Let us open our Bibles tonight
to 1st Samuel chapter 14. 1st Samuel chapter 14. This is the longest chapter that
we have come to so far in 1st Samuel. And tonight we will only
look at a part of the chapter It's the second chapter in which
Saul's son Jonathan is mentioned. And that's the thing I want us
to do tonight is to look at some of the things that are spoken
about him, about Jonathan. The name Jonathan is taken from
two words, two Hebrew words, which means Jehovah given, Jehovah
given. This Jonathan, the son of Saul,
he seems to be the opposite of his father. His father, we know,
ends in failure. His life and his reign in failure. Everything we read about Jonathan
is good. everything that is recorded about
him. Tonight, I want to point out
three things in these first 15 verses to us about Jonathan. First, the knowledge. The knowledge
of Jonathan. Let's read the first seven verses.
The knowledge of Jonathan. Now, it came to pass upon a day
that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said unto the young man that
bare his armor, come, let us go over to the Philistine's garrison
that is on the other side. But he told not his father. And
Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gebeah under the palm
granite tree, which is in Migron, and the people that were with
him were about 600 men. That is, those with Saul, about
600 men. And Ahiah, the son of Ahitab,
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. And between the passages by which
Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there
was a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on the other
side. and the name of the one was Bozes,
and the name of the other Senna. The forefront of the one was
situate northward over against Mishmash, and the other southward
over against Jebeah. And Jonathan said to the young
man that bear his armor, come, and let us go over unto the garrison
of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will
work for us. for there's no restraint to the
Lord to save by many or by few. And his armor bearer said unto
him, do all that is in thine heart, turn thee, behold, I am
with thee according to thy heart. The knowledge of Jonathan. We
see in these verses that he proposes to his armor bearer that they
too alone these two men that they attack the garrison of the
Philistines. Now, we ended the message last
time in chapter 13. And we saw that the Philistines
at this time had pretty free reign of the country, they just
came in and routed and, and pillaged among the country whenever they
wanted to at their own pleasure and saw He couldn't do anything. He was reduced down, his army
was reduced down to 600 men. Many of them, many of the army
of the Israelites, remember they had hidden in caves and they
had gone over the river Jordan, getting as far away from Saul
and the Philistines army as possible. Their army, the army of the Israelites
was reduced down and it was reduced to a small number in comparison
to the Philistines. And it was reduced because of
their fear. Now, it would not be an easy
matter to attack this garrison because of its situation. And
we're told that there were two sharp rocks, evidently a passage
in the valley that they would have to go through. And to attack
this garrison was not an easy thing. It was on a higher plane. And he and his armor bearer,
they would be exposed to the weapons of the Philistines when
they made their attack. But I point out to us the knowledge
the knowledge of Jonathan in his words in verse six. At the
end of verse six, he told his armor bearer, there is no restraint
to the Lord to save by many or by few. The knowledge that he
had, that God Almighty makes no difference to him if there's
many or few, that he has the power, the ability, to save,
if it so be his pleasure, his will." Now, as I thought about
this, I thought, how did Jonathan know this? I mean, knowledge
has to be attained. We learn. And how do we learn? We learn by hearing and by reading. The Israelites, they passed down
from generation to generation the works, the actions of God
concerning their nation. How that they'd come out of Egypt,
been brought out of Egypt, and what happened to them in the
wilderness and so forth and so on. And so I'm thinking in my
heart that by what he said, there's no restraint to the Lord to save
by many or by few. that the knowledge that he had,
he had obtained by studying or hearing of Gideon. Everyone knows
about Gideon, the one, the judge that delivered the nation of
Israel from the Midianites. And surely he knew that Gideon
started out with a large army, 32,000 men. I was a large army. He was ready,
ready to fight, ready to deliver his nation from the Midianites.
