_JONATHAN'S EXPLOIT AT MICHMASH._
1 SAMUEL xiv. 1-23.
It has sometimes been objected to the representation occurring at the
end of the thirteenth chapter of the utter want of arms among the
Hebrews at this time that it is inconsistent with the narrative of the
eleventh. If it be true, as stated there, that the Israelites gained a
great victory over the Ammonites, they must have had arms to accomplish
that; and, moreover, the victory itself must have put them in possession
of the arms of the Ammonites. The answer to this is, that the invasion
of the Philistines subsequent to this in such overwhelming numbers seems
to have been the cause of the miserable plight to which the Hebrews were
reduced, and of the loss of their arms.
Whether we are to take the statement as quite literal that in the day of
battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the
people save Saul or Jonathan, or whether we are to regard this as just
an Oriental way of saying that these were the only two who had a
thorough equipment of arms, it is plain enough that the condition of the
Hebrew troops was very wretched. That in their circumstances a feeling
of despondency should have fallen on all save the few who walked by
faith, need not excite any surprise.
The position of the two armies is not difficult to understand. Several
miles to the north of Jerusalem, a valley, now named Wady Suweinet, runs
from west to east, from the central plateau of Palestine down towards
the valley of the Jordan. The name Mukmas, still preserved, shows the
situation of the place which was then occupied by the garrison of the
Philistines. Near to that place, Captain Conder[1] believes that he has
found the very rocks where the exploit of Jonathan occurred. On either
side of the valley there rises a perpendicular crag, the northern one,
called in Scripture Bozez, being extremely steep and difficult of
ascent. "It seems just possible that Jonathan, with immense labour,
might have climbed up on his hands and his feet, and his armour-bearer
after him."
It is evident that Saul had no thought at this time of making any attack
on the Philistines. How could he, with soldiers so poorly armed and so
little to encourage them? Samuel does not appear to have been with him.
But in his company was a priest, Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, grandson of
Eli, perhaps the same as Ahimelech, afterwards introduced. Saul still
adhered to the forms of religion; but he had too much resemblance to the
Church of Sardis--"Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
The position of the army of Israel with reference to the Philistines
seems to have been very similar to what it was afterwards when Goliath
defied the army of the living God. The Israelites could only look on, in
helpless inactivity. But just as the youthful spirit of David was
afterwards roused in these circumstances to exertion, so on the present
occasion was the youthful spirit of Jonathan. It was not the first time
that he had attacked the garrison of the Philistines. (See xiii. 3.) But
what he did on the former occasion seems to have been under more equal
conditions than the seemingly desperate enterprise to which he betook
himself now. A project of unprecedented daring came into his mind. He
took counsel with no one about it. He breathed nothing of it to his
father. A single confidant and companion was all that he thought of--his
armour-bearer, or aide-de-camp. And even him he did not so much consult
as attach. "Come," said he, "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 by the Lord to save by many or by few." No words are
needed to show the daring character of this project. The physical effort
to climb on hands and feet up a precipitous rock was itself most
difficult and perilous, possible only to boys, light and lithe of form,
and well accustomed to it; and if the garrison observed them and chose
to oppose them, a single stone hurled from above would stretch them,
crushed and helpless, on the valley below. But suppose they succeeded,
what were a couple of young men to do when confronted with a whole
garrison? Or even if the garrison should be overpowered, how were they
to deal with the Philistine host, that lay encamped at no great
distance, or at most were scattered here and there over the country, and
would soon assemble? In every point of view save one, the enterprise
seemed utterly desperate. But that exception was a very important one.
The one point of view in which there was the faintest possibility of
success was, that the Lord God might favour the enterprise. The God of
their fathers might work for them, and if He did so, there was no
restraint with Him to work by many or by few. Had He not worked by Ehud
alone to deliver their fathers from the Moabites? Had he not worked by
Shamgar alone, when with his ox goad he slew six hundred Philistines?
