A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Saul ate and rested that night. The next day he went out into battle to his death and into eternity
having failed to respond to God’s final call to him to repent.
The battle against the Philistines was fierce and scattered the army of Israel. Many of the
men fighting for Israel lost their lives that day. In the heat of the battle, Saul himself was fatally
wounded by the archers of Philistia. Realizing the severity of his wounds, Saul killed himself by
falling on his sword. When his armor bearer thought his king was dead, he followed Saul’s
example and took his own life. Three of Saul’s sons also died in that battle.
As the Philistines stripped and looted the slain Israelites, the bodies of Saul and his sons
were discovered. In accordance with a common military practice of that day, the bodies of the
royal family were beheaded and their heads circulated throughout the cities of the Philistines as
trophies of their victory over Israel. Saul’s armor was placed in the treasury of the goddess
Ashtaroth and his naked body was hung on the wall of the city of Beth Shan with those of his
sons.
But Saul had not died without friends. The men of Jabesh Gilead remembered how Saul
had led Israel into battle forty years earlier and preserved their city. A group of the bravest men
of that city raided the wall of Beth Shan by night and returned to their city with the four
decapitated corpses. There they burned the bodies and buried their bones under a tree. The city
fasted seven days in mourning for their slain king.
PERSPECTIVE: SPIRITUAL REALITY IN THE
LIFE OF SAUL
The life and death of Saul pose a very difficult question relevant to the spiritual state of
Israel’s first king. Sometimes this question is expressed, “Was King Saul saved or lost?” While
no one seems willing to suggest Saul was a model of spirituality, there is a legitimate difference
of opinion among conservative scholars as to the exact nature of Saul’s relationship with God.
Part of the difficulty encountered in deciding this issue is due to the difficulty of applying a New
Testament standard to an Old Testament experience. Those who believe Saul was saved admit he
was at best carnal; but such biblical statements as “You will ... be turned into another man” (1
Sam. 10:6) and the few occasions where Saul built altars (14:35), sought the counsel of the Lord
in his decision-making process (v. 37; 28:6), and ordered the destruction of the witches (v. 9)
suggest some evidence of the existence of a spiritual relationship with God.
Others argue Saul was lost spiritually and usually point to his clearly wrong actions in
trying to kill David and Jonathan, his bad attitudes of hatred, jealousy, and anger, his murder of
the priests at Nob, and consultation with the witch of En Dor as evidence of his unsaved state.
Perhaps the real reason it is so difficult to be sure about the spiritual state of Saul is that the life
of sin yields the same fruit whether the sinner is one who is unsaved or simply a carnal Christian
who fails to live by faith.
THIRTY-SEVEN
DAVID:
The King
(2 Samuel 1:1-10:19, Psalms 30; 60)