Context No. 3639 of 4322 · 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 14:1-6: in context

1Now it happened on a day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he didn’t tell his father. 2Saul stayed in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron; and the people who were with him were about six hundred men, 3including Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn’t know that Jonathan was gone. 4Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side; and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. 6Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for there is no restraint on the LORD to save by many or by few.”

Jonathan, Saul's son, secretly sets out with only his armor-bearer to attack a Philistine garrison, an act of astonishing daring, two men against an army. And his reasoning reveals a magnificent faith: come, let us go over; it may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.

Jonathan knows that God's power to save does not depend on numbers or on the odds; God can win a victory with two men as easily as with an army. He does not presume, he says it may be that the LORD will work, but he acts in bold trust that God is able. There is a rare combination here of humility and courage: humble, because he does not demand that God act; courageous, because he steps out on the conviction that God is not limited by the odds. When God calls, the size of the opposition is no obstacle to him; he saves by many or by few, and faith is willing to act on that.

Do I believe that God can work whatever the odds, saving by many or by few, and am I willing, with humble boldness like Jonathan's, to step out in trust when he calls?

Sources

1 Samuel 14:6: "It may be that the LORD will work for us, for there is no restraint on the LORD to save by many or by few."
1 Samuel 14:1: "Jonathan... said to the young man who bore his armor, Come! Let's go over to the Philistines' garrison."
Zechariah 4:6: "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Armies."