Jonathan | DaveTrenholm.com

Published March 8, 2021

Saul’s Foolish Oath

We have been working our way through the book of 1 Samuel for the last few months and at this point, we’ve made it through the early years of Israel’s first King – King Saul. Last week we read the story about the incredible faith of Saul’s son Jonathan and his Armour-bearer. You’ll recall that as 1 Samuel chapter 14 begins, King Saul and the army of Israel are hopelessly outnumbered and hopelessly outgunned by the Philistines.

- The Philistines had thousands of chariots and thousands of charioteers – and the Israelites had two swords and bunch of pitchforks and pointy sticks.
- The Philistines had more warriors than sand on the seashore – the Israelites had 600 terrified farmers.
- The Philistines had three divisions of troops that were sent into Israelite territory as raiding parties – the Israelites had two guys who snuck out of camp to check out the Philistine outpost.

In this battle, the Philistines clearly had every possible advantage. Except for one thing. The Israelites had man named Jonathan who completely trusted God and his faith in the Lord made all the difference.

To make a long story short, as Jonathan and his armour bearer believed that God could win the battle whether He had many warriors or just a few, God enabled them to take out the entire Philistine garrison at Micmash – some 20 men in all. But that was only the beginning. Verse 15 tells us…

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The Faith of Jonathan

As we’ve been going through the book of 1 Samuel, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about King Saul – the first King of Israel. But last week we were introduced to a new character in the story – Saul’s son Jonathan. And Jonathan will actually play a significant role throughout the rest of the book. As we saw last week, he is a key commander in Saul’s military (commanding a 1/3 of Israel’s standing army) and in the weeks ahead, we will see how he eventually becomes one of David’s closest allies – even at a time when King Saul was trying to kill David.

But that’s getting ahead of our story.

If you were with us last week, you’ll remember that Jonathan had just attacked and defeated the Philistine garrison stationed in Geba. We don’t know if this was by order of King Saul, or if Jonathan simply took it upon himself to make this attack. But either way, Jonathan’s actions triggered an open revolt against the Philistines who had been oppressing the Israelites for some time now.

In response, the Philistines gathered their army – which composed of 3000 chariots, 6000 charioteers, and as many warriors as grains of sand on the seashore – and they set up camp at Micmash. At the same time, Saul gathered his much smaller army at Gilgal and waited for the prophet Samuel to come and make a sacrifice to God before they went into battle.

However, as they waited for Samuel, their fear of the Philistines grew and grew and many of Saul’s men fled from their posts – hiding in fear from the mighty Philistine army. Well, after 7 days of more and more men disappearing from the camp, and with no sign of Samuel, Saul foolishly took it upon himself (in direct disobedience to God) to offer the sacrifice himself.

God had clearly instructed the Israelites that these sacrifices were only to be done by God’s appointed priest – and not by the King or anyone else. So this was an act of blatant disobedience. Well, as it happened, Samuel showed up just as Saul was finishing the sacrifice and as Saul tried to justify his actions, Samuel told him plainly that his disobedience to the Lord would cost him the kingdom! The Lord would choose another king to replace him – one who would seek after the heart of God.

And that’s about as far as we got last week. We’re going to pick it up today in 1 Samuel chapter 13, verse 15.

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Ritual or Relationship

Over these past months, we have been reading through the book of 1 Samuel and last week we finally completed the transition from the era of the judges to the era of the kings. For many years after conquering the Promised Land, Israel had been led by judges – men and women whom God raised up at just the right time to rescue Israel from its enemies. But in recent days, the people of Israel had asked God for a king to lead them. They wanted to be like all the nations around them and have their king lead them into battle. Of course, this was really a rejection of God as their King, but God graciously decided to honour their request and to give them the king that they so desired.

And so God instructed Samuel, the final judge of Israel, to anoint Saul as Israel’s King. And last week we saw how Samuel then passed the baton of leadership to King Saul – firmly establishing Saul as Israel’s new leader.

However, in his final address to the nation, Samuel solemnly warned Saul and all the people, that their obedience to God would determine their future fate. We read his words in 1 Samuel 12:24….

24 But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. 25 But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.” 1 Samuel 12:34-25

Samuel makes it very clear that the success of Israel and its new King would depend solely on their decision obey the Lord or not.

And as we turn to chapter 13 today, that’s exactly the decision that will be put to the test. Will Saul and the people of Israel fear the Lord and faithfully serve Him? Or will they continue to sin – choosing instead to follow their own way? Let’s find out!

1 Samuel chapter 13 begins like this:

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Jonathan, His Armour-bearer, Six Hundred Men with Pitchforks…And God.

Last week we began a new sermon series – Great Battles of the Bible – because the Bible is just chucked-full of battle stories. We started off with a Sunday school favorite – Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. But this week, we’re going to get off the beaten trail a little bit and tackle a story that you’ve probably heard, but it’s not one of those Sunday School classics.

It all starts just a short while after King Saul is made the first king of Israel.

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Tag: Jonathan

Saul’s Foolish Oath

The Faith of Jonathan

Ritual or Relationship

Jonathan, His Armour-bearer, Six Hundred Men with Pitchforks…And God.