United and Victorious: Jonathan and His Armor-Bearer

United and Victorious: Jonathan and His Armor-Bearer

Whenever and wherever believers are like-minded on the Word and will devote serious effort together to accomplish God’s will, God will do mighty things to bring that believing effort to a victorious result. I Samuel 14 provides an account of how two men stood together unified and, as a result, brought victory over their adversary, which brought deliverance to God’s people.

As I Samuel 14 opens, Israel’s adversary, the mighty nation of the Philistines, had gathered to fight against Israel. The Philistines were in a garrison, or armed camp. Most of Israel, led by King Saul, were distressed and frozen in fear. But God was working in Jonathan, King Saul’s son, and Jonathan decided to do something about the situation—he decided to act. Jonathan and his armor-bearer decided to approach the Philistine garrison.

I Samuel 14:6:
And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.

What believing! Jonathan believed that God would act to save His people, even if only a few (in this case, two) believers took action to bring about God’s will.

And the young armor-bearer’s response? Was it “Gee, I don’t think this is a good idea” or “Well, I guess so, if you say so” or “You go on ahead—I’ll wait here and pray for you”? No!

I Samuel 14:7:
And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.

The armor-bearer was like-minded with Jonathan, willing to do with Jonathan what was in Jonathan’s heart to do, believing with him that they would see God’s deliverance. Verses 8 through 14 describe the action that Jonathan and his armor-bearer took together. Boldly acting together as God worked in Jonathan, they climbed up to the Philistine garrison, and the two of them together slew twenty Philistines. Verse 15 describes how that action wrought panic in the Philistine camp. In that panic, the Philistines turned on each other. Saul was then able to rally his men, resulting in a great victory over the Philistines. Verse 23 sums it all up in saying, “So the Lord saved Israel that day….”

Today, in the Grace Administration, we also can see God bring about great victories in our lives as we act upon the Word with unified believing. Jonathan and his armor-bearer were operating a principle taught later by Jesus Christ, which we can operate today:

Matthew 18:19:
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

In this verse, the word “agree” is the Greek word sumphōneō—it looks like “symphony,” doesn’t it? When we are in symphony with each other regarding the victory we desire, and together take the believing action to see that victory come to pass, God will do mighty things for us to bring the deliverance and victory we seek, just as He did for Jonathan and his armor-bearer. Therefore, we want to be unified in our believing and actions.

In Philippians 1:27, Paul says that he desires that believers “…stand fast in one spirit [as one, spiritually], with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Jonathan and his armor-bearer remained strong against their adversaries, taking unified, serious believing action against their foes. Today, as we serve together in the believing household, we stand fast. “Striving together for” is an athletic term which means to make serious effort together for mastery in the competition—to compete together as team members to win! As members of God’s team, we give our utmost for His highest in our service in order to prevail. We take unified, serious, committed believing action to see victory come to pass in every situation!

Whenever and wherever we believers are like-minded on the Word and will devote serious effort together to accomplish God’s will, God will work in us and do mighty things to bring that believing effort to a victorious result. Just as the unified believing action of Jonathan and his armor-bearer brought great victory for God’s people in their day, we can see great victories today as we agree together on God’s promises and act together to see God’s deliverance come to pass!

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