“So both of them let their presence be known to the garrison of the P’lishtim; and the P’lishtim said, ‘Look, some Hebrews coming out of the holes they’ve been hiding in!’ Then the men of the garrison said to Y’honatan and his armor-bearer, ‘Come up to us; we want to show you something.’ Y’honatan told his armor-bearer, ‘Come on up after me, for Adonai has handed them over to Israel.”-1 Samuel 14:11-12
Today we’re gonna explore a great scriptural example of the blessings God provides when we fully surrender our trust in Him, especially during times of extreme uncertainty.
So let’s jump right into it.
Following on the heels of yesterday’s post, as Jonathan and his servant agreed on, they both come out of hiding and start shouting what I can only imagine was a barrage of obscenities at the Philistines.
Imagine the shock the Philistine soldiers must have felt when they saw these two Israelites yelling at them with fists clenched.
The soldiers were standing on top of a hill and they could see far and wide in all directions.
So it was clear that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were all alone.
“Are these men drunk?”
“Or are they just plain nuts?”
“Maybe both?”
That must have been the thoughts going through the Philistine soldiers’ heads as they witnessed these two crazy Hebrews yelling at them.
Yet, they were probably a little suspicious because they stayed put at their safe spot on the hill above the dry riverbed.
Instead, they took the only other reasonable course of action available to them.
They started screaming back at Jonathan and his unnamed servant.
After more than a couple of middle finger gestures were exchanged back and forth, Jonathan finally got the signal from the Lord he was waiting for.
The Philistines shouted back these magic words…
“Come up to us;
we want to show
you something.”
Recall from yesterday’s post this was to be the sign from God that victory was in their grasp.
Once Jonathan heard those words, he was so sure God was on his side that he immediately made his move.
Now, let’s stop right here for a sec.
Aren’t you just blown away by Jonathan’s faith?
He didn’t hesitate for a second to take quick, decisive, and bold action once he got the go-ahead from the Lord to move forward.
There’s a huge lesson here for us, don’t you think?
I mean, how many times in our lives do we just sit on our fearful butts, afraid to act because let’s face it, we just don’t trust God?
Anyways, let’s move on because things are about to get even better.
Next, Jonathan and his sidekick quietly make their way up a steep part of the hill that would allow them for a brief moment to approach the Philistine soldiers undetected.
Now here’s where things get juicy.
Once they reached the top, they found a very narrow path.
And when I say “very narrow”, I ain’t kidding.
The Bible describes it as “the length of a furrow that oxen would plow in a day, but only half as wide”.
The bottom line, it was a long, narrow tunnel.
You know what that meant?
It meant that even though Jonathan and his armor-bearer were greatly outnumbered, it didn’t matter.
The narrowness of the tunnel would enable Jonathan to take on one Philistine soldier at a time while his armor bearer finished them off.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Jonathan ended up mowing down 20 men within the space of a few minutes that day.
To top things off, the Lord conveniently orchestrated an earthquake to ensure the victory.
So here’s the thing.
And pay close attention, because there’s another huge lesson here that will strengthen your faith, trust, and walk with God.
Jonathan had no idea when he hatched this crazy plan to take on a whole entourage of Philistines soldiers that the terrain would serve to his advantage.
ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA AT ALL!!!
Are you feeling me, man?
Jonathan stepped forward in utter and complete blind faith!
And God came through for him in flying colors.
Jonathan’s faith turned out to be 100% well-placed.
So remember this story as you consider your walk with the Lord.
You don’t have to know all of the steps from A-to-Z beforehand.
You only need to know the one step that’s directly ahead of you right now.
One successful step in faith will lead to the next one…
And then the one after that.
Before you know it, you’ll have conquered some major Philistine butt for the Kingdom.
Feeling me?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Yeshua replied, ‘Truly I tell you,
if you have faith and do not doubt,
not only can you do what
was done to the fig tree,
but also you can say to this mountain,
‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’
and it will be done.
If you believe, you will receive
whatever you ask for in prayer.'”
-Matthew 21:21-22
“Now faith is confidence in what
we hope for and assurance
about what we do not see.”
-Hebrews 11:1
“‘If you can?’ said Yeshua.
‘Everything is possible
for one who believes.'”
-Mark 9:23
“But when you ask,
you must believe and not doubt,
because the one who doubts
is like a wave of the sea,
blown and tossed by the wind.”
-James 1:6
“And without faith,
it is impossible to please God
because anyone who comes
to Him must believe that He
exists and that He rewards
those who earnestly seek Him.”
-Hebrews 11:6
“So faith comes from hearing,
and hearing through
the word of Messiah.”
-Romans 10:17
“For we live by faith,
not by sight.”
-2 Corinthians 5:7
“Yeshua looked at them and said,
‘With man, this is impossible,
but not with God;
all things are possible with God.'”
-Mark 10:27
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