Introduction and Context
First Samuel chapter 14, it goes together with chapter 13, which we looked at two weeks ago. I'll review a little bit of chapter 13 as we move along tonight. It's a long chapter, so we're going to just take up the first half, verses 1 to 23, the initiative of Jonathan with reference to the defeat over the Philistines. So I'll just begin reading in chapter 14 at verse 1.
Now it happened one day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who bore his armor, come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side. But he did not tell his father, and Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about 600 men. Ahijah, the son of Ahitab, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord's priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod.
But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of one was Bozes, and the name of the other, Sene. The front of one faced northward opposite Mikmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah.
Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. So his armor bearer said to him, do all that is in your heart. Go then, here I am with you, according to your heart.
Then Jonathan said, very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. But if they say thus, come up to us, then we will go up, for the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us. So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines.
And the Philistines said, look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden. Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will show you something. Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel. And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armor-bearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan.
And as he came after him, his armor-bearer killed them. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made was about 20 men within about half an acre of land. And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled, and the earth quaked so that it was a very great trembling.
Now the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude melting away, and they went here and there. Then Saul said to the people who were with him, now call the roll and see who has gone from us. And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. And Saul said to Ahijah, bring the ark of God here.
For at that time, the ark of God was with the children of Israel. Now it happened while Saul talked to the priests that the noise, which was in the camp of the Philistines, continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, withdraw your hand. And Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle.
And indeed, every man's sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion. Moreover, the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth-Avon.
Amen. As I said, it goes very closely with chapter 13. If you go back for just a moment in chapter 13 in verses 1 to 7, we see this war with the Philistines. And it's led by Jonathan.
And the fact that Jonathan is preeminent in chapter 14 continues to bode not so well for Saul. Saul sins grievously in chapter 13. He rejects the word of God. And here in chapter 14, the spotlight is continually on Jonathan.
Later on in chapter 14, Saul makes this rash vow or oath that persons are not to eat, and ultimately the people deliver Jonathan from death. And then in chapter 15, of course, Saul doesn't do well again. He is given command to go in and destroy the Amalekites, but he preserves them. He preserves the king, Samuel reproves him, and then of course the spotlight begins to transition over to David.
So in chapters 13 and 14, the problem is the Philistines. They have this continual nagging presence of Philistines in the land. that want to try and disrupt Israel. So in chapter 13 verses 1 to 7 there is war with the Philistines, there is rejection of the Word of God by Saul to Samuel in verses 8 to 14, and then the demoralization of Israel at the end of chapter 13. And that's what we need to understand when we come to chapter 14.
Specifically in chapter 13 in verses 15 to 23, we have troop reduction. Notice in 15b, it says, and Saul numbered the people present with him about 600 men. He had previously to that, if you go back to the beginning of the chapter, Let's see here. In verse 1, Saul reigned one year, and when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel. 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin.
So after this skirmish with the Philistines, he ends up with 600 men. That is demoralizing when you go from 2,000 to 600. You don't have a lot of troops left. As well, they had the presence of Philistine raiders.
Notice in chapter 13, verses 16 to 18. These raiders from the Philistines came out in three companies and they wreaked havoc upon the children of Israel. As well, there was an absence of weapons according to verses 19 to 22. What the Philistines did was very wise.
They controlled with high prices iron production so that the Israelites could not have weapons. The only two men in Israel that had swords were Saul and Jonathan. If you want to defeat your enemy, certainly disarm him. If you want to defeat your enemy, confiscate his guns, confiscate his swords, confiscate his ability to make weapons.
So you thought that gun grabs were an original idea. They have their tap roots back with the Philistines, and I'm sure even previous to that. So this would have been demoralizing and then in verse 23 we see the strategic positioning of the garrison of the Philistines. So as we come into chapter 14, things are very bleak.
Things do not look well whatsoever for the nation of Israel and with reference to this threat of Philistines. And we have two broad considerations in chapter 14 up to verse 23.
Jonathan's Initiative
We have first the initiative of Jonathan in verses 1 to 15, and then the salvation by the Lord in verses 16 to 23. And there are some very helpful lessons that I hope that we'll learn along the way as we consider Jonathan and his faithfulness and as we consider God and his faithfulness. But
Jonathan's Plan and Background
note first, Jonathan's initiative in verses 1 to 5. It says that he had a plan to attack the Philistines. Notice, it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side. Now he didn't want to go over there. to bring them coffee.
He didn't want to go over there to bring them treats or to bring them a nice big plate of cookies. He wanted to go and see if they could bring defeat upon the Philistine threat. He's already had some battle experience in chapter 13. He's already gone against the Philistines.
Why? Saul is sitting under a pomegranate tree while his son is taking care of business with reference to the Philistines. The text doesn't tell us, but it conspicuously demonstrates that things are not right in Saul's reign. Saul rejected the word of God as it was spoken by Samuel in chapter 13.
