David Wisniewski – Developing Spiritual Intelligence – Class 1 – Leadership

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14 and the 1st 15 verses, and
we’ll ask Brother Shem Able to

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come forward and lead us in that
reading.

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First time of 14 verses 1 to 15.
Reading with you from First

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Samuel chapter 14 verses one
through 15.

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Now came to pass upon a day that
Jonathan the son of Saul said

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unto the young man that bear his
armor, Come and let us go over

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to the Philistine Garrison that
is on the other side.

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But he told not his father and
Sol tarried in the uttermost

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part of Gibeah under a
pomegranate tree which is in

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migrant and the people that were
with him we’re about 600 men.

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And Ahaya, the son of a hide sub
Ichabod’s brother, the son of

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Phineas, the son of Eli,
Yahweh’s priest in Shiloh

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wearing ephod.
And the people knew not that

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Jonathan was gone.
And between the passages by

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which Jonathan sought to go over
on to the Philistines Garrison,

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there was there was a sharp rock
on the one side and a sharp rock

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on the other side.
And the name of the one was

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Bozes, the name of the other
Cena.

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The forefront of the one was
situate northward over against

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Mcmash, and the other southward
against Gibeah.

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And Jonathan said to the young
man that bear his armor, Come

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and let’s go over unto the
Garrison of these uncircumcised.

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It may be that Yahweh will work
for us, for there is no

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restraint to Yahweh to save by
many or by few.

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As armor bearer said unto him,
Do all that is in thine heart,

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turn thee, behold I’m with thee
according to thy heart.

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Then said Jonathan, Behold,
you’ll pass over unto these men,

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you’ll discover ourselves unto
them.

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If they say thus unto us, Tarry
until we come to you, then we

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will stand still in our in our
place, and will not go up unto

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them.
But they say thus come up to us,

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then we will go up.
For Yahweh had delivered them

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into our hand, and this shall be
a sign unto us.

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Both them discover themselves
unto the Garrison of the

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Philistines.
The Philistines said, Behold the

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Hebrews come forth out of the
holes where they had hid

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themselves.
The man of the Garrison answered

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Jonathan and his armor bearer,
and said, Come up to us, and we

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will show you a thing.
And Jonathan said unto his armor

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bearer, Come up after me, for
y’all I had delivered them into

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the hand of Israel.
And Jonathan climbed up upon his

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hands, and upon his feet, his
armor bearer after him.

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And they fell before Jonathan
his armor bearer slew after him.

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In the first slaughter which
Jonathan his armor bearer made

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was about 20 men within as they
were, and half acre of land

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which a yoke of oxen might plow.
And there is a trembling the

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host in the field, and among all
the people, the Garrison and the

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spoilers, they also trembled,
and the earth quaked.

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So it was a very great
trembling.

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This is Watch an Lake Bible
School 2025 our speakers Brother

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Dave Wisnessky.
His series for the week is

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Developing Spiritual
Intelligence from the lives of

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Jonathan and David.
This is class #1 and the title

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is Leadership for there.
Dave, please.

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Well, good evening.
Hope you’ve all had a wonderful

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day and we were certainly we’re
filled well for dinner.

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Thank you for those who have
made all the plans for this week

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and have so far fed us very
well.

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Well, in our first class
tonight, we’re going to look at

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Jonathan.
Essentially, we’re going to

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follow the chronological order
through First Samuel in these

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first set of classes anyways.
And we see Jonathan 1st and then

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we’re introduced to David.
And that’s the pattern that

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we’ll follow.
And the spiritual quality or

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spiritual quotient that we hope
to develop tonight is that of

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leadership.
We said yesterday in our

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introduction that we’ll see that
Jonathan was able to inspire

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greatness in others.
Well, Jonathan’s name means Yah

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hath given, Yah hath given, and
indeed he had given.

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He’d given the nation of Israel
an incredible example.

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He’d given to Saul an incredible
example, his own son, if he had

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just followed the example and
advice and counsel of him.

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And God has given to us a
wonderful example in Jonathan

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and recording these events for
us.

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Yah also gave David a wonderful
friend, a friend better than one

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could ever ask for us.
We’ll see as we progress through

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our classes this week, God
willing, we’ll turn back a page

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from what we had read for us to
First Samuel 13 and consider how

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the Scriptures introduced
Jonathan.

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We’ll read together verses 1 to
4.

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Saul reigned one year, and when
he had reigned 2 years over

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Israel, Saul chose him. 3000 men
of Israel where of 2000 where

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with Saul and Mcmash in Mount
Bethel, and 1000 where with

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Jonathan and Gibeah of Benjamin
and the rest of the people.

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He sent every man to his tent.
And Jonathan smote the Garrison

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of the Philistines.
It was in Giba, and the

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Philistines heard of it.
And Saul blew the trumpet

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throughout all the land, saying,
let the Hebrews hear.

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And all Israel heard say that
Saul had smitten a Garrison to

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the Philistines, and that Israel
also was had an abomination with

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the Philistines.
And the people were called

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together after Saul to Gilgal.
Well, it doesn’t take long to

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learn the first principle in
Jonathan’s life.

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Consider how the scriptures
introduce him.

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We’re not told anything of
Jonathan’s stature, sorry, just

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a spider.
We’re told nothing of Jonathan’s

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stature, of his father.
We’re told he was head and

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shoulders above everyone else,
and that’s a considerable man

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aside.
That means if I was standing

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beside Saul, an average American
height, I’d be looking into his

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chest and there’s Saul’s head
above.

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It says nothing of Jonathan’s
stature.

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It doesn’t even tell us actually
that Jonathan is the son of

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Saul.
Did you notice that first time

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we’re introduced to him?
And it does not tell us that

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he’s the son of Saul.
Now, he’s obviously got a

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position of importance.
He’s got 1000 men with him.

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Saul has 2000 men with him.
So the first principle that we

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learn from these few verses in
First Samuel 13 about Jonathan

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is actually the overriding
principle of his life.

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And that is what he did was more
important than who he was.

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What Jonathan did was more
important than who he was.

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In fact, when all Israel hears
about the defeat of the

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Philistine Garrison of that
stronghold in Giba, they don’t

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even hear that Jonathan had
anything to do with it.

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They hear that Saul had smitten
a Garrison to the Philistines.

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And we have no record of any
complaint or protest from

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Jonathan.
He was just happy to do the work

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without concern about who got
the credit.

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On President Harry Truman’s
desk, I read that he had a sign

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which read, There is no limit to
what a man can do or where he

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can go if he doesn’t mind who
gets the credit.

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Now, this, of course, is
contrary to the pride of life,

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but this we’ll see.
This principle is repeated over

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and over and over again in the
life of Jonathan.

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It’s not about who he is.
It’s not about what his title

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was.
It’s not about what his role was

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in the ecclesia.
It’s about what needed to be

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done for God.
What about us brothers and

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sisters?
I think men maybe struggle with

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this a little bit more.
I know in in my household, I

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feel it necessary.
I’m not sure why it’s this inert

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compulsion to announce.
Hey, honey, I did the dishes,

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all right?
I took out the garbage.

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The recycling’s all cleared.
For whatever reason.

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You know, we want to announce
what we’ve done, at least in my

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household.
And maybe it’s somewhere in

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others.
But what about an ecclesial

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life?
Is who we are?

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Is our role more important than
what we do?

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Well, here’s the reality of it.
There’s one person that can

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answer that question best.
It might be our spouse.

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But usually that would be
ourselves, isn’t it?

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But we can only answer that
question if we take the time to

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reflect on our own motivation.
We know we can’t judge the

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motives of others.
We’re told that very clearly in

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the words of Christ in Matthew
7.

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But we can judge ourselves.
In fact, if we learn to judge

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ourselves.
What does Paul say?

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Paul says if we can judge
ourselves, we won’t be judged in

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the day when Christ returns.
If we become good at

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introspection, if we become good
at self reflection, if we become

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good at examining our own
motives, well then Christ will

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have nothing to judge because
we’ll have done the work for him

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in our lifetime.
So let us be like Jonathan and

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worry about what needs to be
done and not who gets the credit

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and what.
A contrast to Saul, where who

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got the credit was even more
important than what the truth of

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the matter was.
Well then, we have the faith of

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Jonathan contrasted to the
nation, don’t we?

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As we come down to verse 4, all
Israel heard two things.

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They didn’t just hear a lie that
Saul had smitten a Garrison of

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the Philistines.
They also hear that Israel was

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now an abomination with the
Philistines.

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There’s an echo back to Israel’s
history at this point in time,

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isn’t there?
Remember, another man, a judge

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in Israel had gone and burnt the
fields, the the wheat fields of

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the Philistines.
And Israel came up to to Samson

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and said, what are you doing?
Don’t you realize these are our

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rulers and you’re going to get
them mad at us?

