Please turn to 1 Sam. 13:1-41Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, 2Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 3And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. 4And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. (1 Samuel 13:1‑4): "Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal."
It seems that what we have here, and in the passages that will be read subsequently, that which answers very much to the day in which you and I are living. If you read the history, as we see it here, you find that things were in a very low state in Israel. The judges had completely failed. If you want to read a sad book in the Word of God, read the Book of Judges. It says several times there that, "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes." I don't know of a sadder book in the Word of God. With the judges having failed, we find that the people wanted a king. In this we know that they did not have the mind of the Lord. So God gave them a king. But, He gave them the kind of a king they wanted. They said, "Give us a king that will go out before us like all the other nations round about us." And the Lord said, as it were, "All right; I will let you see what kind of a king he will be." So things were in a very low state in Israel. The king whom Samuel had anointed, Saul, turned out to be a failure. He was not a real man of God, and eventually God had to remove him and put His own rightful king upon the throne—the man after God's own heart, David.
But, meanwhile, I believe the Spirit of God delights to record the encouraging account here of a young man. Often, when things are in a low state among the people of God, individual faithfulness stands out. So I would like to speak a little this afternoon of encouragement from the life of Jonathan. Usually we think of Jonathan in connection with failure. The Spirit of God in faithfulness records both the failures and the faithfulness of His servants in the Word of God. So, Jonathan's failure is recorded. And, I believe that each one of us can look back and learn from it. But, the Spirit of God delights to record faithfulness. Here, before all the failure sets in, we find signal faithfulness on the part of Jonathan in a day when everything was in ruin.
Notice the situation here: Saul had reigned one year, and the Philistines were the adversaries of Israel. All of these nations in the Old Testament that were adversaries of Israel have a typical meaning for us. It is a very instructive study to notice what each one of them represents. The Philistines were not, strictly speaking, of the Canaanites who were named by the Lord as having to be driven out (but they were to be driven out). They had a special character; the Philistines were a thorn in Israel's side all through their history. They bring before us, I believe, man—the intrusion of man in the things of God, and the taking away of that which belongs rightfully to God. So they were found right in the land, and they were a continual thorn in the side of Israel, taking away that which belonged to the Lord. We see here that Saul wants to go out against the Philistines, but there is no power to do it. He does all the preliminaries; he chooses three thousand men and places two thousand with him and one thousand with Jonathan. But there doesn't seem to be any power to carry out the mind of God, to get rid of these Philistines.
Very often we find that state of things among the people of God today. There is a recognition of the difficulty, but no power to deal with the situation. A recognition, perhaps, that there is something wrong in our lives; a recognition, perhaps, that the enemy has taken that which rightfully belongs to the Lord; a recognition that things are creeping in which are not according to the mind of God. Yet no power, it seems, to deal with the situation. Here we find a young man by the name of Jonathan. We are not told how old he was, but we find him taking the thousand men that were delivered to him and smiting the garrison of the Philistines.
I say to the young people, and especially to the young brothers here, this should be an encouragement to your heart, and to mine. Jonathan evidently wasn't concerned with the number of men that he had to deal with; he went out on his own with the thousand men which were delivered to him and gained the victory. The power of the Lord is still there! So, don't be discouraged by the fact that you see failure all around you. We own it. You will see failure in others; you will see failure in your brethren; you will see failure in your fellow young people; and, most of all, you will see failure in yourself. But that shouldn't discourage us, because God has given us the ways and means of dealing with that. And, if there is a true heart and self judgment before God, then I believe that He delights to give the power to go out and deal with the difficulty or problem.
Notice what happened here. Jonathan didn't tell anyone about the victory. The Philistines heard of it without any problem. "And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear." What was the result? "And all Israel heard that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines." Sometimes when you go out and try to do something for the Lord, someone else tries to take the credit for it. Here we find that a man who did not have the energy himself, who did not have the mind of the Lord or the spiritual power to go out and deal with the situation; when his son went out and did it, he takes the credit. We often find that happening in the things of God. I believe that this is a category that we need to be careful of—a man who would take the credit to himself for that which others have done. Let's see that we do not fall into that category.
