Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible recap.

Your Bible may have had a gap in the spot for Saul's age and how long he served.

No one is entirely sure, but it's probably in the range of either 20 or 40 years.

And some of today's events might possibly be out of chronological order, but we'll try

to make sense of them as much as possible.

Today we meet Saul's son Jonathan for the first time and he's already winning battles

against the Philistines.

But when the Philistines come back to retaliate, they bring a lot of warriors and chariots.

The Israelites start to hide and even flee to the transjordan.

Remember yesterday's reading when we read about Samuel telling Saul to wait for him at

Gilgall for seven days, and I told you, remember this, it's important.

It's possible that corresponds directly to what's happening in 13-8 today, but it's

also possible this is an entirely different time when Samuel gave the same instructions.

So Saul is at Gilgall.

A lot of his army has fled or is hiding and the Philistines are breathing down his neck.

I can't imagine how stressful this must be for him and how urgent things must feel.

But this is Israel, a nation-state made up of God's people, and the way their leaders

are supposed to make decisions is to consult with God.

Specifically, Saul is supposed to wait to hear from Israel's prophet, Samuel.

The Samuel still isn't there after seven days, and Saul is losing control of the people.

So in his panic, Saul does something only the priest is allowed to do.

He offers a burnt offering to God.

...