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And that was the state of Israel
in Saul’s day as well.

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They were now upset because
Israel was had an abomination

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with the Philistines and clearly
the Philistines had entrenched

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themselves in the land.
If Jonathan was going and

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defeating a Garrison or a tower
or a Fort of the Philistines in

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the land and the people were
called together, then after Saul

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and Gilgal and we see the
reaction then of the children of

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Israel as this massive army
responds to what Jonathan had

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done.
And so in verse 5, we read in

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the Philistines gathered
themselves together to fight

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with Israel, 30,000 Chariots,
6000 horsemen and people as the

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sand which is on the seashore in
multitude.

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And they came up and pitched in
Mickmash eastward from Beth

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Haven.
And so we’ve got this massive

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army now that’s assembled in the
land on the hill of Mickmash.

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And the response of the people,
well, we’re told they hid

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themselves, Verse 6, when the
men of Israel saw that they were

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in a Strait, for the people were
distressed, then did the people

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hide themselves in caves, in
thickets and rocks and high

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places and pits.
And some of the Hebrews went

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over Jordan to the land of Gad
and Gilead.

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And As for Saul, he was yet in
Gilgal and all the people

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trembled after him.
Our margin says what an

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unfortunate leader they had
chosen.

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Then the remnant that was left
in the land, that wasn’t hiding

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themselves, that hadn’t fled,
are trembling.

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And in fact, we’re going to find
out that there is one more class

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of people of the children of
Israel as the Philistine army

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comes up against them.
But amazingly, brothers and

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sisters, what we’re going to see
by the time we come to the end

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of our class tonight, God
willing, is that the faith, the

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courage and the commitment to
act of 1 individual will turn

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the entire nation from being
faithless and fearful and

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trembling after Saul to being
faithful and seeing God working

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salvation amongst them.
The influence of one individual

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is able to turn the entire
ecclesial community around.

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And what a lesson that should be
for us.

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Well, at this point in time,
there’s this random epiphany

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that Saul has, because Saul now
remembers.

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Wait a minute, I remember that
Samuel told me something about

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the Philistines, a Garrison of
the Philistines coming to the

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hill of God, coming towards
Jerusalem.

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And that was found back in in
first Samuel chapter 10 verses 5

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to 8, when Samuel said to him,
thou shalt come to the hill of

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00:14:43,240 –> 00:14:46,920
God, that is Zion, where is the
Garrison of the Philistines.

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00:14:47,480 –> 00:14:50,280
And it shall come to pass, when
you come into the city, you’ll

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00:14:50,280 –> 00:14:54,200
meet a company of prophets.
This is where that saying became

218
00:14:54,200 –> 00:14:57,920
known as Saul also amongst the
prophets, because the spirit of

219
00:14:57,920 –> 00:15:01,400
the Lord came upon him.
And then Samuel instructed, Let

220
00:15:01,400 –> 00:15:06,000
it be when these signs are come
unto thee, that thou do as

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00:15:06,000 –> 00:15:08,520
occasion serve thee, for God is
with thee.

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00:15:08,920 –> 00:15:11,520
And thou shall go down before me
to Gilgal.

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00:15:11,920 –> 00:15:14,840
And behold, I will come down
unto thee, and offer burnt

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00:15:14,840 –> 00:15:20,920
offerings, and to sacrifice
sacrifices of peace offerings 7

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00:15:20,920 –> 00:15:25,120
days shall thou tarry till I
come to thee, and show thee what

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00:15:25,120 –> 00:15:29,000
thou shall do.
Well, first of all, Samuel had

227
00:15:29,000 –> 00:15:34,640
told him that Saul should do as
occasion offered to him.

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00:15:35,520 –> 00:15:39,160
Saul didn’t.
Saul sat with his 2000 soldiers,

229
00:15:39,720 –> 00:15:44,480
and Jonathan did as occasion was
offered to him, and went up

230
00:15:44,480 –> 00:15:48,120
against the Philistines.
But now, having remembered this

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00:15:48,400 –> 00:15:50,240
commandment, he goes down to
Gilgal.

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00:15:50,440 –> 00:15:52,520
Well, he’s in Gilgal.
All the people have trembled

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00:15:52,520 –> 00:15:55,640
after him and now he waits for
seven days.

234
00:15:55,640 –> 00:15:58,800
It says at verse 8, according to
the set time that Samuel had

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00:15:58,800 –> 00:16:03,400
appointed, but Samuel came not
to Gilgal and the people were

236
00:16:03,400 –> 00:16:06,560
scattered from him.
And Saul said bring hit her a

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00:16:06,560 –> 00:16:08,600
burnt offering to me and peace
offerings.

238
00:16:08,960 –> 00:16:11,600
And he offered the burnt
offering himself.

239
00:16:12,800 –> 00:16:16,280
And we’ll get to see, as we look
at Saul more in our third class,

240
00:16:16,840 –> 00:16:20,920
the impetuous nature of this
individual, the lack of

241
00:16:20,920 –> 00:16:25,720
planning, the inability to take
control of a situation, the

242
00:16:26,160 –> 00:16:29,720
inept capabilities to be a
shepherd.

243
00:16:30,720 –> 00:16:35,680
And he’s waited 7 days and most
of Israel’s already hidden

244
00:16:35,680 –> 00:16:39,080
anyways in thickets and caves
and pits and fled across the

245
00:16:39,080 –> 00:16:42,120
river to the other side of the
Jordan and and tremble.

246
00:16:42,120 –> 00:16:45,280
There’s only a small group with
him as it is of 600 men.

247
00:16:46,520 –> 00:16:48,480
And yet he sees the people
scattering from him.

248
00:16:48,480 –> 00:16:50,040
And he says, OK, enough is
enough.

249
00:16:50,760 –> 00:16:52,760
We’ve waited seven days.
Samuel’s not here.

250
00:16:52,760 –> 00:16:54,320
And he makes the offering
himself.

251
00:16:55,520 –> 00:16:58,240
Why is this inserted here into
the record?

252
00:16:59,320 –> 00:17:02,400
We might just flow from first
Samuel 13.

253
00:17:02,400 –> 00:17:07,480
The act of courage of Jonathan,
the the introduction of his

254
00:17:07,480 –> 00:17:11,760
spirit that overrode his life,
which is what you do is more

255
00:17:11,760 –> 00:17:14,440
important than who you are.
We might have flown right from

256
00:17:14,440 –> 00:17:19,760
that into Jonathan is now going
to take on the entire Philistine

257
00:17:19,760 –> 00:17:23,280
army.
But we have interjected this

258
00:17:23,280 –> 00:17:28,280
incident of Saul rashly offering
an offering instead of waiting

259
00:17:28,280 –> 00:17:31,640
for Samuel.
And so Samuel comes to him in

260
00:17:31,640 –> 00:17:33,440
verse 11 and says, what have you
done?

261
00:17:36,360 –> 00:17:39,520
And Saul said, because I saw
that the people were scattered

262
00:17:39,520 –> 00:17:42,720
from me, it’s the people’s
fault.

263
00:17:43,880 –> 00:17:47,800
And that thou camest not within
the days, it’s your fault,

264
00:17:47,800 –> 00:17:52,000
Samuel, and that the Philistines
were gathered together at Mick

265
00:17:52,000 –> 00:17:53,720
Mash.
It’s the Philistines fault.

266
00:17:54,960 –> 00:17:58,280
Therefore, I reasoned, the
Philistines will come down now

267
00:17:58,280 –> 00:18:01,520
upon me to Gilgal, and I’ve not
yet made supplication.

268
00:18:01,520 –> 00:18:07,680
And I forced myself, therefore,
and offered an offering to the

269
00:18:07,680 –> 00:18:12,040
Lord.
John Saul, of course, takes no

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00:18:12,120 –> 00:18:16,080
accountability for his own
actions.

271
00:18:17,840 –> 00:18:20,240
And what a temptation that is to
do, isn’t it, brothers and

272
00:18:20,240 –> 00:18:26,040
sisters, when somebody calls us
out on a mistake, on an error,

273
00:18:26,040 –> 00:18:32,040
on a sin, on poor judgement?
It’s such a temptation, isn’t

274
00:18:32,040 –> 00:18:35,480
it, to point the finger at
everyone else and not take

275
00:18:35,480 –> 00:18:37,560
accountability for our own
actions?

