Why should we spend any time thinking about Jonathan? First, because there he is IN the Word of God; the Holy Spirit seems to push him into the spot-light. Second, because there are several important lessons that he can teach us. Jonathan is a marvelous study – as helpful and saintly as Joshua or Daniel. This evening, I would like us to think about this man as representative of the saints of God. We can look at Jonathan and apply what we see in him – to us. We can learn things that might help us to be better Christians.
I want you to ask yourself, whether or not you have the same basic character as Jonathan. I don’t care if you have the same skills, the same attributes, or the same hair color as Jonathan. But do you have the same heart as this man? And if you don’t, then you need to find if it is really important?
Jonathan was, first of all, a CELEBRITY.
As far as society goes, he was the first born son of a king. A person can’t get much higher than that, except to be king himself. He was about 30 years of age when we first meet him. So he was born in relative obscurity, the son of a common, ordinary sinner like everyone else. But then Samuel anointed Saul to be King of Israel, and everything changed for the man’s son. If he had ever lacked spending money or food in his youth that was no longer a problem. If the people of Israel were without the necessities of life, the king and his family weren’t. For example, the Philistines had been able to strip Israel of all their spears and swords. And there were no smiths in Israel with the skill and equipment to make them, but Saul and Jonathan both had swords. Yes, there are certain privileges in being the son of the king.
And Jonathan was famous in some powerful and important ways. The first time that we meet him, Saul was in his second year as king. I Samuel 13 says that Israel had a standing army of 4,000 men, 1,000 of which were under the command of Jonathan. Since those were days of constant conflict with the Philistines, you can be sure that the sight of Jonathan leading is men was vivid in the minds of the nation.
But Jonathan’s celebrity status and all his earthly privileges were not good things in themselves. For example, I Samuel 31 describes the Battle of Gilboa. Verses 1-2 read – “Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons.” Once the Israelites were contained, the army of the Philistines ignored the common soldier and focused on Saul and his sons. Sometimes standing in the limelight is the same thing as standing in someone’s gun-sights. And don’t you think that the citizens of that land weren’t sometimes angry and envious of the family of Saul, who always seemed to have the best around. It’s not always fun and games to be top dog, or even second dog – alpha male or even beta male.
But Jonathan seemed to handle his celebrity status very well. First, he lived up to the responsibilities that came with his office as the son of the king. And secondly, there doesn’t appear to be a hint of pride or arrogance in the young man. So many young men today who rise to the top, through sports or entertainment, immediately sour. They turn to drugs, immorality, or just plain meanness. But not Jonathan.
Whatever the Lord has given to you, no matter how it became yours, remember who you are. If the Lord has given you money, use it wisely as the steward of God. If the Lord has given you brains and education, sure you can use them to get a good job and to be a blessing to society. But make sure that you use them to study and glorify the Lord. Learn of Jehovah and share what you learn with others. If the Lord has given you earthly friends make sure you strive to take those friends to Heaven with you. If the Lord has given you the privilege of being a part of one of the Lord’s churches, cherish that joy and use it for the glory of God. And if the Lord has given you a sword, then use it on the garrison of the Philistines.
With every privilege comes responsibility. And one of the biggest differences between Jonathan and his father was in precisely this area. Saul wasted and abused his privileges, while Jonathan used them for the blessing of others.
Jonathan was a celebrity – and he was a SOLDIER.
The first time that we run into this young man it is as the captain of a regiment. Look at I Samuel 13:1-4. We are not told whether Jonathan had orders to attack or if this was his own decision. We do see that the victory was applied to the king, even though he wasn’t in the fight. That might indicate that he told Jonathan to attack – but not necessarily so. In either case, we see that Jonathan was a soldier.
