There are three key figures who will play major roles in the events about to unfold.
They are King Saul, Jonathan, and the young David (the current NAGID or “King in Waiting”).
At Gilgal, the only reason why the people (mainly the northern leadership) chose Saul as king was because of threats from their surrounding gentile neighbors.
In other words, they wanted a warrior king.
And that’s exactly what they got.
Soon after becoming king, in chapter 13, Saul defended Israel from her enemies in the East (the Ammonites).
And now here in chapter 14, he’s defending Israel from her enemies in the West (the Philistines).
The Philistines had taken over a number of fortresses and campsites in the Promised Land.
One of the areas they occupied happened to be Saul’s hometown Gibeah which was located in his tribal territory of Benjamin.
The Philistines also succeeded in establishing a fort in an outward location called MIKHMAS.
This was an important strategic route (basically a WADI or dry river bed) that stretched from the Jordan River Valley all the way to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
This was where all the action was about to take place here in Chapter 14.
The Philistines controlled MIKHMAS which was located on the northern side of the riverbed and the Israelites controlled Geba which was on the opposite side.
If you wanna get a clear picture, click HERE to see the article that contains a photo of the situation.
Also, keep in mind that Gibeah (Saul’s hometown) is DIFFERENT than Geba (the military stronghold that the Israelites controlled in this conflict with the Philistines).
Gibeah is pronounced Geebah, and Geba is pronounced Geh-bah.
Although the Hebrew spelling may be the same without the nikud (vowel points), we’re talking about two different locations pronounced in two different ways.
Okay, so the takeaway for today is something I’ve been harping on for the longest time.
At the beginning of this post, I said the Philistines were occupying Gibeah and Mikhmas among other places.
However, if Joshua and his men had done their jobs when they first entered Canaan, Saul would never have had to deal with gentile enemies encroaching on Israel’s borders.
And the very same thing can be said about the current war Israel is in with Hamas at the moment (today is October 20, 2023).
Make no mistake about it, today’s Middle East crisis exists because Joshua and his men did not fully obey God when he told them to expel ALL the native inhabitants from the land, period.
There’s ALWAYS a price to pay when you compromise on obeying the Lord…
ALWAYS!
Whether it’s one of the least of the commandments or the greatest of them.
Are you feeling me here?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Whosoever therefore shall
break one of these least
commandments, and shall
teach men so, shall be called
least in the kingdom of heaven:
but whosoever shall do
and teach them, he shall
be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.”
-Matthew 5:19
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