David Wisniewski - Developing Spiritual Intelligence - Class 1 - Leadership

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   14 and the 1st 15 verses, and we’ll ask Brother Shem Able to come forward and lead us in that reading. First time of 14 verses 1 to 15. Reading with you from First Samuel chapter 14 verses one through 15.

2. 0:32

   Now came to pass upon a day that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bear his armor, Come and let us go over to the Philistine Garrison that is on the other side. But he told not his father and Sol tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in migrant and the people that were with him we’re about 600 men.

3. 0:54

   And Ahaya, the son of a hide sub Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phineas, the son of Eli, Yahweh’s priest in Shiloh wearing ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone. And between the passages by which Jonathan sought to go over on to the Philistines Garrison, there was there was a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on the other side. And the name of the one was Bozes, the name of the other Cena.

4. 1:22

   The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Mcmash, and the other southward against Gibeah. And Jonathan said to the young man that bear his armor, Come and let’s go over unto the Garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us, for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few.

5. 1:41

   As armor bearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart, turn thee, behold I’m with thee according to thy heart. Then said Jonathan, Behold, you’ll pass over unto these men, you’ll discover ourselves unto them. If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you, then we will stand still in our in our place, and will not go up unto them. But they say thus come up to us, then we will go up. For Yahweh had delivered them into our hand, and this shall be a sign unto us.

6. 2:12

   Both them discover themselves unto the Garrison of the Philistines. The Philistines said, Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves. The man of the Garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armor bearer, Come up after me, for y’all I had delivered them into the hand of Israel. And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands, and upon his feet, his armor bearer after him.

7. 2:40

   And they fell before Jonathan his armor bearer slew after him. In the first slaughter which Jonathan his armor bearer made was about 20 men within as they were, and half acre of land which a yoke of oxen might plow. And there is a trembling the host in the field, and among all the people, the Garrison and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked.

8. 3:02

   So it was a very great trembling. This is Watch an Lake Bible School 2025 our speakers Brother Dave Wisnessky. His series for the week is Developing Spiritual Intelligence from the lives of Jonathan and David. This is class #1 and the title is Leadership for there. Dave, please.

9. 3:48

   Well, good evening. Hope you’ve all had a wonderful day and we were certainly we’re filled well for dinner. Thank you for those who have made all the plans for this week and have so far fed us very well. Well, in our first class tonight, we’re going to look at Jonathan. Essentially, we’re going to follow the chronological order through First Samuel in these first set of classes anyways. And we see Jonathan 1st and then we’re introduced to David. And that’s the pattern that we’ll follow. And the spiritual quality or spiritual quotient that we hope to develop tonight is that of leadership. We said yesterday in our introduction that we’ll see that Jonathan was able to inspire greatness in others. Well, Jonathan’s name means Yah hath given, Yah hath given, and indeed he had given.

10. 4:50

    He’d given the nation of Israel an incredible example. He’d given to Saul an incredible example, his own son, if he had just followed the example and advice and counsel of him. And God has given to us a wonderful example in Jonathan and recording these events for us. Yah also gave David a wonderful friend, a friend better than one could ever ask for us. We’ll see as we progress through our classes this week, God willing, we’ll turn back a page from what we had read for us to First Samuel 13 and consider how the Scriptures introduced Jonathan.

11. 5:37

    We’ll read together verses 1 to 4. Saul reigned one year, and when he had reigned 2 years over Israel, Saul chose him. 3000 men of Israel where of 2000 where with Saul and Mcmash in Mount Bethel, and 1000 where with Jonathan and Gibeah of Benjamin and the rest of the people. He sent every man to his tent. And Jonathan smote the Garrison of the Philistines. It was in Giba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, let the Hebrews hear.

12. 6:14

    And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a Garrison to the Philistines, and that Israel also was had an abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal. Well, it doesn’t take long to learn the first principle in Jonathan’s life. Consider how the scriptures introduce him. We’re not told anything of Jonathan’s stature, sorry, just a spider. We’re told nothing of Jonathan’s stature, of his father. We’re told he was head and shoulders above everyone else, and that’s a considerable man aside. That means if I was standing beside Saul, an average American height, I’d be looking into his chest and there’s Saul’s head above.

13. 7:06

    It says nothing of Jonathan’s stature. It doesn’t even tell us actually that Jonathan is the son of Saul. Did you notice that first time we’re introduced to him? And it does not tell us that he’s the son of Saul. Now, he’s obviously got a position of importance. He’s got 1000 men with him.