And God said, you've got too many. You've got too many. And so he spoke to his army and
he said, anyone who would like to go home, feel free to go. You're not a deserter. You've
got my permission. And I think it was 22,000 of
his army went home. That left him with 10,000. Well,
10,000 is not as many as 32,000, but God said it's still too many. It's still too many. And you
know the story how he brought the men down to the water and
the way they drank and didn't drink. He, God chose out 420
men. 420, and what was 420 against such
a great host of the Midianites? It was nothing. It was nothing. And yet, Jonathan, he had learned
from this that with God Almighty, there's no restraint. He can
save by many, or he can save by few. And then I thought about
Samson also. Remember Samson? He was a judge. He was a judge. And he was not
the best of the judges, that's for sure. But he would have learned
that Samson, in his death, he killed more of the Philistines
in his death than he had in his life. Just one man. Just Samson. How the Lord had brought a great
victory. in delivering them from the Philistines
at that time. And I believe that Jonathan's
knowledge is knowledge about God. I mean, some people have
a lot of knowledge, but they don't have the right kind of
knowledge. There's a proverb, I believe it says something like
this, it's not good that the soul be without knowledge. And
it's the right kind of knowledge that's important, isn't it? First
of all, the knowledge about God, the truth about God, the God
of the Bible, the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
he is a sovereign ruler and reigns over all his creation. The truth
about God, good knowledge about who God is. And then of course,
knowledge about ourselves, who we are and what we are. And then
most especially knowledge about Christ, about the Savior, about
the Redeemer that God has provided for sinners. You know, there's
a verse in Daniel chapter 11 and verse 32. I won't have you
turn there, but listen to this verse. The people, the people
that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. Did you get that? The people
who know their God shall be strong and do exploits. Now that's what
Jonathan proposes to his armor bearer, isn't it? To do an exploit,
to attack a garrison that was made up, we know, of at least
20 men, probably more, but at least 20 men for those two to
go And all the advantages be on the side of the Philistines,
except God was with Jonathan. So first of all, the knowledge
of Jonathan, and then secondly, the faith of Jonathan. Let's
read on beginning in verse eight. Then said Jonathan, behold, we
pass over unto these men and we will discover ourselves unto
them. If they say thus unto us, Terry,
until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place
and will not go up unto them. 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. And both of
them discovered themselves under the garrison of the Philistines,
and the Philistines said, behold, the Hebrews come forth out of
the holes where they had hid themselves, mocking, mocking
Jonathan and his armor bearer. Here comes those Hebrews, they've
been hiding, They've been in the holes and the caves, afraid
and fearful. Here they come. And the men of the garrison answered
Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, come up to us and we
will show you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armor
bearer, come up after me for the Lord hath delivered. them into the hand of Israel,
the faith of Jonathan. When I was making out these notes
yesterday, first I put down the fleece, the fleece of Jonathan. I'd been thinking about Gideon.
We all are mindful or remember how Gideon, he was doubtful and
he was afraid and he wasn't so sure that God had called him
and God was going to use him. We see the patience of God and
the long suffering of God with his servant there. He put out
that fleece and by that he was convinced, God convinced him
that yes, he was called and yes, he was going to deliver the Israelites
by his hand. We know first of all that God
caused the fleece to be wet. He put the fleece out there and
laid it on the ground and all around was dry, the ground all
around the fleece was dry, but the fleece, he could wring the
water out of it. Well, he still had his doubts,
didn't he? I can sympathize with this man.
I mean, those of us who have faith, sometimes people will
tell me, well, I just don't seem to have much faith. Who does? The Lord Jesus did. He did. He's our Savior. But who does
have as much faith as we would like to have? And none of us
have faith that's perfect. It's all given unto us and it's
all increasing as we go through this life. But Gideon put the
fleece out the next night and he said, let the fleece be dry
and all around it be wet. And sure enough, the next morning,
that's the way it was. And he was convinced by that,
that God had called him. Now Jonathan, the reason I thought
that, Jonathan tells his armor bearer, this is how we will know
God's will. This is how we will know. We're
going to ascertain the will of the Lord by the answer that these
Philistines give us. We're going to go up. And we're
going to expose ourselves. Hey, here we are! So that all
of them could see them. And depending on what they say,
we will know what to do. Depending on the way they answer,
we'll know what we're supposed to do, what God would have us
to do. If they tell us, come up, then
first of all, we will know that they are afraid. They are afraid to leave their
shelter, their place of security. They are fearful. You know, when
you go into battle, you don't want to be fearful. You want to believe you're going
to win. You're going to win the battle. But he said, now, if
they tell us come up, that's going to show us that they're
afraid to leave their place and come down to us. They're afraid,
they're fearful to fight. But if they say they will come
down to us, then we'll just stand our ground here. But they knew,
Jonathan said, this is the way we will know. And sure enough,
When they exposed themselves and revealed themselves unto
the Philistines, how did they answer? Come up. Come up. We're not coming down to you.
We're not coming down to you, but you come up to us and we
will show you a thing. Yeah? They were not only fearful,
but they were proud. They were proud. They were boastful. But Jonathan believed his God,
the faith of Jonathan. Do you notice that word hath,
H-A-T-H? This is what Jonathan said in verse 12. And Jonathan said unto
his armor bearer, Come up after me, for the Lord hath. They haven't
even started up the mountain yet. They haven't even begun
to go up to them. But the faith of Jonathan was
that the Lord has already delivered them into our hands. The battle
is already fought. God has already conquered. Look
with me, keep your place here, but look with me into Romans
chapter eight. I thought about Paul's words
here to believers here in the New
Testament, Romans chapter eight, beginning with verse 33. Every one of us, I'm sure, love
this passage, familiar with this passage. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
brethren, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Now notice this, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all
the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. In other words, God's children
suffer persecution, tribulation, afflictions in this world. But even so, Paul says we're
more than conquerors. How is that? More than conquerors. Even just like Jonathan before
the battle even began, he was already a conqueror because he
knew that God would fight the battle, God hath delivered them
into the hand of Israel. And though we go through afflictions
and trials and difficulties in this world, nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Nothing. The battle's already won, isn't
it? Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Yeah, even though we're counted
as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I'm persuaded
that neither life, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We're
more than conquerors. Why? Nothing can separate us
from the love of God. God's love is eternal, isn't
it? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Election
and God's love, they go together. Everyone that God loves, he's
chosen. It's an everlasting love and
election took place, we know, from eternity past. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justified
it. So we see the knowledge of Jonathan,
the faith of Jonathan. Now go back with me. The third
thing, the victory, the victory of Jonathan. Verses 13 through
16. And Jonathan climbed up upon
his hands and upon his feet, and his armor-bearer after him,
and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer slew after
him. And that first slaughter which
Jonathan and his armor-bearer made was about 20 men. within,
as it were, a half acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow. 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 earthquake. So it was
a very great trembling. The victory of Jonathan. Jonathan
had confessed already that it was the Lord The Lord hath delivered
them into our hands. The Philistines into the hand
of Israel. He didn't take credit for this.
