Stripping the Slain - I Samuel 31:8

I Samuel 31:8 and it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistine came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.

Introduction – (See I Samuel 31:1-13):

The Philistines amassed a great army with 5 lords against the Israelites. They demanded that David and his men leave, and they went back to Ziklag (see last week’s lesson). The Philistine army overwhelmed the Israelites. King Saul was critically wounded, and asked his armorbearer to run him through with a sword so that he would not be captured alive and tortured by the Philistines. The armorbearer refused, and Saul committed suicide by falling on his own sword, and when the armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way. Saul’s three sons also died in the battle.

The following day the Philistine army returned to strip the dead bodies of anything of value. They desecrated Saul’s body by chopping off his head and sending it around to announce the defeat of their enemy. His body armor was placed in the house of one of their idol gods. They took the bodies of Saul and his three sons and fastened them to the wall of Beth-shan.

When the Israelites of Jabesh-Gilead heard about the desecration of Saul’s body, they were horrified. About 40 years earlier, in his first battle as king of Israel, Saul had rescued their town from certain defeat from Nahash the Ammonite. They never forgot. Therefore, valiant men arose and crossed the Jordan River and walked all night to rescue the bodies. They returned to their town, burned the bodies, buried their bones, and fasted for seven days.

The victims:

One of the customs of the time was for the victorious army to strip the defeated dead and gather the spoil for themselves. They would take anything of value – clothes, armor, weapons, rings, earrings, etc. The dead were helpless and could not resist them. In this case, they also desecrated the bodies of the royal line of Saul to show the superiority of their idol gods, whom they claimed gave them victory.

 We can be victims too - dead in trespasses in sins!

But what has that to do with us today?  We too are dead. We are all born dead in trespasses and sin. The sin-nature which came upon Adam has passed to us, and we are born spiritually dead. You could call us spiritual stillborns. We are vulnerable to the attacks of Satan and his henchmen. Should we die physically without being born again, we would then suffer the second death as well. The Bible calls this the second death. Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The vultures:

Dead bodies in that desert area will be consumed by the vultures, who come to feast on the dead carrion. Those dead bodies cannot resist. Likewise, when we are spiritually dead, like a vulture, Satan or his workmen will come to strip us as well. They may not focus simply on material goods, but our virtue, our potential for the Lord, our self-respect, etc. They may use drugs or immorality or greed or a hundred other devices of the devil to despoil us. Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.

The valiant:

The men of Jabesh-Gilead loved their king and never forgot what he did for them. His rescue of them was his first battle early in his reign. They remembered his courage 4 decades earlier decided to do what they could do to restore Saul’s honor. They arose and traveled all night, crossing the Jordan river and risking their lives. The valiant men had 4 bodies to carry all that distance home. 

The men of Jabesh-Gilead honored King Saul and saved him from a totally dishonorable death. We have a king, King Jesus, who is worthy of our love and devotion. We need to be valiant men arising and serving Him to maintain His honor. We need to beware of philosophy and vain deceit. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:4-6, But God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherein he loved us, 5. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened (made alive) us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), 6. And hath raised us up together in heavenly places in Christ  Jesus, 7. That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Let us serve the King of Kings who is worthy of all honor. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!