Saul & Jonathan’s Last Battle

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the Chosen People. The Philistine Kings have gathered at Aphek. They march against Saul and Jonathan. The plains of aphex rolled like an endless sea of steel and fire. Beneath black banners and flapping war pennants. The armies of the Philistine Kings gathered in their thousands. Bronze glinted in the morning sun. Chariots rumbled like distant thunder from horizon to horizon. The earth was cloaked in armor and the breath of war. Oh do you seek bring me the serra, the prophet of Israel's Samuel? 00:00:48 Speaker 2: Why instead, Samuel, I am in greatest stress. The Philistines gathered against me in numbers. 00:01:01 Speaker 1: Beyond beyond counting by. 00:01:03 Speaker 2: My army is afraid. My heart trembles, trembles within me. 00:01:19 Speaker 1: Because you have to be. 00:01:22 Speaker 3: She has delivered you into the hands of fists. You love your sons, She'll be with me. 00:01:39 Speaker 4: Shello, my friends, from here in the Holy Land of Israel. I'm y l Extein with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. Each day we'll hear a dramatic story inspired by the Bible stories filled with timeless lessons of faith, love, and the meaning of life. Through Israel's story, we will this truth that we are all chosen for something great. So take a moment today to follow the podcast. If you're feeling extra grateful for these stories, we would love it if you left us a review. I read every single one of them, and if you're interested in hearing more about the prophetic, life saving work of the Fellowship, you can visit IFCJ dot org. Let's begin. 00:02:29 Speaker 1: The night was sharp with frost. Smoke rose from saws nostrils. With every breath. He wrapped his fur tighter, though no garment could ward off the chill in his bones. The fire sputtered at his feet, cracking and sighing. One of the logs shifted and rolled away from the heart of the flame. Its glow dimmed, slowly, bleeding away from red to gray to black. Saul stare at it, unsettled. Across the fire sat Jonathan. He watched his father with an odd mixture of pity, compassion, and anger. There was love in his gaze and sorrow, and the restrained fury of a man who still believed the Lord could redeem them. Since his return from endor. Saul had barely spoken, He had wandered through the camp like a ghost. Samuel's spirit had given him his sentence. 00:03:32 Speaker 3: The Lord is your enemy's soul, and if will is like a coursing river, you cannot watch what is to come. Because you have disobeyed, she has delivered you into the hands of Phylicianes tomorrow. You and your sons shall be with me tomorrow. 00:03:59 Speaker 1: So all would die, and Jonathan knew it too. The fire spat a gust of sparks into the air. Jonathan cleared his throat, My King, we march at first light. What are your orders? Saul looked up slowly, but no answer came, only silence. The King's lips parted, then closed again. He turned back to the fire. Jonathan's jaw tightened. He crouched low beside the man who had given him life, searching for the father who had vanished somewhere in the haunted corridors of his own mind. Will you lead us? 00:04:44 Speaker 2: Or has the king already died? 00:04:47 Speaker 1: That struck deep, Saul flinched for a long moment. Neither spoke. The crackling of fire and the quiet murmur of the night wind were the only voices between them. Then Saul reached out a withered hand, trembling, and placed it on his son's shoulder. His touch was light, almost apologetic, but it was an answer, I will lead, I will lead. Jonathan nodded, and they spoke. Then they spoke of formations and arches, of choke points and cavalry. On the surface, it would seem that they were talking strategy, but it wasn't that. It was Farewell dressed in the armor of duty. The sun rose over Mount Gilboa, bleeding red across the sky like a wound. The slopes were jagged, with shale and stone, rising up around the valley below like jaws. For a heartbeat, all still, the grass in the veil glistened with morning dew, and the breath of the earth came soft and cold beneath Saul's boots. He turned his face to the light and let the warmth fall over him. Eyes half closed, he smiled barely, the edges of his mouth curled with the faintest peace. Then came the tremours, Saul's eyes open to the shifting of the soil. Beneath his feet. Pebbles danced and scattered like insects. The ground growled across the valley, rising like a black tide from the far plain, the united Philistine army came a great host, stretching wide as the eye could see. Saul's hearts thundered in his chest. The Philistine kingdoms had come in strength, and they would not be denied. To Saul's right, Jonathan's stood ready, flanked by his other sons, a been A Dab and Malchai Schuer. They stood atop the rise, with their men behind them, gripping shields and spears. Jonathan glanced toward his father once, and that glance held everything, love, loyalty, farewell. Saul broke his gaze and drew his sword. The blade shimmered in the dawn's light. He stepped up onto a boulder and raised it high above his head. His jaw clenched, his limbs shook. 