(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Samuel 11:12–15, “And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel. Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.”
When Saul was anointed as king there were some people in Israel who refused to accept him as king. After all, he was unknown in Israel and came from the smallest and most rebellious of the tribes. If this situation had been allowed to continue, Israel may well have fallen apart as a nation long before it actually did. However, the Lord intervened, as only He can, and ensured that there was a significant victory to unite the nation. There is always a sense of confidence and unity after a victory, whether it is in battle or in some kind of sport. The Israelis were on a “high” after defeating Nahash so convincingly when they came back. Some people remembered that there were unscrupulous people who had refused a acknowledge Saul as king and wanted to execute the rebels for treason. However, Saul was in a forgiving mood and refused to allow anything like this to happen. Samuel called the people to Gilgal, the famous place where Israel remade the covenant after they entered the Promised Land. (see Josh 5:9–10, “And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.”) This was another time for them to corporately acknowledge the Lord’s goodness to Israel and His grace in giving the a secure Land.
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