In this particular chapter as well, he rejects again the divine guidance. And so what we are witnessing is the downfall of Saul. And in many respects, with reference to Jonathan, he serves as a good transition from Saul to David. David is the man, of course, after God's own heart.
David is a faithful warrior. David is a faithful king. So we're getting a bit of a foretaste now with reference to that in the life and ministry of Jonathan. So he has this plan to initiate an attack upon the Philistines.
It gives us some of the background of what was going on. Verse 2, Saul was sitting in the outskirt of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. Now it's probably not the case that he was in a lounge chair sipping iced tea. It probably was the case that this was his command center, his command post.
It was his bunker. It was his place to rule in this particular situation. But it certainly doesn't indicate to us that he is strategizing, that he is calculating, that he is developing a battle plan to deal with this Philistine threat. No, on the contrary, we're presented with Jonathan that goes or has this initiative to go to the garrison and deal with these Philistines.
But all we find is Saul sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah. Probably Jonathan didn't mention this to his father because he was concerned that his father would not approve of it. Probably not because of this great love affair between father and son, which if you notice the particular leaders in the entirety of Samuel up to this particular point, none of the father-son relationships have been very good. I mean, Eli and his sons, not a good family situation.
Samuel and his sons, they did not serve the Lord. And now we find with Saul and Jonathan, there's this secrecy, there's the, you know, covert operations. One would think that if a son wanted to go into battle, he would seek the sanction of his father, the king, but that's not what we find. I think the author again is showing us and indicating to us that what we have is not good in the life and the reign of King Saul.
So he's sitting under the pomegranate tree, which is migrant, says the people who were with him were about 600 men, just how we left him in chapter 13 at 15b. So we're not talking about a long time span here. We're talking about the same Philistine threat We're talking about the same difficulties and the same problems that is going on. Jonathan wants to deal with them.
Jonathan wants to do business with Philistines. Saul, however, is sitting under the pomegranate tree. And then it tells us about the priestly office in verse 3. Ahijah, he is the great grandson of Eli.
Again, maybe the author. by a very skillful way of crafting his narrative is showing us something of the has-beens. The fact that this high priest is connected to Eli does not bode well for the priesthood in Israel either. Eli did not restrain his sons. Eli's sons were the priests who stole sacrifice and lay with women at the house of the Lord.
These were not sterling young men. And so the reference here to this particular priest, the reference to Saul sitting under the pomegranate tree, shows us that there's a problem in the leadership. And it's already been told by Samuel in the previous chapter that Saul's kingdom is not going to proceed. Saul is not going to continue as the king in Israel.
God will seek a man after his own heart. The author or the narrator is starting to open up the door for the advent of the Lord, not the Lord, but the King David of Israel. And so it gives us the background, gives us the situation, and then it gives us this bit of geography in verses four and five. It's kind of an interesting thing.
I looked on Google Maps, I think a trip to Israel, is in my future, I'd like to see these places with my own eyes. I'd like to see the relationships, walk the paths. It's kind of hard for me to conceptualize all that's going on here, but it references these two rock, these two sharp rocks on either side of a particular pass. What I surmise is that this would have been a very difficult way for a man or men to take.
And so when they appear at the Philistine garrison, it is a bit surprising. The Philistines would not have expected men to have passed through this particular route to get to their location. Davis says, he adds, that the one, talking about these rock passes, is on the north in front of Michmash, the south in front of Geba. So it's right about the middle of where Saul and his people are and where the Philistines are located.
Their names, roughly equivalent to Slippery, which is Bozes, and Thorny, which is Sene, hardly invite hikers. And between these rock outcroppings is the wadi Suwenit, which is a brook that cuts its deep trough through the Jordan with steep banks on either side. One might infer from verses 12 and 13 that most sane folks considered the point impassable. That fact could prove an advantage.
So probably what happens is that Jonathan and his armor bearer take the most difficult path they can possibly take because the Philistines at the garrison would not have been expecting that. And so that when Jonathan and the armor bearer show up and they say, hey, we're the Israelites, they say, oh, they've crawled out of their holes. They weren't expecting what was going to happen with reference to this particular situation. So the geography is given to us a general setting to sort of sketch for us what's going to happen in the rest of the narrative.
As well, when the garrison men or when the Philistines start to scatter, when Israel makes her attack, if they are forced into this particular area, it doesn't look good for them. So probably there's some strategy going on on the part of Jonathan and his armor-bearer. Notice they never named the armor-bearer. This poor fellow, all he's ever known as is the armor-bearer.
And he's a faithful man. He's a good man. He supports Jonathan. He kills 20 Philistines right there at the garrison.
