Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – 1 Samuel 14:1-15
Set – 1 Samuel 14; 2 Corinthians 13
Go! – 1 Samuel 14; 1 Chronicles 4; 2 Corinthians 13
1 Samuel 14:1-15
1One day Saul’s son, Jonathan, came up with a plan. He turned to his armor-bearer.Jonathan: Come on. Let’s go down to the Philistines over there.
But he didn’t tell his father what he had decided.
2 Saul remained outside Gibeah under the pomegranate tree at Migron with about 600 of his soldiers. 3 Ahijah, the son of Ahitub and nephew of Ichabod (who was a son of Phinehas, who was born to Eli, who had been the priest of the Eternal One in Shiloh), was also there with Saul, bearing the priestly vest. None of the people knew that Jonathan had gone.
4-5 The mountain pass that Jonathan took to reach the Philistines was bordered on either end by rocky crags. The one on the north in front of Michmash was called Bozez, and the other on the south near Geba was called Seneh.
Jonathan (to his armor-bearer): 6 Come on! Let’s cross over to this force of Philistines, these uncircumcised, these idol-worshipers. Maybe the Eternal One will fight for us. If He wants to save us, then no force is too big or too small.
Armor-bearer: 7 Do whatever you think is right, and I will follow you. My decision will be your decision.
Jonathan: 8 Now we will approach the Philistines and let them see us. 9 If they say, “Wait there. We are coming to you,” then we will stay where we are, and we will not advance. 10 But if they say, “Come here,” then we will go to them, and that will be the sign that the Eternal has given us power over them.
11 So they let the Philistines see them, and the Philistine soldiers ridiculed them.
Soldiers: Look! There are some Hebrews climbing out of the holes where they’ve been hiding!
12 They signaled to Jonathan and his armor-bearer.
Soldiers: Come here, you two! Come here, and we’ll show you something!
Jonathan (to the armor-bearer): Follow me! The Eternal One has assured victory for Israel.
13 Jonathan scrambled up the steep incline on his hands and feet to the Philistine soldiers, his armor-bearer right behind. When he appeared before the Philistines, they fell before him, and he and his armor-bearer killed them right and left. 14 In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed about 20 men within an area of about a half-acre. 15 When the news of this slaughter spread, it caused trembling in the Philistine camp, among the soldiers in the field, even among the whole nation. The garrison of troops was confused and afraid, and the raiding parties who had terrorized Israel trembled. Soon the earth itself quaked, and an awesome trembling abounded.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Most of the time I work in the little things behind the scenes in ways you don’t even notice. But sometimes I do things so there is no mistaking My involvement in the affairs of My children. Jonathan’s exploits at this moment was one of those big moments. I had a hand in the answer the Philistines gave him that day as they saw him and his armor-bearer climbing the rocks near them.
Jonathan and his armor-bearer faced battle before, both were skilled in battle, but ten against one in a medium sized house lot are not good odds even for an expert against ten novices. Jonathan and his armor-bearer faced seasoned warriors in that small space. They needed My help to kill the twenty Philistine soldiers in the field. They lost count of the number of wounded and those who fled.
The fun part was what happened next, though. Word spread. The soldiers in the camp began to tremble with fear. The whole garrison began to tremble with fear. All of Philistia began to tremble with fear. The raiding parties began to tremble with fear. So I helped them reserve their strength. I made the ground tremble so they didn’t have to use their own muscles. I started a few earthquakes for them just to add to their excitement.
When I touch the earth, it recognizes Me and trembles. When I send My messengers, the earth recognizes them and trembles. Sometimes when I intervene on behalf of the people I use for My work, the earth trembles. The rocks and hills recognize My handiwork and applauds with its low rubble from deep within the earth. Isn’t it amazing how people who are supposed to have the highest intelligence of all My creation fail to recognize My hand at work?
Maybe the next time you feel the earth tremble, you should look around for what else I have done to demonstrate My power among humankind!
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