In the next chapter Jonathan leaves his regiment, and takes only his personal armour-bearer. Together they climb down the western slope of a canyon, cross the dry creek-bed and then scale up the other side on their hands and knees in order to face the enemy. Jonathan was a soldier. For some time Jonathan’s camp had been set up on the eastern bluff at Michmash, while the larger Philistine force was across the wady on the other side. To lead either army down in to the chasm and up the other side would have been suicide, so nothing was done. But Jonathan decided to take things into his own hands, like a navy seal or commando. He told his companion that they would reveal themselves to the Philistine sentries. If those sentries told them to stay below, then they would. But if they were told to come up, they would meet the enemy on the high ground with the confidence that God had given them the victory. The Philistine guards did indeed invite their enemy to meet them. And apparently they didn’t warn the rest of the garrison. It appears to me that they felt so confident that they wanted to spar or duel with these Israelite boys. But these “boys” were men of God. As Jonathan knocked them down one by one, his armour-bearer finished them off. “And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armour-bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.” Then just as the rest of the Philistines were coming to their senses the Lord stepped in and sent an earthquake, and the enemy panicked. “And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.” When Saul’s people saw the enemy in flight they joined the attack and there was a great victory.
Jonathan was a swordsman, and an archer, as we see later in chapter 20. The man was a soldier. In fact that was a major part of the responsibility of the royal family – the Christian family. Jonathan was someone who took his duties seriously.
Going back to the little battle in chapter 13, Jonathan did his duty despite the COST. With the presence of the Philistines, it couldn’t be said that there was peace in the land. But there was a certain amount of stability. Yet, those Philistines were heathen trespassers on the property of Jehovah. For whatever reason, Jonathan reasoned that they didn’t belong there. The defeat of that first enemy garrison was little more than a skirmish, but that skirmish set on fire the wrath of the enemy. “And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines.” What did Jonathan think was going to result from this slap in the Philistine face? He knew that they enemy would be enraged. But he did his duty despite the cost.
And in chapter 14 when he and his armour-bearer lead the assault on the much larger force, he did his duty despite the RISKS. There may have been little likelihood of defeat in chapter 13. But there was little likelihood of victory in chapter 14. But it had to be done, even if it meant the lives of his friend and himself.
Also in that same chapter, when Saul saw the enemy in flight, he issued a ridiculous order: “Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies.” Christians often place burdens on themselves which can do nothing more than hurt the cause of Christ. Once the battle was engaged and the armies were in full-flight God’s people gradually weakened. They needed nourishment, but none dared to stop to eat, because of the king’s command. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Jonathan had never heard the order, because he was busy about his master’s business. And when he came across a bee hive full of syrupy energy, he dipped the tip of spear into an honeycomb and took several long draughts of the sweet stuff. Then when some of the men warned him of the king’s order, he spoke the truth, despite the curse: “My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey. How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?” This time Jonathan did he duty despite the human RULES.
We, too, are supposed to be soldiers in the army of the Lord. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” as was Jonathan’s, but it’s still a spiritual war. Our sword is the Word of the Lord. We have been commanded to “fight the good fight of faith.” We have been ordered to “war a good warfare.” And this means doing our duty despite the COSTS. It means doing our duty despite the RISKS. And it means doing our duty despite the RIDICULOUS LAWS of man against us.
In addition to Jonathan’s celebrity, he was a soldier and he was a SERVANT.
Almost from the very moment that they met, Jonathan fell in love with the young man David. “The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” But this was far more than just friendship. Between the time of Jonathan’s great victories at Michmash, the prophet Samuel made a trip to Bethlehem. Out of the seven sons of Jesse, he anointed David to be the next king of Israel. It is difficult to know when Saul came to the realization that David was the rival to his throne. But it appears that Jonathan knew it instinctively from the very beginning.
Look at I Samuel 18:3-4 – “Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.” Later, in a great rage, Saul attacked his son, pointing out that he was losing the throne to his “friend.” But the information neither surprised nor bothered Jonathan – he knew and accepted it. In chapter 19 Jonathan defended David before his furious Father. In chapter 23 he risked his life to meet David in one of his hiding places and encourage him with words and with food.
David is, of course, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Jonathan’s love and respect toward David we see something that should be found in our own hearts. The son of Saul was willing to lay aside his future, his glory, and even his very life for the sake of the one he knew to be his Lord. Christ is King – not Saul – nor are we who are His children. With David on the throne, not even Jonathan should be calling the shots in his life.
Jonathan was a celebrity, a soldier, a servant and a SIRE.
Jonathan had a son whose name was “Mephiboseth.” One of the loveliest Old Testament pictures of saving grace is found in David’s treatment of this orphaned son of his friend Jonathan. But that’s another message.