Jonathan – The Man Who Would Be King

Introduction

One last time to share together in another great character in the life of David, the one that we’re looking at this time, unlike the two this morning who were foils for David, Goliath and Ahithophel. We’re looking at perhaps the greatest relationship we see between a man and a man in the scriptures, other than that of Jesus with the twelve. It is the relationship that David has with the man who would be king. Redward Kipling is one of my favorite writers. I have three, and he is one of those three, and he wrote an incredible short story that was made into a wonderful movie called The Man Who Would Be King. Jonathan was made to be king. I mean, he was born the prince of Israel. And we’re gonna what we’re gonna do this evening is a little different.

And all the other lessons, what we’ve done is try to follow a narrative, a storyline. What I want to do today is pick up some pieces from the life of Jonathan and see what they teach us about the nature of this man, and then draw some conclusions for us at the can at the end of the lesson. I have some personal remarks, but I’m gonna save those for the end of our time together this evening. If you’ll go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to 1 Samuel chapter 14, we’re gonna kind of rush, put on your spiritual running shoes.

And the man who never gave any indication that he fought to be the successor to Saul’s throne. His selflessness and willingness to submit to whatever was the will of God is incredible. He is one of the most selfless men found anywhere in the scriptures. And in fact, somebody said to me, You think Itai the Gittite is the best supporting character in the life of David. What about Jonathan? And I said, I’m the one preaching the lessons here. I get to make the I get to make the decision. Somebody else even suggested Ahithophel as a best supporting character. And Tony said, I think the problem with, or Absalom, because he’s so important in the life of all that goes on with David. And Tony made the comment.

1. The Lord Is Not Restrained to Deliver by Many

He said, I don’t think Absalom would have accepted an award for supporting character. He would have wanted the Oscar. Chapter 14. I’ve got to take you into this pretty quickly. So the Israelites under Saul are fighting against the Philistines. That’s no surprise. That’s what they did all the time. But in this particular case, the story begins with Jonathan, the son of Saul, who says to a young man carrying his armor, hey, let’s cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side. Now there are a couple of things about that right off the bat that I think are interesting. He is talking only to one person. He’s not talking to a squadron or a company of men. He has only his armor bearer. And an armor bearer is not necessarily a full-fledged warrior.

He’s a guy who, like a knight has a squire. He has the responsibility of kind of cleaning and taking care of the accoutrements of war of the man who’s actually the military fighter. And that’s Jonathan’s armor-bearer. Now, that doesn’t mean he’s a little boy, but it does mean he’s not necessarily a full-fledged, all-out hero decorated by the king. And he only talks to him. He doesn’t say, let’s get about 500 men and go attack that garrison. It’s one man. And we could say about that’s pretty foolish. Two of you attacking a garrison. A garrison is a fortified outpost. It’s not a castle and it’s not a fort, but it is an outpost where there are some sentries who sit and watch for the coming of the enemy.

Take out the outpost, and you’ve poked out the eyes of your enemy. They can’t see who’s coming. Saul’s got an army, and Jonathan thinks if I can just take out this garrison with my one guy, I’ll do something really good for us in this situation. But I want you to also notice he says, let us cross over to the Philistines garrison that’s on the other side. This is the beginning of an indication of the geographical difficulty of what he’s doing. Because the garrison actually is located high up on a pinnacle, which would make sense. If you’re going to be looking for the coming of enemies, you want to be on the higher ground so that you can see the coming of the enemy. And they’ve got to climb up to that.

Now, as you know, if you’ve ever played the game King of the Hill, the person on top has an advantage. They’ve got the position of power because they can push you back down the hill. So when Jonathan says to his armor bearer, hey, let’s go up there. Let’s go up there and take that garrison. And he doesn’t tell his father about that. He doesn’t ask anybody else for permission to do this, or is this a good idea? Or how should we make this happen? And his armor bearer gladly goes with him. It says a lot about what the armor bearer thinks about him. He has a lot of confidence in him. He’s not saying, I don’t know, you might do better without me. Just go by yourself.