276
00:18:38,760 –> 00:18:43,000
But if we stop and resist the
temptation to point the finger

277
00:18:43,000 –> 00:18:50,080
at other people and instead look
inwardly, once again we have an

278
00:18:50,080 –> 00:18:54,920
opportunity to develop some
humility in our own life and to

279
00:18:54,920 –> 00:19:00,400
grow from the circumstance.
But such was not the case with

280
00:19:00,400 –> 00:19:03,960
King Saul.
And so consequently Samuel says

281
00:19:03,960 –> 00:19:06,160
to him at verse 13, Thou hast
done foolishly.

282
00:19:06,400 –> 00:19:08,880
Thou has not kept the
commandment of the Lord thy God,

283
00:19:08,880 –> 00:19:12,120
which he commanded thee, for now
with the Lord have established

284
00:19:12,120 –> 00:19:17,800
thy Kingdom upon Israel forever.
But now thy Kingdom shall not

285
00:19:17,800 –> 00:19:20,080
continue.
The Lord has sought him a man

286
00:19:20,080 –> 00:19:24,360
after his own heart, and the
Lord hath commanded him to be

287
00:19:24,360 –> 00:19:28,760
captain over his people, because
thou has not kept that which the

288
00:19:28,760 –> 00:19:32,200
Lord commanded thee.
And Samuel arose and got him

289
00:19:32,200 –> 00:19:34,560
from Gilgal unto Gibby of
Benjamin.

290
00:19:35,120 –> 00:19:38,600
And Saul number the people that
were present with him, about 600

291
00:19:38,600 –> 00:19:44,520
men.
Saul has just been told that he

292
00:19:44,520 –> 00:19:50,280
lost the Kingdom.
And what’s Saul’s response?

293
00:19:52,520 –> 00:19:55,760
Oh well, he shrugs his shoulders
and he numbers the people.

294
00:19:55,760 –> 00:20:00,440
Why?
Because Samuel’s condemnation of

295
00:20:00,440 –> 00:20:02,880
Saul’s actions and the
consequences of it.

296
00:20:03,160 –> 00:20:06,040
We’re not those that were going
to actually affect Saul.

297
00:20:07,600 –> 00:20:12,000
Who were they going to affect?
Well, the next verse tells us in

298
00:20:12,000 –> 00:20:18,880
first Samuel 13, verse 16, and
Saul and Jonathan his son.

299
00:20:20,560 –> 00:20:22,640
See, the kingship was not being
rent.

300
00:20:23,040 –> 00:20:24,400
From Saul?
Not yet.

301
00:20:24,400 –> 00:20:27,760
That’ll happen in First Samuel
15, just a couple of chapters

302
00:20:27,760 –> 00:20:30,760
away.
The Kingdom was being rent from

303
00:20:30,760 –> 00:20:34,080
Saul.
God had given Saul every

304
00:20:34,080 –> 00:20:37,720
opportunity for success.
We’ll see as we come to our

305
00:20:37,720 –> 00:20:42,280
third class.
And yet, and would have even

306
00:20:42,280 –> 00:20:45,160
established Saul’s Kingdom
forever.

307
00:20:45,680 –> 00:20:47,040
Of course, he knew that wouldn’t
happen.

308
00:20:47,040 –> 00:20:50,760
He prophesied through Jacob that
the scepter would not depart

309
00:20:51,120 –> 00:20:55,600
from the tribe of Judah.
But God gave Saul the

310
00:20:55,600 –> 00:20:59,400
opportunity to succeed.
And when the Kingdom is rent

311
00:20:59,960 –> 00:21:05,200
from Saul, he does nothing.
He has no response, which will

312
00:21:05,200 –> 00:21:08,800
be in great contrast to what
happens when the kingship is

313
00:21:08,800 –> 00:21:13,960
taken from him.
But who has lost significantly

314
00:21:14,640 –> 00:21:16,960
at the impetuous behavior of
Saul?

315
00:21:17,440 –> 00:21:21,400
Is Jonathan his son?
Because what Samuel had

316
00:21:21,480 –> 00:21:25,720
prophesied or pronounced now at
this time was that Jonathan

317
00:21:26,200 –> 00:21:32,840
would not come to the throne.
So that’s an important context.

318
00:21:33,160 –> 00:21:37,000
When we come to First Samuel
chapter 14, which we had read to

319
00:21:37,000 –> 00:21:41,720
us, and the heroic behavior of
Jonathan and his armor bearer

320
00:21:41,720 –> 00:21:44,800
who follows him, there was no
hope of kingship left now for

321
00:21:44,800 –> 00:21:49,200
Jonathan.
There was no longer any glory

322
00:21:49,720 –> 00:21:51,680
for him that awaited him in his
future.

323
00:21:52,160 –> 00:21:57,040
Because of the impetuous nature
of his father, he had lost hope

324
00:21:57,080 –> 00:22:01,040
of the kingship.
Well, it sees it seems that the

325
00:22:01,040 –> 00:22:05,520
Philistines had situated
themselves in the land then for

326
00:22:05,520 –> 00:22:08,840
quite some time.
I’m going to read the next 6

327
00:22:08,840 –> 00:22:13,560
verses in the contemporary
English version Says at verse 16

328
00:22:13,560 –> 00:22:15,760
the Philistine army was camped
at Mick Mash.

329
00:22:16,080 –> 00:22:19,960
You can see it on the screen
before you hear They were camped

330
00:22:19,960 –> 00:22:23,360
at Mcmash, and each day they
sent out patrols to attack and

331
00:22:23,360 –> 00:22:25,680
rob villages and then destroy
them.

332
00:22:26,480 –> 00:22:29,960
One patrol would go north along
the road to Ofra in the region

333
00:22:29,960 –> 00:22:33,320
of Shul, another would go West
along the road to Bethora, and a

334
00:22:33,320 –> 00:22:37,080
third would go east on the
desert toward the desert on the

335
00:22:37,080 –> 00:22:40,720
road to the Ridge that overlooks
the Zaboin Valley.

336
00:22:41,240 –> 00:22:45,400
And the Philistines would not
allow any Israelites to learn

337
00:22:45,400 –> 00:22:50,120
how to make iron tools.
If we allowed that, they said,

338
00:22:50,120 –> 00:22:53,640
those worthless Israelites would
make swords and Spears.

339
00:22:54,680 –> 00:22:57,960
And we see the great disdain for
God’s people the Philistines

340
00:22:57,960 –> 00:23:01,240
had, just as the Ammonites
exhibited just a few chapters

341
00:23:01,240 –> 00:23:04,320
ago, when they came up and said
they would make a league with

342
00:23:04,320 –> 00:23:08,040
Israel on the basis that every
Israelite plucked out the right

343
00:23:08,040 –> 00:23:10,960
eye.
And reading on in verse 20,

344
00:23:10,960 –> 00:23:14,120
whenever the Israelites wanted
to get an iron point put on a

345
00:23:14,120 –> 00:23:16,400
cattle prod, they had to go to
the Philistines.

346
00:23:16,920 –> 00:23:21,600
Even if they wanted to sharpen
plow blades, picks, axes,

347
00:23:21,600 –> 00:23:26,120
sickles, pitchforks, they still
had to go to the Philistines,

348
00:23:26,520 –> 00:23:28,520
and they charge them high
prices.

349
00:23:29,160 –> 00:23:31,600
How humiliating for the nation
of Israel.

350
00:23:32,480 –> 00:23:35,960
So whenever Israelite soldiers
had to go into battle, none of

351
00:23:35,960 –> 00:23:41,960
them had a sword or a spear
except for Saul and Jonathan.

352
00:23:43,000 –> 00:23:46,640
So the Philistines are there
long enough to send out patrols

353
00:23:47,120 –> 00:23:51,440
to pillage and burn villages.
They’re long enough to cut off

354
00:23:51,440 –> 00:23:55,920
all blacksmithing from the land,
burning their shops and perhaps

355
00:23:56,320 –> 00:23:59,600
putting them to death.
They’ve been there long enough

356
00:23:59,600 –> 00:24:01,800
to confiscate all the weapons in
Israel.

357
00:24:02,320 –> 00:24:04,760
They had had weapons than when
they went up to fight against

358
00:24:04,760 –> 00:24:07,240
the Ammonites.
And now they’ve posted a

359
00:24:07,240 –> 00:24:11,680
Garrison at the passage of Mick
Mash, so we can see up on the

360
00:24:11,920 –> 00:24:15,560
top left of the screen there.
And their enemies, the children

361
00:24:15,560 –> 00:24:20,440
of Israel, have no weapons and
an army of 600 men.

362
00:24:21,240 –> 00:24:27,680
There’s no competition.
And all Israel is following

363
00:24:27,680 –> 00:24:31,920
after Saul, trembling, who’s as
far away from the battle as

364
00:24:31,920 –> 00:24:34,560
possible.
We read in First Samuel 14, and

365
00:24:34,560 –> 00:24:37,800
Saul tarried in the uttermost
parts of Gibeah under a

366
00:24:37,800 –> 00:24:40,600
pomegranate tree, which is in my
ground.