14. 7:22

    Saul has 2000 men with him. So the first principle that we learn from these few verses in First Samuel 13 about Jonathan is actually the overriding principle of his life. And that is what he did was more important than who he was. What Jonathan did was more important than who he was. In fact, when all Israel hears about the defeat of the Philistine Garrison of that stronghold in Giba, they don’t even hear that Jonathan had anything to do with it.

15. 8:02

    They hear that Saul had smitten a Garrison to the Philistines. And we have no record of any complaint or protest from Jonathan. He was just happy to do the work without concern about who got the credit.

16. 8:20

    On President Harry Truman’s desk, I read that he had a sign which read, There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit. Now, this, of course, is contrary to the pride of life, but this we’ll see. This principle is repeated over and over and over again in the life of Jonathan.

17. 8:44

    It’s not about who he is. It’s not about what his title was. It’s not about what his role was in the ecclesia. It’s about what needed to be done for God. What about us brothers and sisters? I think men maybe struggle with this a little bit more. I know in in my household, I feel it necessary. I’m not sure why it’s this inert compulsion to announce. Hey, honey, I did the dishes, all right? I took out the garbage.

18. 9:13

    The recycling’s all cleared. For whatever reason. You know, we want to announce what we’ve done, at least in my household. And maybe it’s somewhere in others. But what about an ecclesial life? Is who we are? Is our role more important than what we do?

19. 9:34

    Well, here’s the reality of it. There’s one person that can answer that question best. It might be our spouse. But usually that would be ourselves, isn’t it? But we can only answer that question if we take the time to reflect on our own motivation. We know we can’t judge the motives of others. We’re told that very clearly in the words of Christ in Matthew 7.

20. 9:59

    But we can judge ourselves. In fact, if we learn to judge ourselves. What does Paul say? Paul says if we can judge ourselves, we won’t be judged in the day when Christ returns. If we become good at introspection, if we become good at self reflection, if we become good at examining our own motives, well then Christ will have nothing to judge because we’ll have done the work for him in our lifetime. So let us be like Jonathan and worry about what needs to be done and not who gets the credit

21. 10:39

    and what. A contrast to Saul, where who got the credit was even more important than what the truth of the matter was. Well then, we have the faith of Jonathan contrasted to the nation, don’t we? As we come down to verse 4, all Israel heard two things. They didn’t just hear a lie that Saul had smitten a Garrison of the Philistines. They also hear that Israel was now an abomination with the Philistines.

22. 11:09

    There’s an echo back to Israel’s history at this point in time, isn’t there? Remember, another man, a judge in Israel had gone and burnt the fields, the the wheat fields of the Philistines. And Israel came up to to Samson and said, what are you doing? Don’t you realize these are our rulers and you’re going to get them mad at us?

23. 11:31

    And that was the state of Israel in Saul’s day as well. They were now upset because Israel was had an abomination with the Philistines and clearly the Philistines had entrenched themselves in the land. If Jonathan was going and defeating a Garrison or a tower or a Fort of the Philistines in the land and the people were called together, then after Saul and Gilgal and we see the reaction then of the children of Israel as this massive army responds to what Jonathan had done. And so in verse 5, we read in the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, 30,000 Chariots, 6000 horsemen and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude.

24. 12:26

    And they came up and pitched in Mickmash eastward from Beth Haven. And so we’ve got this massive army now that’s assembled in the land on the hill of Mickmash.

25. 12:39

    And the response of the people, well, we’re told they hid themselves, Verse 6, when the men of Israel saw that they were in a Strait, for the people were distressed, then did the people hide themselves in caves, in thickets and rocks and high places and pits. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

26. 13:02

    And As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal and all the people trembled after him. Our margin says what an unfortunate leader they had chosen. Then the remnant that was left in the land, that wasn’t hiding themselves, that hadn’t fled, are trembling. And in fact, we’re going to find out that there is one more class of people of the children of Israel as the Philistine army comes up against them. But amazingly, brothers and sisters, what we’re going to see by the time we come to the end of our class tonight, God willing, is that the faith, the courage and the commitment to act of 1 individual will turn the entire nation from being faithless and fearful and trembling after Saul to being faithful and seeing God working salvation amongst them. The influence of one individual is able to turn the entire ecclesial community around.

