In 1 Samuel 12:12 we read that war was the reason Israel wanted a king.

“But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’ – even though the Lord God was your king.”

Israel wanted an earthly king to lead them against their enemies, so God gave them one, but with the king came decades of bitter wars. What might have happened if Israel had continued to make God their king?

In today’s reading one person, Jonathan, relied solely upon God in a battle and he won a great victory with God’s help.

We will never know what it might have been like for the rest of Israel to continue to trust God alone because they didn’t do it; they chose to follow a human king instead. Meanwhile, God kept looking for the right king, the one whose heart belonged to him.

Philistine Incursion

Israel occupied prime land in the heart of the eastern Mediterranean region. There was enough land around them for other nations to prosper, but they constantly invaded Israel and plundered their crops and livestock. In today’s reading it was the Philistines who dominated Israel.

The Philistines had an ingenious way of making it nearly impossible for Israel to fight back: they controlled the blacksmith trade. The Israelites had to go to the Philistines to get their tools and weapons sharpened and the Philistines must have confiscated whatever they wanted. When Israel got ready for war, only King Saul and Prince Jonathan still had weapons.

The first battle we read about in today’s passages took place deep in the heart of Israel. The Philistines had an outpost at Geba near Bethel, where King Saul was stationed with two thousand men. Saul deployed Jonathan to Gibeah, beyond the the Philistine outpost at Geba, and Jonathan had one thousand fighting men, but both of the Israelite divisions were unarmed because of the Philistine embargo on weapons.

Meanwhile, the Philistines assembled three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and innumerable armed soldiers to go to war with Israel. They prepared for what looked like an easy victory as the terrified Israelite soldiers disappeared into caves, thickets, and holes in the ground. Some of them even fled across the Jordan River.

Saul’s First Mistake

Saul went to Gilgal, one of the three sacred places where Samuel led worship, and asked Samuel to come and intercede with God on behalf of Israel. He supplied animals for Samuel to offer as burnt sacrifices and fellowship offerings. But when Samuel didn’t arrive as soon as Saul expected, he impulsively made the offerings himself. He took the role of an ordained priest, which was a sin, and he tried to force God to bless Israel.

Samuel came just as Saul finished the offerings and when he asked what Saul had done,

“Saul replied, ‘When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor’ ‘So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.’” 1 Samuel 13:11-12

Saul was under tremendous pressure. A formidable enemy was assembled against him and his unarmed troops had fled. Saul should have waited for God to show him favor, but he followed his compulsion to act instead.

As a result, Samuel had to inform Saul that God was going take the throne away from his family. God would find a man after his own heart to replace Saul.

Jonathan’s Daring Plan

Samuel left Gilgal and went to Gibeah where Jonathan was stationed. King Saul joined them there with the six hundred brave men who were still with him. The Philistines organized their army into three divisions and formed an arc to the north, west and east sides of Gibeah.

One day Jonathan decided to take his armor-bearer and go check out what the Philistines were up to. No one knew Jonathan had left the camp.

He came to a pass that stood between him and the Philistine outpost. On either side of him were tall cliffs with Philistine soldiers guarding the pass. Jonathan decided to call them out.

“Jonathan said, ‘Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.’” 1 Samuel 14:8-10

The Philistines laughed when they saw Jonathan and his armor-bearer.

“Look! . . . the Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in . . . Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” 1 Samuel 14:11-12

That was the signal Jonathan was looking for and he started climbing hand over hand up the cliff toward the Philistines. When he got to the top, he killed twenty Philistines with the help of his armor-bearer, and God sent the Philistines into a panic that spread through the whole army.

Victory Over the Philistines

“Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. Then Saul said to the men who were with him, ‘Muster the forces and see who has left us.’ When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.” 1 Samuel 14:16-17

Saul tried to consult with his priest at the Ark, but the sound of the panicking Philistines was too much for him. ‘So Saul said to the priest, ‘Withdraw your hand.’” (1 Samuel 14:19) Saul was ready to stop praying and start fighting.

He assembled his men and went to battle. The Philistines were so confused that they turned on each other. Saul’s forces grew as the Israelites who had been conscripted by the Philistines left them to join Israel’s side. The Israelite soldiers who had been in hiding ran to the field of battle, picked up discarded weapons, and pursued the fleeing Philistines.

“So on that day the Lord saved Israel . . . “ 1 Samuel 14:23

Saul’s Dangerous Oath

King Saul bound his army to a daylong fast from food as they set off to defeat the Philistines. Perhaps he saw it as a religious commitment related to fasting and prayer, but it only served to exhaust his troops.

Jonathan hadn’t heard his father’s oath so when he came upon some honey in the forest, he helped himself and encouraged others to join him. They refused and told him about the injunction against eating anything.

By the end of the day the men were so hungry they began slaughtering and devouring captured Philistine livestock without draining the blood from the meat. Saul set up an altar and told the troops to bring the animals there to be properly butchered.

Saul wanted to continue the battle that night, but he couldn’t get an answer from God about whether they would be successful. He suspected that God was displeased with someone in the camp and he asked the priest to use the urim and thummim to identify the culprit. Jonathan was guilty because he ate the honey that broke Saul’s oath.

“Saul said, ‘May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.’ But the men said to Saul, ‘Should Jonathan die – he who had brought about this great deliverance in Israel? As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.’ So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.” ˆ1 Samuel 14:45

Unending Wars

Israel wanted a king to lead them in war, and King Saul was the man.

“After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.” 1 Samuel 14:47-48

And just as Samuel had predicted, King Saul took Israel’s young men into his army. “Whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.” 1 Samuel 14:52

What if Israel had gone on trusting God as their king? He had always defeated Israel’s enemies in the past and in today’s reading God helped Jonathan when he climbed the cliff armed with only a sword and his faith. The Lord defeated the Philistines by putting them into a God-induced panic.

Maybe you are facing a battle today. Are you tempted to look to something other than God for your deliverance?

Remember that God wants to be your king. He is able to handle anything that comes against you.