant in battle, but . . . ) Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. The final two stanzas start to break up, even as David is broken with grieving. The next quatrain does not follow the neat parallelism of the first 2/3 of the song. And even as the central stanzas appealed to "you mountains of Gilboa" as witnesses of the last stand of Saul and Jonathan, so now David appeals to: You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. How the mighty have fallen in the midst of battle. And while the stanza about Saul was an unusual quatrain, it was still a quatrain! The concluding stanza about Jonathan has five lines (seven if you include the final refrain). Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished. David's grief for his friend bursts the bonds of normal poetry, even as Jonathan's love burst the bonds of normal love. You can imagine what the pro-homosex advocates do with this passage. But calmer heads have pointed out that male friendship has frequently been described as surpassing the love of women (without the slightest sexual connotation!) Here it is easy to see what David is saying: The heir of a king should not be making covenants with a usurper! Jonathan's love for David caused him to be willing to lay down his life for the Messiah. That is a very extraordinary love. But it is also nothing less than what you and I are to do for our beloved Jesus! What about your kingdom? Love for Jesus means that you sacrifice your desires and lay down your life. 5. David Anointed as King in Judah (2 Samuel 2:1-4) After this David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD told him to go up to Judah, to the city of Hebron. God's selection of Hebron cannot be coincidental. Hebron is located in a fertile valley in the highlands of Judah. Hebron was the location of the "oaks of Mamre" where the angels visited Abraham, and announced that Sarah would have a son. This was the city where Abraham had paid 400 shekels of silver for a burial plot the only piece of real estate that Abraham ever owned. This is the place where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried. According to the twelve spies, the giants of the Anakim were living in Hebron (Num 13:22), also known as Kiriath-Arba, and it was Caleb who succeeded at driving out the Anakim (Joshua 14:6-15), and Hebron was Caleb's city. (And Hebron will later be Absalom's home base when he tries to usurp the throne). Hebron is centrally located in the middle of the territory of Judah (by contrast, Jerusalem is on the very northern edge of Judah originally in the territory of Benjamin according to Joshua 18:28, although Joshua 15:8, 63 suggests that Judah had some claim on Jerusalem as well). So Hebron is the place of new beginnings. And as it was the place where God gave to Abraham the first piece of the promised land, so also Hebron is the place where God established David as king. 6. David and the Valiant Men of Jabesh-Gilead (2 Samuel 2:4-7) And David's first act as king of Judah was to send messengers to Jabesh-Gilead, praising the valiant men of Jabesh-Gilead for their faithfulness to Saul, and politely encouraging them to be equally faithful to David! Even as the Philistines had announced the gospel of the kingdom of Dagon, so now David announces the gospel (the good news) of the Kingdom of Yahweh. Yahweh's kingdom is coming in David, and so let all the faithful men of Israel follow David! In all of his dealings with the house of Saul, David will prove faithful. Yes, he was a shrewd politician, but it requires wisdom to rule a nation especially when that nation is composed of human beings! You cannot simply say "Excuse me, but Samuel anointed me, and that means that God chose me, so all of you had better follow me now!" David will still wait upon the LORD, trusting that in his time, the Kingdom will come. That's what Jesus is doing in Luke's gospel. He is summoning faithful Israel to heed the call of the Kingdom. Only, faithful Israel doesn't look the way that the "faithful" think that it should!