He is a solid man, but not so important that we need to know his name. Never think that you are such an individual snowflake that everyone in this world ought to know who you are when you leave your mark. No, you may do glorious exploits for the God of heaven and earth and never be named among men. It is the nature of God's kingdom.
He gets the glory. We do not. As C.H. Spurgeon said, let the name of Jesus be glorified.
Let the name of C.H. Spurgeon perish. However, the name of C.H. Spurgeon certainly didn't perish, but this is what we find.
We have a faithful armor-bearer, we have a faithful son of an unfaithful king. That's what the author wants us to get. Now
Jonathan's Faith and the Sign
notice the instruction of Jonathan to the armor-bearer. He has a plan to engage the Philistines. Notice in verse 6, then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few." A little foreshadowing of David.
Isn't this precisely what David says when the armies of Israel are on the field of battle and there is Goliath? What does David say? Who is this uncircumcised that he should taunt the armies of the living God? Again, Jonathan is a great transition character from unfaithful Saul to faithful David.
And notice what Jonathan says in this particular instance. Let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, or perhaps the Lord will work for us. I believe what he is doing in this particular instance is expressing his faith in the God of heaven and earth.
He is doing what he is doing because he believes that God is all powerful. He is doing what he is doing because he believes in Yahweh of Israel. He is doing what he is doing because faith in the living and true God promotes courage, earnestness, and zeal among the people of God. We step out because God is sovereign.
We step out because God is faithful. We step out and do because God is omnipotent. Those who know their God engage in exploits for his name. He says it this way, it may be that the Lord will work for us.
And with reference to this, I've said it may be or perhaps. Samora says perhaps is not a sign of Jonathan's doubt in God's ability. He believes in God's ability. He trusts in God's sovereignty.
But Samora goes on to say, but rather a confession that God is not required to act for them. You see, on the one hand, he has faith in the omnipotent God. He has faith in the sovereignty of God, but he's not arrogant. He is not presumptuous.
He says, if perhaps God grant us victory. It may be that God grant us victory. On this note here, Davis, he says, and how refreshing to hear Jonathan's perhaps. Perhaps Yahweh will act for us.
Many in our day think otherwise. They think that to say perhaps cuts the nerve of faith. That if faith is faith, it must always be certain, dogmatic, and absolutely positive. Faith, however, must not be confused with arrogance.
Jonathan's, perhaps, is part of his faith. He both confesses the power of Yahweh and retains the freedom of Yahweh. Faith does not dictate to God. This is crucial.
This is not positive confessionalism. Faith does not dictate to God as if the Lord of hosts is its errand boy. Faith recognizes its degree of ignorance and knows it has not read a transcript of the divine decrees for most situations. All this, however, does not cancel, but enhances its excitement.
Who knows what this omnipotent God may be delighted to do against these uncircumcised Philistines. So on the one hand, he has great faith and confidence in the living God. But on the other hand, he's not presumptuous. He is not arrogant.
He is not suggesting to the armor bearer. that if we just do this, then God is going to reward us in this particular manner. This is what Cromwell meant. Pray, keep your powder dry. We need to be a people of faith.
We need to use the means, which What Jonathan goes on to do is he uses a particular sign, or he sets it up in such a way so that God will affirm or confirm this particular decision before they shimmy on up into that garrison and meet Philistine. You see, Jonathan is wise. He believes God, but he keeps his powder dry. In verses 8 to 10, He says, this is what we're going to do to the armor-bearer.
Notice. Very well, let us, or the armor-bearer, back to verse 7 for just a moment. And we will visit the end of verse 7 later. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.
Isn't that a beautiful expression of faith? Jonathan says we don't need 600 troops. We don't need a thousand troops. We don't need 2,000 troops We don't need 5,000 troops.
We need the living and true God. That's a great lesson for the church today We don't need scads of money. We don't We don't need a million people. We need faithfulness to the God who is faithful.
That is what is important. Nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. So the armor bearer says, do all that is in your heart, go then, here I am with you according to your heart. This is a good man, this armor bearer.
We should all have an armor bearer like this man, faithful, faithful man of God. Now notice verse eight, Jonathan said very well, let us cross over to these men and we will show ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, wait until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. But if they say thus, come up to us, then we will go up.
For the Lord has delivered them into our hand and this will be a sign to us. You see, this is similar to Gideon's fleece. This is similar to what Gideon did before he went to battle against the Midianites. Remember, Gideon puts out the fleas.
Incidentally, there is that Gideon parallel working in a few ways. What did Gideon learn? He learned the end of verse 7 as well. Nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.
Right? Gideon had a big army, and God said, get rid of them. Get rid of, you know, the most of them. Just keep the three guys, or the three hunters that lap like dogs.
You just, you want the lappers. You don't want those other men. And that's what Gideon learned. Same thing that Jonathan's going to learn here.
