Commentary - 1 Samuel 13:5-7

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we see the curtain rise on one of Saul's great tests, a test which he will spectacularly fail. The issue at stake is a simple one, and it is the issue that confronts every believer in every generation: will you believe God or will you believe your eyes? The Philistines, the standing menace to Israel, have gathered a force that is, by any human calculation, invincible. This is the world's answer to the people of God. It is shock and awe, a display of raw power intended to induce panic and despair. Israel's reaction is precisely what the enemy intended. Their response is not faith, but fear. This fear leads to a complete military and spiritual collapse, with the army of the living God dissolving into a terrified mob, hiding in holes in the ground. Saul, the man who was supposed to lead them, is paralyzed, and the few who remain with him are trembling. This is a snapshot of what happens when the fear of man displaces the fear of God.

Outline

Context In 1 Samuel

This scene follows Jonathan's bold strike against a Philistine garrison (1 Sam. 13:3). That act of faith provoked the hornet's nest, and now the Philistines have responded with overwhelming force. Saul has been king for a couple of years, but his leadership is still being established. He has gathered the people at Gilgal, a place rich with covenant history, the very spot where Israel first entered the land and was consecrated to God. This is therefore a covenantal showdown. Will Israel, under their new king, trust in the God who brought them into the land, or will they succumb to the visible power of the Philistines? This passage sets the stage for Saul's first great act of disobedience, where he will fail to wait for Samuel and illegitimately offer a sacrifice out of panic. The fear described here is the direct cause of the sin that follows.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

Verse 5: The Enemy on Display

5 Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel... The enemy does not wait. Jonathan poked them, and now they mean to crush Israel once and for all. This is how the world operates. It does not tolerate the claims of God's kingdom. When the church makes a stand, the world marshals its forces. We should expect this. The battle is joined.

30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen... The numbers here are likely a statement of overwhelming force, not necessarily a precise census. Some manuscripts have 3,000 chariots, but the point remains the same. This is the ancient equivalent of an armored division. Chariots were the superweapon of the day, instruments of terror designed to break infantry lines. Israel had no such technology. From a military perspective, this was not a fair fight. It was a planned annihilation. This is what you call asymmetrical warfare, and Israel is on the wrong side of the asymmetry.

and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance... Here the Holy Spirit uses a deliberate and cutting irony. What was the promise God made to Abraham? That his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Gen. 22:17). Now, the uncircumcised Philistines appear to have inherited the blessing. The enemy is mocking God's promise with their own sheer numbers. The test for Israel is stark: will you trust the original promise from God, or will you be terrified by the enemy's parody of it? The world is always offering its own bloated versions of God's blessings, and they are designed to make us feel small and abandoned.

and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven. The threat is not abstract or far away. They are on Israel's doorstep. And notice the location. Michmash is a strategic pass, but the mention of Beth-aven is theologically significant. The name means "house of vanity" or "house of iniquity," a name later used by Hosea as a pejorative for Bethel, the "house of God" (Hos. 4:15). The army of idols is encamped at the House of Vanity, preparing to make war on the House of God. This is a spiritual conflict manifesting in physical space.

Verse 6: The Unraveling of a People

6 Now the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed). They saw. That is the key verb. They walked by sight, not by faith. And what is the result of walking by sight when the enemy is arrayed like this? You find yourself "in a strait." You are cornered, trapped, with no way out. This is the inevitable consequence of worldly pragmatism. When you tally up the enemy's chariots and forget to tally up God's promises, you will always be hard-pressed. Your circumstances will always suffocate you.

Then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. This is the anatomy of fear. An army, a nation under God, dissolves into a collection of terrified individuals. They are not soldiers anymore; they are fugitives. They are hiding in holes in the ground, a shameful regression. Man was made from the dust of the ground, and here, in their unbelief, they are scrambling to get back into it. This is a picture of utter demoralization. Instead of standing shoulder to shoulder as the army of God, they scatter like mice. This is what happens when men forget who they are and, more importantly, whose they are.

Verse 7: A Leaderless Mob

7 Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. The fear is now causing a full-blown retreat. They are not just hiding; they are deserting. And where are they fleeing? Back across the Jordan. They are abandoning the Promised Land itself. This is a covenantal catastrophe. The Jordan River was the barrier God miraculously parted for them to enter the land of promise. Now, in their terror, they are un-crossing it. They would rather have the relative safety of exile than the dangers of the inheritance God gave them. This is a people voting with their feet against the covenant.

But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal... In the midst of this chaos, where is the king? He is in Gilgal. He has not fled, but he is not leading either. He is paralyzed. Gilgal was a place of memorial, where the twelve stones were set up to remember God's faithfulness in bringing them across the Jordan (Josh. 4:20). Saul is sitting in the middle of a monument to God's power, completely impotent because of his own fear. He is surrounded by the evidence of God's past deliverances, but it does him no good because he will not trust God for the present one.

and all the people followed him trembling. The remnant that stays with Saul is not a band of heroes. They are a congregation of fear. The text says they followed him "trembling." The fear of the leader becomes the culture of the followers. Saul's terror is contagious. A king is supposed to embody courage and faith, inspiring the people to rise above their fears. Saul embodies their fear, and so they all tremble together. This is the opposite of godly leadership. A leader who fears the enemy more than he fears God will only ever produce trembling followers.

Application

The Christian life is a constant confrontation with Philistines. The world will regularly marshal its forces, its arguments, its threats, and its sheer numbers, and it will look like sand on the seashore. It will look overwhelming. Our calling is to see this display not with the eyes of the flesh, but with the eyes of faith. When we see with our own eyes, we see that we are "in a strait," and our natural response will be to hide in caves or run back across the Jordan.

This passage is a stark warning against pragmatic, fear-based leadership. Saul was paralyzed by the circumstances. He was looking at the chariots, not at the God of the covenant. A church or a family led by a man who fears the world will be a trembling institution, not a conquering one. We are called to be men like Jonathan, who will act in faith, not men like Saul, who sit and tremble while their army dissolves.

The gospel is the ultimate answer to this kind of fear. We face an enemy far greater than 30,000 chariots. We face sin, death, and the devil. But Christ did not hide in a cave. He went to the cross and defeated them all. Because of His victory, we are freed from the need to tremble. We are no longer defined by the size of our enemies, but by the size of our God. Therefore, when the Philistines of our day assemble, we are to stand our ground, not because our own strength is sufficient, but because the Lord of Hosts is with us.