27. 14:10

    And what a lesson that should be for us. Well, at this point in time, there’s this random epiphany that Saul has, because Saul now remembers. Wait a minute, I remember that Samuel told me something about the Philistines, a Garrison of the Philistines coming to the hill of God, coming towards Jerusalem. And that was found back in in first Samuel chapter 10 verses 5 to 8, when Samuel said to him, thou shalt come to the hill of God, that is Zion, where is the Garrison of the Philistines.

28. 14:47

    And it shall come to pass, when you come into the city, you’ll meet a company of prophets. This is where that saying became known as Saul also amongst the prophets, because the spirit of the Lord came upon him. And then Samuel instructed, Let it be when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee, for God is with thee.

29. 15:08

    And thou shall go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I will come down unto thee, and offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings 7 days shall thou tarry till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shall do. Well, first of all, Samuel had told him that Saul should do as occasion offered to him.

30. 15:35

    Saul didn’t. Saul sat with his 2000 soldiers, and Jonathan did as occasion was offered to him, and went up against the Philistines. But now, having remembered this commandment, he goes down to Gilgal. Well, he’s in Gilgal. All the people have trembled after him and now he waits for seven days. It says at verse 8, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed, but Samuel came not to Gilgal and the people were scattered from him. And Saul said bring hit her a burnt offering to me and peace offerings.

31. 16:08

    And he offered the burnt offering himself. And we’ll get to see, as we look at Saul more in our third class, the impetuous nature of this individual, the lack of planning, the inability to take control of a situation, the inept capabilities to be a shepherd. And he’s waited 7 days and most of Israel’s already hidden anyways in thickets and caves and pits and fled across the river to the other side of the Jordan and and tremble.

32. 16:42

    There’s only a small group with him as it is of 600 men. And yet he sees the people scattering from him. And he says, OK, enough is enough. We’ve waited seven days. Samuel’s not here. And he makes the offering himself. Why is this inserted here into the record? We might just flow from first Samuel 13.

33. 17:02

    The act of courage of Jonathan, the the introduction of his spirit that overrode his life, which is what you do is more important than who you are. We might have flown right from that into Jonathan is now going to take on the entire Philistine army. But we have interjected this incident of Saul rashly offering an offering instead of waiting for Samuel. And so Samuel comes to him in verse 11 and says, what have you done?

34. 17:36

    And Saul said, because I saw that the people were scattered from me, it’s the people’s fault. And that thou camest not within the days, it’s your fault, Samuel, and that the Philistines were gathered together at Mick Mash. It’s the Philistines fault. Therefore, I reasoned, the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I’ve not yet made supplication.

35. 18:01

    And I forced myself, therefore, and offered an offering to the Lord. John Saul, of course, takes no accountability for his own actions. And what a temptation that is to do, isn’t it, brothers and sisters, when somebody calls us out on a mistake, on an error, on a sin, on poor judgement? It’s such a temptation, isn’t it, to point the finger at everyone else and not take accountability for our own actions?

36. 18:38

    But if we stop and resist the temptation to point the finger at other people and instead look inwardly, once again we have an opportunity to develop some humility in our own life and to grow from the circumstance. But such was not the case with King Saul. And so consequently Samuel says to him at verse 13, Thou hast done foolishly.

37. 19:06

    Thou has not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee, for now with the Lord have established thy Kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy Kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou has not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. And Samuel arose and got him from Gilgal unto Gibby of Benjamin.

38. 19:35

    And Saul number the people that were present with him, about 600 men. Saul has just been told that he lost the Kingdom. And what’s Saul’s response?

39. 19:52

    Oh well, he shrugs his shoulders and he numbers the people. Why? Because Samuel’s condemnation of Saul’s actions and the consequences of it. We’re not those that were going to actually affect Saul. Who were they going to affect? Well, the next verse tells us in first Samuel 13, verse 16, and Saul and Jonathan his son.

40. 20:20

    See, the kingship was not being rent. From Saul? Not yet. That’ll happen in First Samuel 15, just a couple of chapters away. The Kingdom was being rent from Saul. God had given Saul every opportunity for success. We’ll see as we come to our third class. And yet, and would have even established Saul’s Kingdom forever.

41. 20:45

    Of course, he knew that wouldn’t happen. He prophesied through Jacob that the scepter would not depart from the tribe of Judah. But God gave Saul the opportunity to succeed. And when the Kingdom is rent from Saul, he does nothing. He has no response, which will be in great contrast to what happens when the kingship is taken from him. But who has lost significantly at the impetuous behavior of Saul?