00:07:36 Speaker 3: Do not let them see your fear, Fike, Like the sun depends on your sulders to remain in the sky. Whike, hasn't the world of bumble and your thing in your water? Wi For the mation of this field depends on your son and seal bike for your women. 00:07:58 Speaker 2: Your children. 00:08:06 Speaker 1: From deep in his chest came a roar, a raw, primal cry of fury and defiance. It ripped from his throat and echoed through the canyons like the bellow of some dying beast. The men shouted back, their swords lifted in kind, voices hoarse with dread and fire, and then they charged. The Army of Israel poured down the slope of Gilboa like a wave crashing onto rock. The two horses met with a thundering clash, iron against iron, bone against blade. Men screamed, horses reared, spears shattered against shields, and blood turned the grass into mud. Saul fought in the midst of it all, taller than the rest, his gray streaked hair, with sweat and gore, he carved through flesh like a man half his age, his sword sweeping wide arcs of the ruin. Two men fell before each stroke. Still it was not enough. The Philistines preassed in from all sides. The tide was turning. Hisraelights began to fall back, stumbling over the dead that Saul stood firm around him. His bodyguards fell one by one, but he would not yield. He could not his kingship, his failure, his pride. It all came to this single hour. Jonathan was lost in the chaos, somewhere out of sight, in the midst of the carnage. Saul prayed that Jonathan's death would be swift and painless. Saul thought his sword grew heavier, his breath came harder. But the king did not bend. He would not bow. He fought against fate. On the far side of the field, beyond the shouting and clash of blades, Prince Jonathan led the last charge of Israel's glory. He streaked through the Philistine flank with a blade in hand and fury in his bones. He had carved through the first line with unerring precision. Heads turned, blood spattered, and limbs dropped in his wake. He did not slow. The son of Saul was a blur of steel and shadow. His brothers Abinadab and Malchi Shua were behind him. Their target was clear. The fat and arrogant high kings of Felistia, cloistered of the rear of their army behind shields of bronze and flesh. 00:10:52 Speaker 2: Rest forward. If we strike the kings, could we the rest of the army. 00:10:58 Speaker 1: With a roar, Jonathan into the shield wall, knocking a guard flat his men surged forward, slamming into the ring of defenders like a battering ramp. Jonathan ducked a spear, spun beneath it, and drove his blade into a guard's thigh. Another came for his side, but he turned just in time to slice him across the throat. The fury of the sun of sword was a storm, but even storm as falter a beIN a dab fell first. A Philistine's spear found the soft space beneath his ribs. He collapsed like a felled tree. Jonathan saw it all. Jonathan couldn't reach his brother. A blow from a shield caught him square in the chest and hurled him too the dirt. Jonathan rolled a spear jabbed down, missing his head by inches. Jonathan twisted, seized the shaft, and, with a shout of rage, wrenched from the enemy's grasp. He drove it upward into the philistine's throat, then pushed to his feet, only to see Malchi Shua surround it. Malchi Shua swung desperately, but four spears pierced him at once. Jonathan charged, and the guards died before they knew they were marked. One after another. He cut them down. Then, before he could catch his breath, the thunder cane chariots, four of them, were drawn by snorting beasts and driven by the Philistine kings. Jonathan did not run. He planted his feet, bloodied, sword held high. The world slowed around him. The battle still raged, Arrows flew, men died, but in that moment all was still. He looked skyward. The heavens did not speak, but they watched. Jonathan whispered a prayer, not for himself, but for his people, for Israel, for David. He remembered that moment beside the fire with David, when the world was simple, when the future was bright. 00:13:19 Speaker 2: You will sit on Israel's throne, David, not I, not soul. 00:13:24 Speaker 1: You You're the prince, the firstborn son of a king. 00:13:28 Speaker 4: I'm the youngest son of a herdsman. 00:13:30 Speaker 2: What least might happen, Alice? 00:13:33 Speaker 1: The Lord raises the humble white brother, maybe a shepherd. Now the pad of God is upon you. 00:13:39 Speaker 2: I see it as clearly as I see the stars. 00:13:42 Speaker 1: Let them be a covenant of Totos. 00:13:45 Speaker 4: Under the eyes of God. 00:13:46 Speaker 1: We swear loyalty to one another, armand will be stronger than ambiity, jealousy, marriage or crown. Jonathan smirked at the memory. 