Had he not worked by Samson alone in all his wonderful exploits? Might
he not work that day by Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and, after all,
only produce a new chapter in that history which had already shown so
many wonderful interpositions? Jonathan's mind was possessed by the
idea. After all, if he failed, he could but lose his life. And was not
that worth risking when success, if it were vouchsafed, might rescue his
country from degradation and destruction, and fill the despairing hearts
of his countrymen with emotions of joy and triumph like those which
animated their fathers when on the shores of Sinai they beheld the horse
and his rider cast into the sea?
It is this working of faith that must be regarded as the most
characteristic feature of the attempt of Jonathan. He showed himself one
of the noble heroes of faith, not unworthy to be enrolled in the
glorious record of the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews. He showed
himself pre-eminent for the very quality in which his father had proved
deficient. Though the earnest lessons of Samuel had been lost on the
father, they had been blessed to the son. The seed that in the one case
fell on stony places fell in the other on good ground. While Samuel was
doubtless disconsolate at the failure of his work with Saul, he was
succeeding right well, unknown perhaps to himself, with the youth that
said little but thought much. While in spirit perhaps he was uttering
words like Isaiah's, "Then said I, I have laboured in vain; I have spent
my strength for nought and in vain," God was using him in a way that
might well have led him to add, "Yet surely my judgment is with the
Lord, and my work with my God." And what encouragement is here for every
Christian worker! Don't despond when you seem to fail in your first and
most direct endeavour. In some quiet but thinking little boy or girl in
that family circle, your words are greatly regarded. And just because
that young mind sees, and seeing wonders, that father or mother is so
little moved by what you say, it is the more impressed. If the father or
the mother were manifestly to take the matter up, the child might
dismiss it, as no concern of his. But just because father or mother is
not taking it up, the child cannot get rid of it. "Yes, there _is_ an
eternity, and we ought all to be preparing for it. Sin is the soul's
ruin, and unless we get a Saviour, we are lost, Jesus _did_ come into
the world to save sinners; must we not go to Him? Yes, we must be born
again. Lord Jesus, forgive us, help us, save us!" Thus it is that things
hid from the wise and prudent are often revealed to babes; and thus it
is that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings God perfects praise.
But Jonathan's faith in God was called to manifest itself in a way very
different from that in which the faith of most young persons has to be
exercised now. Faith led Jonathan to seize sword and spear, and hurry
out to an enterprise in which he could only succeed by risking his own
life and destroying the lives of others. We are thus brought face to
face with a strange but fascinating development of the religious
spirit--military faith. The subject has received a new and wonderful
illustration in our day in the character and career of that great
Christian hero General Gordon. In the career of Gordon, we see faith
contributing an element of power, an element of daring, and an element
of security and success to a soldier, which can come from no other
source. No one imagines that without his faith Gordon would have been
what he was or could have done what he did. It is little to say that
faith raised him high above all ordinary fears, or that it made him
ready at any moment to risk, and if need be, to sacrifice his life. It
did a great deal more. It gave him a conviction that he was an
instrument in God's hands, and that when he was moved to undertake
anything as being God's will, he would be carried through all
difficulties, enabled to surmount all opposition, and to carry the point
in face of the most tremendous odds. And to a great extent the result
verified the belief. If Gordon could not be said to work miracles, he
achieved results that even miracles could hardly have surpassed. If he
failed in the last and greatest hazard of his life, he only showed that
after much success one may come to believe too readily in one's
inspiration; one may mistake the voice of one's own feeling for the
unfailing assurance of God. But that there is a great amount of reality
in that faith which hears God calling one as if with audible voice, and
goes forth to the most difficult enterprises in the full trust of Divine
protection and aid, is surely a lesson which lies on the very surface of
the life of Gordon, and such other lives of the same kind as Scripture
shows us, as well as the lives of those military heroes of whom we will
speak afterwards, whose battle has been not with flesh and blood, but
with the ignorance and the vice and the disorder of the world.