367
00:24:40,760 –> 00:24:43,920
And the people that were with
him, about 600 men.

368
00:24:45,320 –> 00:24:48,120
So what becomes clear to us,
brothers and sisters, is that

369
00:24:48,520 –> 00:24:52,960
Saul was not in control of the
land of Israel.

370
00:24:53,720 –> 00:24:58,360
The Philistines were in control.
And here’s Jonathan waiting

371
00:24:58,360 –> 00:25:00,440
while all of these things are
happening.

372
00:25:00,560 –> 00:25:02,760
The Philistines have encamped in
the land.

373
00:25:02,920 –> 00:25:04,600
They’re entrenched.
They’re sending out their

374
00:25:04,600 –> 00:25:08,520
patrols.
And there’s Jonathan waiting.

375
00:25:09,600 –> 00:25:12,240
We know that Jonathan has the
faith to go take them on.

376
00:25:12,760 –> 00:25:15,360
He’s already demonstrated that
in the previous chapter.

377
00:25:16,200 –> 00:25:19,440
But his dad is the king of
Israel.

378
00:25:19,880 –> 00:25:22,000
His dad is the captain of the
people.

379
00:25:23,000 –> 00:25:29,920
We can imagine conversations as
Jonathan finishes eating his

380
00:25:29,920 –> 00:25:35,480
broccoli, he looks up at his dad
and says, so what’s the plan for

381
00:25:35,480 –> 00:25:39,280
the Philistines?
And there’s no response.

382
00:25:40,160 –> 00:25:42,880
And the next night, as he
finishes eating his asparagus,

383
00:25:43,760 –> 00:25:46,160
he asked his dad, so when are we
going to go up and get rid of

384
00:25:46,160 –> 00:25:48,800
this uncircumcised Philistine
from the land?

385
00:25:49,760 –> 00:25:53,600
And there’s no response.
And the next night, perhaps he

386
00:25:53,600 –> 00:25:56,240
waits until after the lamb chops
have been consumed.

387
00:25:57,040 –> 00:25:59,280
And he asked the same question.
What’s the plan, dad?

388
00:25:59,280 –> 00:26:01,160
When are we going to take out
the Philistines?

389
00:26:01,360 –> 00:26:02,880
You’re the captain of the
people.

390
00:26:03,040 –> 00:26:05,400
And there’s no response.
And maybe then later he waited

391
00:26:05,400 –> 00:26:08,960
until after dessert and ask the
same question and there’s no

392
00:26:08,960 –> 00:26:09,760
response.
Why?

393
00:26:09,760 –> 00:26:15,680
Because it’s his dad’s job and
he wants his dad to have and to

394
00:26:15,680 –> 00:26:20,360
show the leadership in Israel
and go up against the

395
00:26:20,360 –> 00:26:25,640
Philistines.
And finally he gets tired of

396
00:26:25,640 –> 00:26:29,920
waiting and waiting and waiting
and asking and asking and

397
00:26:29,920 –> 00:26:33,800
asking.
And so we read in First Samuel

398
00:26:33,800 –> 00:26:38,960
chapter 14 at verse one that
Jonathan, the son of Saul said

399
00:26:38,960 –> 00:26:41,320
to the young man that bears
armor again.

400
00:26:41,320 –> 00:26:42,920
Now we know who he is.
Why?

401
00:26:43,160 –> 00:26:45,440
Because he has no hope of coming
to the throne.

402
00:26:45,640 –> 00:26:50,240
This is not for personal glory.
Come, let us go over to the

403
00:26:50,240 –> 00:26:53,360
Philistines Garrison that is on
the other side.

404
00:26:53,880 –> 00:26:57,160
But he told not his father
wasn’t.

405
00:26:57,160 –> 00:27:00,560
Hey, sick and tired of waiting
for dad.

406
00:27:01,040 –> 00:27:04,800
Anybody that wants to join me,
I’m going to go fight against

407
00:27:04,800 –> 00:27:09,920
the Philistines.
Now wasn’t any fanfare to what

408
00:27:09,920 –> 00:27:14,960
Jonathan was going to do.
He quietly slipped away with his

409
00:27:14,960 –> 00:27:18,840
armor bearer.
And so we learned from Jonathan.

410
00:27:18,840 –> 00:27:21,680
Stop talking about what you’ve
done or what you’re going to do

411
00:27:22,080 –> 00:27:25,680
in the truth and get on doing
it.

412
00:27:26,480 –> 00:27:32,400
Less talk and more action.
That was the man Jonathan.

413
00:27:33,880 –> 00:27:38,400
Well, as we come to verses 4 and
5, the scriptures devote 2 whole

414
00:27:38,400 –> 00:27:44,440
verses to two rocks, so they
must be important rocks.

415
00:27:44,440 –> 00:27:48,000
And those rocks are on the
screen before you there, bozes

416
00:27:48,000 –> 00:27:53,080
and Cena, and they’re rightfully
rightly stated on the slide to

417
00:27:53,080 –> 00:27:58,960
be cliffs in the land.
The word bozes means surpassing

418
00:27:58,960 –> 00:28:02,480
white or glistening.
And the fact that we have two

419
00:28:02,480 –> 00:28:06,040
verses dedicated to these rocks
perhaps is instructing us that

420
00:28:06,040 –> 00:28:10,480
we should be looking for the
types that were there in the

421
00:28:10,480 –> 00:28:13,520
rocks.
And So what is glistening white

422
00:28:13,520 –> 00:28:15,440
speak of?
Well, of course, the

423
00:28:15,440 –> 00:28:19,280
righteousness of the Saints.
We’re told in Revelation 19,

424
00:28:19,640 –> 00:28:23,480
verse 8 that the bride of
Christ, the Bride of the Lamb,

425
00:28:23,880 –> 00:28:30,040
comes forth in glowing white
raiments and that rock was on

426
00:28:30,040 –> 00:28:34,760
the north side against Mcmash
where we’ve placed our black box

427
00:28:35,040 –> 00:28:38,600
on the screen.
So that’s what Jonathan and the

428
00:28:38,600 –> 00:28:42,720
armor bearer are looking at.
They’re looking at a rock that

429
00:28:42,800 –> 00:28:46,480
is white and glistening,
Speaking of the righteousness of

430
00:28:46,480 –> 00:28:49,680
the Saints.
Now we’re told at verse 5, the

431
00:28:49,680 –> 00:28:52,920
forefront of the one was situate
and that word forefront the

432
00:28:52,920 –> 00:28:58,080
margin says is the word tooth.
So we’re talking about a a rock

433
00:28:58,080 –> 00:29:00,000
that’s straight up this is not a
rock.

434
00:29:00,280 –> 00:29:03,640
This is rightly defined as we
show on the screen there a

435
00:29:03,640 –> 00:29:06,640
Cliff.
So there’s Jonathan, his armor

436
00:29:06,640 –> 00:29:11,000
bearer on one side standing on
the edge of a Cliff and there’s

437
00:29:11,000 –> 00:29:15,560
a valley below them and up on
the other side is another Cliff

438
00:29:16,360 –> 00:29:18,240
and they’re standing looking at
that Cliff.

439
00:29:18,240 –> 00:29:22,240
And on that Cliff are
Philistines, an innumerable

440
00:29:22,240 –> 00:29:26,440
host, 20,000 Chariots, 6000
horsemen.

441
00:29:28,160 –> 00:29:35,280
And then the second rock we’re
told is called Cena or Cena is

442
00:29:36,240 –> 00:29:40,960
thorny is the definition of the
word Cena, and it’s found first

443
00:29:40,960 –> 00:29:47,040
in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 2.
It’s the Bush that God appeared

444
00:29:47,040 –> 00:29:50,320
to Moses in.
And the same word is used again

445
00:29:50,320 –> 00:29:55,520
in Deuteronomy 33 verse 16.
It says God who dwelt in the

446
00:29:55,520 –> 00:29:59,280
Bush.
And so what’s the message of the

447
00:29:59,280 –> 00:30:08,200
word Cena of the rock Cena, God
was dwelling with Jonathan and

448
00:30:08,200 –> 00:30:12,240
the armor bearer.
And so the message that Jonathan

449
00:30:12,240 –> 00:30:16,120
would have had from this was
that God’s presence is with the

450
00:30:16,120 –> 00:30:22,000
righteous.
God is with us and not with

451
00:30:22,000 –> 00:30:25,360
them.
God has told us that when we

452
00:30:25,360 –> 00:30:32,880
strive to put his character on,
when we strive to use our

453
00:30:32,880 –> 00:30:38,480
intellectual capacity to make
good moral decisions before him,

454
00:30:39,160 –> 00:30:44,200
that he will be with us.
And conversely, when individuals

455
00:30:44,440 –> 00:30:49,280
ignore the character of God and
put God out of their lives, he

456
00:30:49,280 –> 00:30:54,280
counts them as beasts and God is
not with them, though he wishes

457
00:30:54,280 –> 00:30:58,040
they would turn to him.
So when we’re dealing with

458
00:30:58,040 –> 00:31:01,840
adversity in this world,
brothers and sisters, maybe it’s

459
00:31:01,840 –> 00:31:04,560
due to the woke movement in our
workplaces.