Well, the story moves on through that they do go to the base of that garrison. And then if you’ll look, it says in verse 7, the armor bearer said, Do all that is in your heart. Turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire. In other words, the armor bearer, mimicking again the words of Al Kilmer and Tombstone, I’m your Huckleberry. He’s there for his prince. And Jonathan says, hey, we’ll cross over to the men and we’ll reveal ourselves to them. So this is not an attack by night. We’ll reveal ourselves to them. And if they say, wait until we come to you, we’ll stand in our place and not go up. But if they say, come up to us, we’ll go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands, and this shall be the sign to us.

All right, I want you to think about Jonathan’s mindset here. He says, We’re going to reveal ourselves. There’s the garrison up there. We’re going to reveal ourselves. We’re going to show ourselves. Wave to him. And if they say, stay right there, we’re coming down. We’re going to come down there. Now they’re not going to come down and say, hey, let’s come down and play cards. They’re not, they’re not. If they come down to them, they’re coming down to fight. But if they say they’re going to send some people down there to get us, either to capture us or kill us, then we’re calling this off. We’ll stay. We won’t do anything. But if they say, Come on up, we’ll go. Now, what’s interesting about that to me is if the Philistines say, come on up, what are they really doing?

They’re taunting him. They’re taunting him. They’re saying, hey, you down here. Come on. Bring it. We’re here. We’ll wait for you. You know, we will wait. And they’re not going to be nice. They’re not going to be the dread pirate Roberts waiting. Or the in Ego Montoya waiting for the dread pirate Roberts. Relax, take it easy. We’ll fight in a few minutes. On their way up, these Philistines are probably going to come after them. So he says, but here’s what he says. He says, That will be the sign from the Lord. Now, I don’t see any indication or reason to believe that God had already told him that, but he has given this arbitrary sign that this means God is with us in what we do.

I am really impressed by how Jonathan senses and feels and is confident that the Lord is with him. That God’s on his side. And I think it takes a certain kind of heart of purity to believe that, to have that sense that what I’m doing is the Lord’s will. You know, we just sang that song. The battle belongs, not to me, not to you, but the battle belongs to the Lord. And Jonathan exhibits that in this whole situation. He is confident that God is going to give a sign that they will be victorious here in verse 10. The Lord has given them into our hands, and this shall be the sign to us. And back there in verse 6, he said, let’s cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised.

Perhaps the Lord will work for us. For the Lord is not restrained to say by many or by few. Can I stop there for a second and say this to you? It’s a repeat of what I said this morning. But I really think this is important. The people of God are never going to be a majority in this world. We’re just not. Because most people are going to do like that crowd that listened to Jesus preach and then turned around and walked away. So rather than thinking we will survive by the power of peer pressure, I think it’s really important, parents, grandparents, preachers, and teachers of this congregation, that we embed in the hearts of children that you and God are enough. That you don’t have to follow a crowd to do right.

That you don’t have to have a crowd behind you to do right. The Lord is not restrained to deliver by many. That’s a powerful statement that Jonathan makes. And I want to tell you, teens particularly are so subject to peer pressure. I know I was one once. And it’s important to tell our children look, if you’re the only one that says God is God and Jesus is Lord. If you’re the only one, you be the only one. That is absolutely critical to our welfare and our survival in a world that does not believe that. Jonathan knows that the Lord can deliver by a handful, by one, by a few, and is not restrained to deliver by many.

Look at verse 12. So the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer. They said, I like this, I like the way this is worded. Come up to us and we will tell you something. You know, they’re not going to tell them a secret. They are taunting. Hey, you come up, we’ll tell you something. We’ll tell you who’s who. We’ll show you who’s got the power here. And listen to Jonathan. Jonathan said to his armor bearer, you come up after me. Here we go. The Lord has given them into the hands. Look at that. Look at that. Into the hands of Israel. It’s not me. Jonathan doesn’t say me. This is important because this is going to be a real contrast later in this chapter.

