my husband’s the best!

My husband’s the best!

…donuts……donuts…

My wife’s the best!

• Philistines & Israel were enemies• They were always at war• Israel should have destroyed them by now, but they kept disobeying God

So we’re all up to speed…

• 3,000 chariots (13:5)• 6,000 charioteers• Soldiers as “numerous as the sand on the seashore.”

Philistines

• 600 soldiers (13:15)• No weapons

Israelites

Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines

had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” So all Israel went

down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened … so on the day of the battle

not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and

his son Jonathan had them.

1 Samuel 13:15-20, 22

One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let’s

go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men … no one

was aware that Jonathan had left.

1 Samuel 14:1-3

On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine

outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozes, and the other Seneh. One cliff stood to the

north toward Micmash, the other to the south toward Geba. Jonathan said to his

young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised

fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from

saving, whether by many or by few.”

1 Samuel 14:4-6

“Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with

you heart and soul.” Jonathan said, “Come, then; we will cross over toward

the men 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 14:7-10

So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the

Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his

armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord

has given them into the hand of Israel.”

1 Samuel 14:11-12

Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty

men in an area of about half an acre. Then panic struck the whole army – those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts

and raiding parties – and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

1 Samuel 14:13-15

Why was Saul not leading the charge?

Spiritual condition was moving away from God

Saul

JonathanSpiritual condition was moving toward

God.

Your character follows your spiritual condition.

There is no one like him among all the people!

1 Samuel 10:24

Pride is always in conflict with Christian character.

The challenges you face will risein proportion to the character you develop.

The challenges you face will risein proportion to the character you develop.

character

challenges

• 3,000 chariots (13:5)• 6,000 charioteers• Soldiers as “numerous as the sand on the seashore.”

Philistines

• 600 soldiers (13:15)• “Quaking with fear” (13:7)• No weapons (13:22)

Israelites

Allowed himself to be delayed.Saul

JonathanRefused to let himself be denied.

Saul took his eyes off of God’s past faithfulness,

which made him lose hope that God would be faithful

in the future.

While everyone else sat around,Jonathan moved forward.

The odds never get better.

The question is not, “How likely is it that we will succeed?” The question is, “Has

God called me to move forward?”

Did not take God at His word.Saul

JonathanSaid God’s word was enough.

(uncertainty)

(certainty)

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of

those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can

hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

1 Samuel 14:4-6

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of

those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can

hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

1 Samuel 14:4-6

“Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with

you heart and soul.”

1 Samuel 14:7

So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the

Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his

armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.” So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord

has given them into the hand of Israel.”

1 Samuel 14:11-12

Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty

men in an area of about half an acre.

1 Samuel 13:14

(uncertainty)

(certainty)

• God has called us to defeat the Philistines• The odds are irrelevant• Nothing can stop the Lord from saving

Jonathan Knew

• How God would workJonathan Didn’t Know

Jonathan wasn’t choosing how he would die,

he was choosing how he would live.

It is ironic that we run to God to keep us safe when He calls us to a dangerous faith. He will shake loose everything in which we place our trust outside of Him and teach us

how to thrive in a future unknown.

Erwin McManus

(uncertainty)

(certainty)

Our God is a God who calls us each day to greater things than the day before, and

Who is able to protect us whenwe step out in faith to accomplish them.

Thought he had already accomplished enough.

Saul

JonathanKnew that God is always calling us

forward.

If I wake up tomorrow and I am the same as I am today,

I am a backslider.

Smith Wigglesworth

Are you Saul or Jonathan?

Then panic struck the whole army – those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties – and the

ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

1 Samuel 13:15

Are you Saul or Jonathan?

Three Questions

1. How much importance am I placing on my spiritual condition?

2. Am I delaying in moving forward into what God’s called me because the odds don’t seem to line up?

3. Is God’s word enough for me to step out into the realm of uncertainty?