Stand Still - 1 Samuel 14:1-15

1 Samuel 14:1–15 KJV (WS)

1 Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. 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; 3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord'S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. 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. 5 The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah. 6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, 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. 7 And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. 8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. 9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. 10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us. 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. 12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. 13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him. 14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow. 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.

Introduction

Soon into Saul’s reign, Israel had to face their enemies.

They had defeated Nahash.

We talked about him briefly in the last message.

He was the big bad that had the Israelites running scared.

If Saul had studied the stories of the Judges, he would have seen how God usually raised a leader to deal with a single enemy.

Maybe Saul felt like he had done that.

As king, he was responsible for every enemy that came agains the people.

The Philistines were always a constant source of trouble.

They had been pestering the Israelites and their new king.

Many of the Israelites had gone into hiding.

The Philistines were just too strong.

It was impossible to beat them.

They might as well hide.

The Bible depicts Saul as tarrying near Gibeah despite the Philistines having a garrison within eyesight.

It doesn’t outright accuse Saul of wrong doing.

But, he is the king.

The enemy is lurking nearby.

While he literally sits under a shade tree ensuring his own safety while his people are suffering.

This does not sit well with his son Jonathan.

He goes to his armor-bearer and tells him that they are going to do something about this situation.

They are going to cross over and check out what’s going on with the Philistines.

It’s about a 4 mile hike from Gibeah to Michmash.

Jonathan tells his armor-bearer to make sure Saul doesn’t find out.

As they slip away, they do so secretly.

No one realizes that they have left.

As they make their way to Michmash, Jonathan converses with his armor-bearer.

The author repeats and expands on Jonathan’s first statement.

Let us go over unto the garrison of the uncircumcised.

It may be that the Lord will work for us.

There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.

The armor bearer responds with trust and courage.

Do all that is in thy heart.

I am with thee.

Jonathan comes up with a plan that guarantees success either way.

They will discover themselves to the Philistines.

If the Philistines tell them to stay there, while they come to them, then Jonathan and his man will play defense.

vs 4 tells us that Jonathan had discovered a strategic place to defend.

This is a reference to the Michmash Pass a pair of stones that stood close together.

Here, strength of numbers would have little impact on a fight.

Jonathan and his armorbearer could stand in the pass like Leonidas standing against the Persians.

As the Bible says they will stand still and let the enemy come to them.

If, though, the Philistines tell them to come to the garrison, then Jonathan and his armor bearer will go on offense and they will take it as a sign that God will give them victory over the Philistines.

Talk is one thing.

It’s another thing to put your words to action.

Jonathan and his armor bearer reveal themselves to the Philistines.

The Philistines immediately mock them.

Oh look the Hebrews have come out of their holes.

They went hiding from us, I wonder what causes them to come out?

In their next statement, the Philistines give Jonathan and his man their answer.

The Philistines invite the men up to the garrison.

Not for a friendly visit.

But so they can show them something.

In this moment I imagine Jon looking at his armor bearer with a grin.

Come up after me (He’s supposed to go before him).

The Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel (not personal).

Jonathan climbs on his hands and feet up to the garrison and begins hacking up the Philistine soldiers.

He leaves his easily defended strategic location and goes out exposed to fight the Philistines.

Together they take out 20 men.

They cover about a half acre of land by themselves.

The fierceness of Jonathan and his armor bearer strikes fear in the hearts of the Philistines.

If this is what 2 Hebrews are capable of, what can the other 600 do?

The fear spreads in throughout all facets of the Philistine force.

God maximizes their unease by sending an earthquake at the same time.

In the next passage, Saul’s watchmen say that the Philistine force is melting away.

All it took was for one man to tire of tarrying.

Interpretation

Saul had a divine mission to secure the peace and safety of his people.

Instead of doing that, he tarried under the pomegranate tree.

Jonathan was not content to sit around waiting for something to happen.

He was motivated by the thought that God might do something for them.

He actually believed that God could work.

Thankfully Jonathan didn’t have to go alone.

Jonathan faced the Philistines with a plan to advance or stand still and hold his ground.

He was ready to act in whatever way the Lord led him.

Once God’s will was known, Jonathan led the way.

God’s power was clearly seen in giving Jonathan a victory.

A victory that would inspire those that tarried to get involved by the way.

Application

Personally, are you a person that is tarrying in the battle against evil?

We’ve got a whole lot of Christians that are like Saul.

You’re sitting in comfort.

You’ve got everything worked out for yourself.

All the while our enemy moves freely among our friends and family robbing them and causing havoc.

Where are the Jonathan’s who are willing to stick their neck out and say let’s see if God won’t help us.

There are more armor bearers out there than you might think.

Christians that are willing to take the risk.

They are just waiting for a Jonathan to lead the way.

Look at how people have rallied around Dusty Deevers.

We need Christians that will engage the culture with a plan to make a difference.

Either through defending our ground.

Or by advancing on the enemy’s position.

God will direct you how you should act.

He will go with you into battle.

If you are in the battle.

God can use you to prod other Christians to get engaged.

Your testimony can be the spark that lights a fire in other believers.

God’s work in your life can encourage others.

Let’s talk about our church for a second, because I think this passage applies to us as a group.

We’ve always said that we want to be a church more interested in reaching out to our community than just trying to maintain an internal culture.

Lots and lots of churches are satisfied with where they are.

They’v won some battles in the past, but now they are content to tarry in their comfort zone.

We will not be like that.

We will be like Jonathan.

We will be of the mindset that we want to see what God will do for us.

We will go out and see how God will give us victory.

If it means we will stand still and defend our ground, we will do it.

If God gives us the go ahead to advance we are going to charge forward.

If someone wants to come with us, that’s great.

We aren’t going to tarry in comfort when the enemy is at work in our community.