But notice. for the Lord has delivered them into our hand and this will be a sign to us. So again, it is very similar to what happens in Judges 6, 37 to 40. Gideon threw out the fleece looking for a sign. Brethren, we are not Gideon and we are not Jonathan, okay?
We are not Gideon and we are not Jonathan. Do not structure your life as a life of fleeces. Do not structure your life as a life of situations, whereas if this person answers the door, then I know that God is guiding me in this direction. Do not do that.
You are to be governed, directed, and guided by the word of the living God. Not that Gideon and not that Jonathan were not. But they did not have the 66 books of the completed canon of Holy Scripture. They did not have what we have.
And for the most things in our lives, God has spoken directly. For those things that are not spoken to directly, there are implications. When you do Bible study, look for explicit text. That means, don't do this or do this.
And if you can't find that for your particular decision, get implicit text, get instruction, get principles, get things that God has sanctioned as appropriate conduct for his people. If you put out fleeces, if you say things like, if they answer the door, then I'll know, or, you know, I'm going to go to visit this young woman, and if she's there and she opens the door, then I know I ought to propose in marriage. Please don't do that. She's not going to like it, and that doesn't ultimately honor God.
Brethren, you work or you walk according to principled obedience to the scripture. Okay? Life is not fleeces unless you're Gideon. Life is not, if they answer this way, then we'll do this, unless you're Jonathan.
There are things in the Bible that we are not necessarily called to duplicate or replicate. There are things in the Bible that are interesting particular situations where God does act immediately to answer these particular things. But if you put a fleece out tomorrow and it's not wet, do not conclude that God doesn't care for you or He doesn't love you or He doesn't want you to do such and such a thing. Get your marching orders from the scripture, okay?
Always feel necessary to make that qualification because we live amongst a people that are touchy-feely. What do we learn from last time when we were in chapter 13? Who was touchy-feely? And it didn't do him any good whatsoever.
What did Saul do? Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel. Saul didn't want to wait for Samuel. Saul said to Samuel, you weren't here on time, so I went ahead and offered up the sacrifice.
God doesn't want you to take matters into your own hand. God wants you to sit and wait for Samuel. If Samuel's late, Tough. You wait for Samuel.
You do not innovate. You do not be creative. You are not to be some sort of an ingenious thinker. You do what God commands you.
Most of the problems that people face is for the very simple reason that we don't do what God says. And there is enough in all of scripture to inform you on how you ought to live each and every day. You know, I meet this with some people sometimes, not anyone here of course, but they wonder, what is the will of God for my life? What is the will of God for my life?
There are several passages in the scripture that tell you. First, Thessalonians 4. This is the will of God for you. Your sexual purity, that you abstain from sexual immorality.
At the end of 1 Thessalonians, what's the will of God? Joy, prayer, thanksgiving. That's the will of God for you. If you wake up on a morning and you say, I wonder what God wants me to do?
Be sexually pure and be joyful, thankful, and prayerful. That'll keep you busy all day. In a debauched age like this, that will keep you busy all day. Trust me.
What this often says is, I want to know what the will of God for me is. Well, again, you're not going to find, you know, Romans 17 that says, hey, Joe Blow, this is my will for you today. We have freedom to do what God does not forbid in our personal lives. This is that whole idea of liberty.
Liberty doesn't mean to go out and do all the things that are wretched and sinful, but we have freedom to choose things that God doesn't condemn. Like a 15-year-old, should I be a plumber or an electrician? What is the will of the Lord for me? Either one is lawful.
You can be an electrician or a plumber. You can say, perhaps, which one makes more money? Which one has more job security? Those are legitimate concerns.
That's okay. You don't have to go to bed with a fleece out. Wow, it's wet. I'm going to be a plumber.
Because it was wet, you see. If it was dry or sizzling on fire, then I'd know to be an electrician. No, that's not the way the Christian is supposed to live. It's not supposed to be so difficult.
God has spoken. We submit, and we do what he says. So all of that to say, what Jonathan and Gideon did were absolutely spot on, righteous, and wonderful. But if you live your life based on who answers doors and who does not, or fleeces in your backyard, You've got to go back to the scripture and you've got to get your mind transformed by the word of God to think God's thoughts after him.
Now notice.
Contact with the Philistines
So this is the plan. Verse 11 they make contact. So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.
That was in chapter 13. If you go back for just a moment. Remember, after they engaged the Philistines, then the Philistines gathered together, according to verse 5, to fight with Israel. Now, when the Philistines gathered to fight with Israel, they brought men.
They did not play games. It says they brought 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash to the east of Beth-Avon. When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger, for the people were distressed, Then the people hid in caves and thickets and rocks and holes and in pits.
And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. They went to the east side of the Jordan. They wanted to run from the Philistine threat. They were bailing.