On the other hand, we do not find that Jonathan raised his voice to try and set the record straight. Never try to defend yourself. I can still remember an old brother saying that over and over again to us, "Never defend yourself!" Jonathan just goes on with the Lord, content to leave what he had done for the Lord's approval. In the day in which we live we find men making a great show of things, and sometimes that creeps into the church of God. Sometimes there is more outward show than there is spiritual power underneath. Here was a young man who was content to act for the Lord, and he didn't worry about who heard about it, or how they heard about it; he left it for the Lord to vindicate.
Turn to verse 17: "And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual: and another company turned the way to Bethhoron: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness." The Philistines were not beaten by one onslaught. And, don't be surprised that if, when you deal with one situation, the enemy raises up another one. The Word of God has not promised us an easy pathway. I often think that sometimes the difficulties the Philistines brought upon the people of Israel are difficulties which we might encounter among the people of God: because, the Philistines had a sense of who the true God was, although they were descendants of Ham, as we understand, and were, no doubt, idol worshippers as we read later on. They had some knowledge of who the true God was; yet there was only constant opposition from them. Often the opposition encountered from the Philistines in the land of Israel is typical of that which we might encounter from those who take the name of being the people of God.
Here they come out again, but this time in three companies. Oh, you might say, "That is even worse. One goes this way; one goes that way. How are we ever going to deal with the situation?" It can be pretty discouraging. This was a time in Israel's history when things were at a very low ebb. Everything had failed—the priesthood had failed; the judges had failed; the king had failed. Now what was left? God was shortly going to put His rightful king on the throne! Beloved young people, God is shortly going to manifest His rightful king as Lord of all. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to come (perhaps today!) and you and I be caught up to be with Him! But in the meanwhile, here, tucked in between the failure on the one hand and the display of God's rightful king on the other, we find the individual faithfulness of a young man who counted on God.
Notice what happened here; things were even worse: not only were the Philistines going out in three companies, but read from verse 19: "Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his ax, and his mattock. Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads."
Just imagine: not only were the Philistines attacking, but no smith throughout all the land of Israel! So whenever the children of Israel wanted to have anything done by a blacksmith, they had to go down to the Philistines to get it done. They had no one in their own land and of their own nation who could do that for them. And, of \course the Philistines, having control of the situation, would be very glad to sharpen farm tools for them, and to fashion the things which are mentioned here in connection with farming; but a weapon of war, 0 no! They would not allow them to have those. What a condition for the people of God to be in, who only a short while before had subdued the land of Canaan under Joshua; and the Lord had said, "no man shall be able to stand before you." God had given them such wondrous victories; yet here they are reduced to such a state that they do not even have a sword or a spear with which to fight!
I often think that is the way we look at things today. The children of Israel had to go down to the land of the Philistines to get their things sharpened. Sometimes you and I might begin to feel that, "there is nothing among the saints of God; we have to go out somewhere else in order to get food for our souls." Beloved young people, if we do that we will find that others are going to take control of the situation. Here they were in the land of Israel—the enemy was glad to see them spend their time farming. But, to what end? So that the Philistines could come in and collect it all. But if there were a question of defending that which was rightfully theirs, they saw to it that there was no spear or sword in their hand. May that exercise your heart and mine. Do we have to go down to the land of the Philistines? Do we accept it as a matter of course? Do we accept the fact that perhaps there is not ministry among us to meet the need? 0 beloved, and I say it to my own heart, the Lord delights to give that which is needed. May we never be content to rest in that state of affairs, but may we be exercised before God as to why this has been allowed.
Why was this allowed in Israel? What had happened? I believe that the Lord was displeased with them for their walk and their ways. They had failed under the judges, signally failed. The king had failed. They had asked for a king and, reluctantly, after they had insisted on it, Samuel gave him to them—Samuel anointed the king. But now God is letting them see the fruit of their own will. I say it again to my own heart, the difficulties and problems among the people of God today are the fruit of the allowance of our own ways; and the fruit of worldliness which has crept in. And the difficulty here was that there were a large number who didn't seem to care! That was the problem.
