“The following day, when the P’lishtim came to strip the dead, they found Sha’ul and his three sons lying dead on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head, stripped off his armor, and sent these all over the territory of the P’lishtim to carry the news to the temples of their idols and the people.”-1 Samuel 31:8-9
After their victory, the Philistine soldiers wasted no time searching the battlefield and stripping the dead Hebrew bodies of their valuables.
This was customary in those days.
It was the victor’s prize for winning the battle.
Even today, some armies still let their soldiers do this in certain situations.
However, when the Philistines tripped upon the bodies of the King of Israel and his three sons among the dead, they exploded with excitement and joy!
The battle with Israel had exceeded their wildest dreams!
What they did next added even more insult to Israel’s loss.
They beheaded King Saul and his sons.
Normally, this wasn’t something you did to royalty.
The heads and armor of Saul and his sons were sent all over Philistia, where they were put on display in their temples in front of their gods.
To the Philistines, this war was a fight between their gods and the God of Israel, and their gods had won!
They had defeated YAHWEH!
Or so they thought.
What they didn’t know was that the Lord had already abandoned Saul a long time ago and was now with David, the NAGID, the king in waiting.
In this battle, Saul had been on his own.
God had used the Philistines to further his purposes and remove the anti-king Saul to make way for David, His chosen ruler.
What’s ironic as all hell was that David, who God was with, was living safely in Philistine territory, and even being protected by King Achish of the Philistines.
The takeaway here is that looks can be deceiving folks.
On this day, the Philistines were full of themselves.
They were so sure they had finished Israel off and had no idea the God of Israel was controlling EVERYTHING behind the scenes to achieve His purposes.
Fast forward two thousand years, wasn’t it the same when Yeshua was nailed to a cross?
Yeshua’s enemies were gloating and confident they had gotten rid of this “false messiah” as they viewed him.
Little did they know, his death was God’s plan all along.
Fast forward another couple of thousand years to today.
In the wake of the October 7th tragedy, we are witnessing a world turning against Israel.
Whether it’s anti-Semitic political organizations like the UN…
Or idiotic college students chanting “From the river to the sea blah, blah, blah”…
They have no idea they have fallen into the God of Israel’s trap and are already acting by what has already been prophesied in Scripture.
Let’s move this lesson into the personal realm.
You may be in a challenging situation…
You could be in a difficult marriage…
Struggling with huge debt…
Or in a toxic work environment that makes you wanna commit suicide every Monday morning…
Whatever it is, let me reiterate what I just said:
Looks can be deceiving.
If you are one of God’s own, He can and will rescue you in His perfect way in His perfect timing.
So be of good cheer!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“When you were dead in your sins and
in the uncircumcision of your flesh,
God made you alive with Messiah.
He forgave us all our sins,
having canceled the charge
of our legal indebtedness,
which stood against us
and condemned us;
he has taken it away,
nailing it to the cross.
And having disarmed the
powers and authorities,
he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross.”
-Colossians 2:13-15
Just what I needed to hear! Thank you for being His voice of encouragement to me.
My life has never been an easy road. And now I am carrying more than ever. Caring for grandchildren so my son can work, after his wife passed away. An unequally yoked marriage, and he is now disabled and depressed, another sons family living here……it has me overwhelmed. But He has a plan! I know this, but needed a reminder.
Hi Wendy,
Sorry to hear about some of the tough things you’re going through.
But glad to hear this post gave you some encouragement and served as a reminder that while things may seem to be going bad, our Father in Heaven is keeping His eye on us.
I needed this reminder too. Will say a prayer for you. Be blessed!