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Chapter 14 "Trust and Obey". A few days later, Jonathan, Saul's son, took his young bodyguard Ahi-jah, great grandson of Eli the Priest, and crossed over the valley to where the Philistine Army was. Saul and the rest of the troops did not know that they were gone. Jonathan devised a test of the Lord. He told Aji-jah, we will approach the Philistines and see if the Lord will do a miracle for us. When we approach, if they say, "Stay where you are or we will kill you", then we will stop and wait for them. But, if they say, "Come on up and fight", then we will know that the Lord will help us to defeat them.
When the Philistines saw Jonathan and Aji-jah, they shouted, "Look, the Israelites are coming out of their holes. Come on up and we will show you how to fight". Then Jonathan knew that the Lord was with him so they went up and killed and scattered the Philistines over an acre, killing 20 men in all. Suddenly panic broke out amongst the Philistines and just then the Lord sent a great earthquake that shook the land and in fear, the Philistines ran in all directions.
Meanwhile, back in the Israeli camp, the lookouts saw a strange sight. The army of the Philistines began to run in all directions. When Saul checked his forces, he found that Jonathan and Aji-jah were missing, so he called the Priest to bring the Ark of the Covenant and Saul and his 600 men rushed out to fight the Philistines. They found the Philistines so confused that they were killing each other and the Israeli men who had been conscripted by the Philistines to fight for them were deserting and joining up with their brothers. Finally, even those who had been hiding in the hills, returned and fought with Saul and the Lord saved Israel that day.
Then Saul showed his immaturity by giving a command that kept everyone from eating until that evening. "No one eats until I have full revenge upon my enemies." So no one ate all day despite the fact that there was food all around them and despite the fact that they were growing weak from hunger. Now Jonathan had not heard about the command and when he found some honey he ate it. Afterwards, when he heard about it he said, "This is foolish, our troops will be weak from hunger." By the time evening came, the troops were so hungry that they ate raw meat. When Saul heard of this he realized they were eating blood which was against God's Law so he built an altar and sacrificed oxen and sheep to the Lord as a sin offering.
Then Saul decided to chase after the Philistines all night but A-hi-jah, the Priest, said, "Lets ask the Lord first." They asked the Lord but He did not answer. Saul determined that it was because someone in the camp had sinned. They drew lots and it was determined that Jonathan had sinned. He confessed that he had eaten a little honey and Saul declared, "For this you must die." But the troops rallied around Jonathan and they said to Saul, "Jonathan saved Israel today, we vow that no man will touch one hair on his head." So Jonathan was saved by the troops.
Saul returned to his home and what was left of the Philistines returned to their home. Saul was now secure as King of Israel. He assembled a vast army and sent them out in all directions. Wherever they went, they were victorious.
Saul had three sons, Jonathan, Ish-vi and Mal-chi-shua. He also had two daughters, Merab and Michal. His wife was A-hi-no-am the daughter of A-hi-ma-az. His commander-in-chief of the army was his cousin Abner. Saul fought continuously with the Philistines throughout his lifetime but never completely conquered them.
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