Verse 22: "So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword or spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found." Why was that? Here were two people that had weapons; one who did not know how to use them, but he had them; and one who, by the grace of God, was going to use them for God's glory. Let me say, beloved young people, that if you want to have a sword or a spear, and you are exercised about it, God will give it to you. Where did Jonathan get them? I don't know. But he was exercised about it. So much of the difficulty among the people of God today is the want of heart for Christ. If there was more heart for that blessed One and for what is due to Him, I believe there would be an exercise as to why there wasn't a smith in the land. With Israel, was it that there was no one who was capable of being a blacksmith? Was it that there was no one capable of doing it? No. I am afraid it was that they simply said, "What can we do? I am not a smith; I don't know how to do it. So we will just have to go down to the land of the Philistines." And, of course, the Philistines impoverished the people of God-the ones that God had brought into that good land, and promised, as we read in Deuteronomy and other Scriptures, that they would be, "the head and not the tail."
I don't mean to imply that we should speak in that spirit; I merely say that, when it is a question of the Lord's honor and glory, let us never be satisfied with anything less than what God gives. Let us never be satisfied to give up that which is precious to the heart of God. And, if there is an exercise in your heart and mine, God will provide. Remember in the book of Judges about Gideon, when the Midianites came in and impoverished the land, and burned the crops—what did he do? He threshed wheat behind the wine press. That was valuable to him, and he wanted to have that which God had given. And God blessed him and used him in deliverance to the whole nation. Here we see a similar example of a young man, although there was no smith in all the land of Israel, he said, "By the grace of God I am going to have weapons." And he did. He didn't yet have the opportunity to use them, but he had the weapons, and God gave the opportunity. May I encourage you young people to have an exercise before the Lord to enjoy that which He has given to you. Do you enjoy the blessed truth of God which He has given? I was talking to a young man not long ago: we were looking over some of the good written ministry which we have, and I said to him, "You should read this good ministry; you are at the age now when it would be good to start." "Yes," he said, "I have some of it." May I encourage you young people to read our good written ministry-to get yourself a sword, to read the Word of God for yourself so that you will have those weapons which are necessary in order to enjoy the portion that God has given you.
Notice now what happens in chapter 14: "Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bear his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side. But he told not his father." Once again the Lord stirred up Jonathan to act for Him, but this time he didn't have a thousand men with him; it seems that this time he and his armorbearer were all alone. You might say, "How can we manage to do anything for the Lord? How can we serve the Lord in our Assembly; there are just a few there. It would be nice to be in a large Assembly where there is a real work of God going on, and perhaps a real interest in the Sunday School and in the gospel." But here we find that it didn't take a big crowd for the Lord to act—only two. So Jonathan said, "Let us go over." It looked like an impossible situation, because the garrison of the Philistines, no doubt, contained a large number of men. Yet, Jonathan goes all on his own; and, notice, he did not tell his father. Here is an important principle: if you are going to do something for the Lord, and you feel the exercise before Him, it is well, perhaps, to share that exercise with another who may be one with you, as Jonathan did with his armorbearer; but don't broadcast it around. No need to do that. It will only spoil the work of God. Perhaps Jonathan had seen how his father had spoiled the work of the Lord previously, and how, instead of being a help to him, Saul had been a hindrance. So, he doesn't tell his father about it, which was wise.
Notice where Saul is, verse 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." 0, how sad! How often I have been sitting under a pomegranate tree when there was work to be done. How often I have been found relaxing when there was work to be done for the Lord. I don't mean necessarily something that takes the form of service, such as preaching the gospel, or going out to hand out tracts, or to visit someone; but, may I speak plainly: have we sometimes sat under a pomegranate tree instead of going to the prayer meeting, or to the reading meeting? It is much more relaxing; it is easier after a hard day at work to come home and sit under a pomegranate tree, so to speak. But we will never have a sword or a spear, or be able to act for the Lord, if that is the way we go on! Am I sitting under a pomegranate tree, instead of being stirred up about the state of things among the people of God? Here was a man who had a sword and a spear, and yet he didn't know how to use them.