460
00:31:05,040 –> 00:31:08,080
Maybe it’s due to influence from
our neighbors.

461
00:31:08,680 –> 00:31:12,240
Maybe it’s people mocking us
when we try to take a stand.

462
00:31:12,800 –> 00:31:19,880
Remember, God is with us and not
with them and God will work in

463
00:31:19,880 –> 00:31:25,160
our life to help us overcome
whatever trial is standing

464
00:31:25,160 –> 00:31:30,480
before us.
And so this was the reminder

465
00:31:30,480 –> 00:31:34,280
then the encouragement that
Jonathan got as he was standing

466
00:31:34,280 –> 00:31:37,600
on the rock Cena looking over at
Boses.

467
00:31:38,000 –> 00:31:40,040
God is with us and not with
them.

468
00:31:40,520 –> 00:31:44,760
And so he says at verse 6, come
to his armor bearer.

469
00:31:45,080 –> 00:31:48,160
Let us go over to the Garrison
of these uncircumcised.

470
00:31:48,480 –> 00:31:52,120
It may be that the Lord will
work for us, for there is no

471
00:31:52,120 –> 00:31:57,520
restraint for to the Lord to
save by many or by few.

472
00:31:58,560 –> 00:32:00,960
And I’ve no doubt in my mind,
brothers and sisters, that

473
00:32:01,280 –> 00:32:06,160
Jonathan is now thinking back to
other Bible heroes, thinking

474
00:32:06,160 –> 00:32:09,880
back to the days of Gideon,
where 300 men with Gideon were

475
00:32:09,880 –> 00:32:13,960
able to defeat the Midianites.
And would it have mattered if

476
00:32:13,960 –> 00:32:17,440
there were 10 times the number
of Midianites in that valley?

477
00:32:18,240 –> 00:32:20,560
Would it have mattered if there
were 100 * 1,000,000 times?

478
00:32:20,560 –> 00:32:23,000
It didn’t matter.
It wasn’t about Gideon and his

479
00:32:23,000 –> 00:32:29,000
300 men.
God fought with Gideon and his

480
00:32:29,000 –> 00:32:32,320
300 men.
And his mind is perhaps going

481
00:32:32,320 –> 00:32:36,440
that back to Samson.
And his last day is he takes the

482
00:32:36,440 –> 00:32:40,520
pillars down and takes out a
huge amount of the government of

483
00:32:40,520 –> 00:32:43,840
the Philistines.
And his mind no doubt went back

484
00:32:43,840 –> 00:32:48,600
to Joshua because a previous
time that an army was described

485
00:32:48,600 –> 00:32:52,720
as sand upon the seashore, like
the Philistine army has been

486
00:32:52,720 –> 00:32:56,200
described here, was when the
kings of Canaan gathered

487
00:32:56,200 –> 00:32:59,680
themselves against Joshua.
And it wouldn’t matter if they

488
00:32:59,680 –> 00:33:02,280
brought up the Egyptians.
And it wouldn’t have mattered if

489
00:33:02,280 –> 00:33:05,840
they brought other people in and
more kings had joined because

490
00:33:05,840 –> 00:33:07,960
God was going to fight that
battle.

491
00:33:10,000 –> 00:33:14,440
What a wonderful encouragement
for Jonathan to be reminded just

492
00:33:14,440 –> 00:33:19,040
based on where he was standing,
the God is with us.

493
00:33:20,440 –> 00:33:25,960
We come to Bible school and we
bring with us our burdens, don’t

494
00:33:25,960 –> 00:33:28,520
we?
Some of us might be standing

495
00:33:28,520 –> 00:33:31,800
fairly tall.
Some of us might be crawling on

496
00:33:31,800 –> 00:33:36,200
the ground from the burdens that
this life has placed upon us.

497
00:33:38,080 –> 00:33:42,920
And no doubt that armor bearer
standing with Jonathan, he’s

498
00:33:42,920 –> 00:33:46,480
following Jonathan.
He believes Jonathan’s a good

499
00:33:46,480 –> 00:33:49,160
leader.
He’s willing to go to his death,

500
00:33:49,160 –> 00:33:53,360
no doubt for Jonathan.
But he’s looking at that

501
00:33:53,360 –> 00:33:58,200
innumerable host across the
Ridge and he’s thinking, how on

502
00:33:58,200 –> 00:34:05,360
earth are we ever going to
overcome that burden when God is

503
00:34:05,360 –> 00:34:11,639
with us, brothers and sisters,
we can overcome insurmountable

504
00:34:11,639 –> 00:34:16,520
odds.
And so we will see with

505
00:34:16,520 –> 00:34:20,440
Jonathan.
And when Jonathan announces his

506
00:34:20,440 –> 00:34:24,520
plan and that there’s no
restraint to the Lord to save by

507
00:34:24,520 –> 00:34:28,080
many or few, his armor bearer
says to him, Do all that is in

508
00:34:28,080 –> 00:34:31,719
thine heart turn thee, For
behold, I am with thee according

509
00:34:32,000 –> 00:34:33,600
to thy heart.
Whose heart?

510
00:34:34,800 –> 00:34:38,440
Jonathan’s heart.
Imagine standing in that armor

511
00:34:38,440 –> 00:34:43,920
bearer’s shoes.
It would be a very, very nerve

512
00:34:43,920 –> 00:34:47,080
wracking time.
The ESV says do all that is in

513
00:34:47,080 –> 00:34:51,520
your heart, do as you wish,
Behold I am with your heart and

514
00:34:51,520 –> 00:34:54,480
soul.
Rotherham’s emphasized version

515
00:34:54,480 –> 00:34:58,400
says do all that is in thine
heart, Decide for thyself, Lo, I

516
00:34:58,400 –> 00:35:01,280
am with thee according to thine
heart.

517
00:35:01,960 –> 00:35:06,880
It was Jonathan’s heart, not his
own, but he had the courage

518
00:35:07,880 –> 00:35:12,240
because he stood with this man
who could inspire greatness in

519
00:35:12,240 –> 00:35:16,720
others.
Jonathan has recognized with

520
00:35:16,720 –> 00:35:21,400
clarity who these people are.
Let us go over unto the Garrison

521
00:35:21,400 –> 00:35:27,320
of these uncircumcised.
These are not those that God had

522
00:35:27,320 –> 00:35:31,360
promised the land to.
God had told Abraham it was his

523
00:35:31,360 –> 00:35:34,400
land and his seeds landed.
The token of the covenant was

524
00:35:34,400 –> 00:35:38,600
what it was, circumcision.
And who’s filling the land?

525
00:35:39,240 –> 00:35:43,040
Uncircumcised Philistines,
Jonathan says to his armor

526
00:35:43,040 –> 00:35:46,840
bearer.
These people don’t belong here.

527
00:35:48,080 –> 00:35:52,080
He’s going to take control of a
situation that his father had

528
00:35:52,080 –> 00:35:58,480
let get out of control.
And now he shares with his armor

529
00:35:58,480 –> 00:36:05,400
bearer in verses 8 through 10
the prayer that he’s put to God,

530
00:36:06,760 –> 00:36:11,360
looking for God’s providential
hand in this matter.

531
00:36:12,400 –> 00:36:16,160
Then said Jonathan, Behold, we
will pass over unto these men,

532
00:36:16,160 –> 00:36:18,320
and we will discover ourselves
unto them.

533
00:36:18,760 –> 00:36:23,440
And if they say thus unto us,
tarry until we come unto you,

534
00:36:23,680 –> 00:36:27,040
then we will stand still in our
place, and will not go up to

535
00:36:27,040 –> 00:36:29,760
them.
But if they say, Come up to us,

536
00:36:30,080 –> 00:36:33,920
then we will go up, for the Lord
hath delivered them into our

537
00:36:33,920 –> 00:36:37,120
hand.
This shall be a sign unto us.

538
00:36:37,360 –> 00:36:41,440
How could he say the Lord will
have delivered them into our

539
00:36:41,440 –> 00:36:46,480
hand if they say, come up to us?
Unless he had prayed to God for

540
00:36:46,480 –> 00:36:52,800
that sign, and God had told them
that would be the sign that he

541
00:36:52,800 –> 00:36:56,160
was giving the battle into
Jonathan’s hand.

