1 Samuel 14: 6-14….A small but convincing victory!

Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armour, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.” And his armour-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armour-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.” Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armour-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armour-bearer killed them after him. And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armour-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land.

Comment: This young man, Jonathan, is a gutsy guy. I like him! I guess saying ‘these uncircumcised’ is a bit like if we said ‘nigger’ these days. Maybe racist, but it was used to distinguish the Jews from the rest of the world and may well have been just used in the sense of ‘the enemy’. I suspect his waiting for their answer before he decided on an attack meant that he didn’t want them to be able to get behind him. He was, maybe, young and fool-hardy, but not stupid!

The Philistines, if Jonathon was being derogatory, were just as bad. It was as if they said ‘You know-nothing, weaponless, hole dwellers come on and we’ll teach you a thing or two!’ It was a narrow passage so the Philistines couldn’t get behind him. Jonathan was clambering up a steep path with his armour bearer behind him. Jonathan had a sword and in the front he struck the enemy down and his armour bearer had to finish the ‘job’ with some sort of farm implement. Over about 100 metres of tough steep climb, they slew twenty and called it a day!

Prayer: Help me to be prepared to attempt great things for You, my God!