"And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone." They didn't even notice when someone else was acting for the Lord. They were so busy taking it easy, it seems, that they didn't even notice that Jonathan had the energy to get up and do something.
Verse 4: "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 Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The forefront of one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah." It was not going to be easy, was it? The world has an expression about our being sometimes, "between a rock and a hard place." In other words, there is not very much room to maneuver. That is the way Jonathan and his armor-bearer found it. It was going to be a difficult thing. And, if you set out to do anything for the Lord, the enemy is going to throw every roadblock in your way that he can; he is going to try and persuade you that it is not worth the effort. It is harder in this age than it was, perhaps, some years ago. I can remember being at the funeral of the wife of a dear brother, and we were talking over some of the good things that God has given His people: one brother said to him, "It would have been blessed, perhaps, to have lived in the days when God was working. We look back to those days, when those giants of the faith who dug out the truth for us in the last century were so characterized by devotedness to the Lord, and by faithfulness. We look back to those brothers, and to the wondrous reward that the Lord will give them for their faithfulness." The old brother made a wise remark. He said, "You know, brother, that is true. But I think there may be an even greater reward for those who are prepared to go on in faithfulness to the Lord in a day of ruin. When things were more happy and healthy, one could be borne alone by the crowd; but now it is a question of putting out real energy in order to follow the Lord." That is the way it is today. It is true for all of us, but especially for you dear young people; for the Devil knows that if he can get you turned aside, the Assemblies will gradually become smaller and weaker. How sad it is to go to an Assembly and see older ones sitting around, but no young people. I of ten think that the Devil loves to see that; because he knows that as those older ones are called home one by one, unless there are younger ones to take their places, the testimony will fail.
Here Jonathan and his armorbearer were between two sharp rocks. Not just rocks, but sharp rocks. But it doesn't turn them back.
Verse 6: "And Jonathan said to the young man that bare 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 is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few." What wondrous faith! No doubt Jonathan had looked back at those days when other men had gone out and fought for the Lord in a remarkable way. So he says, "There is no restraint; the Lord can save by a few." We need young people who are willing to take this step of faith-who are willing to go out, not in their own self-confidence, make no mistake, but in the sense that, in spite of it being a day of ruin, the Lord has not changed.
Verse 7: "And his armorbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart." How blessed! We can't all be Jonathan, can we? But, may the Lord give us more armorbearers. Armorbearers have a special place in the Word of God. You will find that Joab's armorbearer is named among David's mighty men, while Joab himself is left out. You will find that these armorbearers who were men that stood in the background, who simply carried the armor for the one they served, had a signal place in the ways of God on occasion. Here the armorbearer, who is not named, was the one who encouraged Jonathan to go on. Beloved young person, perhaps you say to to yourself, "I don't have the kind of energy to go out and do this." Could you be an armorbearer? I love to see a sister who is an armorbearer. I can think of some right now who have been that in Assemblies; one especially, who was a real encouragement to me some years ago. Many a time there has been a sister who has acted in this capacity to encourage even a brother, or another sister, when it was a question of doing something for the Lord.
Notice that little phrase in verse 7, "turn thee." Why did he say that? I believe because Jonathan was losing heart: Jonathan had looked at the difficulties in the way, he had seen those sharp rocks; perhaps he had thought of the number of the Philistines who were there. He turned around to his armorbearer to say what he said in verse 6. The armorbearer said, "Turn around Jonathan, I am with you. You take the lead, and I will come behind you." Isn't that blessed! I can remember a young man who had the exercise to go out and speak on the street corner. He wanted to go, but he felt a little timid about going on his own. So he asked an older brother if he would go with him. The older brother said, "Yes. I don't want to say anything because I am supposed to speak this evening, and I don't want to ruin my voice; but I will come and stand with you, if you like." So they went together. But, after the young brother had spoken, the older one stepped out—ruin his voice or not—he was so in the enjoyment of the things of Christ that he wanted to have something to say, to preach the gospel. Would to God that there were more of us who were exercised.
