Saul was king for 42 years. During that time the Philistines were a big problem. Fearing an Israelite rebellion, they barred any Israelite from becoming a blacksmith so they had no weapons. Anyone who wanted to get their metal tools sharpened had to have it done by philistines out of town. With God on their side though, it doesn’t matter much what they have for weapons so Saul went to war anyway.
They had things set up so Samuel would come in and petition God for victory before the battle, but he was late so Saul gave an offering in his place. When Samuel arrived, he was angry at Saul for doing that and told him that his line could have ruled forever, but now it was going to end with him. As far as punishments go for offering improper sacrifices though, saul seems like he got of kind of easy. The last people to screw up the burnt offering were killed with fire from God on the spot.
The battle looks bleak. Saul’s army is outnumbered, but his son Jonathan crept around to a Philistine outpost and killed about 20 men, throwing the Philistines into a panic. They ran away, and Saul was going to pursue them, but some divinations revealed that Jonathan was a little bit cursed, so they shouldn’t go. His faith was exemplary and he hadn’t broken any commands, but Saul had made some vow on behalf of the rest of the army saying that cursed is anyone who eats before they win the fight. Jonathan hadn’t heard that vow so he ate some honey off the ground on the walk back. So, the Philistines live to fight another day.
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