1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
There is a very strong contrast between Jonathan and Saul in the last chapter. In the last chapter Saul is in a panic because people are leaving, in this chapter Jonathan decides to leave, but not to run away but just to see if God will give them a victory. In the last chapter Saul is looking at the superior numbers and equipment of the Philistines and the lack of armament of the Israelites and he is doubting God’s faithfulness, thinks Samuel has forsaken him, and does not wait on the Lord. In this chapter Jonathan seems oblivious to all that, all he seems to see is God and wonder if God could work a miracle with one sword.
2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
Samuel left so Saul sent for the high priest? Is the priest wearing an ephod hoping to get a word from God? This is very typical, God gives you a word but you don’t like the word you’ve been given so let’s go get another man of God to give us a word hoping that it will be different.
4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba. 6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” 7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
I am reminded of a movie called “Free Solo” about a man who does rock climbing without a rope. It is the most incredibly audacious, terrifying and riveting movie I have ever seen. What a way to live. Someone asked this man saying “I don’t get it, if you make one mistake you die?” He responded, “sounds like you get it just fine”. What a contrast with Saul, stuck under a tree with 600 men, woe is me, the Philistines want to kill me, Samuel hates me, quick let’s ask someone else for a word from God, hopefully it is different.
8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.”
What exactly is this sign? There are two kinds of bullies in the world, just like there are two kinds of dogs, which I have once heard explained this way: one kind barks, the other bites. Jonathan knew they would be bullies, the question was which kind? If they attack they are the ones who bite, if they say “come here so we can kill you” they are simply barking, they are bluffing. That is the kind of bully you punch in the nose. We are seeing this today, lots of threats, lots of bullying, but then dig a little deeper and you see what cowards they are. AOC, the same woman who wanted to make black lists of Trump supporters is cowering in the bathroom half a mile away when she learns there are protestors entering the Capitol building. I get that she doesn’t want to fight a mob, but she is half a mile away, just go out the back door to somewhere safer they will never find you. She wasn’t even in the Capitol building. Maxine Waters so bold to incite violence and attacks on others is falling all over herself trying to explain away what she has said. Chuck Schumer seems to have gone silent about his inciting a mob at the Supreme court. It looks like a big, powerful organization that will crush us, but in reality it is so riddled with termites that one false move and the whole building will collapse on top of them. Someone asked one question of Biden concerning Xi with China and he became terrified, afraid to criticize Xi. They have surrounded the capitol with barbed wire and thousands of troops. Pelosi says “the enemy is within”. They are all quaking in their boots. This is the kind of bully you punch in the nose.
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”
Hey, I would like to learn a lesson. I think this chapter gives us a great lesson on what it is to follow the Lord. Where is the power of the Left coming from: Bribing people, blackmailing people, and threats. Everyone hates them, they despise them, they know they are liars. Biden speaks at the Superbowl and he is booed. No one believes he is the most popular president in US history. No one would have booed Obama or Reagan. No one wants to die for Pelosi or Schumer. AOC is the boldest one among them and she is cowering in the bathroom.
13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.
Let’s understand the math here. The enemy had 3,000 chariots and 6,000 charioteers, but obviously you can’t get a chariot up in an outpost you have to climb up rocks to get to. They also had soldiers without number, but they fill the plain and I guess are just for show. Meanwhile these twenty are spread out in an area half an acre, that is not a big area on flat land, but in rocks where you have a narrow way Jonathan and his armor bearer were probably able to fight against two or at the most three at a time. These guys are cowards. Otherwise they would have sent a company of ten men out to get Jonathan.
15 Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.[a]
Again, we are not fighting alone. God is with us. Jonathan had to have the courage to go take a look. Jonathan had to have the insight to know the difference between dogs who bark and those who bite. But once that happens God is able to use that little spark to light a fire. They are being attacked, that is true, one of the outposts has fallen, that is true, twenty of the Philistines have been killed that is also true. That is enough to spread all kinds of horrifying and scary rumors among an army that knows their leaders are liars and cheats and don’t trust them.
16 Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. 17 Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there. 18 Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)[b] 19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
Seriously, they had brought the ark of God to the battlefield again? This is superstition. What we need from God is one word. God had already spoken it, this is a paper tiger, one match and they will all go up in flames. Saul rejected that word but Jonathan embraced it. People who don’t have faith become superstitious, needing idols. Our victory is not by power or might. We don’t have more soldiers or more chariots. Our victory is also not by vain idols, they are useless. Our victory is by the Lord’s Spirit. That is what we have. His word. Believe it, receive it, obey it.
