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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. 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 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 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. 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. 
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. 
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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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.