[Mark Welch] Well, brethren at Camp Colorado, we play a game called "Who am I?" We sit in front of the campfire and I tell the children there certain facts about a Bible character until someone figures out who it is so it won't get too chaotic. At camp, the children raise their hand and I call on one of the preteens to give me the answer. Now, I must say a lot of times they're guessing, their hands fly up right away. They don't really have the right answer. They may think they do, but I have to ask or I have to give more facts before they actually come up with the proper person. So today we're going to go in to play, "Who am I?" But I don't want you really to raise your hand or shout out. You can just make a mental note or write it down. But we're going to play "Who am I?"

So the first fact, fact, number one, I proved to be a great warrior who really trusted in God. Fact number two, I am one of the best examples of humility and selflessness in the Bible. Now, of course, I wouldn't have said that about myself, but in this sermon, it's okay. But I am one of the best examples of humility and selflessness in the Bible. Fact number three, there's no evidence that I ever succumbed to serious jealousy or envy, even though I would have had more opportunity and reason than most anyone else in the Bible. Fact number four, there is no evidence that I ever engaged in a power struggle, even though I would have had more opportunity and reason than most anyone else in the Bible. Fact number five, I proved to be one of the most loyal and trusted friends mentioned in the Bible.

Now, at this point, you may be thinking, Jesus Christ. But I'm not perfect. I'm human. Fact number six, my father was quite handsome and was very tall. In fact, a full head taller than anyone else in Israel. So how many of you think you know the answer? Okay, quite a few of you. Fact number seven, I am King Saul's son and the first crown prince of Israel. Again, I never grasped for power or tried to rule or succeed my father to the throne. What about Jonathan? Have you thought much about Jonathan? Have you considered his life? Jonathan is often forgotten, although I'm quite confident he could have easily have been mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a man of faith. He's not listed there, but it says they can't list everyone. So I would think that he would have been listed.

Jonathan isn't even mentioned even one time in the New Testament. The apostles and writers of the New Testament never speak of him even once. In many respects, Jonathan is a forgotten hero. In fact, I searched 27,722 messages and I only found three that were directly related to Jonathan. His name only came up three times in the title of those messages. So what about Jonathan? What makes Jonathan so exemplary as a role model for each and every one of us? Was it not his love and his devotion to a servant of God, to David and his selfless approach to life and power? Was it not his humility in supporting who others would consider a huge rival? Was it not his willingness to submit to God's will in spite of no doubt, a normal human tendency to want that acclaim, that power, that prestige? Was it not his loyalty and capacity to be a true and trustworthy friend? Was it not his integrity and his godly character? Was it not his desire and effectiveness at being a peacemaker?

"What About Jonathan?" That's the title of today's sermon. Let's take a closer look at Jonathan. What can we learn today that will enable us to be more like Jonathan? In fact, do you want to be more like Jonathan? I believe you will. I think you already no doubt do. So let's talk about Jonathan. In 1 Samuel 13. 1 Samuel 13:1, it talks here about how Saul has promoted his son to second in command of his army. Saul had 2,000 Israelites with him, of close guards, you might say, of 2,000 mighty men who were close to Saul that were his basic army. And Jonathan had a thousand. He had half as many as the king, but a thousand men entrusted to his son Jonathan. Now, prior to this, just after Saul was made king, he came to the rescue of a village named Jabeshgilead. Do you remember that story about Jabeshgilead? 1 Samuel 11, King Nahash, the Ammonite threatened the men of Jabeshgilead and was demanding that they allow the Ammonites to gouge out their right eyes. Of course, for most people, that's their dominant either. Most people are right-handed. It was their dominant eye and they were to gouge out, allow them to gouge out their eyes and serve the Ammonites. The Ammonites had much greater power than this little village of Jabeshgilead.

The newly appointed King Saul was outraged and took decisive action. This is, of course, Jonathan's father. He took a yoke of oxen and he cut them in pieces. He sent them throughout the land of Israel. He told the people that if they did not come to fight with him to rescue the men of Jabeshgilead, he would do the very same to their oxen. And of course, oxen were very important, very valuable to a farming community. So, 300,000 Israelite men, that is of the house of Israel basically, and 30,000 men of the tribe of Judah rallied behind King Saul at that time. They easily took care of the Ammonites and the eyeballs of the men of Jabeshgilead were spared. I'm very happy to report that because that would have been a very sad day to go throughout the rest of your life without your right eye.