They were jumping ship. They did not want to stick around. You do not want to meet that amount of Philistine or angry Philistines. And then in verse seven at the end, as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling.
Don't forget that word trembling. That's what Israel was in chapter 13. It's what Philistines are going to be in chapter 14, not because of Israel, but because of God. You see this chapter as well.
Evidence is something God is relentless in his mercy. This is what always bums me out with people in the Old Testament. Oh, it's so full of war. It's so full of blood.
It's so full of guts. It's so full of grace and it's so full of mercy. Look at how the chapter, at least this section ends. So the Lord saved Israel that day and the battle shifted to Beth Avon.
I wonder how many times in the Old Testament we find that phrase, the Lord saved, or the Lord showed grace, or the Lord showed mercy, or the Lord showed compassion. How is it that people, Christians, can read the Old Testament and come away with blood, guts, gloom, and doom, and miss the compassion and the kindness and the goodness of God most high to his covenant people. Anyways, so both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. The Philistines said, look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.
Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, come up to us. And we will show you something. Probably just that. Get on up here.
We'll teach you a lesson. You came out of the hole. You've wandered up to our garrison. You come on up here.
We'll show you a thing or two." They had a cockiness. And at this particular juncture, pagans in this situation would be cocky men. But what happens? They answer in precisely the way that Jonathan had said, if they do, then we know the Lord would have us to go up to the garrison.
So when they were cocky, when they were reviling, when they were challenging and showboating, it was the response of God to Jonathan and the armor bearer that this is your battle. It's almost like that scene in Luke 15. This man receives sinners and eats with them. That's what the scribes and the Pharisees grumbled and complained about the Lord Jesus.
What they grumbled and complained about the Lord Jesus is the sum and substance of the Christian gospel. They preached the gospel whether willingly or not. When they said, this man receives sinners and eats with them, that is the core message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He does receive sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, and Him alone.
That is the essence of the gospel. So these men in their reviling, these men in their challenging, these men in their showboating are nevertheless affirming and confirming to Jonathan and his armor bearer, we should probably just refer to him as AB for short, Jonathan and A.B. get to know that, in fact, God is going to give them victory. And Jonathan does not miss this. Look at verse 12.
Isn't that beautiful? How do you think he went up now? If, perhaps, God will give us victory. If, perhaps, God will work for us.
Armor bearer, this is the sign. If they call us, then we know God is in it. They call them, what does he say? Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel.
That was probably such an encouragement for Jonathan, probably such a boost for Jonathan, not on the personal, individual, religious level, but on the reality that I'm going to face a garrison of nasty Philistines and I want God on my side. Notice verse 13, Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armor-bearer after him, and they, this is Philistines, fell before Jonathan. Now, again, even Notwithstanding the reality that he passed through these rock passes, that he trudged through the wadi or the brook, and he makes his way up to this garrison. He's probably tired.
He's probably a bit worn out. He's got one sword. It's not like probably both of them have a sword. Only Jonathan and Saul had it.
The armor bearer now carries it for Jonathan. So he didn't jump up with guns blazing, shooting at the Philistines, saying, now it's all mine. But what happens? As soon as he shimmies up, on his hands and his knees, with his armor bearer after him, they fell before Jonathan.
That is God. That is the Lord. That is God's affirmation and confirmation that they've got this because these men are falling before him. Notice, and as he came after him, his armor bearer killed them.
That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about 20 men within about half an acre of land. Now, that first slaughter, why does it say that first? Because there's a lot more slaughter to come in the rest of the chapter. You see, 20 Philistines isn't going to neutralize the threat.
God the Lord, when he goes to neutralize the threat, gives them a down payment to show them that in fact God is with them in this excursion. God is with them in this particular situation. And so what we have is 20 now.
Trembling in the Philistine Camp
Now notice in verse 15, and there was trembling in the camp. You see in the previous chapter, the Philistines had promoted trembling among the Israelites. They were trembling They were shaking, they were quaking in their boots. Now the tables have turned substantially.
Now there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Notice the garrison and the raiders also trembled. Now these were the raiders at the end of chapter 13 that were sent out to do damage in Israel. These were probably some nasty fellows.
I mean, if I was going to pick raiders, I wouldn't pick, you know, 90-pound guys that were soaking wet. I'd pick the biggest, meanest, baddest men, and I would give them as many weapons as they could possibly carry, because if they're going to go out raiding on my behalf, I want them to win. And so the raiders are big, they're bad, they're strong. These men at the garrison, again, probably this sort of temporary or sort of a fortress location, they're probably big, rugged soldiers.
But notice, the garrison and the raiders also trembled, and the earth quaked so that it was a very great trembling. Some translations add, God caused this. Certainly the context and certainly the grammar suggest that such was the case. Obviously an earthquake doesn't just happen.
