Before discussing the army we are given some personal information about the king. "Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years." (1 Samuel 13:1) He was referred to as a "young man" earlier in the book of 1 Samuel but we weren't informed of his age when he was anointed king. For all we knew he could have been anywhere from age twenty to forty. But now we know that he was thirty years old when he became king of Israel and that he reigned for forty-two years which means he lived to be seventy-two years old.
One of the first things Saul had to do as king was fight the Ammonites in Chapter 11. In order to do that he had to send out messengers to call up soldiers from all over the nation of Israel. If King Nahash of the Ammonites had not granted the city of Jabesh Gilead a week in order to decide to fight or surrender, troops could not have arrived there in time to save the city and its people. I am sure that incident impressed upon Saul the need for having some of Israel's fighting men ready at all times. He sets about establishing a full-time military force. "Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes." (1 Samuel 13:2)
Jonathan has not been mentioned previously but it will be made clear to us later on that he is Saul's adult son and is his firstborn son. I presume that the author of 1 Samuel did not think it necessary when penning the words of Chapter 13 to inform his readers of Jonathan's identity; the readers of that era and of many generations afterwards would have been well aware that Jonathan was Saul's son. He is a famous character of the Bible because we will find him being a great hero in battle and being a great hero of the faith.
"Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it." (1 Samuel 13:3a) The Lord said He would use Saul to help the Israelites in their fight against the Philistines and it may be that Jonathan and his troops attacked the outpost at Geba upon the orders of Saul. If this move against the Philistines was not made upon the orders of Saul but was made instead at Jonathan's own discretion, the Lord is still using Saul to push back against the Philistines because Jonathan would not have been in a position to lead troops in an attack against the Philistines if his father had not been king.
Geba lay just within the northeast border of the tribe of Benjamin and it was a city of the Levites according to the book of Joshua. The fact that there is a Philistine military garrison in Geba tells us that the enemy took control of the city during one of their previous incursions upon the nation of Israel. It makes sense that Jonathan would begin stirring up war with the Philistines by attacking an outpost within the tribe of Benjamin because he is a Benjamite and his family lives within the borders of Benjamin. Jonathan begins "cleaning house" at the Philistine outpost closest to him.
Verse 3a tells us that news of the attack is quickly relayed to the leaders of the Philistines. Saul knows the Philistines will consider this an act of war and he calls Israel's troops together. "Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, 'Let the Hebrews hear!' So all Israel heard the news: 'Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.' And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal." (1 Samuel 13:3b-4) The wording of verse 4 suggests Saul told Jonathan to attack the outpost but whether or not Saul gave Jonathan these orders it could still be rightly said that, "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost", because the attack was carried out during his reign by his son who is one of his army generals. Saul is responsible for anything that happens during his watch, so to speak, because he is the king of Israel.
"The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, the soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear." (1 Samuel 13:5-7) The Israelites who came up to this battle are vastly outnumbered. Realizing they are vastly outnumbered has completely demoralized these fighting men. Perhaps they did not anticipate how many troops the Philistines would send, but the Philistines want to nip the boldness of the Israelites in the bud. They want to make such a show of strength that the Israelites will either surrender without fighting or, if they do choose to fight, they want to cause such mass casualties among the Israelites that they will not consider ever attacking a Philistine outpost again.
Jonathan has the faith to believe the Lord will give victory no matter how many Philistines come to fight against Israel. We know he has this kind of faith because in Chapter 14 we'll find him courageously attacking a heavily fortified Philistine outpost by climbing a cliffside, saying, "Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few." But right now, in Chapter 13, Saul and the men he called up for battle do not have the courage of Jonathan. Instead of saying, "The Lord will give victory no matter how badly we are outnumbered," they are saying, "We have no chance of winning this battle because we are badly outnumbered."
This is what focusing on our problems does to us! When we place more attention on our problems than on our God, we become demoralized. We begin quaking with fear like the men with Saul. We begin telling ourselves, "I have no chance of winning this battle. The problem is too big. The obstacles are insurmountable. There's no way this can turn out for my good." But that's a lie: It's a lie our human minds tell us and it's a lie Satan tells us. Nothing is too hard for God! It doesn't matter if we're outnumbered. It doesn't matter if the problem appears too big or if the obstacles appear too many. Nothing is bigger than our God. As the Apostle Paul proclaimed, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) As David said in a hymn of praise when the Lord delivered him from a mortal enemy, "With Your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall." (Psalm 18:29) Like David, no matter who or what comes against us, we can bolster our faith and keep ourselves from quaking in fear by boldly testifying to the strength of the Lord by saying in the face of our problem: "I love You, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." (Psalm 18:1-2)
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