Israel was held in a state of disgrace by their Philistine captors. They were supposed to be the people of God, and they were supposed to show God’s greatness through their actions and their faith — but such had not been shown by them. Though Saul had been king quite a while, perhaps about two years, he had still not fulfilled his charge of casting off the Philistines. Nevertheless, Jonathan was working to change that. Thus, while he stood in Gibeah with one thousand of his father’s troops, Jonathan lifted up the faith of those almost unarmed warriors, and took them to battle against the Philistine garrison at Geba.
With Yahweh fighting the battle, the garrison was destroyed — but sadly, while this was a marvelous victory, many in Israel were not convinced. The news of the Philistine defeat quickly spread throughout the land until the Philistines themselves heard of it — and their reaction brought fear to the hearts of many in Israel.
“And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits [or cisterns]” (1 Sam 13:5-6).
The Philistines were not pleased. The captives were rising up, seeking to overthrow the rule of their masters — and thus the Philistines would do whatever they needed to do to put this rebellion down. Thirty thousand chariots were sent out to the mountains of Israel. Six thousand horsemen were commissioned. The foot soldiers were innumerable. The Philistines were determined to smash this mutiny and ensure their supremacy over Israel — showing the Israelites that they should never again feel as though they could win a battle against them.
The Philistines fight back
When this massive army gathered together against them, the army of Israel already felt defeated. The men of the army began to flee from Saul’s camp to hide in caves, in cisterns, and even behind bushes. Pure terror spread throughout the ranks of Israel — this was not the reaction of an army which simply felt fearful, but it was the reaction of an army that thought that they had no chance of winning. This was the reaction of people who were sure that they were going to lose! They had already retreated even before the battle began! As soon as they saw the Philistine troops, it was as though they had immediately lost all hope.
Perhaps it was the amount of warriors which the Philistines had commissioned. Yet that doesn’t seem to entirely fit, considering that “all the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.” Though the Philistines had a mighty army, so did Israel. When Israel had fought against the Ammonites just a few years prior, they had amassed a force of 330,000 (1 Sam 11:8). That’s a fairly huge army — and if the entire country came together again to fight against the Philistines in this battle, Saul likely had a similar amount of troops. So, while the Philistine army may have been larger, Israel’s was fairly large as well.
Perhaps it was the fact that the men of Israel didn’t have good weaponry (1 Sam 13:19-22) — but again, that didn’t stop Israel when they fought against the Ammonites, and it also didn’t stop Jonathan’s men when they eliminated the Philistine garrison.
The reaction of the Israelite army seems almost completely unreasonable — until the context of the continual oppression of Israel by the Philistines is appreciated. For years, the Philistines had been rulers over the people of Israel — from some point during Samuel’s leadership, through the time when Samuel became an old man, and now to early years of Saul. Some of the young men in Saul’s army perhaps wouldn’t have even known anything but Philistine domination. Through their oppressive rules and through their stationing of troops throughout the land, the Philistines had likely bombarded the Israelites with the idea that they would continually be in subjection to their masters. Even though Israel had defeated them at times, the Philistines had never ceased to exist — and they continually returned to oppress the Israelites. This mental state of Israel was probably exaggerated by the fact that the during the time of the judges, the Philistines had subjugated Israel longer than any other power — ruling over them for 40 years (Jdgs 13:1; the next longest after that was Ammon, who ruled for 18 years; Jdgs 10:8).
In all of their physical attacks and physical rulership over the people of Israel, the Philistines had also become their mental rulers. In the mind of many in Israel, it was likely that they believed that they wouldn’t be able to overthrow the Philistines — hence Israel’s reaction when they saw the troops of the Philistines. Thus, the situation in Israel was fairly grim. The majority of the Israelite army had retreated before the battle had begun, and the people of the nation were likely not pleased at all with what Jonathan had done. He had brought the wrath of their masters upon them, and now they would be oppressed even further.
Nevertheless, Saul remained in Gilgal, and a few of the men remained with him. Yet even those troops could hardly control their fear of the Philistines:
“And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him” (1 Sam 13:7-8).
