1 Samuel 13

1 Samuel 13 (Listen)

Saul Fights the Philistines

13:1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,¹ 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince² over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal³ to Gibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle,⁴ 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel⁵ for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel⁶ for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.⁷ 22 So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

(ESV)

1 Samuel 13 Commentary

In 1 Samuel 13, Saul became king and reigned for 40 years (1 Samuel 13:1). He selected 3,000 men, keeping 2,000 with himself at Michmash/Bethel’s hill country and 1,000 with Jonathan at Gibeah (1 Samuel 13:2). Jonathan attacked a Philistine garrison at Geba, alarming the Philistines. They gathered a vast army in Michmash in preparation for war. In the meantime, Saul blew the trumpets summoning Israel’s troops to meet him at Gilgal (1 Samuel 13:3-5).

Seeing their dire situation, many Israelites hid or fled. Saul remained at Gilgal with fearful troops, awaiting Samuel’s arrival (1 Samuel 13:6-7). After waiting 7 days for Samuel, Saul became impatient and chose to offer the burnt offering himself (1 Samuel 13:8-9). Samuel arrived just after the offering and rebuked Saul for disobeying God’s command. Samuel then declared that Saul’s kingdom would not endure and that God had chosen another ruler (1 Samuel 13:10-14).

Saul’s army dwindled to 600 men, and the Philistines camped at Michmash while sending raiding parties in multiple directions (1 Samuel 13:15-18). Due to Philistine control over blacksmithing, Israel lacked weapons, with only Saul and Jonathan possessing them (1 Samuel 13:19-22). Meanwhile, a Philistine garrison took control of the Michmash pass (1 Samuel 13:23).

Jonathan’s Decision

The battle between the Philistines and the Israelites begins after Jonathan decides to attack a Philistine garrison. Up to this point, the Israelites were at peace because they kind of just accepted their place in the hierarchy. It is not likely that Jonathan made a mistake here, as he was an incredible military leader and a devout follower of the Lord. So, it’s safe to say that boldness was stirred up in him and that he had the faith of the Lord when he stood against the Philistine garrison.

The Philistine garrison was at the heart of Israel’s land (the city of Geba). In fact, it was less than 3 miles from Gibeah, Saul’s political capital. On top of this, Geba was a Levitical city set aside for the Kohathite Levites (Jos 21:7). Apparently, Jonathan’s decision was blessed by God, because it was successful enough to cause the Philistines to assemble a massive army at Michmash.

It seems that because Jonathan attacked the Philistine’s outpost in Geba, the Philistines decided to gather their army at Saul’s outpost in Michmash. The army was so large that Saul was forced to retreat back east from Michmash to Gilgal in preparation to fight the Philistines. This caused the people of Israel great fear which resulted in troops deserting their ranks, hiding, or crossing the Jordan to distance themselves from the impending doom.

It is also interesting to note that Samuel, as the mouthpiece of God, had told Saul to go to Gilgal and wait for him there to offer sacrifices all the way back in 1 Samuel 10.

“After that you will come to Gibeah of God where there are Philistine garrisons. When you arrive at the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place prophesying. They will be preceded by harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. [6] The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully on you, you will prophesy with them, and you will be transformed. [7] When these signs have happened to you, do whatever your circumstances require because God is with you. [8] Afterward, go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice fellowship offerings. Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what to do.”

1 Samuel 10:5-8 CSB

Saul’s Decision

Whether by the Word of God or the intimidation of the Philistine forces, Saul ends up in Gilgal and he knows exactly what he’s supposed to do. God has commanded him to wait 7 days for Samuel to arrive and offer sacrifices. The purpose of the offering was to seek God’s favor and blessing before the battle with the Philistines. However, it was also a test of Saul’s obedience to God’s command, demonstrating whether he would trust God’s timing and leadership or act out of fear and impatience.

It is vital to note that because sacrifices were offered morning and night, Samuel could technically show up at any point on the seventh day to offer the sacrifices. In addition, Samuel did show up on day 7. This point is critical to note because a minority of commentators speculate that Samuel intentionally showed up late or delayed his journey to sabotage Saul’s kingship. This is nowhere in Scripture. Samuel showed up on the day he said he would.

Saul impatiently offered the burnt offering because he didn’t trust that Samuel would arrive. He lacked faith in God’s plan and timing, and this is what cost him in the end. Before Saul could offer the fellowship offerings, Samuel arrived with a question that cut to the heart of the matter: “What have you done?” Saul responded with excuses and shifted the blame to his soldiers, Samuel’s “tardiness,” and the Philistines’ impending attack.

Let’s pause here for a moment. Where else do we see this? I can think of three examples thus far in Scripture.

The Blame Game

1. Adam Blaming Eve (Genesis 3:12)

• After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam shifts the blame to Eve: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”
• Adam not only blames Eve but indirectly blames God (“the woman whom You gave to be with me”).

2. Eve Blaming the Serpent (Genesis 3:13)

• When God questions Eve, she shifts the blame to the serpent: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
• Instead of admitting full responsibility, she attributes her disobedience to being tricked.

3. Aaron Blaming the People for the Golden Calf (Exodus 32:22-24)

• Like Saul, Aaron blames the people and presents himself as merely reacting to the circumstances.
• When Moses confronts Aaron about making the golden calf, Aaron makes excuses: “You know the people, that they are set on evil.” (Exodus 32:22)
• He even claims the calf magically appeared: “I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (Exodus 32:24)

If we are honest, we all play this game with God. We blame other people. We blame circumstances. At times, we even blame God. Human nature often avoids responsibility for sin, but God’s standard is repentance and accountability (Psa 51:17, 1 Joh 1:9). Unlike Saul, David later showed what genuine repentance looks like in Psalm 51 when confronted about his sin.

Shortcuts

Saul tried to take a shortcut. He actually thought that the Lord would accept his disobedient act and grant favor to him and his army. In Saul’s mind, the details that God laid out weren’t important to him because he lacked faith. He believed that the circumstances “forced” him into sinning. Samuel is not impressed. God did not expect perfection, but He did expect a heart that was a willing participant in His plans. The consequences were twofold. Saul’s dynasty would be taken away, and the Lord would summon a new king to take Saul’s place.

Unlike Saul, this new king would be a “man after God’s own heart.” God isn’t interested in shortcuts. His divine will doesn’t need advice from humans. I wonder what might have happened if Saul would have taken responsibility and repented of his actions. Would things have been different? We will never know.

We do know one thing, Saul would have remained king if he hadn’t sinned. The Lord, of course, has David in mind, but ultimately David was foreshadowing The True King – Jesus Christ.

“Here the hereditary kingdom is taken from him by saying to him that he will have no successor. After Samuel has said to Saul that his kingdom would not endure, he is in fact thereafter speaking about the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus is the true Man after God’s heart. Of Him David is a foreshadowing. At second instance Samuel speaks about David, who is also a man after God’s heart, but turns out to be fallible. David is the successor of Saul.”

G. de Koning