The last time we studied about Saul and his one act of presumption that led him to being rejected as the king of Israel. He sacrificed the burnt offering which was not for him to perform instead of waiting for Samuel the prophet to arrive. The Philistines were at his doorstep. What would he do next?
1 Samuel 14:1-3
1 Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. 2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men; 3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.
- Saul was not doing anything. He was just resting under a tree. Obviously discouraged from the event before of having being rejected as king, he had lost motivation to fight.
- However, Jonathan his son was getting restless. And so he and his armour-bearer would go to where the Philistines were and see what they could do. No one knew that they had left.
1 Samuel 14:6-7
6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. 7 And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
- Obviously, Jonathan must have been a man of faith. He knew that it didn’t take a large army to win a battle. He must have heard stories about Gideon and his 300 men that won a whole battle against the large host of the Midianites.
- And you know those stories are still there for us today in the Bible. They are there to inspire faith in us that no matter who is against us, God can still fight for us. Though the way may seem impossible, God can make way. He can still give the victory.
- Jonathan’s armour-bearer was right there with him as well to support him. He could trust him because he knew that Jonathan had his faith placed firmly on God.
1 Samuel 14:8-10
8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. 9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. 10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.
- It’s interesting to note here that Jonathan was not asking God for a sign. He was stating how God would help him to decide what he should do.
- What was it?
- If God didn’t want them to attack the Philistines, then the Philistines would ask them to stay there and wait for them to go to them.
- However, if God wanted Jonathan and his armour-bearer to attack the Philistines, then they would ask them to go up to them.
- Yes, in a sense it was like a sign. However, Jonathan was so confident that God was with them and would guide them. Note, he wasn’t confident that God wanted them to attack, but he knew that God would help him to make the right decision when the time came.
- How many of us can be so confident in the decisions that we make today? Do you know if God is guiding you in your decisions of life? Have you made it a point to seek Him and ask Him whether you should make a certain decision in regards to choosing a job, or even getting into a relationship? How do you know who is the right person for you to marry? Many times we make decisions that we don’t even know if it is going to be successful or a failure. We enter on many decisions in ambiguity, unsure of whether it was even the right decision in the first place.
- Jonathan’s decision would be a life-threatening decision. It was paramount that he know the direction of God. He didn’t want to play it by chance. And the reason that he could be so confident of God’s guidance was because he knew his God. He actually had a personal relationship with God to the point that he had the assurance that God was with him and would help him when he needed it.
So how did the Philistines react when Jonathan made himself know to them?
- 1 Samuel 14:11-13
11 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. 12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. 13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him. - The directive was too clear. The Philistines asked them to come up to where they were. So Jonathan went forward knowing that God would be with him and fight for him.
- 1 Samuel 14:14-15
14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow. 15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling. - Twenty men would fall at the hand of Jonathan and his armour-bearer.
- But not only that, the Bible says that there was a trembling in the host, amongst the army. And notice at the end it says that there was a very great trembling.
- When you look in the concordance the meaning of the word “great,” the Hebrew is Elohim which is another word for God.
- The trembling of the earth was not referring to the hearts of the Philistines and them being scared. Neither is the trembling referring to an earthquake that was shaking the land. It was a trembling of the earth that was caused by God. God was working through Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and He was about to do something great!
Saul quickly does a head count and finds that Jonathan and his armour-bearer is missing. So what does he do?
- 1 Samuel 14:18-19
18 And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel. 19 And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand. - Saul calls for the ark of God. The furniture that carried the ten commandments. The furniture of which many times the presence of God accompanied.
- How was the ark used in previous times?
- Numbers 10:33-36
33 And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp. 35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel. - It would be at the front of the camp that was moving because they were following God. A symbol that God was with them and guiding them.
- Numbers 10:33-36
- The ark of the covenant was even used in their warfare against their enemies. When they marched around Jericho, it would be taken with them as well each them they went out.
- So Saul was obviously asking counsel from God. He wanted to know whether they should attack or not.
- What is so interesting is what happened just before this that we studied in the previous study.
- Saul did not want to comply with the conditions of God. God wanted him to wait for seven days, wait for Samuel to come on the seventh day to offer the burnt offering and then it would be made known to him what to do.
- But now, he wants God to guide him! He didn’t want to follow God’s instructions earlier but now he wanted a command from God and obviously His blessing as well. He wanted an assurance on what to do. That was something that Jonathan his son had, but not him. Jonathan knew that God was with him. But Saul – not so much. In his rejection as king, it wasn’t Samuel that was rejecting him as king, it was God.
