Jonathan Picks A Fight

The Bible is filled with inspiring stories of courage; of those who rely on God in tight situations.  I don't know about you, but I find myself struggling to relate to the heros of the Bible more often than not.  Perhaps it's because I still find the characters (real people) "legendary," if I can use that term.

When's the last time we truly risked our lives - for real - for God's purpose?  Again, it's easy to read about the heroic people in the Bible and translate them into legend-figures.

What if we could live in the midst of these events, struggles, and worrys, not really knowing the outcome?  What if we could see events from the inside, as a participant?  What if you were one of the Spartans in "300?"  Many times, I think I'd be one of the nameless 300 rather than one of the dudes that had a speaking role in the movie, which I need to be OK with, because I would have been one of many brothers with a name, fighting together with my brothers-in-arms to defend my family, friends, and city.

What if we could see the story of Jonathn differently - from the "inside?"

Check out 1Samuel -- Bear with me, here, and read the entire text from Young's Literal Translation.

14 And the day cometh that Jonathan son of Saul saith unto the young man bearing his weapons, `Come, and we pass over unto the station of the Philistines, which [is] on the other side of this;' and to his father he hath not declared.  <sup>6</sup> And Jonathan saith unto the young man bearing his weapons, `Come, and we pass over unto the station of these uncircumcised fellows; it may be Jehovah doth work for us, for there is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few.'

OK, that’s enough.  Isn’t it hard to read this and think of what we would do under the same circumstances?  I mean, what if “Saving Private Ryan” or “Apocalypse Now” were written this way?  The above is very poetic, but here’s what I imagine would happen in, let’s say, Afghanistan.

Jonathan and his servant carrying his armor were standing under a tree, indignant that Saul, the king, had his army standing around, unable to make a decision on how to attack the Philistines not 2 clicks from where they were.

“I’ve had enough.  You and I need to go kick some Philistine ass, so you and I are going to their ground.  Maybe God will help us,” says Jonathan.

“Yeah, right!   That would be suicide,” says the armor-carrier, halfway laughing at the suggestion.  But as he turned and looked at Jonathan, he saw the determination in his eyes and no smile on his face, he knew Jonathan was serious. 

Stopping mid-sentence, the armor bearer realizes the gravity of what Jon's talking about and replies seriously, “Whatever you want to do, I’m with you.”  In other words, it’s a good day to defeat the Philistines for God’s glory.  Or, it’s a good day to die for God’s glory fighting for Israel.  Either way is better than standing around.

This is where it gets really awesome.  Jonathan and the armor carrier (who has no name, by the way) go to the Philistine lookout. 

Jonathan says, ⁸ “All right then.  We’ll cross over and let them see us. ⁹ If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then we will stop and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up. That will be the Lord’s sign that he will help us defeat them.”

¹¹ When the Philistines saw them coming, they shouted, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of their holes!” ¹² Then the men from the outpost shouted to Jonathan, “Come on up here, and we’ll teach you a lesson!”

“Come on, climb right behind me,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “for the Lord will help us defeat them!”  They had their sign from God that they would defeat the Philistines, because they said to come up! 

Can you imagine the exhileration?  The feeling in the pit of their stomachs knowing that they were going to be engaged in a bloody battle?  That God would show up?  Or not?  That’s some faith! 

¹³ So they climbed up using both hands and feet, and the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer killed those who came behind them. ¹⁴ They killed some twenty men in all, and their bodies were scattered over about half an acre.

Now, warfare being what it was back then, I don’t think their swords were cutting through the mighty Philistines like State Fair butter carvings.  I’ll bet Jonathan had to fight like he never fought before.  And, get this:  The armor bearer didn’t have any weapons!  Like Erwin McManus says, HE’S THE GUY fighting by faith! 

Nonetheless, the Philistines were defeated and the entire army was panicked and ran.  We also know that Saul saw the commotion and decided only then to join in the battle. 

So, how do we use this? 

Going forward with our day, we lean on Him; thank Him for our neediness that builds trust between us; we remember that He has created us, each with different and distinct gifts. 

We remember that God knows the level of difficulty or ease of each experience. 

We also need to remember that we must never compare our own "level" of faith to those who fear what we see as "small" things.  Likewise, we should never fear judgment of others in the area of our faith. 

I don't need to be the Jonathan of the Bible.  I need to focus my attention on the path just ahead of me and on Him who never leaves my side.