An Improbable Victory Path

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Inspiration For the Journey

1 Samuel 14:1-16 (KJV)
1 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, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.
2 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;
3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD'S priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.
4 And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5 The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.
6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, 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.
7 And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them.
9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.
10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.
11 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.
13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.
14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.
15 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.
16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.

Pictured above is the impossible looking rocky crag that Jonathan and his armor bearer may have scaled on their way to a most improbable victory.

    This account illustrates wonderfully the Christians victory path today. Israel was in a strait. The Philistines were in attack mode and Israel had few weapons of war. But Jonathan, perhaps unlike his father in Physical stature, who stood head and shoulders above his Israelite counterparts, but in spiritual stature he towered over his country men the same way.

    He and his armor bearer became an army of two! His premise was, “There is no restraint with the Lord to save by many or by few”.

   As humans we do the math. We add up the numbers and try to calculate strength and probability of victory, but Jonathan realized that with God he was in the majority though he was one man against a host.

    So it is on the Christians victory path. We are, each of us, one person against a host. That host being the powers of darkness, the forces of Satan. Those forces are much stronger than we. So doing the numbers game, we’re toast! But, “ greater is he that is in you, then he that is in the World”. Just like Elijah and his servant at Dothan, when they were surrounded by the Syrian army. The servant said, “Master, how shall we do?” Elijah prayed and God opened the servants eyes to see that the mountain was surrounded with horses and chariots of fire in they’re defense! So may God open our eyes today to see that with God; “there’s more with us then there is with them”.

   Jonathans path was so difficult that they had to get down on hands and feet. So for the Christian the victory path is difficult enough to drive us to our knees. We learn soon, as Christians, that we stand tallest from our knees. Our only hope is complete dependence upon God.

    How Jonathan and his armor bearer managed to get footing on top before they were cut down, was nothing short of a miracle from God. But God said long before; “One of you shall chase a thousand”, and Jonathan actually believed that! It worked. God worked for them. The host trembled, perhaps the earth even trembled or quaked. Jonathan stepped out in faith; it started small,but God turned it into a route of the enemy.  

    And so it is today. Our personal victories are not without consequence. Others are impacted. Your victories will inspire others to victory as well!

     Now lets notice a couple of landmarks on Jonathans’ victory path in verse 4. The name of the one cliff or rock was Bozez and the other was Seneh. I understand there is some disagreement among scholars on definitions but my best understanding is Bozez means shining and Seneh means thorn or thorn-bush.

    In Bozez, (Shining) I see the presence of God on our victory path. In Seneh, (thorns) I see the cross, trials, temptations, and everything Satan hurls at us to intimidate and defeat us. Very real to life indeed.  The song writer puts it in the correct perspective when he says,  “It’s not an easy road, we’re traveling to heaven, for many are the thorns on my way, but Jesus walks beside me, and brightens the Journey, and lightens every heavy load”.

    Amen,  It may be the road less traveled, but so what if Jesus is with us! When I get to heaven I want to walk up to Jonathan and shake his hand and thank him for being an inspiration to me!

    So dear friends, climb on in faith undaunted! Remember Jonathan, David, Sampson and all the rest. They were ordinary people with great faith in an amazing God! Jonathans God is our God today!