1 Samuel 13:15-23

¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷ Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸ another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

¹⁹ Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. ²¹ The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

²² So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

²³ Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.

Introduction

Many people could be envious of extrovert individuals. Do you agree that inferiority complex would limit people to reach their potentials? Did God play favorites when He created extroverts and introverts people? Jacob and Esau were twins but the Lord loved Jacob but He hated Esau. Do you call it favoritism?

Anyway, would you accept that the Lord is fair with how He created you? Someone may ask, “If God is fair, why did He create inferior or superior people? Why did He allow us to have adversities in life?” Not all superiors are winners!

We accept that God created us uniquely. And, there are no two persons who are exactly the same. It’s helpful to understand that our destiny, ability and stature are also different from others. Superiority and inferiority becomes burdensome when we compare ourselves with other individuals.

Do you consider yourself as inferior? How can we overcome adversities?

The disciples ask Christ in John 9:2-3, ²“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Humans want to discover the cause and effect of things they’re curious of. Can you accept that God allows difficulties, adversities, or inferiorities so that the works of God might be displayed in us? Have I told you that I know of a student who was inadequate and inarticulate to express his ideas, and his grades were affected because he hesitated to recite before his classmates in school? After he accepted Christ as Lord, he worked as spokesperson in an institution.

When the Philistines prepared for war, King Saul and his men panicked because they felt inferior to the Philistine soldier. The Philistines may have observed that the Israelites had scattered. So, they raided beyond boundaries.

1. Boundary

¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred. ¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷ Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸ another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

Just 600 men with them, Saul and Jonathan positioned themselves in Gibeah where Samuel went. The Philistines camped at Mikmash. Gibeah was about 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, and Mikmash was about 15 kilometers northeast of Gibeah. Gibeah was mountainous, and Mikmash was at a valley.

The Philistines have surely known that the Israelites were scared and did not want to engage them in battle in the valley. From their camp at Mikmash, the Philistines raided Ophrah in the north, Beth Horon in the west and the Valley of Zeboyin in the east. No raiding party went south because it’s mountainous, and it was where King Saul and his men had camped.

The Philistines didn’t attack the camp of King Saul on a hill in the south, why? The Philistine camp was down on a valley and their chariots were not advantageous in the hills. The Philistines raided other Israelite towns within the boundaries of Benjamin to provoke Saul and his men to come out of their camp.

Provocation

Provocation has become ordinary struggle anywhere. Bullies provoke studious students so that they cannot concentrate in their studies. Rascals may cause issues or hostility at places of work. Reckless drivers make the road not very safe to drive. Wherever we are situated, we can possibly observe unwanted issues or unpleasant events that may provoke us to react otherwise.

It says in Ephesians 6:10-18, ¹⁰ Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

The Lord allowed the Israelites to be in an inferior situation as compared to the superiority of the Philistines army to test King Saul if he would readily obey Prophet Samuel. Prophets are God’s messengers. It says in 2 Peter 1:20-21, ²⁰ No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. ²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

King Saul represents those who feel superior so that they would not pay attention to the message of God. The Philistines army represents those who cause believers to be scared and doubt the love of God for them.

Interestingly, the term ‘philistine’ is synonymous to rascality, hostile, or indifference. The Philistines caused troubles among the Israelites so that they were dispersed. They were not only hostile. They raided the Israelite boundaries.

And, the Philistines were smart not to expose their secret to blacksmithing.

2. Blacksmith

¹⁹ Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. ²¹ The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads. ²² So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them. ²³ Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.

When the Israelites went to the Philistine territories just to have their tools be sharpened by Philistine blacksmiths, it implies that Israelites and Philistines had casual interaction before the Philistines went to war against the Israelites.

What triggered the Philistines for them to go to war against the Israelites?

Earlier, after King Saul had assigned 1,000 men under Jonathan, Jonathan attacked a Philistine outpost in Geba. Geba was a town in Benjamin located in between the valley in Mikmahs where the Philistines camped out and the mountain in Gibeah where King Saul and his men camped out.

The Philistines heard about the attack on their outpost at Geba, and they became hostile to the Israelites so that they prepared for battle.

Why did Jonathan attack the Philistines? Did he ignore that the Philistines had superior armament? Did God cause Jonathan to be aggressive against the Philistines? The Israelite had no blacksmith which practically placed them in an inferior situation. Their weapons for battle were inferior apparently.

Athletics

Athletics sport requires physical ability to excel. Athletic competitions are organized to recognize the strongest, fastest, and fittest athlete.

Life in this world has similarity to athletic competition. There’s competition in studies and in employment. Inferior individuals would relegate to the sideline when they sense their ability to be inferior to others. Isaiah 43:7 says, ⁷Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

If we are created for God’s glory, should we feel inferior? If our life testifies of God’s glory, isn’t that superior? God doesn’t ask what we can do for Him. He wants us to experience what He can do in, through and with us. The Lord wants us to rely upon the empowerment of His Spirit for His grace is sufficient enough.

Apostle Paul testified in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

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