Lesson 101 | 1 Samuel 13-14 | Heartbeat of God | 2025-2026 Bible Study & Commentary

Lesson 101 of the heartbeat of God. I'm your Bible study friend, Kanoi. Welcome to the Heart Dive Podcast. Picking right back up in the book of 1 Samuel today in chapters 13 through 14. Before we do, if you could just hit your roll call button, that's the thumbs up button, letting us know you're with us. Subscribe to the channel, get that notification bell on so you know when our videos come out. And I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being a of our Heart Dive family. If you want to join our community, that is over on Facebook. It's a little more open in the sense that we have open conversation questions and things like that, but Holly and I and Winter, we all jump in there every now and then and join the conversation. So, if you want to do that, you can find all of that info in the show notes or our description box. Also, please make sure you download our free documents that we provide for you, our Bible study tools. 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We explain the meanings of names. I mean, so many things. And I guess we could say we're only scratching the surface because the Bible is alive and it is active, and we will never gain a full understanding of it, but we can do the best we can. So, that is what we do. Check that out, phase one, or you can just look at our playlist on YouTube, but I know some people have a little bit of difficulty trying to navigate that. So, the best way is to go to our website. Again, heartdive.org slash start. Okay, we only have two chapters today, but they're meaty, so you're not catching a break here today. It's not going to be any shorter, so buckle up and stick around as long as the Lord tells you to. When you hear a word from Him, feel free to pause. Don't feel like you need to stay here. Don't feel like you need to get it done all in one day. You know, this is just a tool, a Bible study tool for you. So use it at your leisure and as the Lord leads you to. So we're going to go ahead and pray before we jump into the word. We're going to prepare our hearts and just invite the Lord into this place. So Heavenly Father, thank you so much again for your word, for the truth that it is and the ability for us to be able to stand on it. So we anchor ourselves in it today and we just humble our hearts before you and ask that you'll please cleanse us, transform us, renew our minds. We ask that you will edify, correct, encourage, Lord, give us exactly what we need to hear today through this word. Holy Spirit, only you can do that. And we just thank you for the work that you always do every time that we come here. You are here with us. You promise your presence. You promise to never leave us or forsake us. And so we just ask that you will do a mighty work today and that we will walk away from this changed for the better. Thank you so much for what you are about to say to us. We love you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Once again, we have our Heartbeat of God document. I hope you guys have that downloaded, maybe printed out, but this is what it looks like. We also have our heart work that Holly always works so diligently on. And after this lesson, we are going to have what we call the after party, another heart to heart where we sit down with this very word and we just talk about it, you know, with very real conversations and applying it to our lives in an everyday fashion. So, stay tuned for that. That'll be coming out shortly after this video is posted. Okay, 1 Samuel chapter 13. So, remember we left off with Samuel giving his farewell address. Saul had been anointed as king. Everybody knows that he's the one who's going to lead them. So, we're picking up here now in chapter 13 verse 1. Saul lived for one year and then became king. And when he had reigned for two years over Israel, Saul chose 3,000 men of Israel. 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and 1,000 were with Jonathan, which is his son, in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. So getting a little introduction to his son, Jonathan, here, who will succeed him as a leader. So clearly God is starting to raise him up as a leader right now, more so as a military leader under Saul. But God is clearly establishing order here. And he is showing them through this choosing of the military that he's going to defend them and he is going to protect them. So this is different because now they have a centralized military, whereas before it was like they had these little tribal assemblies, right? Who would defend the tribes. And now they've got a solid military that exists with valiant warriors being chosen for this job. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba and the Philistines heard of it. So obviously God is making known his victories and his all powerful nature here to the surrounding territories. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land saying, let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel heard it and said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines. and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines, and the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. Now, I know before when I read this, I always thought to myself, oh, look at Saul, trying to take credit here. You know, Jonathan is the one who defeated the garrison, but Saul's trying to say that it was him. Now, I had a little change of perspective as I studied it further because Saul was the representative of Israel at this point. He's their king. And just as it is with any military leader or any big authoritative figure, they are the ones as the representative who will get credit for anything big that takes place within a nation. So, that may actually be what is happening here. It isn't Saul just trying, well, I'm sure he is because we know how his attitude changes over time with his pride. But I don't know that it happened in this moment so much as it was just Saul getting the credit, being the representative of the nation. I mean, it was just the reality of kingship. So a little heart change for me in that moment. But that trumpet call, that was a unifying call to arms, basically. And so we see God unifying the people here. That's always his heart is to bring his people together, you know, under that one authority, him being the ultimate authority, but then he's got his appointed authority over the people. And even if Saul is taking credit, you know, that is not his technically, God knows, because he's omniscient. You know, he always will see beyond flawed perception. So, that really encourages me when people say things, and I'm like, that is not my heart, you know, like, how did you see that? And the Lord just comforts me in that moment because he's like, I see it. I know your heart and you don't need to worry that someone might see it differently. But then there's that part that says Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And what that means is that they were offended, you know, plain and simple. The Israelites advanced in victory and they were offended by it. They didn't like it. And God will offend the enemy. You know, he doesn't like when God is victorious or His people are victorious. So, just know that, you know, you'll take note that there will be increasing opposition whenever you are winning spiritual battles. It's not something to scare you. In fact, it encourages me whenever I have that kind of opposition. I'm like, okay, I'm in a battle. I'm in a fight here. And this increasing opposition must mean that I am victorious in another area. So, take heart if that is you today. Verse 5, And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped at Michmash to the east of Beth-Avon. 