Exercising Faith

2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent.

We are told that Jonathan is the son of Saul in

1 Samuel 13:16 ESV

16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

D. Relevance of the text

What is the strength of your faith? Do you base your faith on your accomplishments or is your faith based upon the work of the Lord?

I. Setting the Scene

1 Samuel 14:1 ESV

1 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

You have a contrast that begins in verse 1 between a son who seems to be exercising Faith while you have a father Saul who seems to be doing a lot of nothing. Jonathon is set to see what the Philistines are doing and the fact that he does not tell his Father seems to suggest the father may not have of approved of what was about to happen.

1 Samuel 14:2–3 ESV

2 Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men, 3 including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.

From exercising faith to staying at the outskirts of Gibeah which is farther back up in the hills and farther south away from the enemy. Not only that but look at the company he is keeping. Ahijah the son of Ahitub, ichabod’s brother son of Phinehas, son of Eli.. Remember Ichabod

1 Samuel 4:21–22 ESV

21 And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”

What about Hophni and Phinehas?

1 Samuel 2:12–17 ESV

12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give meat for the priest to roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you but only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “Let them burn the fat first, and then take as much as you wish,” he would say, “No, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force.” 17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

Think about what Samuel is doing. He has disobeyed God in Chapter 13 and been told that this will bring an end to him and his line being King.

1 Samuel 13:13–15 ESV

13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

With no more Samuel in the picture you turn to a priesthood that has also been told that they are coming to an end also. You seek guidance from people who have themselves brought shame upon the hands of God.

1 Samuel 14:4–5 ESV

4 Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5 The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

We get the picture in vs 4-5.

Rocky crag…literal translation “teeth of rock”

two cliffs..Bozez and Seneh

Bozez— “Slippery”

Senah— “Thorny”

This is a bad situation to say the least yet we have Jonathan and his armour bearer walking into the teeth of what we would all say is a problem yet vs. 6 tells us that Jonathan sees the situation differently.

II. Seeing the Power of God

A. Faith of Jonathan

1 Samuel 14:6–7 ESV

6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” 7 And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”

Jonathan’s faith is not based upon the fact that he had a great week following in the footsteps of God so therefore God obviously MUST respond to what he is doing.

Uncircumcised—Jonathan see’s this as people under a covenant with God vs. those that are not part of this covenant.

Don’t you love the strength of Jonathan’s faith!!! “It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” I may be…how great our faith must be like Jonathan’s. You see he is saying with an army or with no army God can accomplish what he wants in this situation. Let’s see what God wants to do? We have seen it before in 1 Samuel haven’t we?

1 Samuel 5:11 ESV

11 They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.” For there was a deathly panic throughout the whole city. The hand of God was very heavy there.

1 Samuel 7:10–11 ESV

10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

One commentator said it this way.. “Jonathan was expressing the conviction that is basic to all true faith in God. God is of infinite power.” Is that what you believe this morning? Is their anything to big for our God who gave his son for us.

Job 42:2 ESV

2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

Jeremiah 32:17 ESV

17 ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Genesis 18:14 ESV

14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Jonathan’s faith is in the correct place. He doesn’t see that God owes him or the Israelites anything instead he is relying upon God fully in faith while still exercising this faith by saying let’s see what God will do. Doesn’t that sound like a good faith for us to have?

B. Plan Laid out

1 Samuel 14:8–10 ESV

8 Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. 9 If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.”

C. Unfolding plan

1 Samuel 14:11–12 ESV

11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” 12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”

D. Work of God

1 Samuel 14:13–15 ESV

13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. 14 And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. 15 And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.

Defined Faith:

Ryrie’s Basic Theology A. The Meaning of Faith

Faith means confidence, trust, to hold something as true. Of course, faith must have content; there must be confidence or trust about something. To have faith in Christ unto salvation means to have confidence that He can remove the guilt of sin and grant eternal life.

Lord’s supper—We do not claim our work being done on behalf of a God that needed our help this morning as we take the Lord’s supper. We sit in awe of the God who sent his son in HIS power to redeem a people such as us for his name sake. That is what we do in remembrance of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ who died for us that we may live. Faith is based upon what he has accomplished for us. That is the beauty of the cross that we live under daily in his power.

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