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Lesson 51, Geography Study Concerning the Scriptures, The Wars of Saul
The Wars of Saul
Saul was anointed as king by Samuel, but it was his prowess on the battlefield which brought him the enthusiastic support of the people.
Israel had requested a king who would lead his people in battle, and Saul was not a disappointment in that respect.
Ammonite War (1 Samuel 11)
1 Samuel 11:1-4, Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. 2And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. 3And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. 4Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
The Ammmonites, who lived east of Moab, and Gilead, were a roving, predatory people.
Under their king Nahash they invaded the Israelite territory east of the Jordan and besieged Jabesh-gilead.
When Saul learned of the threat to the men of Jabesh-gilead, he summoned the Israelite warriors to Bezek, known today as Khirbet Ibziq, south of Mount Gilboa.
Under Saul’s leadership the Ammonites were put to flight.
This decisive victory gave Saul prestige as a king who had proved himself successful on the field of battle.
First Philistine War (1 Sam 13-14)
Since the time of the Judges, the Philistines had occupied strategic Israelite cities.
Geba (gee-ba) of Benjamin (near Gibeah), modern Jeba’ six miles north of Jerusalem, and Bethel twelve miles north of Jerusalem on the Shechem road, were among the important cities in Philistine hands.
Saul sought to deliver Israel from Philistine control.
It is during this time that Saul revealed his weak character in performing burnt offerings and peace offerings himself instead of waiting for Samuel as he was supposed to do.
I Samuel 13:11-14, And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; 12Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. 13And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. 14But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.
But Jonathan, his son, struck the first blow by attacking the Philistines at Geba.
The Israelites then pursued the Philistines to their own borders.
Philistines, however, continued to hold fortresses in Israel throughout the reign of Saul, and there was constant warfare between the two peoples.
Moabite War
1 Sam 14:47, So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them.
The Moabites, who lived east of the Dead Sea, may have been associated with the neighboring Ammonites in attacking Israel.
No battles are mentioned and, although the Moabites were defeated, Moab was not brought into subjection to Israel.
Edomite War (1 Sam 14:47
Edom, south of Moab, evidently joined her neighbors in seeking the defeat of Israel.
Following Saul’s victory at Jabesh-gilead he may have pursued the Ammonites.
After defeating them he would have turned against the lands of their allies, Moab and Edom.
Syrian War (1 Sam 14:47)
The aramaean state of Zobah, north of Damascus, had frontiers extending as far as the Euphrates.
Located in the Anti-Lebanon Range, Zobah was rich in silver.
Its chariotry proved a serious obstacle to Israelite military power (1 Chron 19:6).
Even during the time of David, Zobah was famous for its chariots.
1 Chron 19:6, And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.
Saul’s campaign against Zobah was very likely a defensive one, designed to protect his borders against Aramaean invasions.
Amalekite War (1 Sam 14:48; 15:1-35)
The marauding nomads to the south who attacked the Israelites during their migration from Egypt and were defeated by Joshua at Rephidim proved to be Israel’s inveterate foes.
Saul secured his southern border by defeating them in battle but he incurred the wrath of Samuel when he spared Agag, the Amalekite ruler, and refrained from killing the cattle.
Although Saul excused his conduct on the ground that he wished to sacrifice the best of the cattle to the Lord, Samuel insisted that obedience is better than sacrifice.
I Samuel 15:13-23, And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. 14And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. 17And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 18And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 20And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 22And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
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