When You Hear the Roar - You Will Roar!
Message Intro: A Lion roars for several reason, the three we are going to look at today are: 1. To say to its’ enemies this is my territory get out. 2. To strike fear and confusion in its prey. 3. To be a homing beacon for other lions in its pride to return home.
PPT 1 Series title
Series intro comments. Our series graphic says that we all have a lion inside of us, but we don’t know where the release button is to let him out. Today I hope to give you an answer for how to do that.
PPT 2 Message Title (When you hear the roar, you will roar)
What I mean by the title is simply this, there is a part of us that can be stirred to the heroic when we get around someone who is doing the heroic. That is easily illustrated; when Rachel shared her testimony from the mission field last week, the Lion roared, and in many of you the lion inside you roared with her. You were stirred to join in the greatest mission of them all to take the gospel into all the world.
I also am using it to say that when you get around someone who is full of the Holy Spirit it will stir something in you. When you see or hear someone alive in God there is a part of you that will want to echo back to them the lion’s roar they are living out. You will see that demonstrated in our message today through the life of Jonathan son of Saul, the first king of Israel. We will see five groups of people stirred by his heroic action in the story laid out for us in 1st Samuel 14.
I believe the coal of Holy Spirit fire that was expressed in the life of Jonathan will touch you today in this message.
Turn to your neighbor and say, “When you hear the roar, you will roar!”
PPT 3-8 text
1Sa 14:1 Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on yonder side." But he did not tell his father.
1Sa 14:2 And Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about six hundred men,
1Sa 14:3 and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’ brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the LORD at Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
1Sa 14:4 And between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side, and a sharp crag on the other side, and the name of the one was Booze, and the name of the other Seen.
1Sa 14:5 The one crag rose on the north opposite Mishmash, and the other on the south opposite Geba.
1Sa 14:6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few."
1Sa 14:7 And his armor bearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire."
1Sa 14:8 Then Jonathan said, "Behold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them.
1Sa 14:9 "If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’ then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.
1Sa 14:10 "But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us."
1Sa 14:11 And when both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, "Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves."
1Sa 14:12 So the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, "Come up to us and we will tell you something." And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hands of Israel."
1Sa 14:13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him.
1Sa 14:14 And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land.
As I said there are 3 reason why a lion roars: “I am here, this is my territory, get out." To stir fear and confusion in its’ prey/enemy, and to be a homing beacon to call the other lions to itself. While Jonathan didn’t actually roar his actions caused those three things as we will see in this message.
1,2 Fear and confusion in the enemy, this is my territory get out!
PPT 9 text
1Sa 14:15 And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling.
1Sa 14:20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.
Our text makes clear this is not simply Jonathan’s actions that are saying this is my territory get out, it is actually God (the lion of Judah,) saying that through him. Where the text says the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling, several of my commentaries point out that this was not simply an earthquake but what they call, “a trembling of God.” A supernatural fear came from God and tore through their camp, it was so powerful and so disorienting that the enemy started fighting against their own men.
Amos 3:6 says, “the lion hath roared, who will not fear.” In my studies I found out a Lions’ roar can be heard for up to 5 miles away.** As an American I haven’t had much interaction with lions, but researching this message I came across the following which is from a man who has worked with lions a lot, he works at, Londolozi Game Reserve, bordering the Kruger National Park in South Africa, this is what he says about a lions roar:
“You don’t hear a lion roaring, you feel it. The closer you are, the more the vibrations tremor through your body, and believe me, if it’s your first time experiencing it and you are within 50 meters, you are left in gob-smacked, jaw-dropping awe! A lions’ roar can be heard for many miles. Try imagining yourself shouting loud enough to be heard two kilometers away… Not possible, right? Now add to that distance another 8km and try scream or shout that far! It boggles the mind that an animal can make such a loud noise. ***
May God cause all your spiritual enemies to hear His roar through you and be caught with confusion and fight each other instead of you.
First the enemy heard the roar and it stoked fear in them. Then the Jews heard the roar and it stoked faith in them. It triggered the release button for the lion inside of them. Here is an interesting verse in the NT that relates to what we are teaching, the lions roar will either stir the lion in you, or cause an opposite reaction.
PPT 10 Text
2Co 2:15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;
2Co 2:16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
Paul is saying that in some believers he stirs up good things in unbelievers the opposite. The actions of Jonathan and God through him, told the enemy to get lost, and stirred up confusion in them. They turned their swords against each other, they were so overwhelmed with confusion and fear. Now we will look at how Jonathans’ actions were a trigger to release the lion in them, and a homing beacon to bring lost lions back home.
When You hear the roar, 5 groups awakened by the roar.
PPT 11 text
1Sa 14:20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. (NAS)
1, 2. The first two groups stirred were The Leadership, and the army of Israel. Sometimes leaders need stirring. Sometimes they get in a rut of playing it safe. Sometimes those who are soldiers and should be fighting the enemy are sitting on the sidelines in a seeming truce with the enemy neither side advancing. Jonathans’ action stirred the lion in them, and they rallied and came to the battle. Next message I will talk about the difference between old lions and young lions, Saul and the army were stirred from their inaction by the roaring of a daring young lion. May God stir something in all our staff and leadership, myself included! May we hear the roar of God and roar back with Him!
