1Sa 14:45 | KingComments | STEP | Then Jonathan gets support. The people stand up for him. The people testify of Jonathan’s deed as “worked with God” and rescue him. The people see Jonathan’s deed as an act in which he has joined the side of God and has been engaged with Him in the same work. His disobedience to his father is negated by this. It should also have something to say to the people that they are testifying here against their king, a king whom they dearly desired and whom they have hailed. A performance like Jonathan’s is only possible if someone is aware of God’s thoughts and joins them. The worker then works like God, he follows the way of God. We see this also with the first Christians in the book of Acts. That Saul must give in because of the people must have been a humiliation to him, just as many things in his life have been humiliating to him. If only he would have admitted it. We do not hear Saul acknowledging that he was wrong. In him we see how the flesh works. Flesh does not distinguish the will of God and has no compassion for those who clearly live with God. It turns victory into defeat and disgraces God-given authority by its extreme commands. It turns joy into mourning and indignation. In the same way, in many houses hard legalism has jumbled God-given authority, and the exercise of discipline is nothing more than carnal posturing. In such cases it is not surprising that ‘the people rise and speak’. It seems that Saul does not complete the pursuit of the Philistines. His defeat before his own people has diminished his desire to continue his efforts to pursue and destroy the enemies. Therefore, the defeat of the Philistines is not complete, and he gives them the opportunity to return to their own homes. There they can prepare for new attacks on Israel.

‏ 1 Samuel 14:45

The People Rescue Jonathan

Then Jonathan gets support. The people stand up for him. The people testify of Jonathan’s deed as “worked with God” and rescue him. The people see Jonathan’s deed as an act in which he has joined the side of God and has been engaged with Him in the same work. His disobedience to his father is negated by this. It should also have something to say to the people that they are testifying here against their king, a king whom they dearly desired and whom they have hailed.

A performance like Jonathan’s is only possible if someone is aware of God’s thoughts and joins them. The worker then works like God, he follows the way of God. We see this also with the first Christians in the book of Acts.

That Saul must give in because of the people must have been a humiliation to him, just as many things in his life have been humiliating to him. If only he would have admitted it. We do not hear Saul acknowledging that he was wrong. In him we see how the flesh works. Flesh does not distinguish the will of God and has no compassion for those who clearly live with God. It turns victory into defeat and disgraces God-given authority by its extreme commands. It turns joy into mourning and indignation.

In the same way, in many houses hard legalism has jumbled God-given authority, and the exercise of discipline is nothing more than carnal posturing. In such cases it is not surprising that ‘the people rise and speak’.

It seems that Saul does not complete the pursuit of the Philistines. His defeat before his own people has diminished his desire to continue his efforts to pursue and destroy the enemies. Therefore, the defeat of the Philistines is not complete, and he gives them the opportunity to return to their own homes. There they can prepare for new attacks on Israel.