542
00:36:57,200 –> 00:37:00,920
And so not only has Jonathan
committed this very important

543
00:37:00,920 –> 00:37:07,160
matter to prayer, he’s shared
how the decision is going to be

544
00:37:07,160 –> 00:37:10,960
made, what he had put to prayer
to his Heavenly Father.

545
00:37:11,520 –> 00:37:15,360
He shares that with his armor
bearer, and then he commits to

546
00:37:15,360 –> 00:37:20,200
action.
Now, remember, he’s standing on

547
00:37:20,200 –> 00:37:25,040
a Cliff and the Philistines are
standing on a Cliff over there.

548
00:37:26,160 –> 00:37:29,560
So to get to the Philistines, he
needs to go down the face of the

549
00:37:29,560 –> 00:37:33,840
Cliff that he’s on and walk
across the valley and then climb

550
00:37:33,840 –> 00:37:37,200
up a Cliff on the other side.
And he didn’t have a harness or

551
00:37:37,200 –> 00:37:40,880
climbing ropes or those little
clasp things that you can pound

552
00:37:40,880 –> 00:37:45,080
into the side of the rock.
No, it says that he climbed hand

553
00:37:45,160 –> 00:37:49,600
over feet at verse 13 and his
armor bearer after him.

554
00:37:50,520 –> 00:37:53,680
How easy would it have been for
the Philistines to just pick up

555
00:37:53,680 –> 00:37:57,920
a rock, look over the edge and
drop it on Jonathan, and then a

556
00:37:57,920 –> 00:38:00,320
second rock and drop it on the
armor bearer?

557
00:38:01,720 –> 00:38:04,200
But Jonathan says this will be
the sign that we’re supposed to

558
00:38:04,200 –> 00:38:07,800
go and fight the Philistines, if
they tell us to climb the Cliff,

559
00:38:08,800 –> 00:38:11,600
to come up to them on top of the
rock.

560
00:38:13,120 –> 00:38:18,440
And so they, they proceed with
the plan, Verse 12 And the men

561
00:38:18,440 –> 00:38:20,240
of the Garrison, sorry, verse
11.

562
00:38:20,480 –> 00:38:23,080
And they both discovered
themselves to the Garrison of

563
00:38:23,080 –> 00:38:25,520
the Philistines.
And the Philistines said,

564
00:38:25,520 –> 00:38:29,160
Behold, the Hebrews come forth
out of the holes where they hid

565
00:38:29,160 –> 00:38:31,600
themselves.
And the men of the Garrison

566
00:38:31,600 –> 00:38:34,720
answered Jonathan and his armor
bearer, and said, Come up to us,

567
00:38:35,240 –> 00:38:37,400
and we will show you a thing or
two.

568
00:38:38,200 –> 00:38:42,960
And Jonathan said to his armor
bearer, Come up after me, for

569
00:38:42,960 –> 00:38:51,120
Yahweh hath delivered them into
the hand of us.

570
00:38:52,800 –> 00:38:57,760
No, Israel, who was going to do
the deliverance?

571
00:38:58,160 –> 00:39:00,000
Yahweh was going to do the
deliverance.

572
00:39:00,160 –> 00:39:01,600
Who was going to have the
victory?

573
00:39:01,920 –> 00:39:03,800
Israel was going to have the
victory.

574
00:39:04,520 –> 00:39:06,040
Who was going to climb the
Cliff?

575
00:39:06,600 –> 00:39:09,040
Jonathan was going to climb the
Cliff with his armor bear.

576
00:39:09,600 –> 00:39:12,520
Who was going to get to the top
of the Cliff and start beating

577
00:39:12,520 –> 00:39:16,080
up and killing Philistines.
Jonathan was going to keep get

578
00:39:16,080 –> 00:39:19,440
to the top of the Cliff and kill
Philistines with his armor bear.

579
00:39:20,360 –> 00:39:27,520
Yahweh has put the Philistines,
delivered the Philistines into

580
00:39:27,520 –> 00:39:31,920
the hand of Israel.
He didn’t care about getting the

581
00:39:31,920 –> 00:39:35,000
credit.
In fact, he wanted the credit to

582
00:39:35,000 –> 00:39:39,360
go to the Lord, for the Lord
hath delivered them into the

583
00:39:39,360 –> 00:39:42,320
hand of Israel.
And so Jonathan climbs up, and

584
00:39:42,320 –> 00:39:45,320
his armor bearer climbs after
him.

585
00:39:46,760 –> 00:39:50,800
And as that armor bearer is
getting closer to the top, he’s

586
00:39:50,800 –> 00:39:52,720
got to be thinking, this is
nuts.

587
00:39:53,400 –> 00:39:56,520
I love Jonathan and I’m willing
to follow him to my death.

588
00:39:57,800 –> 00:40:01,360
But what are we going to do when
we get to the top of this rock?

589
00:40:02,640 –> 00:40:04,680
And if we get past the top of
the rock?

590
00:40:05,240 –> 00:40:09,000
Because what we find out is the
rock was a very narrow piece of

591
00:40:09,000 –> 00:40:12,840
rock that jetted out, which only
about 20 Philistine soldiers

592
00:40:12,840 –> 00:40:14,840
could stand on.
What are we going to do when we

593
00:40:14,840 –> 00:40:20,280
get to the 30,000 horsemen and
the six 6000 horsemen, 30,000

594
00:40:20,280 –> 00:40:23,320
Chariots in the?
Innumerable army of the

595
00:40:23,320 –> 00:40:28,880
Philistines, but he presses on
climbing up the Cliff after

596
00:40:28,880 –> 00:40:38,830
Jonathan.
So in ecclesial life, if we want

597
00:40:38,830 –> 00:40:44,510
to inspire others, brothers and
sisters, to greatness, first of

598
00:40:44,510 –> 00:40:47,430
all, we need to commit important
decisions to prayer.

599
00:40:48,870 –> 00:40:53,080
And secondly, we need to share
with others the decision making

600
00:40:53,080 –> 00:40:57,280
process that we’ve committed to
God in prayer like Jonathan did

601
00:40:57,280 –> 00:41:02,720
to his armor bearer.
And then we need to take action.

602
00:41:04,440 –> 00:41:07,160
Could you imagine if Jonathan
had gotten to the bottom of that

603
00:41:07,160 –> 00:41:10,920
valley and they’re now looking
at the Cliff up and there’s the

604
00:41:10,920 –> 00:41:14,600
Philistines on top, and he says,
all right, well, God’s given us

605
00:41:14,600 –> 00:41:17,400
the answer.
He’s going to deliver the

606
00:41:17,400 –> 00:41:19,160
Philistines into the hand of
Israel.

607
00:41:19,440 –> 00:41:22,800
So you go ahead and climb up and
I’ll stand here and shout out

608
00:41:22,800 –> 00:41:27,000
instructions.
It would not have been so

609
00:41:27,000 –> 00:41:29,240
effective.
No, Jonathan is in front.

610
00:41:29,240 –> 00:41:32,800
So if rocks are going to start
rolling down the hill, down the

611
00:41:32,800 –> 00:41:34,920
Cliff, they’re going to hit
Jonathan first.

612
00:41:36,520 –> 00:41:42,160
Jonathan took action.
Jonathan got involved in the

613
00:41:42,160 –> 00:41:43,720
work.
He didn’t just stand at the

614
00:41:43,720 –> 00:41:46,680
sidelines dictating what needed
to be done.

615
00:41:49,080 –> 00:41:50,560
And that can be us sometimes,
can’t it?

616
00:41:50,560 –> 00:41:54,760
Brothers and sisters in
ecclesial life where we just, we

617
00:41:54,760 –> 00:41:58,760
have a good idea and we want to
see other people go get it done.

618
00:41:59,760 –> 00:42:02,640
And we can stand at the
sidelines and we can yell out

619
00:42:02,640 –> 00:42:05,480
orders and then criticize people
when it doesn’t get done exactly

620
00:42:05,480 –> 00:42:07,840
the way we would have liked to
have seen it done.

621
00:42:09,080 –> 00:42:11,680
That was not the principle of
leadership that Jonathan is

622
00:42:11,680 –> 00:42:15,280
showing.
Jonathan was himself involved in

623
00:42:15,280 –> 00:42:17,240
the work.
He was committed to the work.

624
00:42:17,680 –> 00:42:21,040
He was climbing up the Cliff
hand and foot.

625
00:42:21,880 –> 00:42:25,560
It says if David that they loved
the nation of Israel, love David

626
00:42:25,920 –> 00:42:30,040
because he went out and came in
before the people.

