End of the People’s King

1 Chronicles 10:1-14
    1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. 3 The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armorbearer, "Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me." But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. 5 And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6 So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. 7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
    8 So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. 10 Then they put his armor in the temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
    11 And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
    13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. 14 But he did not inquire of the LORD; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

Here is the end of the people’s king Saul (1 Sam. 31:1–13) and his sons.  It happened in battle as God allowed the Philistines to rout Israel and send them running away.  Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua died in that battle along with their father Saul the king not chosen by God, but by His people who rejected divine rule for on like the faithless nations around them.  The arrow of judgment found a chink in Saul’s armor, but the king still fell on his sword to avoid capture and escape further suffering in the enemy’s hands.  The result was the loss of the cities of Israel there in that valley to the Philistines, and Saul’s head put on triumphant display in the idol temple of Dagon along with his armor.  This was their way of showing victory over God and His power in their minds, a crushing consequence of Saul’s unfaithfulness.  Verses 13 and 14 give the reasons for Saul’s death: He did not keep the word of the LORD (1 Sam. 13 and 15) and he consulted a medium (1 Sam. 28).  Saul rejected the LORD, sole worship of Him as the first commandment stated, and His sovereign rule over false gods, spiritualists, and general defiance in not hearing the word of the LORD to follow it.  He chose to look to demonic sources for answers instead of submitting to God and asking Him for answers and direction.  This is why God killed Saul and handed the kingdom to the ruler He chose, David, a man after God’s own heart.  We learn then that worship of God alone and reliance on His word alone is essential for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).  False worship and the occult demonstrate a faithlessness and rejection of God’s sovereignty and right to rule and guide our lives as we then put idols to worship and false words over truth to seek lies for answers.  Our worship must be in spirit and truth, based on His word and Spirit’s guidance alone.  The end of the people’s king is the beginning of God’s choice.  Who rules us?  The end of our king to rule us is found in worshipful submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords alone.  No occult, no worldly leader, no substitute.  Let us learn from Israel to not choose the people’s king.  There is no other way, truth, or life apart from Jesus the Christ who is the only potentate as 1 Timothy 6:15 tells us plainly.  Amen; let it be so!