Study Desk

So Jonathan and his helper let the Philistines see them. The Philistine guards said, "Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes they were hiding in."

So Jonathan climbed up the hill with his hands and feet, and his helper was right behind him. Jonathan and his helper attacked them. In the first attack, they killed 20 Philistines in an area about one-half acre in size. Jonathan fought the men who attacked from the front. His helper came behind him and killed the men who were only wounded.

All the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard the Philistine soldiers were running away. So these Israelites also joined in the battle and began chasing the Philistines.

So the Lord saved the Israelites that day. The battle moved on past Beth Aven. The whole army was with Saul—he now had about 10,000 men. The battle spread to every city in the hill country of Ephraim.

But Saul made a big mistake that day. He made this oath: "If any man eats food before evening comes, before I finish defeating my enemies, he will be under a curse." He made the soldiers promise not to eat. So none of them ate anything.

But Jonathan didn't know about the oath. He didn't hear his father make the soldiers promise not to eat. Jonathan had a stick in his hand, so he dipped the end of the stick into the honeycomb and pulled out some honey. He ate the honey and began to feel much better.

One of the soldiers told Jonathan, "Your father forced the soldiers to make a special promise. He said that any man who eats today will be under a curse. So the men have not eaten anything. That's why they are weak."

That day the Israelites defeated the Philistines. They fought them all the way from Micmash to Aijalon. So the people were very tired and hungry.

They had taken sheep, cattle, and calves from the Philistines. Now they were so hungry that they killed the animals on the ground and ate them. And the blood was still in the animals.

So Saul asked God, "Should I go chase the Philistines? Will you let us defeat the Philistines?" But God did not answer Saul that day.

So Saul said, "Bring all the leaders to me! Let's find who committed the sin today.

But the soldiers said to Saul, "Jonathan led Israel to a great victory today. Must Jonathan die? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair of Jonathan's head will fall to the ground! God helped Jonathan fight against the Philistines today." So the people saved Jonathan from death.

He said to the Kenites, "Go away! Leave the Amalekites. Then I won't destroy you with the Amalekites. You showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt." So the Kenites left the Amalekites.

Saul and the Israelite soldiers felt bad about destroying everything. So they let Agag live. They also kept the fat cattle, the best sheep, and the lambs. They kept everything that was worth keeping. They didn't want to destroy those things. They destroyed only what was not worth keeping.

"Saul has stopped following me, so I am sorry that I made him king. He is not doing what I tell him." Samuel became angry and cried to the Lord all night.

Samuel got up early the next morning and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, "Saul went to Carmel. He went there to set up a stone monument to honor himself. Then he left there and went down to Gilgal." So Samuel went to Saul. Saul had just offered the first part of the things he took from the Amalekites as a burnt offering to the Lord.

Samuel said, "In the past you didn't think that you were important, but the Lord chose you to be the king. So you became the leader of the tribes of Israel.

So why didn't you listen to the Lord ? You did what the Lord said is wrong because you wanted to keep what you took in battle."

Refusing to obey is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Being stubborn and doing what you want is like the sin of worshiping idols. You refused to obey the Lord 's command, so he now refuses to accept you as king."

Now I beg you, forgive me for doing this sin. Come back with me, so I may worship the Lord ."