00:14:00 Speaker 3: There are fools who walk willingly into the lion's den. 00:14:04 Speaker 1: Jonathan began with a walk, then quickened into a full sprint toward the Philistine kings. The chariots didn't slow. Jonathan leaped forward and drove his blade into the wake of the lead horse. It toppled, dragging its chariot sideways in the dirt. The second chariot approached, Jonathan halted it with a stone from fast and true into its wheels. It shattered, splinters flying, and the rider tumbled. But the third, driven by King Akish, came swift and sure. The king slashed wide, and Jonathan took the wound across his chest. He staggered, bleeding, the world turning red. He did not fall. He stood barely, breathing, one arm limp. He raised his sword one last time. Well, protect your people a family. All four kings dismounted and approached Jonathan. Slowly, they surrounded him. Jonathan leaped forward, but was parried and shoved to the floor. Jonathan gasped, straining for each breath as he rose again to his feet. King Akish tilted his head at the sight you are braves on a sword, fine king, you would have made Jonathan couldn't answer. He could only wheeze and flail with his sword. King Akish sighed, then struck Jonathan in the head. Jonathan fell back. Then it happened, four blades rose, the swords descended, all at once. The Prince of Israel was no more. Jonathan, son of Saul, lay in the dust, surrounded by his brothers and the dead. His sword had not broken, his faith had not wavered, but his heart had ceased to beat. Saul's weary arms slashed through the enemy as they advanced. Closer and closer. They pressed, but the king stood his ground until it hit. An enemy arrow whistled through the air, finding its mark on Saul's side, through flesh, through bone, into the lungs. Saul gasped, swung his shield once more, and turned to a jagged outcrop to hide in the chaos of war. He was briefly lost in the shadows. He clung to the stones on the hillside, gasped and splitting up blood. Tav crouched beside him, eyes wide with horror. Saul reached for him, Draw. 00:17:14 Speaker 2: Your swords, Tabby, kill me before they find me before they mock me. 00:17:25 Speaker 1: No, my King, I cannot. I will not be the one to slay the Lord's anointed. 00:17:32 Speaker 4: Ah, you coward. 00:17:34 Speaker 1: I'll take my body through the streets, hanging. 00:17:43 Speaker 2: Me from their walls. 00:17:46 Speaker 1: Ah Tav shook his head, weeping over his friend. With a cry of rage and pain. Saul shout him back and drew his unsword. His hands shook. He looked to the sky. It was pale, now veiled in smoke, the light dim and dunfeeling. No voice answered, no angel came, sir. So this is how it how it ends, not on a throne, not in triumph. Hidden among the stones, broken and alone, he thought of Samuel, the old prophet who once loved him and then turned away. He remembered David, the boy with the sling, the shepherd with the harp, the lion heart, who had walked into his courts and stolen God's favor with nothing but a song. What a what a fool? He remembered, jealousy, hatred, and fear. He remembered chasing shadows through the wilderness, hunting the man who had once soothed his madness. What had it all come to? I was the first, but not the last, and so saw the first King of Israel pressed the hilt of his sword against the earth, its point at his chest. He closed his eyes. He fell, The blade pierced through skin and sinew, through bone and heart. When he struck the earth, the life left him. The broken king rested in the dust. Tarvi gasped with unimaginable grief. 00:20:04 Speaker 4: Goodbye, my king, my friend. 00:20:08 Speaker 1: Unable to bear the grief, Tavi took up his own blade and followed after him. They were found there later, two corpses beside the stone, two blades slick with blood. Their faces turned toward the blackened sky. The king was dead, the battle was lost. The men scattered like lost sheep. But in the hills of Judah a shepherd stood prepared to retrieve the scattered sheep of Israel. 00:20:53 Speaker 4: If your faith has been kindled by this podcast and it has affected your life, we'd love it if you left her of view. We read them, and me personally I cherish them as you venture forth boldly and faithfully. I leave you with the biblical blessing from numbers six Iva Hashem vishmerechra Yeah Heir hashempanave eleven ye sa hashempanave Lehra. 00:21:22 Speaker 1: Salon. 00:21:23 Speaker 4: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you. May he be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. 00:21:34 Speaker 1: Amen. You can listen to the Chosen People with Isle Egstein add free by downloading and subscribing to the pray dot Com app today. This prey dog com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard, Zach Shellavaga and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of the Chosen People with Yaile Exstein, edited by our Berto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotten, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot Com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yeile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.