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From Eternity Past
The Reason for Saul’s Sad Failure
Saul was in disfavor with God and yet unwilling to humble his heart
in penitence. He was not ignorant of Israel’s defeat when the ark of God
was brought into the camp by Hophni and Phinehas; and yet, knowing
all this, he determined to send for the sacred chest and its attendant
priest. By this means he hoped to reassemble his scattered army
and give battle to the Philistines. He would dispense with Samuel’s
presence and free himself from the prophet’s unwelcome criticisms
and reproofs.
The Holy Spirit had been granted to Saul to enlighten his under-
standing and soften his heart. And yet how great was his perversity!
That impetuous spirit, not early trained to submission, was ever ready
to rebel against divine authority. Men cannot for years pervert the
powers God has given them, and then, when they choose to change,
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find these powers fresh and free for an opposite course.
Saul’s efforts to arouse the people proved unavailing. His force
reduced to six hundred men, he retired to the fortress at Geba on the
south side of a deep, rugged gorge a few miles north of Jerusalem.
On the north side of the valley, at Michmash, the Philistine force lay
encamped, while troops went out in different directions to ravage the
country.
Jonathan, the King’s Son, Is Honored
God had permitted a crisis that He might rebuke Saul and teach
His people a lesson of humility and faith. Because of Saul’s sin in
his presumptuous offering, the Lord would not give him the honor of
vanquishing the Philistines. Jonathan, the king’s son, who feared the
Lord, was chosen. Moved by a divine impulse, he proposed to his
armor-bearer that they make a secret attack upon the enemy’s camp.
“It may be,” he urged, “that the Lord will work for us: for there is no
restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.”
The armor-bearer, also a man of faith and prayer, encouraged the
design. Together they withdrew from the camp secretly, lest their
purpose be opposed. With earnest prayer to the Guide of their fathers,
they agreed upon a sign by which they might determine how to proceed.
Passing down into the gorge separating the two armies, they silently