I love that Jonathan says, the Lord’s given them. That was what we were looking for. Let’s go. Just stay behind me. We’re going up to defeat this garrison and to take care of these circumstances that are here. Don’t you worry. Now, they do go up, and they, and I don’t know how. I don’t know what was wrong with the Philistines. Because I would think they saw them on the ground. They called them up, that they would have watched him coming all the way up, and they’ve got the higher ground. And I would have thought they’d just pushed them back off the precipice as soon as they got close to him. But they don’t. So I don’t know how it was. Jonathan might have ninja skills. Or Jedi skills.

He got close and said, We’re not the ones you’re looking for. You know. I don’t know. I don’t know how. But somehow he and his armor bearer got to the top and they wiped out that garrison. And as a result of that, somehow, maybe one of the guys got away and sent word the garrison has fallen. The Israelites are here. And there’s a great rumble through the entire Philistine camp. It echoes through that camp. It even talks about it being a trembling of the ground. The Philistines are terrified. Something’s gone wrong here. And then, and then Saul makes this statement. Look at verse 24. The men of Israel were hard pressed on that day. They are pursuing the Philistines. Verse 23 says, The Lord delivered Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Bethane.

2. Jonathan Is the Hero in This Story

And the men of Israel were hard pressed on that day. For Saul had put the people under an oath. Saul made this arbitrary statement saying, Cursed be the man who eats food before evening. And then this. Look at the contrast between Jonathan and Saul. And until I have avenged myself on my enemies. Saul’s made this personal. And it’s all about his glory. It’s all about his power. It’s all about his conquest. How different from Jonathan. Jonathan, who said, The Lord has given these Philistines, he’s uncircumcised, into the hands of Israel, but not Saul. Saul says, Nobody eats anything until I’ve accomplished what I want on my enemies. Well, Jonathan never got worried about that. He didn’t hear about that. And he’s attacking those Philistines from that garrison point.

And as he goes through the woods, there’s this honeycomb on the ground. And he jabs the butt end of his spear into that honeycomb and he licks it off. And it says his eyes were brightened. He re revived himself. You know, it’d be the equivalent of heading through there and finding a stash of mountain dew. You know? And so he takes that down, and now he’s ready to go. He’s revived and he pursues them. But the others are set upon. He they’re they’re they’re not able to do that. They’re not eating. They’re trying to keep to Saul’s ban. And then they say to him, Your father strictly put the people under an oath. He said, Curse be the man who eats food today. And the people were weary, verse 28 says.

And it’s not thinking of his soldiers. And Jonathan says, My father has troubled the land. See now how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey? How much more if only the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found. For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.

And Jonathan is honest about that. He says that’s not a good thing. Jonathan speaks for the people. Now Absalom claims to do that when he wants to be king. I care about you people, but you and I know Absalom’s motivations are not that, but Jonathan’s are. And he says, this is not a good thing. He has common sense when his father does not. And as a result of Saul telling the Israelite soldiers, they cannot eat anything. They press that battle, and when they are finally able to eat, and the battle is over, verse 32 says, the people rushed greedily upon the spoil, took sheep and oxen and calves, slew them on the ground, and ate them with the blood. And the next verses go on to say they sinned by doing that.

You know, sometimes we can put impositions on people that when they get weary of it and cast it off, they go to the extreme. And that’s exactly what Saul caused on his people. Jonathan is the hero in this story. He’s not only the hero because of his act of courage in going up to that garrison, but also his act of courage in speaking out against his father’s ridiculous prohibition and ban. So verses 44 and 45, Saul says, he finds out through this long process of choosing who in the world ate. Who ate? I mean, all he had to do was go up and say, Breathe on me, Jonathan. And he went, he goes, honey. I’d recognize that anywhere. But he doesn’t do that. He goes through and finds out by the choice of lots.

