1 & 2 Samuel (Program #19) – The History Concerning David (6)
The first king in Israel was the tall, handsome, and gifted King Saul. His beginning was quite glorious and he gained the heart of the people by leading Israel to victory over her enemies, including the dreaded Philistines. Not only did the people love him, but it seemed that at least outwardly that Jehovah was with him as well. His ending however, was not so glorious, in fact it marks one of the most tragic and dramatic accounts in the whole Bible. Listen how it is described in first Samuel chapter 31, “Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa. And the Philistines chased Saul and his sons; and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. And the battle bore heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor bearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not, for he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it.” So what happened to Saul? Well we have to realize that his ending really began many chapters before, in chapter 16 first Samuel, when he lost the Lord’s presence. Verse 14 says, “And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah terrorized him.”
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