Here was an armorbearer who evidently had the interests of God's people at heart, who valued the land that God had given and who wanted to see that land defended for the Lord. So, he said to Jonathan, "Turn thee." If you see another wanting to do something for the Lord: sometimes we don't have any idea what an encouragement it is to have someone come to us and say, "Go ahead, I am behind you; I will help you with it if you like. If you have an exercise to do that, I would like to be a help to you." What an encouragement that is!
Verse 8: "Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. If they say thus, Tarry 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 bath delivered them into our hand; and this shall be a sign unto us." Jonathan still did not have very much confidence in himself. That, in one sense, was good. He did as Gideon did before him; he put out a fleece, because he wasn't really sure that the Lord was going to use him. I don't think that Jonathan had any doubt about the Lord's power, or that he had any question that the Lord could work. It was a question of wanting to be sure that he had the Lord's mind about doing it. That is a good thing. It is a good thing to inquire of the Lord. We find that David did that constantly throughout his life. We should never be in a big hurry to go ahead, unless we feel that we have the Lord's mind. So Jonathan, as it were, puts out the fleece and says, "We will go up and let them see us; and, depending upon the way in which they respond, we will decide whether or not we will go ahead."
So they go up. And, notice what happened (verse 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." Be prepared to take a little persecution if you do something for the Lord. Here the Philistines made fun of them. They said, "Look at this: the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hid themselves." Jonathan and his armorbearer were not disturbed by that. Then, the Philistines gave the right answer, in verse 12. They said, "Come up to us, and we will show you a thing." There God gave them the signal that He was going to work for them. So Jonathan and his armor bearer go ahead.
Notice what happens, verse 13: "And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armorbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan: and his armorbearer slew after him." It wasn't an easy task; it was degrading. They had to climb up on their hands and knees. I don't know if any of you have done that on occasion. I can remember a time or two when I have had to do that in front of other people, and been laughed at. I can remember, on the farm where we used to live: sometimes going down to a big cliff, or ravine; often, if we were not careful, we would slide down and then have to come up on our hands and knees, with our friends at the top making fun of us.
Here, it was kind of a humbling way to go out to battle. There wasn't much outward show in having to go up on your hands and knees toward a group of men standing there making fun of you. And, we will find, if we are going to do something for the Lord, He may allow it to be done under circumstances where all the glory has to be to Him. Someone has made the remark that, "The service that humbles you, is true Christian service." Any service for the Lord that lifts us up in pride is probably not according to the mind of God. Sad to say, no matter what we do for the Lord, self tends to get into it. But, just the same, the Lord has ways of humbling us, and showing us that all the power and all the glory must be to Him. So, here we find that the Lord didn't allow Jonathan and his armor-bearer to advance, as it were, on their feet, with everything seemingly going for them. No, they have to defeat the Philistines through weakness.
It reminds us of the way in which David had to approach Goliath a few chapters farther on. David had to go with a stone and a sling; he had to go with Goliath mocking him, and telling him that he would feed him to the birds, and that he wouldn't be able to fight without any weapons. So let us be reminded that our blessed Savior won the victory in the same way. The more that you go on for the Lord, the more you will find that the truest sign of the servant of God is humiliation. We find in the New Testament, I believe, that the greatness of the servant was in inverse proportion to his humiliation. So we find the apostle Paul, whom God used so mightily, being humiliated over and over again. Not only did he have to say that he was, "the chief of sinners," but he had to say in Ephesians that he was, "less than the least of all saints." He had to go through numerous trials and difficulties, as we read in 2 Corinthians; but God gave him the greatest revelation that man has ever been given from Christ in glory. So if you want to serve the Lord, He will take away from you everything that has to do with pride. Don't worry about that—never mind; because all the power must be from Him, and the glory must be for Him.