Next group:
PPT 12 text
1Sa 14:21 Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. (NIV)
3. The third group included the backslid, deserters and traitors.
Dead religion didn’t call them back, but a man with a living faith in God. Oh, may we be so full of God that others can see the lion in us and it stir something in them to return to the Father! There are many people who are out there and all they need is a little spark, to hear the lion of Judah roar and they will return to God. This may be the reason the Philistines started attacking each other. It may be that a large number of Jews had defected and when they turned to fight for Israel, they had been so enmeshed and so caught up with the Philistines that the Philistines could no longer tell who was friend and who was foe. God can call back to Himself even those who have left the fold and are actively serving on the enemies side! The living faith in Jonathan pulled many of those who had turned their backs of God, and God’s call on their lives, to return to the Father and to the fight.
Next
PPT 13 text
1Sa 14:22 When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, even they also pursued them closely in the battle.
4. The fourth group is the fearful. To the fearful the roar brought courage to them. Holy Ghost CPR was performed on them through the life and actions of Jonathan and his armor bearer. They were stirred and roused from their hiding places. They heard in the far off country the roar of God, and they came streaming to the battle. The lion in them was once again awakened!
A lions’ roar calls the other lions to be with him.
This information is also from a worker at the, Londolozi Game Reserve:
PPT 14 pic of lions’ path back to his siblings
“The farther you are from a roaring lion, the harder it is to accurately tell his position, but the lions themselves have no problem. It’s almost as if they are looking at one of those giant maps in a war room and are able to stick a pin in the exact spot where their rival or coalition mate is vocalising.
This was highlighted rather nicely by the Majingilane males one morning, when three of them had been found in a thicket near the Maxabene, and the fourth male was somewhere a few kilometres away.... The three brothers began to roar, and of course the fourth brother stuck his head up and answered from where he was. (When he heard the roar, he roared.) I think it was ranger Lucien Beaumont who was with him at the time, and his radio broadcast told us that the fourth male had begun to move. Every so often Lucien would update us on the fourth male’s movements, and from what we could tell, he was making a bee-line directly for where the rest of his coalition were. He drew steadily closer over the next 45 minutes or so, and the incredible thing was that none of the lions roared again. Neither the approaching male nor one of the three (who were by now fast asleep). The fourth male had had just one chance to hear his coalition and judge the distance and direction of their calling. Once he had started walking he never wavered, marching straight across roads he normally would have turned and walked down. And lo and behold, just under an hour later, he came walking sedately through the bushes to flop down in the middle of his three brothers and fall fast asleep. We were astounded. The group of three had not even been in an open clearing, yet the fourth male walked straight to them! ***
People who have strayed from God for fear or any other reason. Still have a homing beacon inside of them, that when activated will lead them straight home to God. The prodigal son in the far off country had his homing beacon activated by hunger, and repentance and had no problem finding his way back to the Father’s house. May we live in such a way as to be people whom God can use to turn on the homing beacon in others, may we roar loud and long the word of God to draw wanderers and the fearful back home.
5. The fifth group of people stirred by the actions of Jonathan you won’t find directly mentioned in the text, but I think after hearing what I have to say you will see them as clearly as I do. The fifth group are the other young lions in Israel and one very special one in particular: “The giant slayer.” I don’t think Jonathan has ever been given credit for the impact he made on David’s life. I have to believe the heroism of Jonathan and his armor bearer were noised all over Israel and they planted a seed in the very fertile soil of a young shepherd boy. Not only him, but perhaps in some of those also who would one day be called, “the mighty men of valor.” David heard the roar of the lion in Jonathan and it stirred the lion in himself. We are told that after David killed Goliath he and Jonathan became fast friends, so much so that the bible says, “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David.” Birds of a feather do flock together.
For me a small but interesting clue that Jonathan was an inspiration for David was that they both used the same terminology when fighting the Philistines.
PPT 15 text
1Sa 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.
1Sa 17:26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
Both men describe their enemies of having no relationship with God, they are uncircumcised. Therefore they expected God to help them defeat the enemy. I think David held Jonathan in high esteem because of his bravery and his understanding that it is through our relationship with God we win our battles, not strength or military prowess. Look at how they both state their reliance on God in this matter:
PPT 16 text
1Sa 14:6 … "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few."
1Sa 17:36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
1Sa 17:47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.
I want to show you a special video right now, and then one final verse and I will close
PPT 17 video Link for video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7meDnLiEgDY
When I watch that it stirs a hunger and a passion to be filled with the Spirit. It also speaks to the Lord’s lions who have drifted or are struggling with addictions, that God calls them to be set free.
Final verse: 2 Sa 5:24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
When you hear the lion roar you need to respond to it in a practical way.
Are you hungry for more?
Have you been on the enemies side?
Do you need to be set free from something?
Have you been letting fear rule your life?
Links:
* https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111102190012.htm
** https://www.clevelandzoosociety.org/z/2017/11/30/ask-the-expert-what-makes-a-lion-roar
*** https://blog.londolozi.com/2016/05/03/a-lions-roar-lets-discuss/
(-Londolozi Game Reserve, bordering the Kruger National Park in South Africa.)