Now, in 1 Samuel 13, we read that Jonathan and his men smote, that is, they attacked the garrison of the Philistines at Geba and this really riled up the Philistines who then amassed 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen and an army like the sand of the seashore. All the Israelites trembled at this and some scattered and headed for the hills. In fact, it's likely that of the 2,000 men that King Saul... It's likely 1,400 of them scattered because there were only 600 with him shortly after that. King Saul gathered the people and with 600 men with him, he made an unlawful sacrifice. Do you remember that unlawful sacrifice that got him into deep trouble? Basically, he was no longer fit to be king. King Saul is nervous and frightened, so he foolishly takes matters into his own hands. He acts haughtily and presumptuously, he acts proudly as he initiated a burnt sacrifice to the Eternal, a sacrifice he was not warranted to give. The prophet and priest Samuel was supposed to do that. In fact, he showed up right after this happened. If Saul had been a bit more patient and waited and not done what he was not allowed to do, he would not again have been in such trouble.

In 1 Samuel 13:13, let's read this together. 1 Samuel 13. "And Samuel said to Saul, 'You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Eternal your God, which He commanded you. For now would the Lord have established your kingdom upon Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue.'" Remember, this was Saul's Father. "Your kingdom shall not continue. The Eternal has sought Him a man after His own heart, and the Eternal… the Lord has commanded him to be captain over His people, because you have not kept that which the Lord commanded you.” Now, this, of course, is the Lord, the Spokesman, the Logos, the one who became Christ, who's interacting very directly with these people, the children of Israel.

Samuel left Gilgal where Saul was and he went to Gibeah at that point where Jonathan was after striking...you know, again, Jonathan had struck the Philistines. Let's go to chapter 14 verse 6. Let's read 1 Samuel 14:6. I want to read it in the New King James, the 1 Samuel 14:6. "Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, 'Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord… the Eternal will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.’ So his armorbearer said to him, 'Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.'" We know that God looks on the heart. And here was a man, Jonathan, who had faith in God, who trusted in God to deliver him. One of the Psalms was talking about how God restores. God delivers and he does restore. And he delivered Jonathan in verse 14 “That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.” So the two of them took on 20 men, 20. And it was garrison. These were armed soldiers. They weren't wimps. They were fighting men. So God was obviously with him giving him the victory. In fact, in verse 15, "And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling." So God was also involved in giving this victory and protecting Jonathan against great odds.

I see some similarities between Jonathan and David. Remember when David was taking on Goliath of Gath? He basically referred to him as an uncircumcised Philistine. Jonathan uses a similar language. I think there were a lot of similarities between the two. They both had great faith. They trusted in God. They looked to God for His deliverance in their lives. Jonathan was fearless because he trusted in God. He stepped forward in faith. It was about a half an acre of land. It says it's about the same size of the property that we own here in Cincinnati. Twenty people, you would think they could gang up on you and take care of you. Probably a lot of us, they probably could, unless God was on our side. You know, if God was with us, then none of us would need to fear because we serve the same God as Jonathan serves. We serve the same God that David served. So we too must learn to walk in faith, to step forward and trust God because God shall deliver.

The people of Israel loved Jonathan. They were very loyal to him so much so that they were willing to oppose Saul's intent to follow through on his rash oath. We don't have time to go into all of this, read all the scriptures, but Saul had made a rash oath. He said, "We're not going to eat anything until the day is through." So they were all getting weak and they didn't have the same amount of energy that they might have had had they been able to eat something. But Jonathan had been taking on this garrison, and he had not heard the instruction and he didn't know what this oath was about. So he had taken some honey and it had refreshed him, but basically, it came to that they cast lots to find out who had broken the oath because it was obvious someone had eaten something because it was apparent you'll have to read the account. But a lot was taken and Jonathan was the one that was determined to have broken the oath. And his father was willing to kill Jonathan and yet the people stood up for Jonathan.

Notice 1 Samuel 14:45. "But the people said to Saul..." Well notice verse 44, "Saul answered, 'God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.’ But the people said to Saul, 'Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not!’” Because certainly, Jonathan had a great deal to do with all of this. First of all, he was the one that attacked the garrison and got the people, the Philistines all riled up. He was the one that had stepped out against these uncircumcised Philistines. And then he takes on this garrison and God gives him the victory there. So the people recognize that they truly loved this man, Jonathan Saul's son. "The people said to Saul, 'Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! 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." It's not a small thing to go up against the king. I would hope that Saul was also glad that they took this approach. It was his son. “So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.”

