1 Samuel 14:1-23

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're going to look at the first half of 1 Samuel chapter 14. Saul has gathered together with his bunch of merry men, like 600 against 30,000 plus Philistines, and they don't have any weapons of war. How's this going to turn out? It sounds like it's going to be a slaughter.
Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Father, we thank you so much for this day, and we thank you for your Word. Lord, we pray that you would please help us as we seek to read your Word and understand it. We pray that your Holy Spirit would help us to know how we're supposed to live, what we're supposed to believe. Lord, we pray that you would please care for us this morning. In Jesus' name, Amen. 1 Samuel chapter 14.
Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, come let us go over to the Philistine garrison that is on the other side. But he did not tell his father. And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree, which is in Migron. The people who were with him were about 600 men. Ahijah, the son of Ahitab, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord's priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod.
But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Between the passes by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines garrison there was a sharp rock on one side and a sharp rock on the other side and the name of one was Bozes and the name of the other Sene. The front of one faced northward opposite Michmash, and the other southward opposite Gibeah. Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, let us go over to the garrison of these three uncircumcised.
It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. So his armor-bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart, go then, here I am with you, according to your heart. Then Jonathan said, very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, wait until we come out to you, then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. But if they say thus, come up to us, then we will go up, for the Lord has delivered them into our hands, and this will be a sign to us. So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they are hidden. Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, Come up to us and we will show you something. Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel.
And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armor-bearer after him, and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after them, his armor-bearer killed them. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made was about twenty men within half an acre of a field. And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled, and the earth quaked, so it was a very great trembling.
Now the watchmen of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and there was the multitude melting away, and they went here and there. Then Saul said to the people who were with him, Now call the roll and see who has gone from us. And when they had called the roll, surprisingly, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there.
And Saul said to Ahijah, Bring the ark of God here. For at that time the ark of God was with the children of Israel. Now it happened while Saul talked to the priests that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase. So Saul said to the priests, withdraw your hand. and Saul and all the people who were with him assembled, and they went to the battle. And indeed every man's sword was against his neighbor, and there was a very great confusion. Moreover, the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from surrounding the country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, all the men of Israel who had hidden in the mountains of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, they also followed hard after them in the battle. So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Bath-Avon. Whoa, what a dramatic reversal. So we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? So what's this about? Jonathan and his armor bear go on almost a spy expedition, right? They're going out. They're going to check out this garrison of the Philistines.
And he says, hey, look, if they leave us alone, we know that God's not with us. But if they tell us to come up, we know that God is with us. How Jonathan knows this? I don't know. Maybe it's just good stratagem, or maybe he's the type of guy who just understands Like, hey, if this happens, I'm guessing it's of the Lord, right? I can't give you the exact way Jonathan knows these things, but They go, and some Philistines see them, and they think, these dogs are coming out of their holes in the caves. Let's call them up. So he does. And Jonathan and his armor bearer kill 20 of them in one acre, right there. In this one field, they have one person. That's 20 to 1. And that's exactly what happens.
And the Philistines get spooked by it. Man, it starts making them afraid, and they start melting away, and the word starts spreading. And then as this is happening, there's an earthquake. In the ancient world, an earthquake was a sign from the gods that something is wrong. And so they start fleeing away.
And what does Saul do? Well, it's interesting. Saul notices this from a distance. He notices this. And he takes muster of his troops to find out who's missing. And it's Jonathan and his armor bearer who's not there. And so he calls the Ark of God. Pulls the same thing that the sons of Eli are doing again, right? Treating the Ark like it's some type of talisman. But this time, The victory continues. Things continue to switch. But there's an interesting thing here in verse 21.
Moreover, the Hebrews who were with the Philistines before that time, who went up with them into the camp from the surrounding country, they also joined the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. There were Israelites who had essentially said, yeah, no, they're never going to win. And so they joined the Philistines. And now, when the Israelites seem like, hey, something's going on here, they quickly turn coat and join the Israelites.
I don't know how I'd feel about these people. Probably not very good. But then all the people had fled away from Saul, and all the people had gone and hid in the caves and crossed over to Gilgal, right? Or sorry, not Gilgal, sorry. Transjordan. Sorry, brain fart right now. They go on the other side of the Jordan River, right, Gilead, that's the word I'm looking for, and they're trying to get away from the battle. All these people start coming out of the woodworks, and they join again, and the momentum switches, and it's very clear here who's in charge of this. Verse 23, so Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle shifted to Beth-Avon. That's what I've underlined as the B best verse in my Bible.
What are we called to do? See what are we called to do or how does this show us Jesus Christ? The Lord loves to flip things on its head. The Lord loves to flip the script. It's one of my favorite things and most distressing things about the Christian life and about Christian ministry is I often have to remind myself if things aren't going to plan, it might be God's plan. when things look dire and like things aren't going well in my life or if things aren't going well in ministry and I think, oh I have no clue how this is ever gonna work out, that's when the Lord seems to show up. But when I think, oh this is going great, this is strong, we got a great plan, it falls on its face.
The Lord loves to keep us humble. The Lord loves when we walk by faith and not by sight. We don't treat him like a tool or we have some type of methodological system that's going to work out perfectly. But no, we walk by biblical principles, according to his word, in faith.
And God is so gracious. The people don't deserve this. But God is kind and merciful and gracious. Israelites are deserting to the Philistines. And yet, God is so kind and gracious. It boggles my mind how merciful the Lord is. And then I have to look at my own life and think how faithless I am at times. How often I treat the Lord mechanically. How often I may go away from doing what I know I ought to do.
But the Lord shows mercy still. The Lord is kind and gracious. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that you do impossible things. And you like to flip the script. You like to turn things. You like to turn the world on its head because it displays your power and your glory.
Father, we pray that you would please help us to have faith instead of fear. We pray, Lord, that you would let us be sober-minded about the lives that we live, but that we would seek after your face and your glory. For you truly are an amazing king. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. May God bless you. May you walk by faith, knowing that your good shepherd is always with you. I'll see you next time. Bye.