- And when we come back to the text in 1 Samuel 14, we see that he calls for the ark of God, but yet at the end he doesn’t get any clear confirmation from God. He is too impatient for a reply. God has not even had a chance reply him before asks the priest to withdraw his hand. This meant that he wanted to priest to stop seeking an answer from God with the urim and thummin. These two stones were held in a pouch in the priest’s breastplate and would give an answer of yes or no to people’s questions.
- The noise coming from the camp of the Philistines made him hasty and he did not have the patience to get a reply from God.
1 Samuel 14:20
And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
- The battle was in full swing by the time Saul arrived at the scene. God was clearly fighting for Jonathan and his armour-bearer.
- The children of Israel were coming out from their hiding places to join in the fight. Saul also joins the fight as well. However, he does more than just that.
- 1 Samuel 14:24
And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. - Saul, trying to show zeal for this battle, rashly said that if anyone ate anything before the evening came, they would be visited with his curse.
- Just by looking at what he said, it is obvious that it was zeal for himself rather than for God. He said so that he would be avenged on his enemies rather than God would be avenged. All he was thinking of was himself. He cared not that the people would be hungry in the middle of the battle and was indifferent to their needs.
- 1 Samuel 14:25-30
25 And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground. 26 And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened. 28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people were faint. 29 Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines? - Jonathan, who didn’t hear his father’s command because he was already in the heat of the battle took some of the honey and put it to his mouth. The sugar rush obviously giving him more energy to continue in the battle.
- The others warned Jonathan of his father’s rash oath, but he cared not for it. He stated that if only the people had had enough to eat, they would have had strength to fight even more and there would have been a greater slaughter of the Philistines.
After the battle, when the war was won, what happened?
- 1 Samuel 14:31-33
31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint. 32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood. 33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day. - Because everyone was so hungry at the end, no one cared to kill the animals properly and drain it of its blood. Hence, because of Saul’s rash oath, they ended up much worse than if they had eaten during battle. They ended up transgressing the law forbidding them to eat blood and sinning against God.
After this Saul tries to offer sacrifice to God and draw nearer to Him to ask counsel if he should continue to pursue the Philistines. What happens?
- 1 Samuel 14:37
And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day. - God does not answer him!
- Immediately he thinks that there is sin in the camp. Someone has been unfaithful like Achan of old and it is affecting the whole camp. So he begins his manhunt to figure out who was transgressing against God, not thinking that it might be he himself that had transgressed against God earlier that caused God to go silent on him.
- By and by, they cast lots and Jonathan and Saul are chosen. Then they cast lots again and Jonathan is chosen.
- On discovering that it is Jonathan, look at how Saul responds.
- 1 Samuel 14:44
And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan. - The very person who was responsible for the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines, Saul was ready to punish and put to death. And it was not that Jonathan had actually sinned. In fact, it wasn’t because of Jonathan that God had stopped answering, it was because of Saul’s sin. But Saul pinned it on Jonathan. Yet it was through Jonathan that they were given a great victory over the Philistines. God was obviously with him and not Saul.
- However, Saul held on to his oath about not eating before the evening came as if it was the law of God. And to do anything else than punish his son with death because he violated it unwittingly would have showed that his oath was made too hastily and that it was unreasonable.
- So because of his pride, he was ready to kill the deliverer of Israel that day.
- Saul could not claim the honour of the victory that day, but he hoped to be honoured for his zeal in maintaining the sacredness of his oath, even if that meant killing his own son.
What happened next? Would Jonathan be killed?
- 1 Samuel 14:45
And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not. - The people recognized the injustice and unreasonableness of Saul’s oath and command and they saved Jonathan from the kings decision. Saul did not dare to disregard this unanimous verdict from the people.
- It was obvious to Saul that his son Jonathan was preferred above him by the people and also by the Lord.
- God had wrought the victory through Jonathan, and the people stood up in defense of Jonathan against the king.
In a short amount of time, the people were led to see their error in asking for a king. Saul, though one head higher than everyone else around him in height, lacked the most needed qualities of a king – justice, mercy and goodness. Saul cared more for his own reputation than for the glory of God. But it was too late, the wheels had been set in motion, and the nation of Israel was already reaping what they had sown. They were receiving the consequences of their own decisions.
The Bible warns and counsels us:
Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
We need to be careful with the decisions that we make. Some may take a lifetime to undo the rashness of a one-off decision. Just look at Jacob who lied to his dad about the birthright. It took over 20 years to repay that one sin. King David, murdering Uriah and sleeping with his wife would be a sin that he would repay many times over. Samson in just one moment, telling the secret of his strength would pay with his life.
And now Israel, though living in deep regret in their choice of this king they had chosen, had no choice but to live out the beginning of this nightmare that they were in. Saul and his unreasonable expectation of the armies and his rash oath was just the beginning.
May God help us to make wise decisions, that we may reap rewards that lead us to eternal life and that we may live on this earth without any regrets!