One is almost disposed to envy Jonathan, with his whole powers of mind
and body knit up to the pitch of firmest and most dauntless resolution,
under the inspiration that moved him to this apparently desperate
enterprise. All the world would have rushed to stop him, insanely
throwing away his life, without the faintest chance of escape. But a
voice spoke firmly in his bosom,--I am not throwing away my life. And
Jonathan did not want certain tokens of encouragement. It was something
that his armour-bearer neither flinched nor remonstrated. But that was
not all. To encourage himself and to encourage his companion, he fixed
on what might be considered a token for them to persevere in one
alternative, and desist in another. The token was, that if, on observing
their attempt, the Philistines in the garrison should defy them, should
bid them tarry till they came to them, that would be a sign that they
ought to return. But if they should say, "Come up to us," that would be
a proof that they ought to persevere. Was this a mere arbitrary token,
without anything reasonable underlying it? It does not seem to have been
so. In the one case, the words of the Philistines would bear a hostile
meaning, denoting that violence would be used against them; in the other
case they would denote that the Philistines were prepared to treat them
peaceably, under the idea perhaps that they were tired of skulking and,
like other Hebrews (ver. 21), wishing to surrender to the enemy. In this
latter case, they would be able to make good their position on the rock,
and the enemy would not suspect their real errand till they were ready
to begin their work. It turned out that their reception was in the
latter fashion. Whether in the way of friendly banter or otherwise, the
garrison, on perceiving them, invited them to come up, and they would
"show them a thing." Greatly encouraged by the sign, they clambered up
on hands and feet till they gained the top of the rock. Then, when
nothing of the kind was expected, they fell on the garrison and began
to kill. So sudden and unexpected an onslaught threw the garrison into a
panic. Their arms perhaps were not at hand, and for anything they knew,
a whole host of Hebrews might be hastening after their leaders to
complete the work of slaughter. In this way, nearly twenty Philistines
fell in half an acre of ground. The rest of the garrison taking to
flight seems to have spread a panic among the host. Confusion and terror
prevailed on every side. Every man's sword was against his fellow.
"There was trembling in the host, in the field, and among the people;
the spoilers and the garrison, they also trembled, and the earth quaked;
so it was a very great trembling." Whether this implies that the terror
and discomfiture of the Philistines was increased by an earthquake, or
whether it means that there was so much motion and commotion that the
very earth seemed to quake, it is not very easy to decide; but it shows
how complete was the discomfiture of the Philistines. Thus wonderfully
was Jonathan's faith rewarded, and thus wonderfully, too, was the
unbelief of Saul rebuked.
Seen from the watch-tower at Gibeah, the affair was shrouded in mystery.
It seemed as if the Philistine troops were retreating, while no force
was there to make them retreat. When inquiry was made as to who were
absent, Jonathan and his armour-bearer alone were missed. So perplexed
was Saul, that, to understand the position of affairs, he had called for
Ahiah, who had charge of the ark (the Septuagint reads, "the ephod"), to
consult the oracle. But before this could be done, the condition of
things became more plain. The noise in the host of the Philistines went
on increasing, and when Saul and his soldiers came on the spot, they
found the Philistines, in their confusion, slaughtering one another,
amid all the signs of wild discomfiture. Nothing loath, they joined in
harassing the retreating foe. And as the situation revealed itself
others hastened to take part in the fray. Those Hebrews that had come
for protection within the Philistine lines now turned against them, all
the more heartily perhaps because, before that, they had had to place
their feelings so much under restraint. And the Hebrews that lay hid in
caves and thickets and pits, when they saw what was going on, rushed
forth to join in the discomfiture of the Philistines. What a contrast to
the state of things that very morning--the Israelites in helpless
feebleness, looking with despair on the Philistines as they lay in their
stronghold in all the pride of security, and scattered defiant looks and
scornful words among their foes; now the Philistine garrison surprised,
their camp forsaken, their army scattered, and the only desire or
purpose animating the remnant being to escape at the top of their speed
from the land of Israel, and find shelter and security in their native
country. "So the Lord saved Israel that day; and the battle passed over
unto Beth-aven."
And thus the faith of Jonathan had a glorious reward. The inspiration of
faith vindicated itself, and the noble self-devotion that had plunged
into this otherwise desperate enterprise, because there was no restraint
to the Lord to save by many or by few, led thus to a triumph more speedy
and more complete than even Jonathan could have ventured to dream of.
