I Samuel 14:45 …for he hath wrought with God
I have to be honest; King Saul confuses me. He is ambiguous to me and I am ambivalent toward him. Sometimes I don’t know what I am looking at when I am reading his story. Generally speaking, Saul is not a character I want to emulate. On the other hand, his son Jonathan is someone I have always loved and admired. There is a real contrast in the kind of leadership exhibited by these men in I Samuel 14.
Saul had an army and was quick to make oaths. He was very self-conscious, not self-aware, but self-absorbed and self-conscious. Jonathan was a man of action and invitation. He took action based on what he knew must be done and he invited others to come with him. He was a leader, but a very different leader than his dad. Saul had a position; Jonathan had action. Those two things come into contrast in I Samuel 14. Verse 1 says, “Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, it is on the other side. But he told not his father.”
Now, in the previous chapter Jonathan had smote the garrison of the Philistines, and Saul had blown the trumpet. It seems that this is a pattern where Jonathan takes action and Saul takes credit. It is of note that he did not tell his father. I’m not sure I like that. I think it is interesting when later he violated one of the commands of his dad, the Bible says, “But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with an oath.” There seems to be less than fantastic communication between king and lieutenant, between father and son.
Be that as it may, Jonathan took action. Verse 2 says, “And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men.” Yesterday I was thinking that Saul was impatient and acted when he should have waited. Here I get the impression Saul was passive when he should have been active.
The bottom line was that God gave a wonderful victory. Jonathan and his armorbearer, thoroughly outnumbered, made an attack in a narrow passage where they had fewer Philistines to handle at a time. As good as this tactic was, this was obviously a supernatural victory from God. In fact, in I Samuel 14:6 Jonathan says to his armorbearer, “Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.”
When the battle was over, the people in Saul’s army said “Look, when it comes to Jonathan, he has worked with God.” Jonathan was viewed as working with God. We learn from this that we lead best when we are working with God, not when we go off on our own. You might call this quiet leadership. By quiet leadership I do not mean pulling the strings from behind the curtain or manipulating others when you have no right to do so. I am talking about simply being quiet, taking action, and inviting others to join you. That is what Jonathan did.
Three words that came to my mind about this man who worked with God. First, there is duty. In verse 6 he says, “Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised.” We might call this initiative. Initiative is part of leadership, but maybe even more importantly, Jonathan was responding to a sense of obligation and responsibility, a sense of right and wrong. He was quiet, not taking an oath or an army, but just taking action based on duty.
Second, there is faith. Verse 6 says, “Come, and let us go…it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” It reminds me of the three Hebrew children when they said, “The LORD will deliver us, but if not, we are still going to do the right thing.” Jonathan was a man of faith. Two or three times he said, “Come with me. The Lord has delivered the enemy into the hand of Israel.” Faith is a mark of those who lead with God.
Third, there is providence, God’s providing. In verse 15 God sent an earthquake. Jonathan and his armorbearer were courageous men of action who had strategy in their attack, but God sent an earthquake. It says that the people quaked in fear, and then the earth quaked because of God. Verse 20 tells of a sort of jujitsu. In jujitsu you are not intimidated by your opponent’s strength, muscle mass, or weight. In fact, you use it against him. God employed jujitsu here. “Every man’s sword was against his fellow.” There was great confusion.
Jonathan and his armorbearer took action on their duty and had faith in God, and God provided. God sent an earthquake and wrought confusion among the Philistines. Then, the numbers grew. Verses 21-22 tell us that the Hebrews who had joined the Philistines because of Israel’s weakness fled back to Israel. Likewise, the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in Mount Ephraim joined in the fray against the Philistines. Verse 23 says, “So the LORD saved Israel that day.” God did it, but verse 45 says that Jonathan “wrought with God.”
Today, we need people who will lead wherever they are, in their homes, at their work, and at their church. They serve by responding to their duty, acting in faith, and anticipating the providence of God. With Jonathan this was not a position or ambition; it was working with God. Today, I want to do the same thing.