It was Jonathan. And then, and then Saul does this. Saul said, verse 44, May God do this to me, and more so, for you shall surely die, Jonathan. He is going to, listen, he is going to kill his son for eating honey in the middle of a battle. Saul’s coming undone. And what prevents that? The next verse. The people said to Saul, Must Jonathan die, who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Far from it. As the Lord lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground. For he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die. He’s the hero. Now, we could stop the lesson right here and just say, we’ve said enough about this guy.

3. The Soul of Jonathan Was Knit to David

What incredible character. Jonathan demonstrates in this story. But I want you to go to chapter 17. We were there this morning when we looked at David’s fight with Goliath. And I want to begin in verse 55. We’re at the end. David’s killed Goliath. He’s cut off his head. The Philistines have fled, and the Israelites have pursued him, and they’ve slaughtered them all. And in verse 55, it says, Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander, whose son is this young man? He said, By your life, O king, I don’t know. And the king said, You inquire whose son the youth is. So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him, brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand.

Can you see that? Have you ever thought about that picture? What that looked like? Bring the boy to me. And here comes David. He’s carrying this massive head in his hand by the hair, I’m sure. He’s walking up there and drip in blood and walking up. But could you have any greater credential as to who you are than that? You know? Who are you, boy? Well, that ought to tell you. I’m the guy what did that. Saul said, Whose son are you, young man? And he said, I’m the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. And it came about when he finished speaking to Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself. I don’t know what it was about the scene or the words or the look on the face of the ruddy shepherd boy from Bethlehem.

But Jonathan said, Here’s my best friend. That’s who it’s going to be. And then verse 3 says, Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. I want to just tell you two quick things about that and we’ll move. First, I am so saddened that people in our culture today have taken this beautiful relationship, platonic, pure relationship between these two men and made it sorted, accusing them of some sexual attraction to each other. There is nothing in the text that indicates that. Nothing. And secondly, I want to say something just real quickly to men, and we can talk about this in great detail, but women have learned the value of relationships with women in a way that most men have not. The value of relationship.

You see between Jonathan and David the kind of close relationship between these two men, that they rely on each other, depend on each other, confide in each other. I have no doubt that if they lived in our culture today, each of them would have the other on speed dial or their favorites. They would talk to each other regularly. But I’m really intrigued by this concept of making a covenant with someone. Have you ever done that? Have you ever talked to a friend and said, I’m going to make a promise to you about us? I don’t know what the nature of that covenant was. I don’t know if it was I’ve always got your back. I don’t know if it was as long as I got a biscuit, you got half.

That’s a pretty good covenant.

I don’t know if it was, if I ever do anything wrong, I want you to tell me what that is, and if you ever do anything wrong, I’m gonna tell you. If you ever have broccoli between your teeth, I’m gonna let you know. But to make promises to a friend. I love that Jesus said to the disciples in John chapter 15. I’m not calling you servants. For a servant or a slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I’ve called you friends. Why? Because whatever the Father has revealed to me, I’ve revealed to you. It’s opening up your life to somebody. I’ve called you friends. And Jesus isn’t afraid to talk about loving a friend. You know, that’s not wrong to love a friend. And it’s not wrong for men to say they love a friend.

That’s not wrong. We may think it diminishes your manhood. I think in fact it indicates you’re confident and comfortable in your manhood that you can do that. Jonathan’s soul is knit to the soul of David. This is not about, hey, I like sports, you like sports. Let’s go to a game together. It’s not that. It’s not, you like reading? I like reading. This is my soul connects to your soul. My spiritual life is what’s most important to me. Find people, find people. I said, people, comma, you people. Find people whose souls are knit to yours. Share spiritual life together. That is so important for us. And then in chapter 19, quickly, verses 1 through 7, Saul told Jonathan, his son, and all his servants to put David to death, but Jonathan, Saul’s son, greatly delighted in David.

And he told David, saying, Saul, my father is seeking to put you to death. Please be on guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place, hide yourself. This is the ongoing saga where Saul’s trying to kill David. But who is it that tells him about that? It’s Jonathan. Why? He’s got a covenant with David. He’s got relationship with David. I love that he recognizes he has a soulmate in this man, David, and he extends friendship to him when nobody else does. Saul doesn’t. Abner doesn’t. But Jonathan says, hey, put her there, partner. We’re in this together. I love that about him. And he believes in the power of a covenant. He knows that if I make this promise, I’ve got to live by this promise to you.

