I was reading my Bible recently, specifically 1 Samuel 14. This chapter begins with Jonathan bringing his armor bearer to peer over at the Philistines. After looking over and having a little tet-ta-tet with the Philistines and the Lord, he basically says "Let's hunt some Orc!" He and his armor bearer, going alone into the Philistine garrison, begin to take men out by the dozen! All because the Lord had given them to him. There was great confusion in the camp, and sooner or later the Israelite scouts got the drift that a fight was going down, and Jonathan was wailing on everybody!
"So the Lord saved Israel that day,"- 1Samuel 14:23
This Passage tells me two things about Jonathan:
1. He was an awesome swordsman. obviously.
2. He was in good fellowship with the Lord, unlike his Father at the time. He knew that the Philistines could be taken since he had the Lord right there to make the attack.
Thinking on David, Jonathan always just seemed like the best friend, the co-star, the Heather Burns to Sandra Bullock and Meg Ryan. Equal, yet less important to the story. But here! You get to see that he was the Hero, the voice of reason and man of power at one point.
In these cases, I like to identify myself with the one who fought the armies alone. Through our lives, we will have to listen to the Lord to battle our armies alone, meaning we will need to be in constant communion with the Lord. Jonathan knew what the Lord wanted, and he pulled it off because he had God to back him up. Well, guess what, so do we! A good battle makes things more interesting, let's get out and fight!
4 comments:
and tell me, who are we fighting?
I guess, maybe not "who", but "what". I like to think we are fighting what the Lord hates. Standing up for what is good and right in this world, and not giving in to the sins that so easily tempt us. We should all fight for a cause that will please the Lord, whatever it be. Knowing what that is takes reading, studying, and praying about His Word.
Hey, I saw your blog off of Brian Terreson's.
That story you referenced is also a demonstration of the kind of faith that God looks for in His people.
Jonathan acted on some "bankable" truths about God: He is powerful enough to defeat the enemy, the Israelites were His chosen people, and if God willed it He would act and deliver. He did not "wait" for the Lord, nor was He passively wishing God would move.
Often Christians can get paralyzed with inaction and indecision and then we wonder why we are so ineffective for our King. God's will for our lives is not nearly as ambiguous as we make it out to be.
Incidentally, how awesome was Jonathan's shield bearer? No complaints, concerns, whatever. A total "git-er-done" moment.
Hey there Matt. Glad you could stop by.
Your so right! Jonathan knew the Lord had power beyond what his Israelite buddies thought.
And, yah, the amazing thing about the armor bearer was that he just kept silent. He just followed Jonathan and did what he said. No worries. We can take 'em.
Thanks for the posts you two. ;)
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