The Israelite army was in a sorry state. The people were trembling, others were still departing, and Saul had to wait seven days for Samuel to come. How agonizing those seven days would have been, as Saul looked out across his scattered troops and saw the abysmal looks on the faces of his men! Then, when the end of the seven days came, he hadn’t yet seen Samuel. He was certain that he needed to go into battle with God on his side — otherwise there would be no hope for him winning — but how could he keep waiting for the prophet to come? Deciding that God would accept him in whatever way he came and that it didn’t actually matter how he approached Him, the king of Israel decided to offer a burnt offering himself. He broke the law, didn’t wait for Samuel, and followed in the way of Cain — worshipping Yahweh in the way which he himself had devised. The result was critical for the household of Saul. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived:
“And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee” (1 Sam 13:13-14).
Saul lost the kingdom. His attempt to approach God in whatever way he pleased resulted in complete and entire rejection — as it had for all of those, like Cain and like Korah, who had attempted to do the same thing before him. Yahweh will be worshipped in the way which He commands — not the way in which we devise. Yet Saul would never learn that.
Thus, Samuel condemned the relatively new king, and the dynasty of Saul was finished. For Jonathan, it was as though all of these difficult and trying circumstances were coalescing and falling upon him all at once. He was a leader of the army, and the troops were simply disintegrating. He had been the one who first attacked the Philistines garrison and who brought this war upon the people — many of the fearful in Israel would likely have blamed him for their current distress. Not only so, but now God had shifted the course of his entire life — he was the prince who would never become a king. The kingdom of his father was finished, and Jonathan would never see the throne. Though he had probably planned out the reforms that he would make during his kingship, and though he had been groomed to become the ruler of the land, Jonathan would never see that day. All of his expectations were shattered, and all of these things came upon him at once.
Yet Jonathan didn’t lose faith.
Despite the trying circumstances which were surrounding him, and despite his broken plans, Jonathan kept his faith and did whatever he could to serve the Truth — eventually leading the Israelite army to victory against the Philistine host and overthrowing the oppression which had plagued Israel for so long.
The second garrison: in the camp of Saul
“Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father. 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” (1 Sam 14:1-2).
As the days passed by, Jonathan saw that there was no movement from his father. Saul didn’t bring the men back together and remind them of their faith; he didn’t tell the men that God would be on their side. He merely sat back — almost as if he were stunned from what Samuel had told him — and did nothing. To make matters even worse, his army — made up of men from all over the nation of Israel — had continuously dwindled, until it was now only 600 men. The mighty army from the battle against the Ammonites had essentially vanished. The men of Israel were trembling, many of them were deserting, and the king of the nation was ruminating — simply doing nothing.
Yet completely contrary to his father, and likely contrary to his father’s wishes, Jonathan chose to act. Almost as if the record sought to highlight the difference in faith between these two men — it states that Jonathan turned to his armor bearer and suggested attacking another Philistine garrison, just the two of them, without telling Saul — while it simply says that Saul sat underneath a pomegranate tree. Jonathan made plans of actions — plans of faith — while his father just sat. It was almost as though Saul had fallen into one of his periods of depression, even before the “evil spirit” had come upon him — and just to show even further the terrible situation of the king of Israel, the record mentions the priest who was with him:
“And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Philnehas, the son of Eli, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone” (1 Sam 14:3).
Specifically stating his genealogy, the record mentions that Ahiah was with Saul. Ahiah, a descendent of Eli, was part of the cursed priesthood (1 Sam 3:11-14) — the priesthood which was doomed to fail. It was a priesthood which God had specifically said He would remove — and such was the help which Saul had with him. No longer was Samuel with Saul’s camp. No longer was the true judge of the land with this fallen monarch. Instead, the best that Saul could have was Ahiah — truly, a righteous man — but whose family had been cast from the priesthood by God.
The situation for Saul was certainly pitiful. But such is the situation when one seeks to come to God in their own method and own way of worship. They will be left to their own devices.
Thus, Saul was left with his pitiful army and his cursed priesthood. In the meantime, Jonathan and his armor bearer approached the gully from which they reach the Philistine garrison. While Saul floundered beneath Samuel’s prophecy, Jonathan, standing in faith, went with his armor bearer in an attempt to work in faith for the Holy One of Israel — the only question was whether or not this attempt would be blessed by God. Would the attack be successful, or would the end result be further agitation of the Philistines, leaving Israel even deeper in distress?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One