42. 21:17

    Is Jonathan his son? Because what Samuel had prophesied or pronounced now at this time was that Jonathan would not come to the throne. So that’s an important context. When we come to First Samuel chapter 14, which we had read to us, and the heroic behavior of Jonathan and his armor bearer who follows him, there was no hope of kingship left now for Jonathan. There was no longer any glory for him that awaited him in his future.

43. 21:52

    Because of the impetuous nature of his father, he had lost hope of the kingship. Well, it sees it seems that the Philistines had situated themselves in the land then for quite some time. I’m going to read the next 6 verses in the contemporary English version Says at verse 16 the Philistine army was camped at Mick Mash.

44. 22:16

    You can see it on the screen before you hear They were camped at Mcmash, and each day they sent out patrols to attack and rob villages and then destroy them. One patrol would go north along the road to Ofra in the region of Shul, another would go West along the road to Bethora, and a third would go east on the desert toward the desert on the road to the Ridge that overlooks the Zaboin Valley.

45. 22:41

    And the Philistines would not allow any Israelites to learn how to make iron tools. If we allowed that, they said, those worthless Israelites would make swords and Spears. And we see the great disdain for God’s people the Philistines had, just as the Ammonites exhibited just a few chapters ago, when they came up and said they would make a league with Israel on the basis that every Israelite plucked out the right eye. And reading on in verse 20, whenever the Israelites wanted to get an iron point put on a cattle prod, they had to go to the Philistines.

46. 23:16

    Even if they wanted to sharpen plow blades, picks, axes, sickles, pitchforks, they still had to go to the Philistines, and they charge them high prices. How humiliating for the nation of Israel. So whenever Israelite soldiers had to go into battle, none of them had a sword or a spear except for Saul and Jonathan.

47. 23:43

    So the Philistines are there long enough to send out patrols to pillage and burn villages. They’re long enough to cut off all blacksmithing from the land, burning their shops and perhaps putting them to death. They’ve been there long enough to confiscate all the weapons in Israel. They had had weapons than when they went up to fight against the Ammonites. And now they’ve posted a Garrison at the passage of Mick Mash, so we can see up on the top left of the screen there. And their enemies, the children of Israel, have no weapons and an army of 600 men.

48. 24:21

    There’s no competition. And all Israel is following after Saul, trembling, who’s as far away from the battle as possible. We read in First Samuel 14, and Saul tarried in the uttermost parts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree, which is in my ground. And the people that were with him, about 600 men. So what becomes clear to us, brothers and sisters, is that Saul was not in control of the land of Israel.

49. 24:53

    The Philistines were in control. And here’s Jonathan waiting while all of these things are happening. The Philistines have encamped in the land. They’re entrenched. They’re sending out their patrols. And there’s Jonathan waiting. We know that Jonathan has the faith to go take them on. He’s already demonstrated that in the previous chapter. But his dad is the king of Israel.

50. 25:19

    His dad is the captain of the people. We can imagine conversations as Jonathan finishes eating his broccoli, he looks up at his dad and says, so what’s the plan for the Philistines? And there’s no response. And the next night, as he finishes eating his asparagus, he asked his dad, so when are we going to go up and get rid of this uncircumcised Philistine from the land?

51. 25:49

    And there’s no response. And the next night, perhaps he waits until after the lamb chops have been consumed. And he asked the same question. What’s the plan, dad? When are we going to take out the Philistines? You’re the captain of the people. And there’s no response. And maybe then later he waited until after dessert and ask the same question and there’s no response. Why?

52. 26:09

    Because it’s his dad’s job and he wants his dad to have and to show the leadership in Israel and go up against the Philistines. And finally he gets tired of waiting and waiting and waiting and asking and asking and asking. And so we read in First Samuel chapter 14 at verse one that Jonathan, the son of Saul said to the young man that bears armor again.

53. 26:41

    Now we know who he is. Why? Because he has no hope of coming to the throne. This is not for personal glory. Come, let us go over to the Philistines Garrison that is on the other side. But he told not his father wasn’t. Hey, sick and tired of waiting for dad. Anybody that wants to join me, I’m going to go fight against the Philistines. Now wasn’t any fanfare to what Jonathan was going to do. He quietly slipped away with his armor bearer. And so we learned from Jonathan.