It's not all about seismic plates and the shifting of the earth. It's about a sovereign God who is over all things, who controls all things. And so God starts shaking the earth and the Philistines start to quake, they tremble, they're fearful. So we have this affirmation of Jonathan's mission and his initiative to deal with the Philistines.
Salvation by the Lord
Now let's look at the latter half of the chapter, the salvation by the Lord. Notice in verses 16 and following. Now the watchman of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked and there was the multitude melting away and they went here and there. Imagine Saul chilling on the pomegranate tree, and his watchmen say, you gotta see this, Saul.
The Philistines aren't doing well. They're scattering. They're getting beat. They got issues.
They got problems. So what does Saul do? He says, let's take roll. We're the enemy of the Philistines.
So if there's any sort of military skirmish going on, it's got to be us. We've got to find out who it is that's over there. And so that's precisely what he does. He says, take roll.
We've got to figure this out. And who's missing? Jonathan and the armor bearer. Now, just think about this for a moment, OK?
The watchmen are seeing their king under the pomegranate tree. They're seeing Philistines start to be dispersed. They're seeing Philistines starting to spread and scatter. They're seeing confusion in the Philistine garrison.
They're probably thinking a big crack army is there taking on the Philistines. You've got two men, Jonathan and his armor bearer. You see, God is not constrained. to whether to save by few or by many. He can take two men, Jonathan and his armor bearer, send them up into that garrison, kill 20 of them, and then cause trembling and quaking of the earth and raiders and soldiers to be shaking in their boots.
So they take roll.
Saul Seeks and Abandons Guidance
Now notice what Saul does. Saul seeks divine guidance. This is good, okay? Saul is the king of Israel.
He is not to function apart from the God of Israel. In many respects, the king of Israel was a vice-regent. He was not ultimately sovereign. God the Lord was sovereign. over the entirety of the earth, to be sure, but specifically over the covenant people.
So the king of Israel was to rule and reign with reference to the God of heaven and earth. That's why the king of Israel needed to listen to the prophets. That's why when Saul disregarded Samuel, it was such an affront. It was an act of rebellion.
When we get to chapter 15, Samuel doesn't say, well, you know, Saul, your choice to spare the Amalekites, that really wasn't the best thing you could have done. Samuel lets him have it. You are the king of Israel in covenant with the God of Israel. You do not have a right to depart or deviate from the plan.
You stick to the plan. I'm a guy who likes that idea of sticking to the plan. If anyone should stick to the plan, it is the king of Israel. Okay?
And so Saul, at this point, calls for divine guidance. So that's a good thing. Notice verse 18. Saul said to Ahijah, bring the ark of God here.
You'll notice the margin reads Ephod. The priest already had the ephod on. The ephod was that which contained the yoram and the thumim. The yoram and the thumim was a means by which they sought divine guidance.
It wasn't dice and it wasn't lots, but it was some sort of a little instrument whereby they sought divine guidance. Again, things were different in Old Covenant Israel. Do not get dice and, you know, throw the dice. I'm not going to use a fleece and I'm not going to use the door answering thing, but I got these lucky dice and whatever I roll, God's going to tell me where I'm supposed to go.
When I was a kid, they had those things called the magic eight ball with the answers that were just ambiguous enough to fit everything. Yes. Oh, wow. It answered yes.
I mean, should I have pie today? Yeah. Whoa. that we get trapped by that stuff or into that sort of stuff. It's kind of that holy horseshoe idea or, you know, the fortune cookie thing.
Wow, my fortune cookie said this to me today. That is not the universe in which we operate or live. That is simply outside the scope of biblical religion. And Christians who ate that sort of a mindset...
Now, that doesn't mean when you're at your Chinese food tomorrow you can't crack your fortune cookie open and, you know, oh, these are of the devil. No, don't do that. I like fortune cookies. You can bring them to me.
I'll eat them. But this idea that there's something that we can do in order to fetch divine wisdom. But in this instance, this was legit. The Ark of God, for at that time, the Ark of God was with the children of Israel.
There's a variant reading here. Some say, how could the Ark have been there? It was in Kirjath Jireh. The text conspicuously tells us it was with the children of Israel at this time.
So what I think is going on with the help of Samora is that Saul wants divine guidance. The priest is there. He's got the ephod. Get the Ark of the Covenant.
I want to know what God's will is with reference to this situation concerning the Philistines. That's good on Saul. If the chapter stopped here, everything would be fine. But notice what happens.
Saul Interrupts the Consultation
Verse 19, now it happened while Saul talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, withdraw your hand. I don't want to hear what the Urim and the Thummim have to say. We've got to get to business.
Saul, you should wait. Saul, you should listen. Saul, you should get the counsel that comes from God via Ahijah. Samarra says he commands Ahijah to seek divine guidance by means of the ephod, but at a crucial time he interrupts the consultation.
