JONATHAN AND HIS ARMOR BEARER

“And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Bethaven.   When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.  And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.  As for Saul [the King of Israel], he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.” (1 Samuel 13:5-7).

 

King Saul found himself in difficult straits.  An innumerable host of Philistines had gathered their forces at a place called Michmash in the highlands north of Jerusalem.  Much of Saul’s army was frightened because of the overwhelming odds and went to hide themselves in the caves, hills and pits around the area.  This left Saul with only 600 men with which to face the Philistines.  As if this were not bad enough, Israel only had two swords!  One was Saul’s, and the other was his son Jonathan’s.  The reason for this was that the Philistines had shut down all of the blacksmiths in Israel.  This forced the Israelites to go to the Philistine smiths to make tools for them, but they could not make swords or spears.  The Word of God is our Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).  We must never let the enemy take it from us, or restrict our access to it!

 

Jonathan was a man of faith.  Unlike his father, he had a right heart with God.  As Saul was allowing himself to be engulfed in rage, jealousy, and resentment over David’s success, Jonathan befriended David and made a life-long pact with him, promising to support and defend him.  Saul’s acts of disobedience to God had moved the LORD to anoint David to succeed Saul as king of Israel.  Jonathan’s courage and decisive action in this difficult situation was about to save the day for Israel.

 

At one point during the standoff at Michmash, Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “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.” (1 Samuel 14:6).  Despite the odds and regardless of the numbers, Jonathan believed that God could work in his life to accomplish something extraordinary!  He was a man who was always looking for ways in which God could move in his life.  Oh, how the Church needs men and women who have the faith of Jonathan today!  That type of faith inspires faith in others who witness it.  Instead of objecting to Jonathan’s plan, or suggesting that it was foolhardy or even crazy, Jonathan’s armor bearer simply said, “Do all that is in your heart.  Do as you wish.  Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” (1 Samuel 14:7 ESV).  This young man was all in!  He was willing to follow his master wherever he led because he believed God was with Jonathan.  This is the same faith and confidence that we should have following our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

 

There was a difficult pass that led up to Michmash.  At the top of this pass was a small garrison of Philistines.  They didn’t expect much of an assault from that pass because the terrain was too hard to scale for an army.  There were two sharp rocks on either side of the pass, one to the north and one to the south.  One of the rocks was called Bozez (slippery), and the other rock was called Seneh (thorny).  So, Jonathan and his armor bearer were literally between a rock and a hard place as they scrambled up this pass. 

 

Often, our path to victory leads us between a rock and a hard place.  The way that our Lord chooses for us to go to bring Him glory and honor may be both slippery and thorny!  It is our faith in what God is able to do, and our ability to discern His will in a given situation that will ultimately win the day.  After all, God is, “…able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” (Ephesians 3:20).  

 

It took our two heroes some effort to climb to the top of the pass.  They both had to scramble on their hands and feet to reach the top, but the LORD had clearly spoken to them to go up.  Once they reached the top, it only took them a short time to dispatch 20 Philistine soldiers in about a half acre of land.  This bold move set off a chain reaction in the host of the Philistines.  Scripture records what happened like this: “And there was trembling in the host [of the Philistines], 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.” (1 Samuel 14:15).  Suddenly, there was a panic among the host of the Philistine army.  The entire army felt it, and it turned to terror.  To add to the confusion and uncertainty, the earth itself began to quake also.  The Philistines were terrified to the point that they began beating down one another thinking that the Israelites and their God were upon them.  “And the watchmen of Saul…looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they [the Philistine soldiers] went on beating down one another.” (1 Samuel 14:16).

 

Because of the great victory that Jonathan and his armor bearer had initiated at God’s direction, all of the Israelites that had run and hidden, and those who had joined with the Philistines, were emboldened again to return to Saul’s forces.  “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 [destruction, confusion, vexation].  Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.  Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.  So the LORD saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven.” (1 Samuel 14:20-23).  No matter what the adversity that we face may be, we must always remember that the battle is not ours, but the Lord’s (see 2 Chronicles 20:15). 

 

There is a story involving these passages of scripture that comes to us from World War I.  It is about General Edmund Allenby and the British forces that he commanded in Palestine during that great conflict.

 

When the British forces came into Palestine to face the Ottoman Turks (who were allied with Germany), a group of Brits purchased some Bibles, not for prayer or devotion, but to study the local geography. 

 

In 1918, General Allenby planned an attack against the Turks in an area called Michmash where they were entrenched.  It was the same valley that the Philistines had occupied 3000 years earlier.  A British major by the name of Vivian Gilbert recognized the name Michmash from reading the account in one of the Bibles that they had purchased.  He found the scripture and reported it to his commanding officer.

 

Following is an excerpt from the historical account in The Romance of the Last Crusade (pages 185-6) tells us:

 

“And the major read on how Jonathan went through the pass, or passage of Mickmash, between Bozez and Seneh, and climbed the hill dragging his armour-bearer with him until they came to a place high up, about “a half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow”; and the Philistines who were sleeping awoke, thought they were surrounded by the armies of Saul and fled in disorder, and “the multitudes melted away.” Saul then attacked with his whole army. It was a great victory for him; his first against the Philistines, and “so the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed over into Beth Aven.”

 

The brigade major thought to himself: “This pass, these rocky headlands and flat piece of ground are probably still here; very little has changed in Palestine throughout the centuries,” and he awoke the brigadier. Together they read the story over again. The general sent out scouts, who came back and reported finding the pass, thinly held by the Turks, with rocky crags on either side–obviously Bozez and Seneh; whilst in the distance, high up in Mickmash the moonlight was shining on a flat piece of ground just big enough for a team to plough.

 

The general decided then and there to change the plan of attack, and instead of the whole brigade, one infantry company alone advanced at dead of night along the pass of Mickmash.  A few Turks met were silently dealt with. We passed between Bozez and Seneh, climbed the hillside and, just before dawn, found ourselves on the flat piece of ground. The Turks who were sleeping awoke, thought they were surrounded by the armies of Allenby and fled in disorder.

 

We killed or captured every Turk that night in Mickmash; so that, after thousands of years, the tactics of Saul and Jonathan were repeated with success by a British force.”

 

If Major Gilbert had not recalled the biblical text, the battle may have ended quite differently.   What is so notable about this story is that these soldiers put so much trust in the details of a 3,000-year-old narrative.  It appears their trust was well placed!

 

St. Paul wrote to the Galatian churches and said, “…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).  This is the same faith that we can all possess in Christ.  It is the “like precious faith” that Peter says we have obtained from God and through our Savior.  It is the faith that is the “substance” and the “evidence” of things unseen.  It is the “faith which was once delivered to the saints” that we are to earnestly contend for.  It is the faith that Jonathan and his armor bearer exercised in facing their enemies even against all odds.  It is a shield with which we can quench all the fiery arrows that our enemy sends our way to destroy us!  No matter how difficult the way may be that the Lord leads us, trust that He has purpose in it and that there will be great victory when we scramble to the top.  “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:14).  Amen!