huh?
The very first time I heard the suicide bomb scenario of dead babies, nursing moms and old folks in Jerusalem... I told mrs. P... amalek is alive and well. The trouble is the amalek attitude is rampant here in the USA as well. It just has not reached its "season". I fear the season is sooner rather than later.
The people rejected the leadership of God's prophet and judge, Samuel, and when God reluctantly consented to their wish, he instructed Samuel to Òmake for them a kingÓ, like all other nations. The choice fell upon Saul, a Benjaminite renowned for his bravery and his great height. Benjamin was the weakest tribe and the remaining tribes would therefore have no cause to be jealous against Israel's first king.
A few decades before the establishment of the monarchy, a grotesque and genocidal civil war erupted among IsraelÕs twelve tribes. Known as the Benjaminite War (Judges 19-21), this civil war was triggered by a ghastly local incident - the gang rape of a women in SaulÕs hometown, Gibeah of Benjamin. The rape was the cause for a war of revenge in which the tribe of Benjamin is nearly eradicated.
The story ends with the following sentence, which concludes the Book of Judges: ÒIn those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did as he pleasedÓ (Judges 21:25). Next comes the Book of Samuel and the anointing of Saul as Israel's first king.
The text in the Book of Samuel is a literary piece of art that presents Saul as a tragic hero. When the Bible introduces us to Saul, he is a peasant boy unsuccessfully searching for his father's asses. He returns with a very different kind of find - he has been made king. He searched for asses and found a kingship. Samuel explains to Saul that God had destined him to become king of IsraelÕs tribal federation. Saul answers with words of humility: ÒAm I not from Benjamin, the smallest of the tribes of Israel ? And is my family not the least of all the families of Benjamin?Ó (1 Samuel 10:20-22).
After anointing Saul in private, Samuel calls the people together in Mizpah to confirm the selection. There Saul is publicly acclaimed king according to a procedure involving the drawing of lots. First, from all the tribes, Benjamin is chosen; then Saul's clan is chosen; and from the clan, Saul. The new king tries to escape his destiny but the crowd eventually finds him hiding amid the baggage.
Saul's first challenge as king comes when Nahash (ÔsnakeÕ) the Ammonite besieges the Israelite city of Jabesh Gilead. Everyone abandons hope. Saul, however, is seized by the spirit of God and mobilizes a people's army from all the tribes.Following the victory, at a national convocation at Gilgal led by Samuel, SaulÕs kingship is reaffirmed by acclamation. There, Samuel warns the people to acknowledge the limits of human kingship and remain subordinate to the will of God.SamuelÕs speech marks the beginning of Saul's downfall.
Continued Philistine pressure provides Saul with a new test as military commander. The Philistines invade with Ò3,000 chariots, 6,000 horseman and troops as numerous as the sands of the seashoreÓ. The men of Israel are afraid and most defect rather than fight. At this time of great danger, king Saul and the Prophet Samuel are engaged in bitter conflict, and Saul is informed that he has fallen out of God's favor.
The war continues until Jonathan, SaulÕs son, raided the Philistine camp in Michmash, north east of Jerusalem. Jonathan and his armour-bearer passed during the night in a canyon between two high rocks, Bozez and Seneh, then clambered up the cliff and overpowered the garrison. Thereupon, Saul attacked with his force and beat the enemy. ÒSo the Lord saved Israel that dayÓ (1 Samuel 14).
The same biblical tactics were used again after 3,000 years during the British conquest of the Holy Land from the Turks in 1917. When a British commander was ordered to take a village called Michmash, the name rang a bell. He searched his Bible with the light of a candle until he found the story for which he was looking. The officer sent patrols to find the pass and then sent a company through it under the cover of darkness. The turks were quickly overpowered.
But back to the Bible.
Jonathan, not Saul, is the hero of the day. It seems Saul's own son is superseding him. Saul inflates the matter into a major conflict. His inner despair is so great that he tries to kill his son. Saul gets one final chance when Samuel charges him in the name of God to put Israel's most detested enemy, the Amalekites, under the ban, that is to destroy them. ÒKill alike men and women, infants and sucklings, oxen and sheep, camels and assesÓ (1 Samuel 15:3).
Saul destroys Amalek, but in contradiction of the divine ban, he spares their king, Agag. When confronted by Samuel, he has no explanation for sparing Agag. This is the last straw for God and Samuel. Saul is rejected as king because he has rejected the LordÕs command. Saul begs Samuel for forgiveness but the prophet replies: ÒThe Lord has this day torn the kingship over Israel away from you and has given it to another who is worthierÓ (15:28). Samuel is sent to Bethlehem to anoint David, a young shepard, as the next king. SaulÕs downfall continues against the backdrop of David's rise to power.
David comes to the nation's attention in the next round of war with the Philistines. As Israel trembles by the sight of the giant Goliath, David's courage saves the day. After the victory, the women of Israel come out to meet Saul:ÓSaul has slain his thousands; David, his tens of thousandsÓ (18:7).
David is brought to Saul's court - to play the lyre and sooth the troubled king. Saul becomes dependent on David - the very man who he will soon understand to be his rival for the throne. Saul is in a double bind. He is dependent on his rival; God's trap is complete. Saul's inner conflict is heightened almost beyond endurance. A paranoid Saul regards him with envy and conflict becomes inevitable. Saul reaches several times for his spear, but never succeeds in pinning David to the wall.
SaulÕs desperation becomes clear after the priests of the city of Nob innocently give succor to David. In retaliation, Saul orders the entire city to be exterminated. In killing everyone in Nob, including YahwehÕs priests, Saul also takes his revenge against God.
SaulÕs fits of jealous rage forced David to flee to the Judean wilderness, where Saul continued to hunt him. In the following spring the Philistines launched a major attack to the north. ÒWhen Saul saw the mighty Philistine force, his Heart trembled with fearÓ. Unable to obtain counsel from the Lord, the terrified king seeks guidance from the banned necromancer, the woman in En-Dor. Samuel, who has now died is conjured up. The prophetÕs response is clear and harsh:Ó...the Lord has turned away from you and has became your adversary. Tomorrow your sons and you will be with me; and the Lord will also deliver the Israelite forces into the hands of the PhilistinesÓ (1 Samuel 28:19). The following day the Israelites were defeated. SaulÕs three sons were killed and he himself fell upon his sword. The Philistines hung Saul's body and the bodies of his sons on the walls of Beth Shean.
As Saul falls, David rises. SaulÕs defeat by the Philistines occurred one day before David's victory over the Amalekites in a war that took place on Israel's southern border (2 Samuel 1). Saul is the great tragic figure of the Bible.
His travails represent not the tragedy of a man but that of a people who deny God in their demand for an earthly monarch.