“One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.” (1 Samuel 14: 1, 6-14 ESV)
Before we get into what the Jonathan company is, I want you to first read something that the apostle Paul wrote: “You must understand this: In the last days there will be violent periods of time” (2 Timothy 3:1 NOG). What prophetic truth that was! We are living in one of the most violent times this world has ever seen. The demonic spirit of violence has gripped this earth. It’s everywhere! There is no rule of law any longer. Antichrist politicians allow anything to go on in many U.S. cities and states. Drugs are legalized. Abortion is not murder, but a choice. City wide looting is not dealt with. Store owners are told by local police to not try to stop any robbing them, just let them take what they want. Devil worship and witchcraft are on the rise. The New Age movement is sweeping our nation. Our kids are being taught in public school that homosexuality is okay, and even being taught how to channel up demonic spirit guides. A lawless, perverted, violent wave has been vomited out of the pits of darkness into even the smallest of our towns. The Bible Belt is now a joke. The spirit of violence laughs at our feeble attempts to stop it.
What can we do about this? First, you need to know that it is absolutely contrary to God’s Word to run. Jesus is not coming back for a cowardly people on the run that just willingly surrenders our families, our cities, our nation to the devil. No! He is coming back for a people who will stand and fight for what is right.
Jesus, being omniscient, knew full well what our times would be like. He knew all the horrible violence that would take place. He foresaw all the outbreaks of lawlessness and wickedness. And yet, He still commanded us to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV). He knew that everything would be okay, because He knew that He had enough power to sustain us.
Saint of God, you have a role to play in these end-times. You are not to just survive and barely make it in when Jesus comes. No. You are to be a warrior on the front lines of battle. God is looking for a “Jonathan Company” in these last days, and God is calling you to join.
Jonathan, son of king Saul, is a good example of this kind of faithful warrior. He, too, lived in a time of moral and spiritual decay. In the midst of that evil society, Jonathan represents what God is looking for in His people today. God is seeking a company of spiritual warriors today who will face these evil times with courage and faith.
To understand what is meant by the Jonathan Company, let’s first take a look at the backdrop of what was going on in Israel. Israel had grown weary of the prophetic word of Samuel. They demanded that a king be appointed over them. Instead of looking at what was in the heart of the man they would choose, instead of basing their nomination on character, they based it solely on physical size and height, for Saul was the tallest in the land. Saul was appointed king, but quickly forsook God and started making his own decisions. Due to this, Israel was now in big trouble. And things were about to get even worse.
1 Samuel 13:5 (ESV), tells us, “the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude.” What did Israel do? Did they fight with valor, integrity and honor? No! 1 Samuel 13:6-7 (ESV) tells us that “When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.” They ran for their lives! They hid everywhere they could find.
While all this was going on, do you know where Saul was? He and only six-hundred other men were all sitting around a pomegranate tree. Just sitting there. No plan. No strategy. And hardly any troops. To make matters even worse for them, Samuel had just visited their encampment and had told Saul “You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue.” (1 Samuel 13b - 14a ESV)
But Jonathan had a plan–and running scared was not part of it. He decided to undertake warfare against the enemy on his own. So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!” (1 Samuel 14:6 NLT). I love Jonathan’s faith. Numbers didn’t matter to him as long as he knew that God was on his side. He basically said, “Let’s go get them. If it doesn’t matter to God how many there are, then it shouldn’t matter to us either!”
Fellow soldiers of Christ, we need to understand this revelation of the power of God on our side in battle. God doesn’t need a Saul army. He can use just one or two dedicated, committed warriors to accomplish as much as a whole army could do if He wants to. Think of it. The army of Israel was hiding out in caves, cisterns, and even in tombs, but here was Jonathan and his one lone armor-bearer getting ready to march into the Philistine camp.
Jonathan saw only two options: Stand still and do nothing like the rest of the Israelite warriors, or charge! He chose to charge. Oh, how I love his strategy too! He told his armor-bearer, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to stand where all the Philistines can see us, and if they dare us to come up to fight them, we will take that as a sign that God will give them into our hands.” What? Really? That’s your plan Jonathan? Yep. It sure was.
When the Philistines did indeed dare them to come up to fight, I can just imagine what was going through Jonathan’s mind as he climbed up over those sharp rocks. “Glory to God, the victory is ours! No more running for me. This wicked uncircumcised enemy will fall by my sword today. God is on my side!” Now, remember, the Philistines held the high ground. Any soldier knows that you always want to hold the high ground, for any advancing army is at a disadvantage when you can attack from on high. Surely Jonathan knew this too, as he was a soldier in the Israelite army under his father Saul. But, did he care? No! Low ground, high ground, even ground, it all didn’t matter to him as long as he knew God was on his side.
Once himself and his armor-bearer reached the top, they were outnumbered vastly by the Philistine raiders (advanced scout reconnaissance unit). Well, that is, in the natural of course. But with God on their side they slaughtered Philistine warriors left and right. In no time at all they had killed twenty of them. What was the result of this? The Word of God tells us in 1 Samuel 14:15 (ESV), that “there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.” They ran for their lives at the ferocity of these two mighty warriors.
How is it that only Jonathan and his armor-bearer could send one entire raiding party fleeing in the opposite direction? Was it because he was super strong? No, it was the Spirit of God coming upon them that made them dare to step out by faith and do battle. Jonathan climbing boldly up those rocky cliffs is a picture of any man or woman of God who brings the presence of Jesus into the battle. Oh warriors of God, if only we could realize in our day that there is a spiritual force behind us that is so mighty we can make devils flee! Jonathan’s sword became lightning quick and powerful because the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. And so it is with every spiritual warfighter today who declares war on satanic strongholds. One or two Holy Ghost filled warriors with the faith and the spirit of Jonathan, can put the hordes of darkness to flight.