Hear the word of God from the book of Samuel …
The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling …
Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron …
Saul faces circumstances which are indeed overwhelming: his enemy has vastly superior technology (they have chariots; he has none), and they outnumber him exceedingly (there are 10 enemy horsemen to every one of his men). What is he to do? How is he to respond? The writers of Samuel rarely bother to tell us what is going on inside someone’s head, but they give an account that is so vivid that you can deduce much from a character’s actions. We have two clues. First, Saul moves his troops to a place inaccessible to chariots, and then sits down under a pomegranate tree. He is not moving, not doing anything. Second, look at his people! They are hiding in any hole that they can find. They have crossed past despair into abject fear.
What does this tell us about Saul? How a people behave tells us something about their leadership. To quote Julius Campbell from Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership.” If the people are in despair, it’s very possible that leadership is as well. And when Saul stops doing anything, that is the sign that he, too, has lost hope.
Fortunately, that is not the end of the story:
One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side." But he did not tell his father … In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few." His armor-bearer said to him, "Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine." Then Jonathan said, "Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the Lord has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us."
From a worldly point of view, it is hard to blame Saul and the people for their despair. But they have forgotten the divine perspective! Jonathan has not. He lives with a great hope: “It may be that the Lord will act for us.” Jonathan has hope that God will take care of him, but he acts with the realization that both he and God are persons with free will. Just because he wants God to act in a certain way doesn’t mean that God will. Yet, underneath his great hope is an unshakable one: “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many, or by few.” Nothing can stop God from making hope into history! Notice one other thing: because Jonathan refuses despair but chooses hope, his armor-bearer follows his lead: “I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine.” Jonathan’s hope makes hope credible for others. What is that hope? God is the saving God. Nothing can stop him from taking care of his people. Just as this is Jonathan’s hope, it should be ours as well.
How does the story end? There are twists and turns, yet the hope and action of Jonathan and his armor bearer reveal the power of God acting for a mighty victory that day. God’s people triumph overwhelmingly. Still, someone had to hope. Some human being had to do something, even if that something seemed insignificant at the time. Jonathan was that hopeful someone.
Ultimately, hope is revealed in godly action just as despair is revealed in faithless inaction.
May God help us act today in hope of his mighty saving power.
Ron
1 Samuel 13:5-7; 15; 14:1-10 – NRSV