54. 27:18

    Stop talking about what you’ve done or what you’re going to do in the truth and get on doing it. Less talk and more action. That was the man Jonathan. Well, as we come to verses 4 and 5, the scriptures devote 2 whole verses to two rocks, so they must be important rocks. And those rocks are on the screen before you there, bozes and Cena, and they’re rightfully rightly stated on the slide to be cliffs in the land. The word bozes means surpassing white or glistening. And the fact that we have two verses dedicated to these rocks perhaps is instructing us that we should be looking for the types that were there in the rocks. And So what is glistening white speak of? Well, of course, the righteousness of the Saints. We’re told in Revelation 19, verse 8 that the bride of Christ, the Bride of the Lamb, comes forth in glowing white raiments and that rock was on the north side against Mcmash where we’ve placed our black box on the screen. So that’s what Jonathan and the armor bearer are looking at. They’re looking at a rock that is white and glistening, Speaking of the righteousness of the Saints. Now we’re told at verse 5, the forefront of the one was situate and that word forefront the margin says is the word tooth. So we’re talking about a a rock that’s straight up this is not a rock.

55. 29:00

    This is rightly defined as we show on the screen there a Cliff. So there’s Jonathan, his armor bearer on one side standing on the edge of a Cliff and there’s a valley below them and up on the other side is another Cliff and they’re standing looking at that Cliff. And on that Cliff are Philistines, an innumerable host, 20,000 Chariots, 6000 horsemen.

56. 29:28

    And then the second rock we’re told is called Cena or Cena is thorny is the definition of the word Cena, and it’s found first in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 2. It’s the Bush that God appeared to Moses in. And the same word is used again in Deuteronomy 33 verse 16. It says God who dwelt in the Bush. And so what’s the message of the word Cena of the rock Cena, God was dwelling with Jonathan and the armor bearer. And so the message that Jonathan would have had from this was that God’s presence is with the righteous. God is with us and not with them. God has told us that when we strive to put his character on, when we strive to use our intellectual capacity to make good moral decisions before him, that he will be with us. And conversely, when individuals ignore the character of God and put God out of their lives, he counts them as beasts and God is not with them, though he wishes they would turn to him. So when we’re dealing with adversity in this world, brothers and sisters, maybe it’s due to the woke movement in our workplaces.

57. 31:05

    Maybe it’s due to influence from our neighbors. Maybe it’s people mocking us when we try to take a stand. Remember, God is with us and not with them and God will work in our life to help us overcome whatever trial is standing before us. And so this was the reminder then the encouragement that Jonathan got as he was standing on the rock Cena looking over at Boses.

58. 31:38

    God is with us and not with them. And so he says at verse 6, come to his armor bearer. Let us go over to the Garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for there is no restraint for to the Lord to save by many or by few.

59. 31:58

    And I’ve no doubt in my mind, brothers and sisters, that Jonathan is now thinking back to other Bible heroes, thinking back to the days of Gideon, where 300 men with Gideon were able to defeat the Midianites. And would it have mattered if there were 10 times the number of Midianites in that valley?

60. 32:18

    Would it have mattered if there were 100 * 1,000,000 times? It didn’t matter. It wasn’t about Gideon and his 300 men. God fought with Gideon and his 300 men. And his mind is perhaps going that back to Samson. And his last day is he takes the pillars down and takes out a huge amount of the government of the Philistines. And his mind no doubt went back to Joshua because a previous time that an army was described as sand upon the seashore, like the Philistine army has been described here, was when the kings of Canaan gathered themselves against Joshua. And it wouldn’t matter if they brought up the Egyptians. And it wouldn’t have mattered if they brought other people in and more kings had joined because God was going to fight that battle.

61. 33:10

    What a wonderful encouragement for Jonathan to be reminded just based on where he was standing, the God is with us. We come to Bible school and we bring with us our burdens, don’t we? Some of us might be standing fairly tall. Some of us might be crawling on the ground from the burdens that this life has placed upon us.

62. 33:38

    And no doubt that armor bearer standing with Jonathan, he’s following Jonathan. He believes Jonathan’s a good leader. He’s willing to go to his death, no doubt for Jonathan. But he’s looking at that innumerable host across the Ridge and he’s thinking, how on earth are we ever going to overcome that burden when God is with us, brothers and sisters, we can overcome insurmountable odds. And so we will see with Jonathan. And when Jonathan announces his plan and that there’s no restraint to the Lord to save by many or few, his armor bearer says to him, Do all that is in thine heart turn thee, For behold, I am with thee according to thy heart. Whose heart?