You know, God will not share his glory with another. When
God uses a man or a woman in any way, our desire is that he
receive all the glory. Not unto us, not unto us, but
unto thy name. give glory. That's the desire. And Jonathan, he didn't take
credit for what he was doing and say, well, he was a proud,
he was a brave man. He was a brave warrior. He was. But who gave him that bravery?
Who gave him that strength? God did. The Lord, he says, the
Lord hath delivered the Philistines into the hand of Israel. Now
you and I know that God sometimes, God always works. We know that. The Lord Jesus Christ said, my
father worketh hitherto and I work. This creation could not continue
without God continually sustaining it, working as he does. My father worketh hitherto and
I work. But the point I want to make
is sometimes God works with means and sometimes he works without
means. That's his prerogative. He can
do both. Now, Jonathan confessed that
the Lord delivered the Philistines into the hand of Israel, but
we see in this case that God used means. And the means, Jonathan
and his armor bearer. Weak means, yes, but still means. The Lord delivered the Philistines
first through Jonathan and his armor bearer. They had to crawl
up on their hands and knees to get to this garrison. It was
not an easy thing just to get to the enemy. The point is God uses means and
sometimes without means, but here he uses means. God's given
the victory, yes, but still Jonathan and his armor bearer, they had
to climb up on their hands and knees to get to the enemy. It took effort. And they took out about 20 men,
we read here, and bought about a half acre of land. You know,
there were some mighty men in days of old. At the end of David's
reign, you find this later on in 2 Samuel, but he lists, they
list a number of David's mighty men. And some of them did great
things, didn't they? God used them, God gave them
the strength. But I thought about this one
man, he was named Eleazar. And listen to what he said about
him. When they defied the Philistines that were gathered together to
battle, and the men of Israel were gone away. In other words,
they were again engaged with the same enemy, the Philistines,
and the men of Israel went away. They deserted. Most of the army
deserted like they did here, but not this man. He arose. and smote the Philistines
until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword. And the Lord wrought a great
victory that day. Then the people returned after
him only to the spoil. He fought so hard and so long
that it was as though his hand was welded to his sword. Jonathan and his armor bearer. Yes, God gave the victory, but
he gave it through the means, and the means was those two men. Sometimes without means, and
we see that here too. Notice in verse 15, it says,
and there was trembling in the host. Now who caused this? Why did this army all of a sudden
start trembling? and become afraid and turn one
upon the other. God did it. God did it without
means. It's not unusual, is it? They
were soon gripped with fear and the trembling caused the army
to begin beating down one another. And the trembling, they're shaking,
let me put it like that, they're shaking, became so great, they
were so afraid, that fear just came upon them. Who brought that
fear upon them? God did. That the ground began
to shake even. We're all familiar with the case
of those four lepers later on. concerning the nation of Israel,
and the Syrians, you remember, had them blockaded, and they
were starving inside the city of Samaria, and the Syrian army
was out there just waiting for them to die off, and they'd come
in, and those four lepers said, why sit we here till we die?
If we go into the city, we're gonna die there. There's nothing
to eat there. Let's go out to the army. of
the Syrians, and let's just throw ourselves on the mercy of those
men. And you know what happened when
they got out there? What did they find? They found
plenty of food. They didn't find any army. They
were gone. How did that happen? God caused
those people to hear the sound of horses. There was no horses
coming. There were no chariots coming,
no cavalry coming. But they all began to hear that
sound and they began to turn one on another and then they
fled. And so God saved the nation, the Israelites there in Samaria
that day. And we see the same thing here,
the army. It's a small thing, seemingly
a small thing that Jonathan and his armor bearer did. They killed
20 people. That's not a big battle or anything
like that, but it resulted. It resulted in a great victory. A battle in which 20 men were
killed is considered a small thing, but it was just the beginning
of something much larger. And that's the point I want to
end with. It all began with one man and his armor bearer. It all began with one man and
his armor bearer, this victory. that God gave to the nation of
Israel. This just reminds us again that
nothing is impossible with God, nothing. We serve a great God,
don't we? And we need to believe, trust,
and act upon our faith, or we'll sing a hymn and we'll be dismissed.