4. I Trust You With My Life

And then look at verse 4 of this chapter 18, because I didn’t get to that. I love that Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt. You may wonder, what in the world is that about? We in our culture greet each other by shaking hands. It’s right hand to right hand. That actually goes way back in history to a way of saying to another person, I’m your friend. Look, I have nothing in my hand. There is no weapon there. I’m not going to knife you. How about you? You got it, yeah, open hand, and we shake. See? So the idea is I am showing you I’m harmless to you.

Right hand to right hand. That’s why kings often put the favored person at their right hand. Because most of us are right-handed, so if we fight, we fight with the right hand. You wanted a guy on your right hand side who would not hinder you if you needed to grab a weapon. If I’m sitting on a throne, somebody’s going to kill me. If the guy on my right is my enemy, all he has to do is clap his hand over mine, and I can’t get my weapon. So you put your most trusted person at your right hand. God says to Jesus, What? Sit at my right hand. It’s a place of favor. Because I trust you. I can’t attack you very well with a right hand, and you’re right next to me.

It’s a way of saying, trust, I trust. Well, this goes one step further. This is not only saying I don’t have a weapon, but it says, I have a weapon, and I’m going to give it to you. Now, if I give my weapon to you, how vulnerable am I? I can’t defend myself at all, and I’ve given you the weapon by which you can kill me. When Jonathan takes off his armor and his sword belt, and he takes that and gives it to David. Here’s what he’s saying. I trust you with my life. It is a great statement of his confidence in David, that David has his back, and that he’ll never betray him or do anything wrong to him. And he is not at all protective of his position in that kingdom.

In chapter 19, verses 8 and I mean, verse chapter 7 18, Saul became very angry for this saying, displeased him. Verse 8. And he said, They have ascribed to David 10,000s to me, but to me they’ve ascribed thousands. Now, what more can he have but the kingdom? And Saul looked at David with suspicion on that day. But Jonathan doesn’t. Saul’s constantly looking to protect himself from David. But Jonathan is the exact opposite. He is so open to David. Now, is there a lesson in that for us? I’m gonna tell you there is. Here’s what it is. God’s people need to be transparent and vulnerable to each other. We need to do that. It is not noble when your heart is broken or your life is broken, and you don’t know which way to go when somebody asks, How are you?

5. He Is Willing to Be Second

To say, fine. We need to turn the weapons of our self-sufficiency over to somebody else and say, Help me. You take care of me. I can’t do this on my own. I love Jonathan’s strength in his vulnerability. In his willingness to turn himself over to David. And he refuses to defend his father’s kingdom. He believes firmly that David’s place is with God. In chapter 19 and verse 1, Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants to put David to death, but Jonathan greatly delighted in David. And he will tell David later, I know the kingdom is yours, and I’ll be second. He’s willing to do that. He is willing to be second. Somebody said, there is no telling how many things could be accomplished if nobody cares who gets the credit.

See, we’re all about defending turf.

Everybody goes, gaga over the guest speaker.

Man, live. Nobody preaches like this. This is great. That is the best lesson on the prodigal son I’ve ever heard in my life. And I’m going, what am I? Chopped liver? Don’t you know I preached 19 sermons on the prodigal son? You never said that about me. If I got that attitude, I don’t have the attitude of Jonathan. I don’t have his attitude. I need to rejoice. Listen, rejoice with those who rejoice. I don’t need to be jealous of those who rejoice. I don’t need to weep with those who rejoice. Somebody comes in our midst and says, Oh, you won’t believe what happened. I called in on that radio program and I want a new car. And what do we say? I need a new car.

