1 Samuel 13:15 - Meaning and Application

Here Samuel leaves in anger. Saul has tried to act on his own, and now he is left to himself. Samuel went up from Gilgal (1 Samuel 13:15), and the text does not say that he prayed with Saul or gave him further advice. Yet by going to Gibeah of Benjamin, Saul’s own city, he showed that he had not fully given him up. He may have gone there to meet with the company of prophets and pray for Saul, even though he would not pray with him at that moment.

Saul then goes after Samuel to Gibeah and gathers his army there. But the whole force is only 600 men (1 Samuel 13:15, 1 Samuel 13:16). Their numbers had been cut down and brought low because of their sin. When people turn from God, they lose strength and confidence.

The Philistines keep ravaging the land and forcing the nearby regions to supply their army. Their main camp, or standing force, stayed at Michmash, a strong place, but they sent out three separate groups to plunder the countryside and gather food, (1 Samuel 13:17, 1 Samuel 13:18). This spread fear through Israel and left the land poor, while the Philistines grew stronger and richer. This was one result of Israel’s sin (Isaiah 42:24).

The Israelites who went out with Saul had almost no weapons. They had slings and clubs, but no swords or spears, except for Saul and Jonathan’s weapons (1 Samuel 13:19, 1 Samuel 13:22). The Philistines had acted very cleverly when they had power in Israel. They shut down the blacksmith shops, brought the smiths into their own country, and forbade Israelites to work in brass or iron, even though the land had plenty of metal (Deuteronomy 8:9; Deuteronomy 33:25). This kept Israel from making weapons and also made them depend on the Philistines even for farm tools.

Saul was foolish not to fix this problem early in his reign. Samuel’s case was different, because he fought with prayer, and God answered him with thunder and lightning instead of sword and spear. But Saul, who wanted to be like the kings of other nations, should have armed his people. He might even have used the spoils from his victory over the Ammonites at the start of his reign. His neglect was hard to excuse.

The Israelites themselves were also blameworthy. They had become so weak and discouraged that they let the Philistines treat them this way. It was bad enough once, in Deborah’s day, when no shield or spear could be found among 40,000 in Israel (Judges 5:8). It was no better now, when only the king and his son had swords. They must have been reduced to this, or starting to be reduced, in Samuel’s time, because we never find Samuel carrying sword or spear. If they had not been crushed in spirit, they would not have been disarmed. Their sin had left them exposed and shamed.