Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them.
Jonathan, the king's son who feared the Lord, is God's chosen instrument to deliver Israel because Saul's presumptuous offering forfeited the honor of vanquishing the Philistines, and he acts together with his armor-bearer, a man of faith and prayer. He proposes to pass over to the Philistine garrison, fortress, and camp and to discover and show themselves to those men, letting the enemy see them. Moved by a divine impulse, he and his armor-bearer withdraw from the Israelite camp in secret lest they be opposed, then go down into the gorge between Geba and Michmash, threading silently under the shadow of the cliff and partly concealed by mounds and ridges until they come into the enemy's view.
His advance is not presumptuous, for with earnest prayer he has sought God's counsel and moves forward fearlessly. The resolve to cross over and show themselves is part of an agreed test to determine how to proceed and whether the Lord will prosper their attack. The terms of the sign are to wait if the Philistines order them to stay, but to climb up to them if they invite them to come, and that invitation will be the sign that the Lord has delivered the enemy into Israel's hand.
Jonathan trusts the outcome to God alone rather than to human strength or military advantage, believing God can deliver through few as well as many. God uses and protects the two men to bring deliverance to Israel so the victory is not credited to Israel's own strength or merit.
Jonathan, the king's son who feared the Lord, is God's chosen instrument to deliver Israel because Saul's presumptuous offering forfeited the honor of vanquishing the Philistines, and he acts together with his armor-bearer, a man of faith and prayer. He proposes to pass over to the Philistine garrison, fortress, and camp and to discover and show themselves to those men, letting the enemy see them. Moved by a divine impulse, he and his armor-bearer withdraw from the Israelite camp in secret lest they be opposed, then go down into the gorge between Geba and Michmash, threading silently under the shadow of the cliff and partly concealed by mounds and ridges until they come into the enemy's view.
His advance is not presumptuous, for with earnest prayer he has sought God's counsel and moves forward fearlessly. The resolve to cross over and show themselves is part of an agreed test to determine how to proceed and whether the Lord will prosper their attack. The terms of the sign are to wait if the Philistines order them to stay, but to climb up to them if they invite them to come, and that invitation will be the sign that the Lord has delivered the enemy into Israel's hand.
Jonathan trusts the outcome to God alone rather than to human strength or military advantage, believing God can deliver through few as well as many. God uses and protects the two men to bring deliverance to Israel so the victory is not credited to Israel's own strength or merit.