They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. – 1 Samuel 31:10

Today's Scripture Reading (May 2, 2022):  1 Samuel 31

Benito Mussolini was the Italian Prime Minister at the start of World War II. But, as the war progressed, he became "Il Duce" or "The Leader," the unquestioned fascist dictator of Italy. Mussolini ruled Italy with an iron hand, often killing any who opposed him. So, it maybe shouldn't be much of a surprise that those who defeated him treated him the same way he had treated others when his reign ended. On April 28, 1945, with the allied forces closing in, Mussolini and most of his comrades, including his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed by firing squad. But that was not the end of the story of Benito Mussolini. Along with some of his comrades, Mussolini's body was trucked to Milan and dumped in what had been renamed "Fifteen Martyrs' Square" in honor of fifteen Italian partisans who had been executed there by the German army on  August 10, 1944. The bodies were then spat on and kicked by those who had gathered, and then bodies were strung up upside down from an Esso gas station sign, the same place where the bodies of the fifteen executed Italians had been displayed just over nine months earlier.

Death is not the end of dishonor. It is an ancient tradition. Often, dead enemies are simply left on the battlefield rather than being buried. And dead leaders are displayed in an effort to dishonor their memory further.

And this is precisely what happened to Saul. His head had already been removed to make the tour of Philistia. But that was not enough. The Philistines took the decapitated bodies of Saul and his sons to the Israelite village of Beth Shan. Beth Shan was a small town in the territory of the Tribe of Issachar. But the Canaanites had not been completely driven out of the area. The proof of that failure was that the bodies of Saul and his sons were displayed on the walls of Beth Shan. That act meant that the people of Beth Shan were allies of the Philistines, despite being located in northern Israel. The displaying of Saul's body was meant to further dishonor the former King of Israel, something that a loyal city of Israel would have never allowed.

The men of Jabesh Gilead would be the ones to rescue the bodies of Saul and his sons from the walls of Beth Shan. And when they gained possession of the bodies, they burned them, not to further dishonor the bodies, but to make sure that no one could take the bodies back from them and dishonor the King again. And then they buried the bones and fasted for seven days, properly mourning the death of a King.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 1