You've got to stay the course. You've got to do what you're supposed to do. And if the King of Israel needs to hear from the God of Israel, then you wait. Let those Philistines make their noise, get God's word, and then go deal with them.
John Gill says it this way, and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand from putting on the ephod, or opening the breastplate of Urim and Thummim. or placing the ark in a proper position to inquire before it, or from lifting up both hands in prayer for direction. Saul, by the noise he heard, concluded the army of the Philistines was routed, and therefore there was no need to consult the Lord. And he had no leisure for it. No time was to be lost.
The advantage was to be taken directly, and the enemy pursued to complete the victory. He says, the Jews look upon this as a piece of profaneness in Saul, as no doubt it was, and reckon it one of the sins for which his kingdom was not prolonged. You've seen a pattern with Saul? Chapter 13, I couldn't wait for you, Samuel.
I have to do it myself. I've got to offer the sacrifice myself. Chapter 14, just put your hand back. We don't need to do that right now.
Let's just go deal with these Philistines. No, you need God to tell you how to go deal with those Philistines. We get to chapter 15. I thought I'd just spare Agag.
I just thought we'd capture him, and I thought we'd capture his stuff. And Samuel says, that's not what you were told. That's the chapter where he says obedience or to disobey or to rebel is the sin of witchcraft. It is in the context of Saul not killing the Amalekites as God had commanded the people of Israel to do.
Now
The Battle and Israel's Victory
notice, finally, the battle. Verse 20. I've got the squeakiest chair in the room. Then Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle.
And indeed, every man's sword was against his neighbor, and there was very great confusion." Now, remember a very important piece of information. that we've covered probably twice, and this will be the third time. There was no weapons in Israel, was there? Were there? Chapter 13, the Philistines had structured it in such a way that Israel was without weapon.
The only two men in Israel that had weapons were Saul and Jonathan. So when we read in verse 20 this statement, every man's sword was against his neighbor, that means Philistine was killing Philistine. That means that the confusion was so great that God had sent them into such a frenzy that they were killing each other. Now, for those of us who have been here several weeks or months or years on Wednesday night, we won't be surprised by this.
We won't think this is an odd thing. I mean, if you're just coming to First Samuel tonight and you don't have judges in your background, you might think, boy, that's a bit bizarre. Why would Philistine stab Philistine? Well, in the campaign of Gideon, Remember when the 300 were to go in and they were to take those trumpets and they were to take those torches and they were to blow and they were to cry the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.
In 721 in Judges it says every man stood in his place all around the camp and the whole army ran and cried, ran and cried out and fled. When the 300 blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion. That's talking about the Midianites. The men of Midian started to stab each other.
The men of Midian started to kill each other. How could 300, how could so few destroy a big army? Well, when God sends confusion upon the big army and they start killing each other, that does the job. Israel gets the victory as a result of this particular situation.
The same is true in this situation. Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, they went to the battle and indeed every man's sword was against his neighbor and there was very great confusion. What does this do? It causes the rest of Israel to rally around and to help.
These are the fair weather fans. These are the fair weather fans, right? These are the fans that root for the team when it's winning. I'm sure you probably, if you follow sports, I don't, but I've heard of these people.
They like this particular team insofar as they're winning. But if they're not winning, well, I'll go like this other team. It's a fair weather fan. They're doing good.
I support them. Now, the real diehard fans will support their miserable you know, exploits through however bad they could be. That's something commendable about that. But there is that thing as a fair weather...
Where's all Israel up to this point? Why don't we want to neutralize the Philistine threat up until this point? Well, now that God is quaking the earth, and now that Philistines are stabbing each other and doing the job for them, this is what happens verse 21 moreover the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country they also join the Israelites who are with Saul and Jonathan now you need to know something in the Old Testament as far as I know Israelites or Jews never call themselves or refer themselves as Hebrews that's always something that someone else says concerning that or the narrator in the in this particular chapter says that of them. So if we go back to chapter 13, when they have victory over the Philistines and they make this summons to the Hebrews to come, it might have been the fact that these Hebrews were defectors over to the Philistines, or these Hebrews could have been servants to the Philistines.
I'm not really sure, but note in verse 21, the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, again, either as defectors and traitors or as slaves who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding army. They also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. And then verse 22, likewise, all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. You see?
It's easy to fight your enemy when he's running, and God sent him into confusion. But, hey, they showed up. We'll give them a little credit for that.
The Lord Saves Israel
What's the point? Verse 23, so the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Bath-Avon. Gil says, so the Lord saved Israel, and a wonderful salvation it was that two men should throw such a vast army into confusion. which issued in the utter rout and destruction of them. This only could be of the Lord, to whom it is justly ascribed, and was the effect of his sovereign goodwill and pleasure, and of his unmerited goodness, a free favor bestowed on an undeserving prince who had behaved ill to his prophet at Gilgal, and now to him and his high priest at Gibeah.
