The Day of New Beginnings

The First Slaughter

 

1st Sam. 14:
1 ¶  Now the day came that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on yonder side." But he did not tell his father.
2  And Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron. And the people who were with him were about six hundred men,
3  and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of the LORD at Shiloh, was wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone.
4  And between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp crag on the one side, and a sharp crag on the other side, and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5  The one crag rose on the north opposite Michmash, and the other on the south opposite Geba.
6  Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few."
7  And his armor bearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire."
8  Then Jonathan said, "Behold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them.
9  "If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them.
10  "But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us."
11  And when both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, "Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves."
12  So the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, "Come up to us and we will tell you something." And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hands of Israel."
13  Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him.
14  And that first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land.
 
We will stop here for a moment in this narrative of Jonathan and his armor bearer’s confrontation with the Philistines. Verse 14 says that first slaughter was about 20 men within about half a furrow in an acre of land. There must always be that first slaughter that precedes the great victories of the Lord. We can relate this to our own individual lives, but more importantly, it’s to be applied to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ through us as His body. Jonathan and his armor bearer become a type of the ministry of the body of Christ. We must not be caught in the trap of waiting for the Lord to bring victory, whether in our individual lives or collectively as His body. There must be a going out to confront the things that hinder or hold us back. There must be the “crossing over” to the Philistines’ garrison on the other side to win the victory. 
 
15  And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling.
16 ¶  Now Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, and behold, the multitude melted away; and they went here and there.
17  And Saul said to the people who were with him, "Number now and see who has gone from us." And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.
18  Then Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God here." For the ark of God was at that time with the sons of Israel.
19  And it happened while Saul talked to the priest, that the commotion in the camp of the Philistines continued and increased; so Saul said to the priest, "Withdraw your hand."
20  Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion.
21  Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.
22  When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, even they also pursued them closely in the battle.
23  So the LORD delivered Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven.
After the initial slaughter through Jonathan and his armor bearer, a great victory for all Israel transpired. Verse 15 points out that there was a great trembling in the camp, in the field and among the people. Earthquakes ensued. All this is indicative of the supernatural movings of the Lord. There was also great confusion the camp of the Philistines and everyone’s sword was against another. Later on, even the Israelites who had hid themselves in caves and holes in the ground came out and joined the battle. It was a great rout of the enemy. 
 
The great victory won by the Lord over the Philistines came about because of that first slaughter at the hands of Jonathan and his armor bearer. It’s very important to realize that first slaughter was only about 20 men. Remember the passage of Scripture, “For who has despised the day of small things?” It’s also important to note that the first slaughter was at Jonathan’s initiative. He wasn’t waiting for God to do something. It wasn’t a reckless initiative though. It was an initiative born of faith. “God is not limited to save by many or by few.” Jonathan had a revelation of the Lord’s capacity to bring deliverance and victory and he acted on it. 
 
In every area let’s be those who initiate the moving of God. Let there be faith in our hearts to bring into manifestation the promises He has made real to us. The revelation of “God is not limited to save by many or few” should be a great encouragement to us. The remnant of the Lord may be small numerically, but it doesn’t have to have small faith. We can have a determined faith that turns loose the ministry and purposes of God for our lives individually and collectively as part of the body of Christ. The manifestation of the Lord through us is only limited by how much we can believe and insist on.