No Weapons

So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

- 1 Samuel 13:22

If they had neither swords nor spears, with what did they make war? Was God teaching them something about dependence? I think He was, particularly in the light of Israel having just demanded a king so that they could be like other nations - and God is replying that even with a human king to lead them, they still could not play the game of nations and war the way the nations around them did.

David worked it out, some 40 plus years later:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

- Psalm 20:7