So here again we see Jonathan who is loved by the people. Again, a man of integrity, a man of character, someone that they can look up to. Jonathan was a real leader who inspired confidence in the Israelites. They truly, again, cared for this man. No doubt they would have died for this man in many cases. I don't have the time to actually go through all the verses here, but Saul, as we know, continues to disobey God. He was told to utterly smite the Amaleks… or the Amalekites. He was supposed to smite the Amalekites to destroy all that they had, to spare no one, slay everyone and slay the king. But we know that he spared Agag. Remember that? He spared Agag. And in verse 11, of 1 Samuel 15, God says, “'It repents Me… I am sorry that I have set up Saul to be king, for he is turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.’ And it grieved Samuel, and he cried into the Eternal all night.” No doubt Jonathan could see this disobedience in his father. He could see this rebellion. In fact, in 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel said, "As the Lord has great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" Because Saul tried to justify why he did what he did. You know, he saved something to make a sacrifice.

You know he comes up with this rationale that really is rebellion. "For rebellion," it says in verse 23 “is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." We're to do what God tells us to do and not rationalize around doing it some other way. "Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king." So undoubtedly Jonathan saw this example of his father. He did not like this example. He was very loyal to his father though, we'll see that as we go along. But he was not like his father. He was obedient. He was faithful.

Let's go to... Well, let's skip over 1 Samuel 16 and just say that it's here that David is anointed by Samuel as the next king. It says, ''The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and he went to Ramah.'' And in verse 18, "Then answered one of the servants and said, ''Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, he is cunning in playing, he's a mighty valiant man, he's a man of war, he's prudent in matters, and the Lord is with him." So David came to Saul and became his armorbearer. Again, Jonathan was in close contact with David from that point forward until later when they were separated, of course. But Jonathan came to know David. Remember that David would play the harp. The evil spirit had come upon Saul. David would play the harp. The evil spirit would leave him. No doubt, Jonathan saw all of this. 1 Samuel 17:57 let's go there for a moment. 1 Samuel 17:57. "And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines,” that is from Goliath, from killing Goliath, and that is an amazing chapter. I'm sure you've read that chapter many times. Again, David shows his disdain for anyone who would rise up against the Eternal. He's just a lad himself. But he had seen the power of God. He had slain a bear, he had slain a lion not because of his great power, but because of the great power of God whom he served.

So David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine Goliath, the giant. Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. "And Saul said to him, 'Whose son are you, young man?' So David answered, 'I am the son of your servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite. Notice verse 1 of Chapter 18. "Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David.'' Jonathan was right there. He was seeing all of this. I have no doubt that Jonathan highly respected David because they were very similar, but Jonathan did not step out against Goliath. David did. I think Jonathan saw the great power that David had because he had even greater faith than in the Eternal. He trusted God even more. So he wanted a part of that. He wanted to be a part of all of that. He was a wise man too, just the wisdom that he had to realize what was going on, what God was doing, how God was working with David, how David was to be the king, not Saul. Even though Saul was in line to be the king, most people would have grasped for that power. They would have wanted that power. They would not have submitted to God's will like this man Jonathan did.

Continuing on in verse 1, "The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David,” at that moment “and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." He had a deep abiding love for David. There's much that we can learn from these accounts of Jonathan and David. The love that they had for each other, the loyalty that they had toward each other. Was this not because Jonathan and David had...they had a kindred spirit. It's called the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was in them working with them, dwelling in them, motivating them, guiding them.

Jonathan likely again, he wanted to have the courage and the boldness of David so that he too would be able to fight Goliath in the future. That's the kind of power that Jonathan sought. He sought God's power. He didn't seek man's power, he didn't seek his father's power. He sought the very power of God. David had the faith and the courage that Jonathan so badly desired. It's the kind of courage and faith that you should desire. The same faith and courage that we all need to desire so that we can be more pleasing to God and be more true in the days ahead. No doubt we will be tested again as we've been tested in the past, we're tested every day, aren't we? We have to make decisions. We have to decide what we're going to do when we wake up in the morning. We have to decide how we're going to live our life that day. And life goes on with many decisions that have to be made. And if we can have the wisdom and the courage and the faith of a Jonathan, how much better will each day become in our own lives? God will give us that strength. He will give us the power, but we do have to have faith and trust Him. We have to seek Him with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our mind, with our might. Then we will be given that power. I have no doubt. I have no doubt of that. You can have the same power. You get to decide. It's your choice. It's your decision. It's my decision.

