Not Afraid of the Dark: Daily Thoughts from 1 Samuel (1 Samuel 14:1-23)

Are you afraid of the dark? It’s hard not to be sometimes, isn’t it? We can’t see potential enemies and we just know that they are lurking, taking advantage of the dark to get the drop on us, right? But if we know the God of the universe to Whom the darkness is as light, and if we know that He loves us and has a perfect plan for our lives, we should not be afraid of the dark. Even though we can’t see, He can, and our lives are in His hands.

Jonathan, Saul’s son, is a man of faith and trusts that God can see what he can’t. He has already been used to defeat the Philistine garrison at Geba (1 Samuel 13). He believes God wants to deliver his people from their oppressors, while his dad is fretting away in hiding, not sure what to do.

One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. The people who were with him were about six hundred men, including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Within the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “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 armor-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 armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-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 armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.

And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude was dispersing here and there. Then Saul said to the people who were with him, “Count and see who has gone from us.” And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not there. So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God here.” For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel. Now while Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.” Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. And behold, every Philistine’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. So the LORD saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven. (1 Samuel 14:1-23, ESV)

How much are you prepared to believe in the power of God to use your leadership to effect great change? Jonathan was willing to lose his life. He saw the immobility and fear of his father Saul and the men of Israel, and he saw the intolerable presence of the Philistines garrisoned in his country and controlling his people. He didn’t know for sure that Yahweh would give him and his armor bearer victory but he believed that Yahweh could save with many or with few. Perhaps he recounted to himself the victory of Gideon with his 300 against the mighty multitudes of the Midianite army. If, in his plan, the Philistines chose to come down to him from the garrison, it meant death, but if they asked him to come up it was his sign that Yahweh was going to deliver Israel through him.

It is interesting what happens when God’s leader shows courage and trust in Yahweh. Yahweh fights for him and those who were too afraid to stand on God’s side are emboldened to fight as well. Saul was in the midst of seeking Yahweh’s will through the help of the priest when it became obvious that God was giving victory to Israel. Those Israelites who had defected to the Philistines and those hiding in caves also saw God’s hand and joined their brothers in battle. When you trust God to give you victory instead of your own strength, when you recognize as Hannah said, that it is not by strength that one prevails, you are in the most perfect place for God to do powerful things through you.