None of the judges had wrought a more complete or satisfactory
deliverance; and even the crossing of the Red Sea under Moses had not
afforded a more glorious evidence than this achievement of Jonathan's of
the power of faith, or given more ample testimony to that principle of
the kingdom of God, which our Lord afterwards enunciated, "If ye have
faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain,
Remove hence unto yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall
be impossible unto you."
This incident is full of lessons for modern times. First, it shows what
wide and important results may come from _individual conviction_. When
an individual heart is moved by a strong conviction of duty, it may be
that God means through that one man's conviction to move the world.
Modesty might lead a man to say, I am but a unit; I have no influence;
it will make very little difference what I do with my conviction,
whether I cherish it or stifle it. Yet it may be of just worldwide
importance that you be faithful to it, and stand by it steadfastly to
the end. Did not the Reformation begin through the steadfastness of
Luther, the miner's son of Eisleben, to the voice that spoke out so
loudly to himself? Did not Carey lay the foundation of the modern
mission in India, because he could not get rid of that verse of
Scripture, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature"? Did not Livingstone persevere in the most dangerous, the most
desperate enterprise of our time, because he could not quench the voice
that called him to open up Africa or perish? Or to go back to Scripture
times. A Jewish maiden at the court of the great king of Persia becomes
the saviour of her whole nation, because she feels that, at the risk of
her life, she must speak a word for them to the king. Saul of Tarsus,
after his conversion, becomes impressed with the conviction that he must
preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and through his faithfulness to that
conviction, he lays the foundation of the whole European Church. Learn,
my friends, every one, from this, never to be faithless to any
conviction given to you, though, as far as you know, it is given to you
alone. Make very sure that it comes from the God of truth. But don't
stifle it, under the notion that you are too weak to bring anything out
of it. Don't reason that if it were really from God, it would be given
to others too. Test it in every way you can, to determine whether it be
right. And if it stands these tests, manfully give effect to it, for it
may bear seed that will spread over the globe.
Second, this narrative shows what large results may flow from
_individual effort_. The idea may not have occurred for the first time
to some one; it may have been derived by him from another; but it has
commended itself to him, it has been taken up by him, and worked out by
him to results of great magnitude and importance. Pay a visit to the
massive buildings and well-ordered institutions of Kaiserswerth, learn
its ramifications all over the globe, and see what has come of the
individual efforts of Fliedner. Think how many children have been
rescued by Dr. Barnardo, how many have been emigrated by Miss
Macpherson, how many souls have been impressed by Mr. Moody, how many
orphans have been cared for by Mr. Mueller, how many stricken ones have
been relieved in the institutions of John Bost. It is true, we are not
promised that every instance of individual effort will bring any such
harvest. It may be that we are to be content with very limited results,
and with the encomium bestowed on the woman in the Gospel, "She hath
done what she could." But it is also true that none of us can tell what
possibilities there are in individual effort. We cannot tell but in our
case the emblem of the seventy-second Psalm may be verified, "There
shall be an handful of corn in the earth on the top of the mountains;
the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city shall
flourish like grass of the earth."
Lastly, we may learn from this narrative that the true secret of all
spiritual success lies in our seeking to be instruments in God's hands,
and in our lending ourselves to Him, to do in us and by us whatever is
good in His sight. Thus it was eminently with Jonathan. "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." It was not Jonathan that was to work with some help
from God; it was the Lord that was to work by Jonathan. It was not
Jonathan's project that was to be carried out; it was the Lord's cause
that was to be advanced. Jonathan had no personal ends in this matter.
He was willing to give up his life, if the Lord should require it. It is
a like consecration in all spiritual service that brings most blessing
and success. Men that have nothing of their own to gain are the men who
gain most. Men who sacrifice all desire for personal honour are the men
who are most highly honoured. Men who make themselves of no reputation
are the men who gain the highest reputation. Because Christ emptied
Himself, and took on Him the form of a servant, God highly exalted Him
and gave Him a name above every name. And those who are like Christ in
the mortifying of self become like Christ also in the enjoyment of the
reward. Such are the rules of the kingdom of heaven. "He that loveth his
life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "Tent Work in Palestine."