Loyalty in the Ruins: The Courage of Jabesh-gilead Text: 1 Chronicles 10:11-12
Introduction: Honor Among the Ashes
We come now to the grim conclusion of a tragic story. Saul, the first king of Israel, a man who began with such promise, has ended his life in disgrace on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. His reign, which started with the Spirit of God coming upon him, finishes with him falling on his own sword to avoid capture by the uncircumcised Philistines. The Philistines, in their pagan glee, have desecrated his body and the bodies of his sons, hanging them on the wall of Beth-shan as a public spectacle of contempt. This is the final, pathetic chapter of a man who forsook the word of the Lord. As the Chronicler tells us just a few verses later, "So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord" (1 Chron. 10:13).
The story of Saul is a cautionary tale of the highest order. It is a lesson in what happens when a man, even a king anointed by God, decides his own wisdom is superior to the clear commands of God. He spared Agag, he consulted a medium, and he did not inquire of the Lord. The result was not just his own death, but a rout of Israel's armies and a national humiliation. The Philistines were not just content to kill him; they wanted to make a theological point. They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon. This was their way of saying, "Our gods have triumphed over Yahweh."
In the midst of this national disaster, this theological crisis, this utter ruin, we find a small flicker of light. In a world of cascading covenant failure, where the king has failed, the army has failed, and the nation has fled, one small town remembers. One small town displays a courage and a loyalty that is conspicuously absent everywhere else. This is the town of Jabesh-gilead. Their actions in this dark hour are a profound testimony to the enduring nature of covenant loyalty, even when the object of that loyalty has fallen. They teach us what it means to show honor in the face of dishonor, and to remember kindness when all the world has forgotten.
The Text
Then all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, so all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
(1 Chronicles 10:11-12 LSB)
Covenant Memory (v. 11)
We begin with the catalyst for this remarkable act of courage.
"Then all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul..." (1 Chronicles 10:11a)
The news of this great defeat and desecration spreads. The men of Israel who were in the valley saw the rout and fled their cities, which the Philistines then occupied. Cowardice and fear were the order of the day. But the news that reached Jabesh-gilead landed differently. Why? Why did this town respond with valor when others responded with fear? The answer is found back in the book of 1 Samuel, at the very beginning of Saul's reign.
In 1 Samuel 11, Nahash the Ammonite besieged Jabesh-gilead and offered them a treaty of servitude on the condition that he could gouge out the right eye of every man, bringing reproach on all Israel. The elders of Jabesh-gilead sent messengers for help, and when the news reached Saul, the Spirit of God rushed upon him. He mustered all Israel, marched his army through the night, and routed the Ammonites, delivering the city. Saul, in his first act as king, saved them from a brutal humiliation. He was their deliverer.
Now, some forty years later, the tables have turned. Saul, their deliverer, is the one being humiliated. The Philistines are doing to him what Nahash threatened to do to them, bringing reproach on all Israel. And Jabesh-gilead remembered. This is covenant memory in action. They did not say, "Well, Saul was a failed king. He disobeyed God. He tried to kill David. He is no longer our concern." They did not perform a cost-benefit analysis. They remembered the kindness shown to them. They remembered the covenant bond that was forged in that first great victory. Loyalty is not a transaction based on current performance; it is a bond rooted in past grace.
This is a picture of how we ought to function in the church. We are bound together by covenant. We are to remember the kindnesses, the baptisms, the meals shared, the prayers answered. When a brother falls into sin and disgrace, our first instinct should not be to cut him off and calculate the damage to our reputation. Our first instinct should be to remember. We are a people who are saved by a grace we did not deserve, and we must be a people who extend grace, loyalty, and honor, even when it is costly.
Valiant Men and a Costly Retrieval (v. 12a)
The memory of past grace leads to present action. And not just any action, but action that is both courageous and costly.