627
00:42:31,040 –> 00:42:33,640
In fact, it was this
characteristic of David that

628
00:42:33,640 –> 00:42:38,840
finally turned the House of Saul
and the hearts of Saul’s family

629
00:42:39,360 –> 00:42:42,800
to David and the nation of
Israel to David.

630
00:42:43,960 –> 00:42:47,400
And the second principle we
learned from this aspect of the

631
00:42:47,400 –> 00:42:52,000
story is that we should take the
hardest tasks to ourselves.

632
00:42:52,800 –> 00:42:56,080
We’ll be respected for it by
others, and others will be

633
00:42:56,080 –> 00:43:00,240
motivated to follow us, just as
the armor bearer was motivated

634
00:43:00,240 –> 00:43:03,480
to follow Jonathan.
Go on, he said.

635
00:43:03,480 –> 00:43:07,520
I’ll be right behind you.
Well, as they come to the top of

636
00:43:07,520 –> 00:43:13,760
this Cliff, they start punching
and cutting is Philistines.

637
00:43:13,760 –> 00:43:18,000
So it appears they fall before
Jonathan and they’re slain by

638
00:43:18,000 –> 00:43:20,360
the armored bears.
Maybe Jonathan’s giving them a

639
00:43:20,360 –> 00:43:23,200
blow, knocking them to the
ground and the armored bears

640
00:43:23,200 –> 00:43:27,240
behind and shoving through with
the one of two swords that are

641
00:43:27,240 –> 00:43:30,280
left in Israel.
And they make their way along

642
00:43:30,280 –> 00:43:34,720
this rock that’s probably about
10 feet wide, and they kill 20

643
00:43:34,840 –> 00:43:38,280
Philistines.
But as they come to the end,

644
00:43:38,840 –> 00:43:41,440
there’s an innumerable host
waiting for them.

645
00:43:43,320 –> 00:43:46,840
And surely that Philistine
thought, or sorry the the armor

646
00:43:46,840 –> 00:43:50,720
bearer thought to himself at
that point, well, this is it.

647
00:43:51,440 –> 00:43:56,480
We made our stand, we showed our
faith, we were courageous, and

648
00:43:56,480 –> 00:43:59,960
now we’ve given our life to this
cause of the truth.

649
00:44:01,800 –> 00:44:06,360
But when we stand for the truth
even a little, God is able to

650
00:44:06,360 –> 00:44:11,560
mightily respond to our faith
and giveaway of success.

651
00:44:12,960 –> 00:44:15,880
And So what happens when they
get to the end of that little

652
00:44:15,880 –> 00:44:19,480
jet of land that’s sticking out
from the the rest of the hill?

653
00:44:19,840 –> 00:44:22,640
There’s a trembling in the host,
in the field among all the

654
00:44:22,640 –> 00:44:26,080
people and the Garrison and the
spoilers also those that had

655
00:44:26,080 –> 00:44:29,440
been sent out to the villages
that are pillaging and burning.

656
00:44:29,720 –> 00:44:33,960
There’s a trembling so that the
earthquake, a very great

657
00:44:33,960 –> 00:44:37,960
trembling, or it says in the
margin, a trembling of God.

658
00:44:39,360 –> 00:44:45,480
And look at what happens to this
insurmountable trial that’s

659
00:44:45,480 –> 00:44:49,400
before Jonathan and the armor
bearer and before the nation of

660
00:44:49,400 –> 00:44:53,560
Israel.
It says in verse 16, the

661
00:44:53,560 –> 00:44:57,720
Watchmen of Saul and Gibeon,
Benjamin looked and behold the

662
00:44:57,720 –> 00:45:04,280
melt, the multitude melted away.
What a beautiful word to

663
00:45:04,280 –> 00:45:08,400
describe how God can deal with
our trials.

664
00:45:10,080 –> 00:45:14,280
They looked and saw that that
trial that was before them, the

665
00:45:14,280 –> 00:45:18,600
innumerable host of Philistines,
all of their Chariots and all of

666
00:45:18,600 –> 00:45:21,720
their horsemen, it just melted
away.

667
00:45:22,360 –> 00:45:26,880
It dissolved and the pathway was
made clear.

668
00:45:33,060 –> 00:45:37,660
And so we’re encouraged by
Jonathan to not only commit our

669
00:45:37,980 –> 00:45:44,080
decisions to prayer, to take
action and faith that God is

670
00:45:44,080 –> 00:45:50,480
with us and not with them, we’re
inspired by Jonathan to put our

671
00:45:50,480 –> 00:45:55,240
troubles on God and to ask for
him to act mightily in our

672
00:45:55,240 –> 00:45:58,160
lives.
And the consequence of doing

673
00:45:58,160 –> 00:46:01,720
that was not only did Jonathan
and his armor bearer see

674
00:46:01,720 –> 00:46:04,880
salvation that day, not they
were not killed, but the whole

675
00:46:04,880 –> 00:46:09,200
nation of Israel watched as all
of their troubles just melted

676
00:46:09,200 –> 00:46:12,720
away.
And remember, we had seen the

677
00:46:12,720 –> 00:46:18,400
four responses of the army or
the three actions of the army of

678
00:46:18,400 –> 00:46:22,720
Israel as the Philistines had
encamped in the land.

679
00:46:22,720 –> 00:46:27,280
We saw that they hid themselves
and wherever they could, we saw

680
00:46:27,280 –> 00:46:30,080
that they fled to Gad and to
Gilead.

681
00:46:30,640 –> 00:46:33,800
And we saw that they followed
Saul trembling.

682
00:46:34,920 –> 00:46:37,240
And now we come down to verse
20, and we see.

683
00:46:37,240 –> 00:46:40,200
And Saul and all the people that
were with him assembled

684
00:46:40,200 –> 00:46:43,240
themselves and came to the
battle.

685
00:46:44,000 –> 00:46:47,040
And So what happens?
Well, they come out of hiding.

686
00:46:47,400 –> 00:46:51,520
They follow Saul to the battle.
Those that were trembling after

687
00:46:51,520 –> 00:46:55,680
Saul follow him to the battle.
And then we read verse 21.

688
00:46:55,680 –> 00:46:58,960
And the Hebrews that were with
the Philistines before that time

689
00:46:59,520 –> 00:47:03,320
went up with them into the camp
from the country round about.

690
00:47:03,840 –> 00:47:07,000
And so there were Hebrews that
had actually defected to the

691
00:47:07,000 –> 00:47:10,800
Philistines.
That was the 4th category of the

692
00:47:10,800 –> 00:47:14,280
nation of Israel when the
Philistines had come with this

693
00:47:14,280 –> 00:47:18,880
massive army into the land.
And so those that defected to

694
00:47:18,880 –> 00:47:22,160
the Philistines came back to
Israel.

695
00:47:22,640 –> 00:47:26,400
Those that had left the truth
are now coming back to the

696
00:47:26,400 –> 00:47:29,400
ecclesia.
Those that had fled as far away

697
00:47:29,400 –> 00:47:33,000
as they could go across the
Jordan River are now inspired to

698
00:47:33,000 –> 00:47:35,480
come back.
Those that were trembling after

699
00:47:35,480 –> 00:47:38,120
Saul are now rushing to the
battle.

700
00:47:38,240 –> 00:47:41,080
Those that were hiding in their
thickets and in the pits and in

701
00:47:41,080 –> 00:47:45,560
the caves peek their heads out
and see the commotion, and they

702
00:47:45,560 –> 00:47:53,080
come and they follow after Saul.
And all Israel has now been

703
00:47:53,080 –> 00:47:59,640
inspired to take up the cause,
to take up a sword and to rid

704
00:48:00,040 –> 00:48:04,440
the land of these uncircumcised
Philistines.

705
00:48:06,280 –> 00:48:13,240
We sometimes underestimate how
much impact one person and one

706
00:48:13,240 –> 00:48:17,720
decision of one person can have
in an ecclesia.

707
00:48:18,920 –> 00:48:21,920
In this case it was a huge
ecclesial community.

708
00:48:22,600 –> 00:48:26,360
Wasn’t just a 3000 soldiers,
there were 200,000 soldiers with

709
00:48:26,360 –> 00:48:29,480
Saul earlier.
These were hundreds of thousands

710
00:48:29,480 –> 00:48:34,200
of people that had disappeared.
Only 600 men left trembling.

711
00:48:35,240 –> 00:48:39,680
And now, because of the faith of
one man, because one man had

712
00:48:39,680 –> 00:48:44,680
committed the circumstances to
prayer, had shared with his

713
00:48:44,680 –> 00:48:50,200
armor bearer what that prayer
was, Because one man acted in

714
00:48:50,200 –> 00:48:57,560
faith-based on the sign that he
was given, the whole nation is

715
00:48:57,560 –> 00:49:01,960
inspired to greatness, just like
his armor bearer had begun.

