When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died. – 1 Chronicles 10:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 1, 2016): 1 Chronicles 10

The real danger of the Islamic State is, and always has been, that it is an ideology that lives in the wake of the persecution coming from the rest of the world. And it is impossible to bomb an ideology. In fact, in the case of the Islamic State, further persecution will likely only strengthen the ideology. The Islamic State becomes a Chinese Finger Trap, and the harder you pull the more fiercely it grips on to you. Our reality is that we may be able to kill its leaders, we might be able to take away the States land acquisitions, but the result of that action will likely be that we will drive the Islamic State underground and then we will watch it erupt somewhere else. American soldiers on the ground in Syria is precisely the wrong action because it plays into the Islamic States ideology and keeps it strong. The only way for the Islamic State to be defeated is for Muslims to defeat them while the rest of the world watches, and prays to Allah and Yahweh, for their victory. And that becomes the problem, because deep down none of us are sure if that is really possible.

Fighting an ideology is different from fighting a charismatic personality. During the Second World War, the significant moments in the fight in Europe were connected with the death of the two leaders. I know that by the time the leaders died, the war had already turned against the Nazi’s, but the death of Benito Mussolin, who was executed on April 28, 1945, and Adolf Hitler, who committed suicide two days later on April 30, 1945, finished the resistance against the Anti-Nazi forces. All that was left was to go through the motions until the inevitable end. But when a clear ideology is involved, there are always people willing to pick up the banner and soldier on, even after the death of an influential leader.

Saul was dead. We don’t know much of the situation, but it would probably have been possible for the armor bearer at this point in the story to drop his weapons and simply fade into the background as a civilian. According to the Chronicler, the Philistine army was in pursuit. But the pursuit would have likely ended as soon as the bodies of Saul and his sons were discovered. Anonymously and, possibly, in exile, life could have continued. But the armor bearer was committed to the person of Saul. There was no overarching ideology that governed his actions. His reason for living was the king and now the king was gone.  

And so the life of this unnamed man also ends. And it ends in the same way as his king, suicide by sword. And now the reign of the house of Saul is also approaching its end. The final result would be that the House of Saul would be replaced by the house of David, and an ideology and belief in the one true God and the people that he calls his own. This is an ideology that lives in the Jews even today. They are not just a race on the earth, they serve an ideology that reminds them that they are the chosen ones of God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 5