Title: How To Behave In A Cave – 7
“Jonathan’s Cave – 2”
Text: I Samuel 13:4-7
This morning I started preaching on Jonathan’s cave. We are going to get all those that were not here this morning caught up in what is happening in this story before we move on to tonight’s message.
In our text we find that during the second year of Jonathan’s father’s reign as king, Saul chose an army of 3,000 men. Two thousand were with him in Michmash and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah.
Remember, Israel only had 3,000 men. The Philistines had 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen AND the single men they had were innumerable. They couldn’t even count how many men were in the Philistine army. The Bible says it seemed like they had so many men they likened it to all sand on the seashore. To sum it up, the Philistines had a big army and Jonathan and Saul had a little army.
With those kinds of odds, what would you do? After hearing of the kind of army that the Philistines had, the next thing the Israelites do is run to the hills, to caves, anywhere they could find to hide from this huge, gigantic army.
Can you sense the fear in the children of Israel? These men, including Jonathan and Saul were running for their lives and they hid from their enemy because they were terrified. The Bible says that they were trembling. They were not only afraid, they were shaking! Have you ever been so scared that you could not stop shaking and trembling? This is the way that the children of Israel were when they received this report. They hid in caves for fear of their very lives. But there came a time when in the midst of Jonathan’s cave that he learned some behaviours and started to put them into practice. This morning we learned that the first thing he learned was:
I. THERE IS NO REASON TO FEAR
Jonathan started out in the cave scared of what the enemy was going to do to him. He and his army hid in their caves for a short time out of fear, but there came a day for Jonathan that he was tired of hiding in the cave and he came to realize I don’t need to fear what man shall do to me. Listen to what Jonathan does:
I Samuel 14:1; ¶ “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.”
Jonathan had one of those moments. “It came to pass upon a day,” that Jonathan said, “Enough is enough. We can’t hide from these enemies forever. Have we forgotten the kind of covenant God that we serve? We don’t need to fear, God is on our side.” Jonathan came to his senses and determined that no enemy is going to cause him to fear. While in the midst of his cave he realized that there was no reason to be afraid. Tonight we are going to pick up where we left off:
II. GOD IS NOT RESTRAINED
I Samuel 14:6; “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.”
Can you see the heart of Jonathan that day? There are a couple of things that Jonathan says in this Scripture that stands out to me. Jonathan says, “Let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised.” Why does that have such significance? It is important to note that anyone that was uncircumcised was out of covenant with God. Back then you could not be in covenant with God and not be circumcised. Jonathan was actually saying, “We don’t have to worry because the Lord Jehovah is not on their side, He is on our side.” We are in covenant with God and they are not. Why shall we be afraid? It was like Jonathan just had a memory lapse for the moment that he went into the cave and then he remembered, “Wait a minute, God is on our side. We are in covenant with the great God Jehovah.”
Then he goes on to say, “There is no restraint to the Lord, to the one that we are in covenant with.” When he said there is no restraint to the Lord, He was saying nothing is impossible with our God. Jonathan was in this cave and determined to come out because he was reminded of how powerful his God is. Let’s look at just how powerful God is. There are some of you that need to come out of your cave and tonight you need to determine just how powerful He is. The only way you can determine how powerful God is is through the Word:
Matthew 19:26; “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Mark 10:27; “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
Luke 1:37; “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
Luke 18:27; “And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Job 42:1-2; ¶ “Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.”
God is omnipotent. That means God is all power. No matter what situation you are facing tonight, God is all-powerful. We find in His Word that nothing is impossible with Him.
Psalm 84:11; “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Whatever you have need of, you keep your chin up and keep walking upright before God and He will not withhold any good thing from you. You may be surrounded by bad tonight, but no matter what your surroundings are, God is bringing you out even as we speak. We serve an omnipotent God. He wants to do for you the same as He did for Isaiah in:
Isaiah 43:10-19; “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. 12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. 13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? 14 ¶ Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel …; 15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 16 Thus saith the LORD, which makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 17 Which brings forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. 18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
The Lord tells Isaiah over and over again, I am the Lord. He is telling you tonight, “I am the Lord.” I am the Lord of whatever you need. Nothing is impossible to Him. No matter how dark your cave looks right now, we serve a God of the impossibilities. Listen to what Jonathan says next:
I Samuel 14:6-8; “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.”
Jonathan’s armour bearer agrees with Jonathan and tells him to do whatever is in his heart. It was a good day to agree with Jonathan because Jonathan had a God-inspired thought that day. Jonathan had it in his heart that God was going to fight for him. Only God could give someone a thought that says, “Go out, you and your armour bearer, and stand up there against 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and a mass of people as great as the sand of the sea.” Only God would say that, because only God knew Jonathan wouldn’t be standing alone, but He would be standing with God Himself as his armour and strength. The moment Jonathan took that step out of that cave and stood up for God, God stood with Jonathan.
I can picture how this must have happened. Here come Jonathan and his armour bearer climbing up that hill. Remember, Jonathan did not take up his army to fight these men; it was just he and his armour bearer. Then they stand up on the cliff and get right in the face of those Philistines. Listen to what happens next:
I Samuel 14:11-16; “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.”
When Jonathan and his armour bearer stood upon that hill, they were not standing in their own strength. They had all of heavens angelic forces standing with them. Jonathan and the armour bearer may not have been able to see it, but the Philistines had no problem seeing it. They didn’t see little Jonathan that day, they saw the army of the Living God.
The Philistines were shocked. They said to themselves, “The Israelites have come out of their caves and their holes!” These Philistines started to tremble. God shook them up and melted them down.
Do you know that when you obey God’s commands and walk in boldness instead of fear, the enemy trembles? When you stand up in the strength and might of God and declare His promises and begin to realize that God is not restrained, God begins to work out those problems that you have been having. Take courage! Be strong and very courageous like Jonathan was and step out of that cave tonight. God is with you every step that you take. He is in that cave with you and when you determine to come out, He is coming out with His army ready to take on any enemy that tries to force you back in.
It is time to let your faith arise in God’s Word. You can do some serious damage to the enemy’s kingdom with faith. The devil can’t stand it. That is why he wants to oppress you and get you discouraged and keep you in a cave. He knows the minute you come out of that cave, his days are numbered. He knows that God is going to be glorified and that he himself is going to be shoved in the cave. Remember, the devil has no power over you and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you will come out of that cave.
