Jonathan looked at the Philistines’ camp on
the other side of the pass. He said to his armor
bearer, “Let’s go there and kill a few Philistines.
The Lord just might help us. He’s not limited by
how many of us there are.”
The man said, “If you go, I’ll go with you.”
Jonathan said, “Here’s my plan. We’ll go
across to the rear of the Philistine camp. We’ll
let them see us at the bottom of their cliffs. If
they tell us to stop, we’ll come back here. But
if they tell us to come up, we’ll consider that a
sign from God. We’ll know that the Lord will give
us victory.”
They decided not to tell the king where they
were going. When they got to the cliffs, the
Philistines saw them. They said, “Look, the
Hebrews are coming out of their hiding places!”
They yelled down to Jonathan. “Come on up,
and we’ll teach you a lesson!”
Jonathan laughed, “Follow me. The Lord has
given them to us.” The two men climbed up the
cliffs and killed twenty Philistines.
News quickly spread through the rest of the
Philistine camp. This caused panic. They said,
“The Israelites have attacked us from behind.”
Suddenly the earth shook, and their panic turned
to terror. They ran in every direction.
Men in Saul’s camp saw this and told the
king. He looked around. “Call the roll and find out
who’s missing.” They found that Jonathan and
his armor bearer were gone.
As Saul assembled his troops, the panic in
the Philistine camp intensified. When Saul’s army
marched into battle, he found that the Philistines
were fighting each other.
The Israelites that had joined the Philistines
now rallied around Saul. Those who hid among
rocks and caves came out and joined the battle.
Saul wanted his men to completely focus on
winning the battle, so he shouted, “I put a curse
on anyone who eats food before we win this
victory.” His men obeyed, but soon they became
hungry and tired.
Jonathan didn’t know what his father had
said. He found some honey in the forest and
ate it. Others immediately told him about the
king’s order. He said, “The king shouldn’t have
said that. Look at me. I ate some honey, now
I’m ready to fight again. Our men should eat all
of this food that the Philistines have left behind.
Then they would fight harder.”
Saul finally realized his army was famished!
He had a meal prepared and allowed his men to
eat. The king then wanted to go back into battle,
but suddenly realized something was wrong. He
called everyone together and said, “Something is
wrong, and I’m going to find out who’s behind it.
Once I know who it is, he’ll be put to death, even
if he’s my own son.”
He then drew lots, and it fell on Jonathan. The
king asked him, “What did you do?”
“I ate some honey. If I’m to die for that, then
I’m ready to die.”
Saul said to his son, “I took an oath, therefore
you must die.”
The people shouted, “Jonathan won’t die!
God used him to give us victory today. As the
Lord God lives, not one hair of his head will fall to
the ground.
So the people saved Jonathan’s life. With that,
the battle was over and the Philistines returned
to their own territory.

© God Child