"...so all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh..." (1 Chronicles 10:12a LSB)
Notice who acts: "all the valiant men." The Hebrew here is kol ish hayil, every man of valor. This is not a task for the faint of heart. This was a special forces operation. They had to travel through the night, likely crossing the Jordan, infiltrating enemy-held territory, climbing the wall of a Philistine city, taking down the decomposing bodies of the king and his sons, and carrying them all the way back. The risk was immense. If they were caught, they would have shared Saul's fate, or worse.
This is true courage. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is acting rightly in the face of fear. These men were not motivated by a desire for glory or political gain. Saul's house was finished. There was nothing to be gained by aligning with a dead king. Their motivation was honor. They could not abide the thought of the Lord's anointed, even a failed anointed one, being made a pagan trophy. Their loyalty was to the office, to the memory of God's deliverance through this man, and to the honor of God's name, which was being blasphemed by the Philistines.
This is the kind of masculine courage the church desperately needs today. We are called to be valiant men, men who will rise up and act when the honor of Christ and His people is at stake. This means speaking the truth when it is unpopular. It means defending the flock from wolves. It means retrieving those who have fallen, even at great personal risk. It means doing the right thing, not because it is safe or profitable, but simply because it is right.
The Dignity of Burial (v. 12b)
Having retrieved the bodies, their next action is profoundly theological. They give them a proper burial.
"...and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days." (1 Chronicles 10:12b LSB)
In the ancient world, and throughout Scripture, to be left unburied was the ultimate curse, a sign of total contempt and annihilation (Jer. 16:4). The Philistines were not just disrespecting a corpse; they were making a statement about Saul's ultimate destiny. By burying him, the men of Jabesh-gilead were defying that curse. They were showing honor. They were entrusting the bodies to the ground, which is a profound act of faith.
Burial is not a sentimental act. It is a theological testimony. We bury our dead because we believe in the resurrection of the body. We plant them like seeds, in the sure and certain hope that they will be raised in glory on the last day. A cemetery is a grave garden, and the headstones are the markers telling us what kind of seed was planted, awaiting the great harvest. Even though Saul was a disobedient king, the men of Jabesh-gilead still treated his body with the honor due to a man made in God's image, and an office established by God Himself. They were not affirming his sin; they were affirming the goodness of creation and the hope of redemption.
Their action is completed with a seven-day fast. This was a period of deep and solemn mourning. Seven is the number of covenantal completion. Their grief was not just for the man, but for the state of the nation. It was a recognition of the gravity of the sin that had brought them to this low point. It was a corporate act of repentance and sorrow. They were grieving the failure of their king and the judgment of their God.
Conclusion: Loyalty Beyond the Grave
So what do we take from this brief, heroic episode? We see a beautiful illustration of what covenant faithfulness looks like in a fallen world. The men of Jabesh-gilead provide a stark contrast to the failure of Saul. Saul's great sin was unfaithfulness, a failure to remember and obey the word of the Lord. The great virtue of Jabesh-gilead was faithfulness, a determination to remember and honor a past act of grace.
Their loyalty was not to a perfect man, but to a covenant. They remembered their deliverer, and so they acted to deliver his body from shame. This points us, as everything in the Old Testament does, to our great Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truly valiant one who arose and went on the ultimate rescue mission. He crossed into enemy territory, not to retrieve a dead body, but to conquer death itself. He went to the cross, where He was publicly shamed and desecrated, far more than Saul ever was. He bore the full curse of being left exposed, hanging between heaven and earth.
And because of His faithfulness, we who were once objects of God's wrath have been rescued. He delivered us when we were besieged by an enemy far more terrible than Nahash the Ammonite. He saved us from having our eyes, our spiritual sight, gouged out by the prince of this world. He saved us from sin and death.
Our response must be that of Jabesh-gilead. We must have a covenant memory. We must never forget the great deliverance He has wrought for us. And that memory must compel us to action. It must make us valiant men and women, loyal to our King, even when it is costly. We are called to honor His name in a world that dishonors it. We are called to retrieve those who have fallen. We are called to live lives of courageous faithfulness, remembering the One who was faithful to us, even unto death. Let us be a people who, like the men of Jabesh-gilead, are known for our loyalty in the ruins.