The 10th chapter of 1 Chronicles covers the reign of Saul as king of Israel. Well, at least it “chronicles” the end of his reign. The chapter is only 13 verses long, and begins with Saul’s final battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. It was there that Saul and his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchi-shua died. The story is first told in 1 Samuel 31, but we are given a few additional details here as well.

Mount Gilboa, site of Saul’s last battle

After Saul fell on his sword, the Philistines took his head and “fastened” it in the temple of Dagon.  No explanation of that is given, and perhaps none is needed. Dagon was the Philistines’ fish-god, the idol of which God made some rather humorous sport in 1 Samuel 5, when the Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant and placed it in the house of Dagon. The men of Jabesh-gilead (which Saul had rescued at the beginning of his reign in 1 Samuel 11) learned of Saul’s fate, and rescued and buried the bodies of Saul and his sons.

In verses 13-14, the chronicler says that Saul died for “his breach of faith,” and tells of his disobedience and of consulting a medium for guidance instead of seeking guidance from the Lord. So, the last words written of Saul were “therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.”

And so, the rest of the Books of Chronicles begins in chapter 11 with the reign of David and his descendants.

(This year’s reading plan for Luke, Acts, and 1 and 2 Chronicles averages just 15 verses per day – 5 days per week!)
Schedule for this week
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from Luke here
Read or listen to audio of today’s selection from 1 Chronicles here

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.