Caged Animals – 1 Samuel 13-14-Part 1

By Grant Gaines

I used to love going to the zoo. Seeing the monkeys swinging from trees, penguins slipping down into the icy waters, and the long-necked giraffes towering above the tree lines used to thrill me to death! But now, thanks largely in part to the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and YouTube, I now view zoos as downright depressing.

Because of these media outlets I’m now so accustom to seeing these animals gracefully bound across dew-laden meadows, ferociously hunting down their prey, and soaring above the clouds in their natural habitats that seeing them lethargically laying behind a cage is more sad than interesting. Cages and bars have taken the sense of excitement, awe, and danger out of these animals.

In a roundabout way, I believe church has a way of doing this to us-it tames us. What I mean by this is that we become so accustomed to living in a “safe” community of pews and stain-glass windows that we, like the tamed zoo animals, lose our sense of God-given danger as we sit in the comfortable church pews Sunday after Sunday.

I think a lot of times we prefer to take the easy route by opting to standing in a holy huddle of Christians rather than going out and engaging a dying world and making war with a defeated Enemy. One of my favorite authors, Mark Batterson, had this to say about this matter in his book All In-“Jesus didn’t die to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous. Faithfulness is not holding the fort. It’s storming the gates of hell. The will of God is not an insurance plan. It’s a daring plan. The complete surrender of your life to the cause of Christ isn’t radical. It’s normal. It’s time to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. It’s time to go all in and all out for the All in All.”

I love that! Jesus didn’t die to make us safe, He died to make us dangerous! And Jonathan knew a thing or two about living an untamed, dangerous life.

Jonathan, of course, was Saul’s son who would eventually go on to become David’s best friend. As 1 Samuel 14 opens up, the nation of Israel found themselves in quite a predicament as they faced their arch-nemesis, the Philistines, in yet another battle. To make matters even worse, the previous chapter informs us that the mighty Philistine army was made up of, “…three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore…” (1 Samuel 13:5, NIV), while the Israelite army comprised of 600 fearful soldiers. To top it all off, the Philistines had also killed all the blacksmiths in Israel so that, “Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, ‘Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!'” (1 Samuel 13:19, NIV).

So while the enormous Philistine army was lined up across the valley with the latest and greatest weapon technology of their day as if they were James Bond, the Israelites were armed with pitchforks, axes, and goads. And you don’t have to be a 5 Star General to know that a pitchfork is no match for a sharp, double edged, steel sword. To put it lightly, the Israelites were in trouble-they were backed into a corner and shoved into a cage, just like a zoo animal.

Saul was seemingly satisfied with this caged position as 1 Samuel 14:2-3 (NIV) informs us that, “[he] was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, among whom was Ahijah…the LORD’s priest in Shiloh….”

Saul was in a galaxy far, far away from the battle lines as he was surrounded by an army of highly trained soldiers and the chief priests within an earshot of his tent. That’s about as safe as you can get.

Saul’s son Jonathan, on the other hand, was in a slightly different situation as 1 Samuel 14:1, 4 (NIV) tells us that, “One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, ‘Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.’ But he did not tell his father…On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff….”

Now that’s crazy! Jonathan and his lone armor bearer were by themselves, behind enemy lines, and greatly outnumbered by 20 Philistine soldiers vs. 2 lone Israelites (1 Samuel 14:14). That’s about as dangerous as you can get!

But just as danger and fear never affect the actions of a prowling lion in the African Savanna, Jonathan was not intimidated at all by the unfavorable circumstances. So Jonathan, with an attitude of holy confidence, turned to his young armor bearer and said, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few…if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands” (1 Samuel 14:6, 10, NIV).

Did I just read that correctly? Did Jonathan really just say that if he had to climb up a cliff to his enemies, that meant that God had given the enemies into their hands? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t Jonathan have said if the Philistines willingly surrendered the moment they saw Jonathan and his armor bearer that meant that God had given them into their hands?

Not only does Jonathan’s logic seem backwards, it also seems like the worst military strategy you can have-to concede the high ground, pick a fight with an army that is 10 times larger than yours, and undertake the exhausting feat of climbing up a cliff before engaging in the physical taxing act of hand to hand combat. But more than anything, that sounds downright dangerous. Exactly!

Jonathan figured that it would be better to try to do something and fall flat on his face rather than sitting on his hands and do nothing. So after the Philistines mocked Jonathan by saying, “…’Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.’ Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre” (1 Samuel 14:12-14, NIV).

While Saul was satisfied to sit comfortably in the presence of his army, Jonathan was behind enemy lines in the presence of his God. Saul settled for safety while Jonathan dared to live dangerously. Saul was content to simply rest in his safe little cage like an animal, Jonathan ran wild and free, just as God designed him to.

What’s your story going to be today? Are you going to settle for a cage, or are you going to live dangerously?

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