1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Then said Saul, unto his armor bearer, draw thy sword 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:09,040 Speaker 1: and thrust me through therewith lest these uncircumcised come and 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: thrust me through and abuse me. But his armor bearer 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: a sword and fell upon it First Samuel thirty one four, 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: My God, as I listened to to day's reading a 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: First Samuel thirty one and First Chronicles ten, help me 8 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: to recognize which battle to fight and who to stand 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: shoulder to shoulder with. I will not choose to stand 10 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: by some one who does not carry your spirit, as 11 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: Jonathan did, as hard as it may seem, give me 12 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,160 Speaker 1: the strength to detach from wrong relationships, no matter how 13 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: close they may be. As I rely on your spirit, Lord, 14 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: I will attach myself to individuals who have your hand 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: on their lives and on their endeavors. Like myself. I 16 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: will not die in the battlefield of life without having 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: fulfilled all that I have been created to fulfill. I 18 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: will rest in the fact that even in wrong relationships, 19 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: you always provide a way out. I declare that your 20 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: partnerships are better than any I can find on my own. Therefore, 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: I will lean on you and your understanding, so that 22 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: I can gain the victory in any valley I walk through, 23 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: I decree that I am aligned and assigned to the 24 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: right people in Jesus name. Amen, thank you for making 25 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: prayer a priority in your day. To learn more about 26 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: the Bible, stay tuned for today's story, brought to you 27 00:01:49,120 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: by Bible in a Year dot com, the End of 28 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: Saul and Jonathan. In our last story, we learned about 29 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: David's fractured identity among the Philistines. He played the part 30 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: of loyal's servant to Akish the Philistine king, but was 31 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: still loyal to Israel at heart. When the Amelekites arrayed 32 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: David's town and steal all their families, David's heroic spirit 33 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: is rekindled and he mounts a rescue mission. In this story, 34 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: we learn about the death of Saul and Jonathan, inspired 35 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: by the Book of First Samuel and First Chronicles. Hello, 36 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: I'm pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible 37 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,519 Speaker 1: in a Year podcast. In yesterday's story, we learned that 38 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,959 Speaker 1: Saul consulted a medium, a woman devoted to the occult, 39 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,800 Speaker 1: in order to speak to Samuel. It was not the 40 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: woman's power that summon the prophet from the realm of 41 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: the dead. Rather, it was God who willed this to 42 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,519 Speaker 1: happen and used it to deliver a devastating message to Saul. 43 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: His time was up, death would soon come to him 44 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: and his sons. In today's scripture, we will hear of 45 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: the death of Saul and of David's dearest friend, Jonathan, 46 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: the son of the King. So let's listen to today's reading. 47 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: The battle raged on violently. Steel clashed against steel, and 48 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: the men of Israel were choked under the weight of 49 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: the Philistine horde. Jonathan fought alongside his brothers. Jonathan's sword 50 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: flew through the battle. His strength was inspiring but waning. 51 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: His brothers had fallen, but Jonathan pressed on. Two Philistines 52 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: came towards him. He ran towards one, dodged his advance, 53 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: and drove his sword into his back. He delivered a 54 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: blow to the shield of the other Philistine, but he 55 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: parried with a swing to Jonathan's left calf. Jonathan wailed 56 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: in pain and knelt to the floor. Then, with one swoop, 57 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: the Philistine stood and struck Jonathan's chest. Jonathan knelt there 58 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: holding his chest, and the philistine delivered a second blow, 59 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: driving the sword into him. Jonathan lay in the dirt 60 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: of the battlefield, choking on his own blood until eventually 61 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: breathing his last to be with his God. The battle 62 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: pressed on and Saul was fighting behind the battle, with 63 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: his back to the valley for easy escape. Saul struck 64 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: down a Philistine and knelt down behind a crack in 65 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: the canyon to catch his breath, but the archers could 66 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: see him from a distance. A Philistine archer drew his 67 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: bow and released an arrow through the sky, a direct 68 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: hit into Saul's abdomen. Saul writhed in pain on the floor. 69 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: His armor bearer, who was fighting beside him, knelt over 70 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,040 Speaker 1: him trying to stop the bleeding. Saul's eyes were glazing 71 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: over in pain, and his breathing became miserable. Saul grabbed 72 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: his armor bearer by the tunic and said, draw your 73 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: sword and kill me now, lest I die by these 74 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: worthless philistines. They will capture me and shame me. But 75 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: his armor could not kill his king. He would not. 76 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: Saul let him go, and the armor bearer ran away. 77 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: Saul turned on to his side and looked at the battle. 