716
00:49:03,440 –> 00:49:08,720
And so the day that began with
the faith of one man ends with

717
00:49:08,720 –> 00:49:12,640
the faith of an entire nation
having been inspired.

718
00:49:14,280 –> 00:49:18,040
All of us in this room have
roles of leadership.

719
00:49:19,240 –> 00:49:20,960
We may not think of it in that
way.

720
00:49:20,960 –> 00:49:24,480
We may not realize it, but
whether it’s as a Sunday school

721
00:49:24,480 –> 00:49:27,600
teacher to a Sunday school
student, whether it’s just an

722
00:49:27,600 –> 00:49:30,720
older person in the ecclesia
setting an example, or even a

723
00:49:30,720 –> 00:49:33,840
younger person in the ecclesia
setting an example to another

724
00:49:33,840 –> 00:49:36,720
younger person in the ecclesia,
whether it’s parents to

725
00:49:36,720 –> 00:49:43,560
children, whether it’s children
to their parents, all of us are

726
00:49:43,560 –> 00:49:49,320
leaders in one way or another.
And what this story teaches us,

727
00:49:49,880 –> 00:49:55,520
this account of Jonathan, is
that one man’s actions can have

728
00:49:55,520 –> 00:50:00,760
a massive impact on a huge
number of people, and that can

729
00:50:00,760 –> 00:50:05,880
be for good, as it was in the
case of Jonathan, or it can also

730
00:50:05,880 –> 00:50:09,920
be for evil, as we see with
other examples in the

731
00:50:09,920 –> 00:50:13,680
scriptures.
So we must realize that our

732
00:50:13,680 –> 00:50:18,280
words, our actions, have a
significant impact on others,

733
00:50:18,600 –> 00:50:22,880
for good or for bad.
So let us learn from the lessons

734
00:50:22,960 –> 00:50:32,200
of Jonathan and let us inspire
others unto greatness.

735
00:50:34,240 –> 00:50:37,560
We look at this man Jonathan and
we think to ourselves, why did

736
00:50:37,560 –> 00:50:39,960
God remove this man from the
throne?

737
00:50:41,680 –> 00:50:43,320
I mean Saul wasn’t taken from
the throne.

738
00:50:43,320 –> 00:50:47,760
The man who was impetuous and
and lost the throne for

739
00:50:47,760 –> 00:50:49,840
Jonathan.
Why Jonathan would have made

740
00:50:49,840 –> 00:50:54,360
such a wonderful king.
But we know the reason because

741
00:50:54,360 –> 00:50:58,480
there was another man that was
going to be revealed, another

742
00:50:58,480 –> 00:51:01,560
man that would perhaps hear the
stories of Jonathan and be

743
00:51:01,560 –> 00:51:05,080
inspired by them as he came to
age.

744
00:51:09,680 –> 00:51:15,040
And so Jonathan, who did not
want any recognition, would have

745
00:51:15,040 –> 00:51:18,560
been pleased with the account of
the record in verse 23 of First

746
00:51:18,560 –> 00:51:25,080
Samuel 14.
So Yahweh saved Israel that day,

747
00:51:26,080 –> 00:51:28,880
and the battle passed over unto
Beth Haven.

748
00:51:30,560 –> 00:51:35,000
The glory and the recognition
had gone where Jonathan wanted

749
00:51:35,000 –> 00:51:40,920
it to be, because the overriding
principle in his life was what

750
00:51:40,920 –> 00:51:45,600
you do is more important than
who you are, and what gets done

751
00:51:45,600 –> 00:51:48,560
for God is more important than
who gets the credit.

752
00:51:49,920 –> 00:51:53,960
And so we’re inspired by
Jonathan to be a leader, to take

753
00:51:53,960 –> 00:51:58,240
control of circumstances in our
life, not to let them spill over

754
00:51:58,240 –> 00:52:03,320
and happen to us, but rather to
put our trials and our burdens

755
00:52:03,320 –> 00:52:07,680
on God through prayer and ask
him for direction in our lives.

756
00:52:08,080 –> 00:52:12,160
Trusting in God’s wisdom and in
his might to be able to work

757
00:52:12,160 –> 00:52:18,120
mightily in our lives to help
our troubles and our trials melt

758
00:52:18,120 –> 00:52:20,880
away.
And so the principles of

759
00:52:20,880 –> 00:52:26,200
leadership that we get from
Jonathan first worry about the

760
00:52:26,200 –> 00:52:33,000
what and not about The Who.
And a good exercise for us to

761
00:52:33,000 –> 00:52:34,720
do.
We talked about self reflection.

762
00:52:34,720 –> 00:52:37,040
What does that mean?
Perhaps it’s at the end of the

763
00:52:37,040 –> 00:52:40,360
day when we’re saying our prayer
before we go to sleep.

764
00:52:40,760 –> 00:52:42,440
Maybe it’s first thing in the
morning.

765
00:52:42,440 –> 00:52:46,520
As we rise and think about the
Word of God and think about the

766
00:52:46,520 –> 00:52:51,040
day ahead of us, we need to
reflect upon what our motives

767
00:52:51,040 –> 00:52:53,760
are.
And are we being motivated

768
00:52:54,360 –> 00:52:57,640
because of our name and the
recognition we’ll get because of

769
00:52:57,640 –> 00:53:01,000
what we’re doing?
Or are we motivated by the work

770
00:53:01,000 –> 00:53:02,720
that needs to be done for the
Lord?

771
00:53:03,400 –> 00:53:05,960
Worry about the what and not The
Who.

772
00:53:07,040 –> 00:53:09,280
The second principle of
leadership is to commit

773
00:53:09,280 –> 00:53:14,360
decisions to God in prayer.
But Jonathan did more than that,

774
00:53:14,360 –> 00:53:16,120
didn’t he?
He committed the decisions to

775
00:53:16,120 –> 00:53:21,400
God in prayer, and then he
shared that prayer with the

776
00:53:21,400 –> 00:53:25,160
armor bearer that was with him.
And he did more than that.

777
00:53:25,160 –> 00:53:27,960
Once he shared it, then he acted
upon it.

778
00:53:27,960 –> 00:53:31,760
He didn’t just leave it to God.
He said, God, this is what I

779
00:53:31,760 –> 00:53:35,360
want to do.
This is what I can achieve with

780
00:53:35,360 –> 00:53:39,200
you working in my life.
And then he acted on it when he

781
00:53:39,200 –> 00:53:43,680
got the sign that he had
requested. 3rd We need to

782
00:53:43,680 –> 00:53:51,480
recognize that God is able.
God is able to win the battle

783
00:53:52,000 –> 00:53:55,240
with you.
The battle would not have been

784
00:53:55,240 –> 00:53:58,480
won if Jonathan just stood there
looking at the Philistine army

785
00:53:59,000 –> 00:54:02,880
from the cliff’s edge.
The battle was won because he

786
00:54:02,880 –> 00:54:07,200
had the faith to descend 1
Cliff, walk across the valley,

787
00:54:07,560 –> 00:54:11,880
climb up another Cliff.
Wasn’t an easy Rd. but because

788
00:54:11,880 –> 00:54:17,560
of his faith and his action, God
was able to fight mightily with

789
00:54:17,560 –> 00:54:19,880
Jonathan for the salvation of
the nation.

790
00:54:21,120 –> 00:54:25,040
The 4th principle of leadership
we see in Jonathan’s life is to

791
00:54:25,040 –> 00:54:29,520
be involved in the work.
Don’t stand on the sidelines and

792
00:54:30,000 –> 00:54:35,560
cast aspersions or tell people
what ought to be done, or tell

793
00:54:35,560 –> 00:54:39,880
them about your wonderful ideas.
Get involved in the work, get

794
00:54:39,880 –> 00:54:45,320
your hands dirty as it were.
And finally, take the hardest

795
00:54:45,320 –> 00:54:48,960
jobs for yourself.
Lead by example.

796
00:54:49,440 –> 00:54:53,400
Don’t send the armor bearer up
the Cliff first, but climb up

797
00:54:53,400 –> 00:54:56,600
the Cliff first, with the armor
bearer following close behind.

798
00:54:58,160 –> 00:55:03,680
And may we then, brothers and
sisters, be found leading others

799
00:55:04,680 –> 00:55:07,880
like Jonathan on the spiritual
greatness.

800
00:55:22,320 –> 00:55:26,280
So many very real and applicable
lessons from this.

801
00:55:26,400 –> 00:55:27,040
Fascinating.