Going on in 1 Samuel 18 it says, "Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore." So David was living with Saul. "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him, and gave it to David." Is this not a true sign of humility? He took off the robe, the prince's robe, the crown prince, he took off the robe, he gave it to David with his armor “even to his sword, and his bow, and his belt. So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants." Now you know the rest of the story because David was such a man of integrity and he was such a man of faith and he was such a man of boldness and courage, there was certain acclaim that just naturally came upon him. And Saul didn't like that. "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." Saul was jealous, Saul was envious and Saul no doubt wanted his son to be king. He didn't want David to be king. He didn't want to accept God's will. He wanted his own will. And the Spirit of God departed from Saul. He lost God's Spirit. His Spirit would not dwell, the Spirit of God would not dwell with such a rebellious, disobedient person. But again, Saul made the choices. He was not forced to make those choices.

We know that Saul harassed David for many, many years after that time. But David would not rise up against the Eternal's anointed. Two different times he had opportunity to slay him. He could have easily justified that God had delivered him. No, God had not told him to kill Saul, even though David had been anointed king long before, and David knew he was to be the rightful king. But he had wisdom. He had humility. He understood he must bide his time. He must wait. He must be patient. He must trust in God. And so David did and no doubt Saul's respect… or Benjamin… or I'm sorry Jonathan's respect grew for this man, David. They were knit even closer together. So David’s… or Saul's servants love both David and Jonathan. They respected them both. They saw them as the men that they were. And again, there was great unity with David and with Jonathan. There's tremendous unity because they were both men of integrity and they were both men of humility. And when there's a lot of righteous character and integrity and humility, you're going to find much greater peace. You're going to find much greater unity.

So I would encourage all of you to be men, women, children of integrity. Learn what integrity is. It's wholeness, it's uprightness. It's wanting to please God in all things. That's what true integrity is all about. And humility is admitting and realizing that you're not perfect. Even if you are a man of integrity or a woman of integrity, a child of integrity, you're not perfect. You will sin. You will slip up. And will you be able to admit it? Will you be able to say, I did sin. Please forgive me, grant me forgiveness, grant me repentance. Allow me to walk more faithfully with you in the future. Saul had told Jonathan and all of his servants that they should kill David, blatantly kill him. That was the command. Of course, Jonathan would have no part of that.

It says in 1 Samuel 19:2, "But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David saying, 'Saul my father seeks to kill you. Now, therefore, I pray you take heed to yourself until morning and abide in a secret place. Hide yourself.' And so Jonathan protected David." You can read about that in the account. There's only about five or six chapters in the book of 1 Samuel that you really need to read because this is where it talks about Jonathan and it talks about the impact that Jonathan and David had on each other. They were true friends. They were good for each other. They helped each other. They lifted each other up high. Not haughtily, but high in respect of being close to God and allowing God's power to work in them.

In verse 4, “Jonathan spoke good of David unto Saul his father.” His father said, "Kill him." Saul said, "No." I'm sorry… Jonathan said, "No." Jonathan said, "David is good. What has he done? What has he done, father? He has supported you. He's not against you. He has not sinned against you, and because his works have been towards you very good. For he did put his life in his hand and slew the Philistine. He went before Goliath, and the Lord brought a great salvation for all of Israel. You saw it and you did rejoice. Do you remember, father? Do you remember that? How David brought the head of Goliath before you? He delivered us all from the tyranny of the Philistines and now you seek to kill this man. He says you will stand against innocent blood to slay David without a cause." What a man of character and integrity to oppose the king, to oppose his father and yet be so faithful and loyal to his father that he dies with him. He could have gone with David. He saw the handwriting on the wall. He could have easily gone with David, but he would not join hands and leave his father. He dies with his father.

Another point that I wanted to bring out is that Jonathan was an effective peacemaker. He was an effective peacemaker. He wanted peace in the realm. Notice 1 Samuel 19:6. “So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, ’As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.’" He listened to his son. He said… at least at this point, we know he was not real consistent. He tried to kill his own son at one point, threw his spear at him. Threw his spear at David a couple of different times, he had an evil spirit that was visiting him. He was mentally ill to some degree. He had issues, “Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore ‘As the Eternal lives, he shall not be killed.’ Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these things. So Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as in times past.” So, the breach was healed for a time and Saul brought them back together... I'm sorry, Jonathan brought them back together again. He brought Saul and he brought David together. Jonathan always looked on the good and the positive.

