Day 125 – Jonathan’s Victory

• Today we meet a character that you might not be too familiar with, but whom you’ll get to know quite well over the coming weeks. It’s Jonathan. What relation is he to Saul?
• What couldn’t be found in Israel, as discussed in the verses we read in 1 Samuel 13? What effect do you think this had on Israel’s soldiers and their morale?
• Look carefully at the story outlined in chapter 14:1-15. It shares a story of Jonathan boldly making his way to the Philistine camp. Who was with Jonathan? What clues do we see in this passage about Jonathan’s relationship with God?
• What did Jonathan decide to do when he got to the camp? How did God give him victory?
• Which came first, God’s deliverance (i.e. helping the Israelites to victory) or Jonathan’s faith?
• Only with God’s help could Jonathan have defeated so many men. We’re going to read about David soon. What similar story featuring David can you think about that has a weak person defeating a strong attacker with God’s help?
• Think about Jonathan’s armour-bearer. He seems like a really sound companion to have. Do you have any friends who are as faithful as this guy? Are you a friend like that to someone else?

We’ll meet Jonathan again, so don’t forget about him. He builds up a very strong relationship with David which we’ll hear about soon.

You might wonder why my notes have only covered half of the readings today! 1 Samuel 14 is long, and has a lot of story after the story of Jonathan. I did this because I want the focus to be on Jonathan today, rather than his dad. That said, Saul seems to be in a mess today, doesn’t he? In the second half of 1 Samuel 14 we see plenty of things that aren’t great.

– in verse 19, Saul speaks with the priests to find out God’s will is during the battle, but with the growing panic in the camp, Saul decides not to wait for an answer (that’s what it means when it says “withdraw your hand”).
– in verse 24, Saul has cursed any of his men who eat food before he does, which leads to a weak and demoralised army.
– in verse 29, Jonathan describes him as “making trouble for the country”.
– in verse 35, it says that Saul had never made an altar to God before, showing perhaps a lack of faith.
– in verse 36, the priests have to remind him to talk to God before making battle plans.
– in verse 44, he was ready to kill Jonathan despite the fact he had contributed most to their victory.

Do you think he really is turning into a king “like all the other nations have”, like the Israelites asked for in chapter 8:5?