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Context No. 1723 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 10:1-7: in context

1Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa. 2The Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers. 4Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died. 6So Saul died with his three sons; and all his house died together. 7When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

The chronicler records the end of Saul. The Philistines fight against Israel, and the men of Israel flee and fall on Mount Gilboa. Saul's sons, Jonathan among them, are killed. The battle presses hard against Saul; the archers find him and wound him. Fearing capture and abuse, he asks his armor-bearer to run him through, and when the man will not, Saul falls on his own sword, and his armor-bearer after him. So Saul died with his three sons, and all his house died together, and Israel's cities were abandoned to the enemy.

This is a tragic end, and it is worth remembering how it began. Saul had started with every advantage and promise: chosen by God, anointed by Samuel, given the Spirit, set over Israel as its first king, a man of striking presence in whom the nation placed its hopes. And here he ends, defeated on a mountain, his sons dead beside him, taking his own life to avoid capture, his house wiped out in a day. The chronicler will go on to say plainly that Saul died for his unfaithfulness, for not keeping the word of the LORD. A life that began in promise ended in ruin, because along the way Saul turned from God, disobeyed, grew jealous and fearful, and would not repent. There is a sobering warning in this trajectory. A promising beginning is no guarantee of a good end. Saul had gifts, calling, opportunity, the favor of God at the start; and he squandered it all through a long refusal to obey and to return. The question a life raises is not only how it begins but how it ends, and the two can differ starkly. Gifts and callings and bright beginnings can be wasted; the anointing on Saul's head did not save him from the ruin his choices led to. This is not written to make us despair but to make us watchful: to finish well, not only to begin well; to keep returning to God rather than drifting from him; not to presume that a good start will carry us through if we turn from the God who gave it. Saul began anointed and ended on Gilboa; the difference was a life that turned from God and would not turn back.

Am I presuming that a promising beginning, my gifts, my calling, the favor I have known, will carry me through regardless of how I walk, or does Saul's end, from anointed king to ruin on Gilboa, warn me to finish well and not only begin well, to keep returning to God rather than drifting from him?

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