When you read this account, and I hope you will go back and read it carefully, Jonathan always looked on the good and the positive whenever he could. Again, he was as loyal to his father as he could possibly be and still be pleasing to God, which was his number one goal in life, to please the Heavenly Father, not so much the human father as his Heavenly Father. But he did a very good job, I think, of being loyal to his father under the circumstances. And certainly, Jonathan was looking out for his family. In 1 Samuel 20:16 “Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, ‘Let the Eternal even require it at the hand of David's enemies.' And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him; for a loved him as he loved his own soul.” Again, this is 1 Samuel 20:16-17. So this covenant was made between David and Jonathan. It was basically remade at this time. Verse 23, "And as touching the matter which you and I have spoken out, behold the Eternal be between and me forever." And also he reached out and actually, I want to go back to verse 15. He says in verse 14 and 15, "And you shall not only while yet I live show me the kindness of eternal that I die not, but also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the Eternal has cut off the enemies of David, everyone from the face of the earth.''

Again Benjamin or I'm sorry, Jonathan knew what was going to be happening in the future. He knew that David would become king and so he's looking out for his family. He's looking out for Mephibosheth. Remember Mephibosheth, the one that became lame? I think he was five years old when his father was killed and David looked out for his son the rest of his life, in fact, Mephibosheth was allowed to eat at the king's table. And a lot of times kings weren't that gracious to possible threats to the throne. Mephibosheth would have been a threat to the throne, so to speak, from a human standpoint. But David again had this relationship with Jonathan and took care of his son. Again, I believe it just shows the integrity of this man, Jonathan, and David working together.

And later on in 1 Samuel 20:30, Saul becomes angry again with Jonathan because again, Jonathan is sticking up for David. “And Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan,” in verse 30 ''and he said unto him, ‘You son of the perverse, rebellious woman! Do not I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own confusion?’" Says “don't you know that you could be king? If we can get rid of David, you can be king.” That's what Saul is saying. But of course, that was not what Jonathan was seeking. So Saul became angry with Jonathan. I don't know why he had to bring his mother into it though. I mean, you know, I think that was a cursing type of thing going on there. Not unlike what some people say these days, the same type of expression. It's sad that Saul would have that kind of anger toward his son when his son is trying to do the right thing. But again, Saul had his problems. He had his issues. Jonathan always seemed to want to do the right thing again, that which would please God the most. He had the integrity, he had the humility. And so there was a great bond between David, who is very similar.

We could go on and talk more about Jonathan, but I think we covered the most important things today. Jonathan had much faith. He trusted in God to be with him and to deliver him from his enemies. God did so. Of course, there comes a time when we all die and we know that there was a time for him to die as well with his father. Jonathan was very selfless and showed great fruit of love and humility. Typically, the king's son would succeed to the throne. Again, Saul had made Jonathan a prominent general in his army. Saul wanted Jonathan to succeed him, but Jonathan understood that David was God's choice to succeed to the throne. Jonathan doesn't display raw ambition as so many others would do in the same circumstances. That gets in the way of a lot of us. We have ambition and we don't care who we trample over to get what we want. Thankfully, Jonathan was not that way. There was no jockeying for position on his part. Jonathan recognizes David's faith and courage. He admires it. And rather than being jealous and envious and displaying the works of the flesh, Jonathan continually walks in the Spirit. Jonathan is extremely loyal to his friend, David.

So what about Jonathan? Do you see the faith of Jonathan? Do you see the loyalty of Jonathan? Do you see the humility of Jonathan? Do you see the integrity of Jonathan and do you see the love of Jonathan? His love was a selfless love. We know that God is love. There was a tremendous similarity there. Jonathan had a brotherly love toward David. He said it exceeded the love of women. It was not a sexual type of love at all. It was a brotherly, godly sort of love that they had for each other.

So brethren, in conclusion, what about Jonathan? Every day we have a decision to be more like Jonathan. You have decisions all through the day to be more like Jonathan, to have more faith, to have more loyalty, to have more humility, to have more integrity and to have greater love. Brethren may we all be more like God's servant, Jonathan.