63. 34:34

    Jonathan’s heart. Imagine standing in that armor bearer’s shoes. It would be a very, very nerve wracking time. The ESV says do all that is in your heart, do as you wish, Behold I am with your heart and soul. Rotherham’s emphasized version says do all that is in thine heart, Decide for thyself, Lo, I am with thee according to thine heart.

64. 35:01

    It was Jonathan’s heart, not his own, but he had the courage because he stood with this man who could inspire greatness in others. Jonathan has recognized with clarity who these people are. Let us go over unto the Garrison of these uncircumcised. These are not those that God had promised the land to. God had told Abraham it was his land and his seeds landed. The token of the covenant was what it was, circumcision. And who’s filling the land?

65. 35:39

    Uncircumcised Philistines, Jonathan says to his armor bearer. These people don’t belong here. He’s going to take control of a situation that his father had let get out of control. And now he shares with his armor bearer in verses 8 through 10 the prayer that he’s put to God, looking for God’s providential hand in this matter.

66. 36:12

    Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them. And if they say thus unto us, tarry until we come unto you, then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. But if they say, Come up to us, then we will go up, for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand. This shall be a sign unto us.

67. 36:37

    How could he say the Lord will have delivered them into our hand if they say, come up to us? Unless he had prayed to God for that sign, and God had told them that would be the sign that he was giving the battle into Jonathan’s hand. And so not only has Jonathan committed this very important matter to prayer, he’s shared how the decision is going to be made, what he had put to prayer to his Heavenly Father.

68. 37:11

    He shares that with his armor bearer, and then he commits to action. Now, remember, he’s standing on a Cliff and the Philistines are standing on a Cliff over there. So to get to the Philistines, he needs to go down the face of the Cliff that he’s on and walk across the valley and then climb up a Cliff on the other side. And he didn’t have a harness or climbing ropes or those little clasp things that you can pound into the side of the rock. No, it says that he climbed hand over feet at verse 13 and his armor bearer after him.

69. 37:50

    How easy would it have been for the Philistines to just pick up a rock, look over the edge and drop it on Jonathan, and then a second rock and drop it on the armor bearer? But Jonathan says this will be the sign that we’re supposed to go and fight the Philistines, if they tell us to climb the Cliff, to come up to them on top of the rock.

70. 38:13

    And so they, they proceed with the plan, Verse 12 And the men of the Garrison, sorry, verse 11. And they both discovered themselves to the Garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they hid themselves. And the men of the Garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing or two.

71. 38:38

    And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me, for Yahweh hath delivered them into the hand of us. No, Israel, who was going to do the deliverance? Yahweh was going to do the deliverance. Who was going to have the victory? Israel was going to have the victory. Who was going to climb the Cliff?

72. 39:06

    Jonathan was going to climb the Cliff with his armor bear. Who was going to get to the top of the Cliff and start beating up and killing Philistines. Jonathan was going to keep get to the top of the Cliff and kill Philistines with his armor bear. Yahweh has put the Philistines, delivered the Philistines into the hand of Israel. He didn’t care about getting the credit. In fact, he wanted the credit to go to the Lord, for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel. And so Jonathan climbs up, and his armor bearer climbs after him.

73. 39:46

    And as that armor bearer is getting closer to the top, he’s got to be thinking, this is nuts. I love Jonathan and I’m willing to follow him to my death. But what are we going to do when we get to the top of this rock? And if we get past the top of the rock?

74. 40:05

    Because what we find out is the rock was a very narrow piece of rock that jetted out, which only about 20 Philistine soldiers could stand on. What are we going to do when we get to the 30,000 horsemen and the six 6000 horsemen, 30,000 Chariots in the? Innumerable army of the Philistines, but he presses on climbing up the Cliff after Jonathan. So in ecclesial life, if we want to inspire others, brothers and sisters, to greatness, first of all, we need to commit important decisions to prayer.

75. 40:48

    And secondly, we need to share with others the decision making process that we’ve committed to God in prayer like Jonathan did to his armor bearer. And then we need to take action. Could you imagine if Jonathan had gotten to the bottom of that valley and they’re now looking at the Cliff up and there’s the Philistines on top, and he says, all right, well, God’s given us the answer. He’s going to deliver the Philistines into the hand of Israel.