Here they crawl up on their hands and knees. But, after going through all these difficulties, notice what happens. Verse 13: "And they fell before Jonathan: and his armorbearer slew after him. And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armorbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow." Again, it wasn't anything outstanding by man's standard. Quite an astonishing feat though, for two men to have killed twenty men on their own, without any help from others. But it wasn't a very impressive sight—only a small piece of ground; only a small number of men driven from it. But, it was the work of God! Again, let me say, never despise the smallness of the work; because, if it is a work of God, He will use it. Here is was not a question of the smallness of the work; no doubt it would have been more fitting if Jonathan could have gone out with a large army, and completely routed the Philistines. But, God begins in a small way to exercise individual faith, and then He begins to work. So, don't be discouraged by starting something small, because God often works that way—in order that we might realize that all the power must be from Himself.
What happens next? Verse 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. And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another." Now the Lord begins to work—the Lord begins to make His power felt. He allows things like an earthquake and a trembling in order to melt those Philistines away. If there is a real exercise of faith, you and I can draw on unlimited resources of power! I don't mean to be misunderstood here; Jonathan gained a victory that day. It was a small victory compared with the victories of David when he came to the throne. But these victories were precious to the eye of God, I believe, because they were won under such adverse circumstances. If I might say so reverently, I believe it was easier for a man to be a soldier under David, than it was to act as Jonathan did here: because, David went out with with wondrous power, and it is not recorded in Scripture that David ever lost a battle. Fittingly so, for David is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ coming in power and glory to set up His kingdom. But, the things that were done here were precious to the eye of God, because they were done in a day when everything else was given up.
You know, there is a work that God would have you do for Him—perhaps in your own home Assembly. If you start out doing it for the Lord, and with real faith and dependence on Him, I believe you will see the power of God manifested there. There are some right here in this room who have seen that happen. An old brother once made this remark to a few of us, and I believe it was a voice to my own heart: "I think we need to be careful how we use the term, "laboring brethren." He said: "Do you know who, in my estimation, really labor as much as those who travel around? Those who, day after day, week after week, month after month, and maybe even year after year, in their local area, carry on a work for the Lord, and make the necessary sacrifices in order to do it." Is God going to give a reward for that Sunday School class that you took week after week, and nobody saw it? I believe He will. Is God going take account of those things which you have done in your own local area, which no one saw? Maybe you had to make a sacrifice; maybe you have been a help to someone in the Assembly; you have been faithful at the Meetings; you have tried to help that individual who needed help; you have tried to be an encouragement to someone; you have kept a gospel testimony going in your own local area, even in a small way. 0, the Lord takes notice of that. And it often takes more spiritual energy to do that kind of thing, because day after day, week after week, it is the same difficulties, discouragements and problems that are always there. And, the Devil is going to make it so difficult in this day and age for you to do that, you may end up, as I may, sitting under a pomegranate tree. May God give us grace not to do that, but to have the spiritual energy to go out for Him—to, "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, "and then, "to be ready to every good work."
Now we see that Saul finally begins to, "catch on." The man who doesn't have the faith himself says, "0, there is something going on here." But he didn't yet know who was doing it; he had to make inquiry to see where it all came from. Saul only saw what was the evidence of the Lord's work; he didn't find out until long afterward that Jonathan was in the background. And then the only thing that Saul could do was to try and spoil the work of God. We don't have time to go into that later in the chapter; you can read the account for yourself-how that Saul, in attempting to intervene again, was almost allowed to destroy the instrument that God was using in His work. It is blessed when the instrument can be kept in the background, so that when people see a work going on, they see the evidence of the Lord's hand, and not your hand or mine.
Verse 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. 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." While Saul is busy trying to find out who started that work of the Lord there is so much commotion that he finally says to the priest, "Don't bother; let's go and be of help." When a work of God begins we often find that some who do not have any heart for it themselves are drawn out by the evidence of the Lord's work, and they come over to it. Saul didn't yet know who was responsible for it, or who started it all; but there was so much going on that he said, as it were, to the priest, "It doesn't matter who started it; don't bother—let's go over there." The work of the Lord is an attraction to others, even if their hearts are not right; and it is a blessed thing to see that, when the Lord works, it reaches out even to those whose hearts are cold.