How come he got a new car? His old one was newer than my new one. Is that rejoicing with those who rejoice? No, not at all. Not at all. Jonathan demonstrates that attitude of it doesn’t matter which one of us is king. That’s not relevant. What’s relevant is that God’s will be done. And that God’s king is king. And if I’m second, hey, that’s good. You know, being second isn’t bad. Because being second indicates who was first. And you can be in the parade, but you know what? A parade is a pretty sad event if there aren’t people sitting on the curb clapping. Right? How cool is it to get a big band up and head down the middle of the street playing in a parade and the streets are empty.

6. Even When His Father's Wrong, He's Still His Father

There’s nobody there to just sit on the side and go, good job. We need people like that. We need people who will say, Good job. We need people who will nod. Preaching’s good, but nodding’s good too. Well, certain kinds of nodding. This isn’t. That’s not. But you know, it means a lot to a preacher to have people actively listening. That’s important to us when we preach. Jonathan has that heart. Well, I want to come to a close with Jonathan because there’s so much more we could say about his relationship with David. But I want to talk about his relationship with his father. I love, even though he is extremely loyal to David concerning the kingship that is his, he never forgets his relationship with his father.

Even when his father’s wrong, he’s still his father. Now listen to this. Even when your children are wrong, they’re still your children. That doesn’t mean you justify what they do. Jonathan doesn’t justify what his father does. He doesn’t say, well, dad’s got his viewpoint and he’s right about that too. He doesn’t say that. He says he’s wrong. He said he was wrong about the oath. He says he’s wrong about David. He stands by David even with his dad, throws a spear at him. But I’ll tell you what, when it came down to that battle on the mountain of Gilboa, and the great king Saul is surrounded by his enemies. Bloodied and wounded. Is realizing I cannot win. I cannot escape. His sons are there. The sons of Saul die with their daddy.

Did Saul deserve that kind of loyalty? I don’t think so. But the bloodline of their family called the boys to their father’s side. Your children can be wrong. And you need to tell them when they’re wrong. But you also need to remember they are your children. It is your husband. It is your wife. It is your mother or your father, their family. And that same thing carries over to the family of God. There’s a reason why the prodigal’s father runs to meet his boy down the road. Members of the household aren’t doing that, but the father is. You know why? Because it’s his boy. And his boy is coming home. But even before his boy was coming home, the father longed for him to come home.

In the family of God, it is vital not that we coddle, condone or ignore the wrongs of our brothers or sisters, but it is vital that they know they are always welcome back if they want to return to the family. So Jonathan dies. And his body and the body of his father, a body of his brothers, are taken by those Philistines, and they are nailed to the wall of the city of Philistia, and mocked and held up to ridicule until the Israelites band together and come take them off the wall. And David offers in 2 Samuel chapter 1 a beautiful tribute.

Is slain on your high places. How have the mighty fallen? And then he says in verse 23, Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, and in their death they were not parted, swifter than eagles, stronger than lions, O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul. And how, verse 25, the mighty have fallen in the midst of battle. Jonathan is slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You’ve been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was more wonderful than the love of women.

Conclusion

Here and looking at the life of this great man. I, as I read, am constantly brought back to my Lord, who expresses his love in covenantal form for all of his friends, who gave up his throne in heaven to come in order to give us opportunity to share in the glory of the throne of God. He is in many ways Jonathan, like Jesus. He is the one who surrenders what is his by right to give to someone else who, and for all practical purposes, doesn’t deserve it. I mean, David killed Goliath, but nobody really thinks you should be king because you killed another warrior. And David will demonstrate great flaws in his own life. He’s not perfect, but he’s God’s man. And I have no doubt, I have no doubt that Jonathan in his death remained friend of David and friend of God.

I want to live my life like him. I want to let the brethren I worship and work and live with know I’ve got their back. I want to make covenants with my brothers and sisters and let them know what I will do for them and what I promise them will be true in my life. I’m going to be a sacrificial friend like Jonathan.

It’s the last time that I hope you want to encourage you to come follow the true King of Israel. It wasn’t David. David was only meant to be a precursor of the true King. The King is Jesus. We are subjects. Make him Lord of your life and your heart. Come follow him with us while we stand and sing.