“Y’honatan answered Sha’ul his father, ‘Why should he be put to death? What has he done?’ But Sha’ul threw his spear at him, aiming to kill; Y’honatan could no longer doubt that his father was determined to put David to death.”-1 Samuel 20:32-33
After Saul insulted Jonathan in front of everyone at the banquet, all the poor naive Jonathan could do was try to defend David.
He answers the king by saying…
“Why should he be put to death?
What has he done?”
Of course, this just further enrages Saul who picks up his spear and hauls it at Jonathan with the murderous intent to impale him.
Fortunately, the flying missile misses its target…
However, from that moment on, Jonathan was never the same.
He realized everything David had been telling him about his father was true.
It was now crystal clear Saul would do everything in his power to hunt down David and kill him.
Saul understood God had rejected him as king…
But damned if he was gonna give up his throne to anyone but his own flesh and blood…
Saul may not have been aware the Lord had chosen David to be the next king of Israel…
Yet he couldn’t ignore all the telltale signs that this son of Jesse was a legitimate threat to his throne.
He had been too successful in numerous battles against the Philistines…
He was too loved by the people…
And now it seemed like his own family was turning against him to side with David.
Saul had become like the stubborn and defiant Pharaoh of Egypt.
He was a man who had lost all his faculties of reason and rational thinking.
On the other hand, everything was now clear to Jonathan.
He knew God had chosen David to be the next king…
And he knew his father would stop at nothing to prevent David from taking his throne.
Next, we’re told that…
“Y’honatan got up from the table in a fury, and he ate no food the second day of the month, both because he was upset over David and because his father had put him to shame.”
Keep in mind, that this was a religious meal (as far removed from the Torah as it was).
The purpose of this dinner wasn’t to satisfy hunger pangs…
It was to be a holy meal unto Adonai.
So when Jonathan stepped away without even taking a bite, everyone in attendance must have been shocked.
Alrighty so here’s the takeaway for today.
Contrast the madness of Saul with the clear-headed Jonathan.
The rejected Saul was going to do everything in his power to kill God’s anointed King.
On the other hand, Jonathan was going to do everything in his power to protect God’s anointed King…
EVEN IF it meant betraying his own father.
The difference between Saul and Jonathan was simple.
One man (Saul) is rebelling against God…
The other man (Jonathan) is obeying God…
One man is rooted in pure evil and falsehood…
The other man is rooted in goodness and truth.
You can see this same pattern today with Israel and Hamas following the October 7th genocide (and yes, it was a genocide).
One side is rooted in pure evil and falsehood (Hamas and their supporters).
The other side is rooted in goodness and truth (Israel).
Choose wisely which side you decide to align with.
Later homies.
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