In
the verses leading up to this moment, we were told that Saul and his sons were
killed in the battle with the Philistines. Then when the Philistines discovered Saul and
his sons’ bodies on Mount Gilboa, they cut off Saul’s head and stripped off his
garment and took his weapon to place it in the temple of Ashtaroth. The dead, headless
and naked body of Saul and those of his sons were then taken and hung on the
wall of Beth-shan. Here we are given a glimpse of the cruelty of the
Philistines. Then verses 11-12 describe for us a poignant moment. We need to
get to the backdrop to appreciate what the people of Gilead-jabesh had
done.
First Samuel 11:1-11 described a sticky situation the people of Gilead-jabesh encountered.
The Ammonites led by Nahash came and besieged the city. Despite the willingness
of the people of Gilead-jabesh to compromise and serve them, the Ammonites threatened
and belittled them. When Saul heard of what the Ammonites did, his anger was
kindled. He managed to rally 300,000 men of Israel and 30,000 men of Judah and
came to the rescue of that city. He was able to destroy the Ammonites and
foiled their threat. Since then the people never forgot what Saul had done for
them. So now when the people of Gilead heard of what had happened to Saul, they
felt they had to do something.
So
verse 12 tells us that “all the valiant men rose and walked 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.” They
had to do it in the night and under cover of darkness. Though it was done so
stealthily, it was a display of courage on their part considering the cruelty
of the Philistines. They gave Saul and his sons a decent cremation at Jabesh
and buried their remains under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, Furthermore, they
went into a fast for seven days supposedly to mourn for Saul and his sons. To
bury Saul under a tamarisk tree was perhaps the most appropriate place. For
during his lifetime, we read many a time that he would rest underneath a
tamarisk tree. So now his remains would forever rest under a tamarisk tree. The
people of Gilead did all these to show their gratitude for what Saul had done
for them.
The death of Saul shows us how flawed the foolish demands of the people of Israel
were. They rejected God and wanted a king like all the nations, who would go
out into battle for them. They had placed their hope in the power of a human
and was disappointed. Remember, human leaders come and go, but God will always
be on the throne. When we allow Him to reign in our lives, He will never
disappoint us. It is wise for us to make Christ our King and let Him
reign in our lives. One other side lesson we can learn from these
concluding verses is about gratitude. What the people of Gilead-jabesh did for
Saul, reminds us to be people of gratitude. We must learn to reciprocate the
good deeds that others had shown to us. Remember one good turn deserves
another. Be grateful people!
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