76. 41:19

    So you go ahead and climb up and I’ll stand here and shout out instructions. It would not have been so effective. No, Jonathan is in front. So if rocks are going to start rolling down the hill, down the Cliff, they’re going to hit Jonathan first. Jonathan took action. Jonathan got involved in the work. He didn’t just stand at the sidelines dictating what needed to be done.

77. 41:49

    And that can be us sometimes, can’t it? Brothers and sisters in ecclesial life where we just, we have a good idea and we want to see other people go get it done. And we can stand at the sidelines and we can yell out orders and then criticize people when it doesn’t get done exactly the way we would have liked to have seen it done.

78. 42:09

    That was not the principle of leadership that Jonathan is showing. Jonathan was himself involved in the work. He was committed to the work. He was climbing up the Cliff hand and foot. It says if David that they loved the nation of Israel, love David because he went out and came in before the people.

79. 42:31

    In fact, it was this characteristic of David that finally turned the House of Saul and the hearts of Saul’s family to David and the nation of Israel to David. And the second principle we learned from this aspect of the story is that we should take the hardest tasks to ourselves. We’ll be respected for it by others, and others will be motivated to follow us, just as the armor bearer was motivated to follow Jonathan. Go on, he said.

80. 43:03

    I’ll be right behind you. Well, as they come to the top of this Cliff, they start punching and cutting is Philistines. So it appears they fall before Jonathan and they’re slain by the armored bears. Maybe Jonathan’s giving them a blow, knocking them to the ground and the armored bears behind and shoving through with the one of two swords that are left in Israel. And they make their way along this rock that’s probably about 10 feet wide, and they kill 20 Philistines. But as they come to the end, there’s an innumerable host waiting for them.

81. 43:43

    And surely that Philistine thought, or sorry the the armor bearer thought to himself at that point, well, this is it. We made our stand, we showed our faith, we were courageous, and now we’ve given our life to this cause of the truth. But when we stand for the truth even a little, God is able to mightily respond to our faith and giveaway of success.

82. 44:12

    And So what happens when they get to the end of that little jet of land that’s sticking out from the the rest of the hill? There’s a trembling in the host, in the field among all the people and the Garrison and the spoilers also those that had been sent out to the villages that are pillaging and burning.

83. 44:29

    There’s a trembling so that the earthquake, a very great trembling, or it says in the margin, a trembling of God. And look at what happens to this insurmountable trial that’s before Jonathan and the armor bearer and before the nation of Israel. It says in verse 16, the Watchmen of Saul and Gibeon, Benjamin looked and behold the melt, the multitude melted away. What a beautiful word to describe how God can deal with our trials.

84. 45:10

    They looked and saw that that trial that was before them, the innumerable host of Philistines, all of their Chariots and all of their horsemen, it just melted away. It dissolved and the pathway was made clear.

85. 45:33

    And so we’re encouraged by Jonathan to not only commit our decisions to prayer, to take action and faith that God is with us and not with them, we’re inspired by Jonathan to put our troubles on God and to ask for him to act mightily in our lives. And the consequence of doing that was not only did Jonathan and his armor bearer see salvation that day, not they were not killed, but the whole nation of Israel watched as all of their troubles just melted away. And remember, we had seen the four responses of the army or the three actions of the army of Israel as the Philistines had encamped in the land.

86. 46:22

    We saw that they hid themselves and wherever they could, we saw that they fled to Gad and to Gilead. And we saw that they followed Saul trembling. And now we come down to verse 20, and we see. And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves and came to the battle.

87. 46:44

    And So what happens? Well, they come out of hiding. They follow Saul to the battle. Those that were trembling after Saul follow him to the battle. And then we read verse 21. And the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time went up with them into the camp from the country round about.

88. 47:03

    And so there were Hebrews that had actually defected to the Philistines. That was the 4th category of the nation of Israel when the Philistines had come with this massive army into the land. And so those that defected to the Philistines came back to Israel. Those that had left the truth are now coming back to the ecclesia. Those that had fled as far away as they could go across the Jordan River are now inspired to come back. Those that were trembling after Saul are now rushing to the battle.

89. 47:38

    Those that were hiding in their thickets and in the pits and in the caves peek their heads out and see the commotion, and they come and they follow after Saul. And all Israel has now been inspired to take up the cause, to take up a sword and to rid the land of these uncircumcised Philistines.