78 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,800 Speaker 1: The men of Israel fought valiantly. Everything began to blur 79 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: for Saul as he propped himself up with a boulder 80 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: and drew his sword. Saul's heavy breathing began to slow, 81 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: and he thought of all he had done in his 82 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: life until that point. He remembered his journey to find 83 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: his father's donkeys, his meal with Samuel, and his first 84 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: victory in battle. Oh, how the people loved him back then, 85 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: back when he had the spirit of God guiding his 86 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: every step. Tears fell from Saul's eyes as he clenched 87 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 1: his sword in his right hand. Saul raised his sword 88 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: towards him, and with a final push, fell on to 89 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: his blade. The dead king lay there, motionless on the 90 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: floor of the battlefield. Dirt and blood covered him as 91 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 1: the Philistines began to overtake the entire army. When the 92 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: men of Israel saw that Saul and his sons had perished, 93 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: along with all the other soldiers, they fled. So the 94 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: Philistines sauntered into the cities of Israel and lived among them. 95 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: They cut up Saul and Jonathan's bodies and mounted them 96 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: in the land of the Philistines as a symbol of victory. 97 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: A few brave men stole away the body parts and 98 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: buried them in Jabesh, but the Philistines still had power 99 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: over much of Israel. Israel once again found themselves under 100 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,919 Speaker 1: the boot of another evil nation. Yet God would not 101 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: abandon them, as he had every time before. God would 102 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: send a hero, a man of bravery, wisdom, and purity 103 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,839 Speaker 1: of heart. David, a shepherd from the town of Bethlehem, 104 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: would rise up as a savior to the oppressed and 105 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 1: enslaved people, an image that would echo throughout all history. 106 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: Today's story begins on the battlefield. The Philistines are far 107 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: too powerful for Israel's army, and men from Man falls 108 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: dead in the fight. This was the battle that David 109 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: narrowly avoided fighting in, as God intervened to keep him 110 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: from joining the Philistine army in battle, and this grace 111 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: proves even greater as Jonathan, David's closest friends, one who's 112 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: like a brother, falls to the Philistine swords. One can 113 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: only imagine the guilt David would have felt had he 114 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: been on the wrong side of this fight when Jonathan died. 115 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: Jonathan's death reminds us that sin not only hurts the 116 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: ones that commit them Saul's rejection of God cost him 117 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: the throne and ultimately his life, but it also cost 118 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: his sons, including Jonathan, Even though Jonathan had stood faithfully 119 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: by David through it all. He had imagined ruling alongside 120 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: of David, serving the man of God chosen to lead Israel, 121 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: but none of that would ever happen, all because of 122 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: his father, Saul's unfaithfulest. But as we heard in yesterday's story, 123 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: God had told Saul that he and his sons would 124 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: die the very next day. Jonathan's death was just the beginning. 125 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: As the battle went on, Saul was hit by an 126 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: arrow and fell to the ground. He knew the end 127 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: was near. Death had finally come for him. Surely, in 128 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: that moment, he remembered many of the things that had 129 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: led him to this point, how he had followed his 130 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: own impulses and desires, rejecting God's rule in his life. 131 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: He had no one to blame but himself. In a 132 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: final act of pride, not wanting to be humiliated by 133 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: the enemy, or maybe it was just the fear of 134 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: torture that would befall him had he been captured, Saul 135 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: asked his armor bearer to kill him. But the young 136 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: man would not strike the king dead, so Saul fell 137 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: on his own sword, taking his life. His armor bearer 138 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: followed suit and died with Saul. The rest of Israel's army, 139 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: seeing what had happened, fled, along with the people living 140 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: in the cities nearby. So the Philistines conquered the territory 141 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: and lived in the cities. But they were not content 142 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: with victory. They wanted to humiliate their foe, so they 143 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: took the bodies of Saul and his sons and cut 144 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: them up, displaying them as a trophy of their victory. 145 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,599 Speaker 1: But faithful Israelite stole the bodies and returned them to Jabesh, 146 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: where they were buried. Israel lay in shambles under the 147 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: cruel torture of the enemy, but God's faithfulness never wavered. 148 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: His plans could not be stopped, and soon David would 149 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: emerge as savior to his people, rescuing them from the 150 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: enemy and foreshadowing another David who would come one day 151 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: at Bethlehem and then to Calvary and deliver us from 152 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: the clutches of evil the power of Satan and give 153 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: us eternal life. Dear Lord, thank you for your word 154 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: today Thank you for reminding us of the consequences of disobedience, 155 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: but also of the grace that is applied to all 156 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: who look to you. May we look to you, Savior 157 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: and Lord Jesus Christ, for our salvation, our deliverance, our strength, 158 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:08,199 Speaker 1: and our hope forever. Amen. Thank you for listening to 159 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,960 Speaker 1: today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm pastor Jack Graham 160 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: from Dallas, Texas. Please download the Prey dot com app 161 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: and make Bible study and prayer a priority in your life. 162 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: And if you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone 163 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: you love. And if you want more resources as to 164 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: how to live abundantly in Jesus Christ, be sure to 165 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:38,959 Speaker 1: visit Jack Graham dot org. God bless you. This episode 166 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: is sponsored by Medicine, an innovative healthcare solution for Christians 167 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: to save money without sacrificing quality.