There is a very strong contrast between Jonathan and Saul in the last chapter. In the last chapter Saul is in a panic because people are leaving, in this chapter Jonathan decides to leave, but not to run away but just to see if God will give them a victory. In the last chapter Saul is looking at the superior numbers and equipment of the Philistines and the lack of armament of the Israelites and he is doubting God’s faithfulness, thinks Samuel has forsaken him, and does not wait on the Lord. In this chapter Jonathan seems oblivious to all that, all he seems to see is God and wonder if God could work a miracle with one sword.
2 Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, 3 among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.
Samuel left so Saul sent for the high priest? Is the priest wearing an ephod hoping to get a word from God? This is very typical, God gives you a word but you don’t like the word you’ve been given so let’s go get another man of God to give us a word hoping that it will be different.
4 On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. 5 One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba. 6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” 7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
I am reminded of a movie called “Free Solo” about a man who does rock climbing without a rope. It is the most incredibly audacious, terrifying and riveting movie I have ever seen. What a way to live. Someone asked this man saying “I don’t get it, if you make one mistake you die?” He responded, “sounds like you get it just fine”. What a contrast with Saul, stuck under a tree with 600 men, woe is me, the Philistines want to kill me, Samuel hates me, quick let’s ask someone else for a word from God, hopefully it is different.
8 Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.”
What exactly is this sign? There are two kinds of bullies in the world, just like there are two kinds of dogs, which I have once heard explained this way: one kind barks, the other bites. Jonathan knew they would be bullies, the question was which kind? If they attack they are the ones who bite, if they say “come here so we can kill you” they are simply barking, they are bluffing. That is the kind of bully you punch in the nose. We are seeing this today, lots of threats, lots of bullying, but then dig a little deeper and you see what cowards they are. AOC, the same woman who wanted to make black lists of Trump supporters is cowering in the bathroom half a mile away when she learns there are protestors entering the Capitol building. I get that she doesn’t want to fight a mob, but she is half a mile away, just go out the back door to somewhere safer they will never find you. She wasn’t even in the Capitol building. Maxine Waters so bold to incite violence and attacks on others is falling all over herself trying to explain away what she has said. Chuck Schumer seems to have gone silent about his inciting a mob at the Supreme court. It looks like a big, powerful organization that will crush us, but in reality it is so riddled with termites that one false move and the whole building will collapse on top of them. Someone asked one question of Biden concerning Xi with China and he became terrified, afraid to criticize Xi. They have surrounded the capitol with barbed wire and thousands of troops. Pelosi says “the enemy is within”. They are all quaking in their boots. This is the kind of bully you punch in the nose.
11 So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” 12 The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”
Hey, I would like to learn a lesson. I think this chapter gives us a great lesson on what it is to follow the Lord. Where is the power of the Left coming from: Bribing people, blackmailing people, and threats. Everyone hates them, they despise them, they know they are liars. Biden speaks at the Superbowl and he is booed. No one believes he is the most popular president in US history. No one would have booed Obama or Reagan. No one wants to die for Pelosi or Schumer. AOC is the boldest one among them and she is cowering in the bathroom.
13 Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. 14 In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.
Let’s understand the math here. The enemy had 3,000 chariots and 6,000 charioteers, but obviously you can’t get a chariot up in an outpost you have to climb up rocks to get to. They also had soldiers without number, but they fill the plain and I guess are just for show. Meanwhile these twenty are spread out in an area half an acre, that is not a big area on flat land, but in rocks where you have a narrow way Jonathan and his armor bearer were probably able to fight against two or at the most three at a time. These guys are cowards. Otherwise they would have sent a company of ten men out to get Jonathan.
15 Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.[a]
Again, we are not fighting alone. God is with us. Jonathan had to have the courage to go take a look. Jonathan had to have the insight to know the difference between dogs who bark and those who bite. But once that happens God is able to use that little spark to light a fire. They are being attacked, that is true, one of the outposts has fallen, that is true, twenty of the Philistines have been killed that is also true. That is enough to spread all kinds of horrifying and scary rumors among an army that knows their leaders are liars and cheats and don’t trust them.
16 Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. 17 Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there. 18 Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)[b] 19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
Seriously, they had brought the ark of God to the battlefield again? This is superstition. What we need from God is one word. God had already spoken it, this is a paper tiger, one match and they will all go up in flames. Saul rejected that word but Jonathan embraced it. People who don’t have faith become superstitious, needing idols. Our victory is not by power or might. We don’t have more soldiers or more chariots. Our victory is also not by vain idols, they are useless. Our victory is by the Lord’s Spirit. That is what we have. His word. Believe it, receive it, obey it.