90. 48:06

    We sometimes underestimate how much impact one person and one decision of one person can have in an ecclesia. In this case it was a huge ecclesial community. Wasn’t just a 3000 soldiers, there were 200,000 soldiers with Saul earlier. These were hundreds of thousands of people that had disappeared. Only 600 men left trembling.

91. 48:35

    And now, because of the faith of one man, because one man had committed the circumstances to prayer, had shared with his armor bearer what that prayer was, Because one man acted in faith-based on the sign that he was given, the whole nation is inspired to greatness, just like his armor bearer had begun.

92. 49:03

    And so the day that began with the faith of one man ends with the faith of an entire nation having been inspired. All of us in this room have roles of leadership. We may not think of it in that way. We may not realize it, but whether it’s as a Sunday school teacher to a Sunday school student, whether it’s just an older person in the ecclesia setting an example, or even a younger person in the ecclesia setting an example to another younger person in the ecclesia, whether it’s parents to children, whether it’s children to their parents, all of us are leaders in one way or another. And what this story teaches us, this account of Jonathan, is that one man’s actions can have a massive impact on a huge number of people, and that can be for good, as it was in the case of Jonathan, or it can also be for evil, as we see with other examples in the scriptures. So we must realize that our words, our actions, have a significant impact on others, for good or for bad. So let us learn from the lessons of Jonathan and let us inspire others unto greatness.

93. 50:34

    We look at this man Jonathan and we think to ourselves, why did God remove this man from the throne? I mean Saul wasn’t taken from the throne. The man who was impetuous and and lost the throne for Jonathan. Why Jonathan would have made such a wonderful king. But we know the reason because there was another man that was going to be revealed, another man that would perhaps hear the stories of Jonathan and be inspired by them as he came to age.

94. 51:09

    And so Jonathan, who did not want any recognition, would have been pleased with the account of the record in verse 23 of First Samuel 14. So Yahweh saved Israel that day, and the battle passed over unto Beth Haven. The glory and the recognition had gone where Jonathan wanted it to be, because the overriding principle in his life was what you do is more important than who you are, and what gets done for God is more important than who gets the credit.

95. 51:49

    And so we’re inspired by Jonathan to be a leader, to take control of circumstances in our life, not to let them spill over and happen to us, but rather to put our trials and our burdens on God through prayer and ask him for direction in our lives. Trusting in God’s wisdom and in his might to be able to work mightily in our lives to help our troubles and our trials melt away. And so the principles of leadership that we get from Jonathan first worry about the what and not about The Who. And a good exercise for us to do. We talked about self reflection.

96. 52:34

    What does that mean? Perhaps it’s at the end of the day when we’re saying our prayer before we go to sleep. Maybe it’s first thing in the morning. As we rise and think about the Word of God and think about the day ahead of us, we need to reflect upon what our motives are. And are we being motivated because of our name and the recognition we’ll get because of what we’re doing? Or are we motivated by the work that needs to be done for the Lord?

97. 53:03

    Worry about the what and not The Who. The second principle of leadership is to commit decisions to God in prayer. But Jonathan did more than that, didn’t he? He committed the decisions to God in prayer, and then he shared that prayer with the armor bearer that was with him. And he did more than that.

98. 53:25

    Once he shared it, then he acted upon it. He didn’t just leave it to God. He said, God, this is what I want to do. This is what I can achieve with you working in my life. And then he acted on it when he got the sign that he had requested. 3rd We need to recognize that God is able. God is able to win the battle with you. The battle would not have been won if Jonathan just stood there looking at the Philistine army from the cliff’s edge. The battle was won because he had the faith to descend 1 Cliff, walk across the valley, climb up another Cliff. Wasn’t an easy Rd. but because of his faith and his action, God was able to fight mightily with Jonathan for the salvation of the nation.

99. 54:21

    The 4th principle of leadership we see in Jonathan’s life is to be involved in the work. Don’t stand on the sidelines and cast aspersions or tell people what ought to be done, or tell them about your wonderful ideas. Get involved in the work, get your hands dirty as it were. And finally, take the hardest jobs for yourself. Lead by example.

100. 54:49

     Don’t send the armor bearer up the Cliff first, but climb up the Cliff first, with the armor bearer following close behind. And may we then, brothers and sisters, be found leading others like Jonathan on the spiritual greatness.

101. 55:22

     So many very real and applicable lessons from this. Fascinating.