1 Sam 31:1-13
Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and many fell on Mount Gilboa. 2The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3The battle pressed hard upon Saul; the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by them. 4Then Saul said to his armour-bearer, ‘Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, so that these uncircumcised may not come and thrust me through, and make sport of me.’ But his armour-bearer was unwilling; for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. 5When his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 6So Saul and his three sons and his armour-bearer and all his men died together on the same day. 7When the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their towns and fled; and the Philistines came and occupied them.
8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9They cut off his head, stripped off his armour, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to the houses of their idols and to the people. 10They put his armour in the temple of Astarte; and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. 11But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all the valiant men set out, travelled all night long, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan. They came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.
Blog Discussion Question: Life can turn on us so that it seems like our enemies will eat us up. Is our only option to “fall on our sword”?
"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are."
About Me
- Pastor Jerry
- Pastor Jerry is the pastor of Willow Creek and Benton Lutheran Churches of rural Dell Rapids, South Dakota.
Benton Lutheran Church
Benton Lutheran Church is 2 miles west of Crooks, S.D. We worship every Sunday at 10:45 with Sunday School for ages 3 yrs. through 7th grade at 9:30.
Willow Creek Lutheran Church
The Bungee Cord
Analytics
The Bungee Cord
"The Bungee Cord" is a weekly e-mail devotional that I write to provide a catylist of God's grace for the days ahead. You can read "The Bungee Cord" at the link provided, and you can also sign up to receive it by contacting me (bentonelca@alliancecom.net)
2 comments:
Many times falling on your own sword feels like the only option, but as the sunday school answer might say that one could call out to God for help. Saul must have felt utter despair knowing that samual said that he was going to die. i can imagin that he may have thought "why bother if God has declare this for me already." God still promises to always provide a way out.
I think KevKat are right. Sometimes things can seem so desperate that falling on one's sword....giving up....seems the only way out. When our eyes are full of desperation, we need to fill our ears with Romans 8..."nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." A seminary professor of mine said, "there is no hole so deep that God can't find us there and lift us out."
Post a Comment