Arizona republican., 1920-05-30

turn thee, behold, I am with thee ac- cording to thy heart. s. Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto the men, and We will disclose our selves unto them. 9. If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you, then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. 10. But if they say thus Come up unto us, then we will go up; for Jehovah hath delivered them into our hand: and this shah be q sign to us. H. And both of them disclosed themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of holes where they had hid themselves.
 12. And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. And Jona- than said unto his armorbearer, Come up after me, for Jehovah hath deliv- cred them into the hands of Israel. 13. And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and upon his feet. and his armorbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan: and his armorbearer slew them after him.
 Lesson Explained
 1-Faeing The Enemy;
 The exploit of Jonathan narrated in the 14th chapter appears to have been his personal attempt to redeem for his
 
 them in a daring exploit narrated in the third verse of the previous chapter.
 1. Jonathan the son of Saul-Jona- thans initiative brought a great vic tory to Israel which came near being a tragedy to himself. We can imagine that Jonathan's impetuosity grew out of his natural and youthful impatience at the long delay of his father to at tack the Philistine army.
 The young man that bare his armor A fine comradeship existed between this young man and Jonathan. They were true buddies.
 Let us go over to the Philistines Doubtless Jonathan was very confident that the garrison was a very small one. He hopes, therefore, even with the aid of a single companion, to make such a sndden attack as would throw them into confusion. ! He told not his father-He had doubtless heard his father talk about the military situation and knew that there was no inclination in the kings mind to make an attack.
 2 Saul abode in the uttermost parts of Gibeah-This verse indicates that 1 Saul had made himself as comfortable as he could while he settled down to his policy of ''watchful waiting" Under all the circumstances the courage and patriotism and, initiative of Jonathan
 were very remarkable.
 g. And Ahijah, the son of .Ahitub. 1 Saul had with him the grandson of
 Eli. who was now the priest. It is noted that he was wearing tsAn Ephod," "
 and from verse IS we learn that the
 Ark of God was with Saul and his com pany at Gibeah. 1 and ,. This descrip- ] ton of the topography of the region strengthens our admiration of Jona- than. It was only a very daring ini- tiative that would conceive such a plan | s,, nF va14T 5ffffrYa1- ties.
 I2-PLanning a Surprise:
 6. It may be that Jehovah will work l for us.-There is something of sadness ! in these words if Jonathan knew what 1 Samuel had said to his father not long ' before. In that case, it was Jona- l than's pathetic appeal to Jehovah that ] he would not forsake his people even | if he had disowned King Saul. Jona- ! than's patriotism is evident. He 1 wished that Israel might triumph over 1 her enemies. even though he knew that i he could never succeed his father as the king of Israel.
 There is no restraint to Jehovah to save by many or by few=Jonathan l knew that there were only six hundred |. men with his father and that the number was dwindling day by day. The words indicate that he knew some thing about the history Of Jehovah's s ] people.
 :. His arnorbearer said unto him ! The loyalty of the young armorbearer is a testimony to the high character of
 Jonathan, very similar to the testimony to Jonathan's manhood which the love l of David repeated and emphasized a l little later.
 8. We will disclose ourselves unto 1 them Jonathan now outlines his strategy. Before however actually set- ting out, Jonathan, according to the custom of his age and country, wished l to ascertain whether he might look f6r 1 Gods blessing on his enterprise against l these enemies Of the Lord.
 1 3-Gaining the Victory:
 7 Both Of them disclosed themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines.- From what follows we conclude that 1 Jonathan and his armorbearer de- scended the precipitous crag on their side of the gorge and stood out at the
 bottom in full view to the watchers of the Philistines' garrison above them. Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid them- l selves.-This was the language of good natured contempt.
 F. Come up to us and we will show you a thing-The words were just rough raillery as the Philistines, conff- dent in their strength and security. would hurl down upon these two lone 1 men.
 I Jehavah hath delivered them into the l hand of Israel-An of the conditions of the test which Jonathan had arranged and had submitted by faith unto Je- hovah were now fulfilled. In the sim i plicity of his faith Jonathan therefore concluded that Israel was at last to be permitted to prevail over the PhiIi- stines by the help of Jehovah himself i 13. They fell before Jehovah: and ] his armorbearer slew them after him. -If Jopathan had lived in our day. and ! performed as signal an exploit as that l of this fashion. he would have received
 q distinguished service cross He
 would have been cited in dispatches in some such words as these: Jonathan.
 son of Saul. at great personal risk,
 with but one attendant dared and de- l feated twenty Philistines. thus mak- l ing possible Sau1s victory It is but one more instance Of the shining au-