Today Our Daily Bread 1 Sam 13

1 Samuel 13: 1 - 23
1 Saul was thirty F42 years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years. F43 2 Saul selected three thousand special troops from the army of Israel and sent the rest of the men home. He took two thousand of the chosen men with him to Micmash and the hill country of Bethel. The other thousand went with Saul's son Jonathan to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. 3 Soon after this, Jonathan attacked and defeated the garrison of Philistines at Geba. The news spread quickly among the Philistines that Israel was in revolt, so Saul sounded the call to arms throughout Israel. 4 He announced that the Philistine garrison at Geba had been destroyed, and he warned the people that the Philistines now hated the Israelites more than ever. So the entire Israelite army mobilized again and met Saul at Gilgal. 5 The Philistines mustered a mighty army of three thousand F44 chariots, six thousand horsemen, and as many warriors as the grains of sand along the seashore! They camped at Micmash east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw the vast number of enemy troops, they lost their nerve entirely and tried to hide in caves, holes, rocks, tombs, and cisterns. 7 Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead. Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear.
8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn't come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9 So he demanded, "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!" And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself. 10 Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, 11 but Samuel said, "What is this you have done?" Saul replied, "I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn't arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, 'The Philistines are ready to march against us, and I haven't even asked for the LORD's help!' So I felt obliged to offer the burnt offering myself before you came." 13 "How foolish!" Samuel exclaimed. "You have disobeyed the command of the LORD your God. Had you obeyed, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your dynasty must end, for the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart. The LORD has already chosen him to be king over his people, for you have not obeyed the LORD's command."
15 Samuel then left Gilgal and went on his way, but the rest of the troops went with Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. F45 When Saul counted the men who were still with him, he found only six hundred left! 16 Saul and Jonathan and the troops with them were staying at Geba, near Gibeah, in the land of Benjamin. The Philistines set up their camp at Micmash. 17 Three raiding parties soon left the camp of the Philistines. One went north toward Ophrah in the land of Shual, 18 another went west to Beth-horon, and the third moved toward the border above the valley of Zeboim near the wilderness. 19 There were no blacksmiths in the land of Israel in those days. The Philistines wouldn't allow them for fear they would make swords and spears for the Hebrews. 20 So whenever the Israelites needed to sharpen their plowshares, picks, axes, or sickles, F46 they had to take them to a Philistine blacksmith. 21 (The schedule of charges was as follows: a quarter of an ounce of silver F47 for sharpening a plowshare or a pick, and an eighth of an ounce F48 for sharpening an ax, a sickle, or an ox goad.) 22 So none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan. 23 The pass at Micmash had meanwhile been secured by a contingent of the Philistine army.
FOOTNOTES:F42: As in a few Greek manuscripts; the number is missing in the Hebrew. F43: Hebrew reigned . . . and two; the number is incomplete in the Hebrew. Compare Acts 13:21. F44: As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads 30,000. F45: As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Samuel left Gilgal and went to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. F46: As in Greek version; Hebrew reads or plowshares. F47: Hebrew 1 pim [8 grams]. F48: Hebrew 1/3 of a shekel [4 grams].
Holy Bible, New Living Translation,copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
~Lena's Comments ~
I’d venture to say that Israel possibly did not count the cost of their plight and or did not evaluate what it would take and whether they had what it took to defeat the armies of the Philistines. It seemed after they already went out against the enemy, they seemed surprised at who was out there, or rather just how many were against them. I’d say they were in a very needy place, and as is said, "between a rock and a hard place". That could be a good place to be in that it definitely tests our dependence upon whomever we are dependent upon, and at times reveals our dependencies to ourselves. May they be good dependencies or not so good ones. The point here is not the dependency, but the ability to win over the enemy. God has an enemy and his enemy’s troops outnumber us in our own strength and on our own.
Yet that enemy has to be defeated for our sakes and the sakes of others. How is that accomplished? Only through following God’s instructions, only through waiting on Him, trusting in Him and acting upon His word. He is never too late. We must trust Him enough to wait on Him. When we wait and it doesn’t come in the time we desire it to and we give up, we have just been tested in trust and reliance and we need to continue wait at least for His words of instruction. That was what Saul was waiting on the word of the Lord for the people of Israel and the success against not only Israel’s enemies, but also God’s enemies. Have you ever thought of the battles you’ve fought as being victories over God’s own enemies? They are, our enemies are God’s enemies and His are ours when we are in a covenant relationship. I want t fight God’s enemies through His power and win. I want God to win, and He wants to win through us. He put us here on earth to WIN, over His enemies. Do you know every time a soul is WON over to God a victory is had in the spirit realm? Yes a person is snatched out of the gates of hell and their eternal destiny is changed and God’s enemies (death-of the eternal nature) are defeated bit by bit, person by person. Satan is God’s enemy and wants to steal God’s people away from Him When we take one of these out of His grip we have fought and Won over God’s enemy. The one who stood in the face of God and said, " I’ll be like you…I’ll rule…" See Isa 14. We take a portion of he truth of that false prophecy away from the power in satan’s hands to make the world think he does rule. When we wait on God and His word, we are incubating out time to WIN over that enemy for God. Every time someone who is saved gets this revelation, we cause the Winning power f God to be multiplied in the earth. It’s not only about Winning, but it is also about building an army of Winners, who want to Win for God, cause they understand the battle, the cost (Jesus’ blood), and the prize!!!