In spite of a rebellious and an unfaithful and dare I say cowardly king, nevertheless, Yahweh does what he always does. He saves Israel from their oppression.
Application
Well, in conclusion, we learned concerning Jonathan that He was a solid man. First, the faith of Jonathan. That expression in verse 6. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.
He had faith in the living and true God. But as well, he recognized the sovereignty of God. We do not command God. We do not tell God what to do.
We acknowledge his sovereignty, we acknowledge his supremacy, we acknowledge his omnipotence, we certainly walk in faithful trust concerning those things, but we realize that our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases. And that is a good thing to recognize. As well, Jonathan realized the power of God. Nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.
We need to learn this lesson. He doesn't need all of the trinkets. He doesn't need all of the things that armies think they have to have or churches think they have to have. We need the power of God.
You know what we need on the Lord's Day? We need the power and the presence of His Holy Spirit. That's what we ought to be prayerful for. That's what we ought to be concerned about.
God send the Spirit. We know there's sinners that need to be saved and we can't do it. We know that you have all power, you have all authority, all glory. You can effectually call souls unto yourself. send forth the Spirit.
As well, we ought to appreciate from Jonathan, when we see the sovereignty of God, and when we appreciate the omnipotence of God, and when we understand who he really is, it emboldens us to live the Christian life, right? We shouldn't walk so fearful and so afraid and so cowardly. We ought to be a people that know their God and a people who walk with confidence, not in themselves, not in some bold, foolish arrogance, but in the confidence of God Most High. Our Lord is with us.
He will protect us. He will defend us. And then something else that we learned from Jonathan, this kind of faith This kind of a man within the context of the local church is infectious. You see, we can do good to the people of God by having faith in God, by recognizing the sovereignty of God, by walking with confidence in God.
What does this do to the armor bearer? The armor bearer says, do all that is in your heart. Go then. Here I am with you according to your heart.
The armor bearer knew the score. The armor bearer knew they were going up against hordes of Philistines. The armor bearer saw the rock passes they had to walk through. The armor bearer knew that when they got to the garrison, they most likely would have been slaughtered.
The armor bearer had to have the gumption or the knowledge to say, in many respects, this is a suicide mission. And we're going to march ourselves right into a garrison of the Philistines? But because of Jonathan, Jonathan says, I know who God is, and I know that he's not restrained, and I know that he can give us this victory. What's the armor bearer do?
Let's do this. You see, that's the kind of faith that men in churches, women in churches, need to exemplify to the younger brethren among us. If all they see is just this limp-wristed, Nancy-boy sort of Christianity where we're so afraid of the enemy or we're so afraid of everything around us, what does that do to the young people? Does that engender a boldness in their gut?
And when they see us go through trials, if we collapse and we're gone, we're just over. Or they see us bear up under it, knowing the Lord God, who has brought this upon me, will give me the grace to sustain me. That's what our young people need to see. They don't need to see perfection.
They don't need to see models of absolute purity, because they're not going to see that in terms of walk of life and conduct and all that. They need to see faithfulness, though. And that's what Jonathan provided for this particular armor bearer. The armor bearer says, let's go.
Let's do this. I'm ready to walk through rock passes. I'm ready to shimmy up to a garrison of the Philistines, and I'm ready to bear your armor wherever you say to go. Just like in the instance of the 12 spies in the recon mission in Numbers 13 and 14.
Joshua and Caleb say, let's go at once. The 10 spies whine. grumble and complain. Guess who the congregation of Israel listens to? They listen to the ten spies who whine, grumble, and complain.
Such is the case today. We listen to the whiners, the grumblers, and the complainers, rather than the Joshua's and the Caleb's who say, let's go. God promise, let's go at once. I love that.
Caleb says, let's go at once. They're all saying, but there's giants in the land. Caleb's like, why aren't we there? God has promised this to us.
Let's do this. You see, that kind of faith is infectious among the people of God. The sin of Saul, he retreats from the Philistines. Initially, he rejects divine guidance in verse 19.
And of course, the blessed kindness of Yahweh. Not only did the Lord save Israel that day, according to verse 23, but the way and the means by which he did it. He takes Jonathan, the son of Saul, sends him on a suicide mission, and uses that to destroy the Philistine army. God truly is glorious.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word. And we thank you for the various lessons that we gained from the Old Testament and the New. We ask that you would help us to hide these things in our heart. Help us, Father, to learn more concerning your nature, concerning your being, your goodness and your kindness to your people.
And as well, Father, increase our faith and cause us to be more like a Jonathan, to have more of this zeal to step out in faith, knowing the Lord who has promised is faithful. Go with us now, we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.