There were others who came to the battle; notice verse 21: "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." It seems that some of the people of Israel had become so discouraged with the condition of things that, rather than being identified with Israel, they had gone over to be identified with the Philistines. Isn't that sad? Has it happened to some among us? Have there been those among us who are ashamed to be identified with those gathered to the Lord's Name, and have gone out to be identified with others? There is still hope—there is always a way back! Here, the work that Jonathan began for the Lord was such that those who were in a wrong position were enabled to see their wrong position, and they were encouraged to come back and identify themselves with the people of God. Isn't that blessed?
It doesn't give them an excuse for going off and identifying with the Philistines. 0, no! Notice the word that God has to use in describing them: He calls them "Hebrews;" but He doesn't call them Israelites. He calls them Hebrews, because they were identified with the nation. It was the term, you might say, of contempt that was used to describe them; whereas, those that were with Saul and Jonathan were called, "Israelites." The name Israel was the name given to Jacob, and it means "prince with God." And, how blessed it is to be identified with that divine place, with those who are going on, perhaps in much weakness, but in the place where the Lord had put them. Nevertheless, it is so blessed to see this work of the Lord was used of God to draw back those who were even in a wrong position. May God give us grace to be exercised, that if there are those who have gone out from us, that we not turn our back on them; but that, rather, we seek by the grace of God that there might be that among us that would draw them back. As one brother used to say, "There ought to be enough power among us to attract every true Christian in the area."
Verse 22: "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." Here were those who didn't go as far as the others in going off into the land of the Philistines and identifying with them, but they were afraid and they had hidden themselves in mount Ephraim. I often think that there are many among us who hide themselves like this: some who want to be identified with those gathered to the Lord's Name, and you ask them, "Do you wish to continue being in fellowship?" "O, yes I do." But, sad to say, they have hid themselves, and we do not see them very often. Something has to draw them out of those hiding places. What will draw them out—you and I? No! Only attraction to Christ; seeing that which the Lord is doing. May we have grace that there might be that among us that would attract them to Him, so that the saints who are continually going off into hiding places will be attracted back! It is well, sometimes, to visit individuals like that, and to try to be a help to them. But, first of all, there has to be an attraction to the Lord Jesus Himself; they have to be attracted to Him. If you and I are exercised about that state of things, I believe, that God will bring that about which would cause them to come out of their hiding places.
So, here they came. And it says, "they followed hard after them in the battle." It wasn't just a feeble going on, but they were encouraged to go out there and get right into it with the rest of them, in order to act for the Lord. May I say, if there is someone who has come to these meetings who has been in a hiding place: Don't stay in your hiding place; the Lord is the same, and He wants you to come out. May God give us, not merely to come out of the hiding places when we see a work of the Lord, but to be more like Jonathan and his armorbearer who had the courage to rely on the Lord in a day of ruin, and to act for Him when everything seems against us.
Verse 23: "So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Bethaven." Notice, it doesn't say that the battle ended. No, the battle will never end until the rightful king is on the throne. Don't expect to gain a good victory and then rest on your laurels, because that is just the time when the enemy will come in more strongly than ever. That is why it says in Eph. 6:1313Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13), when the armor is in question: "that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand." That simply means that we may go out and by the power of God, and in relying upon Him, be used of the Lord in a marvelous way; but then we tend to sit down after the battle and think, "well, we did it." Then the enemy can get an advantage. Nothing is worse than a great victory, if it is not recognized that we have to go back to Gilgal. We find that Gil-gal figures prominently in the things of God. It is a very important thing to remember, that after every victory we have to go to the place of self judgment, and recognize that it was all of the Lord, and that He gave the power and the encouragement to do it all.
Here the rightful king was just about to be manifested. In just a few more chapters God brings David on to the scene. Then we read, "that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David." He recognized that here was the man that God was going to use to deliver Israel fully from the clutches of the Philistines. But before that king appeared on the scene, I believe that God used Jonathan in continual warfare to maintain His rights in a place where the enemy was seeking to overcome them. May God encourage your heart and mine, as we await the Lord's return—we are just on the very eve of it; most of us feel it. The Lord is coming soon! May He encourage our hearts to go on for Him, who is the Same, and who never changes!
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