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. So, they're fleeing. Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, which is where he was anointed king, basking sort of in that anointing probably. He is surrounded by his personal bodyguards, and all the people followed him trembling. So, we saw the word hard pressing. Sometimes God does allow that hard pressing in order to reveal the true condition of a person's heart, or maybe their motives, even their character. but the purpose of it is for them to return back to him. Now that's what's happening with the people. They're scared. So they're coming back to Saul. But the bigger picture here is that Saul operates from that place of fear. And that is why the people are doing the same thing because fear spreads, you know, it starts at the top, whatever's going on at the top, typically trickles down into the people at the bottom. Verse eight, he waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. So remember that was in chapter 10, when Samuel says, you need to wait here, stay here for seven days. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal and the people were scattering from him. So, a little bit of a test here, right? A little bit of a pop quiz. So, Saul said, bring the burnt offering here to me and the peace offerings. Okay, this is a big no-no because remember where Saul comes from. He comes from the tribe of Benjamin, not the tribe of Aaron. He does not come from the priestly tribe. And he offered the burnt offering. So, that's plain sin right there. And as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came and Saul went out to meet him and greet him. And Samuel said, what have you done? So, he's kind of giving him this opportunity to confess and repent which God does that to us right Like what are you guys doing Where are you guys at He asked that question a lot And Saul said when I saw that the people were scattering from me and that you did not come within the days appointed and that the Philistines had mustard and mickmash, I said, now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord. So, I forced myself and offered the burnt offering. So, again, operating out of a place of fear, and he's doing a stupid thing. Seeking the favor of the Lord, this was essential, especially in this time for covenant people to seek the favor of the Lord, to seek that direction, to seek what they should do, when they should do it. And because it's not happening within his expectation, within his timeframe, he's saying, I forced myself. I am trying to control the situation is basically what Saul is saying. But what God is doing here is he is confronting Saul's sin. He is holding his leader accountable. He's showing us that that fear is causing mistrust and disobedience because he's failing to trust that God is going to handle it. But we also see the sovereignty of God, that he doesn't need us to intervene. You know, that's the whole thing with trust is like, I don't need you to force it. I need you to trust me. I need you to surrender it. I need you to let go a little bit. You can move and act when I tell you and how I tell you to, but until then, stand still. Don't do it. Don't go. But then what happened? Verse 13, and Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly. 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. So, we're seeing the altering of his future here, and that's what disobedience will do. You disobey, it alters the trajectory of your future. It's called consequence, right? Verse 14, but now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince, Nagid, over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. Okay, so clearly we are seeing the sovereignty of God here, his omniscience, the fact that he is all-knowing, all-seeing, but also that he is righteous and he is also just. So, he is going to justly hold people accountable in righteousness and he is sovereign over kingdoms and rulers. So, yes, he appointed Saul to be king, but all along we knew that David was the real king that will be appointed later. And in the choosing of David, what God is revealing here is that when he is choosing his people, he is seeking after those whose hearts are aligned with his. I mean, I just went live in our Facebook group talking about this, you know, we want people in there whose hearts are aligned with our hearts and our mission at Heart Dive. And if it isn't, I said, reconsider your reasoning for being in this group, because it really doesn't make sense if you don't believe what we believe, you know, because we will not stand for people coming in and preaching a different gospel or a different belief than what we stand on. And of course, he has the ability to do this because he is the supreme leader. I mean, that word prince, that is that word neged, right? So, that means that these human princes or kings were never meant to be the true supreme authority. God is always the true supreme authority. They are simply a representation of that here on earth. And that word negid means to govern or to rule or oversee or lead God's people. So, verse 15, Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Remember, Samuel was kind of the representation of the presence of God. And so, with him leaving, it shows us, or at least it alludes to the fact that he is not going to affirm disobedience, with his continued favor. And we also see how it's going to leave them vulnerable in the second part of verse 15. It says, and Saul numbered the people who were present with him about 600 men. That's a drastic reduction from the previous 3000. And Saul and Jonathan, his son, and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. So, God's still preserving a bit of a remnant here. He always did that. You know, he's not completely wiping them out, but they definitely have become more vulnerable at this point to attack. And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, which was in the north, to the land of Shual. Another company turned toward Beth Horon, which was in the west, and this was a key strategic pass. So that would cut off their travel ability. And another company turned toward the border that looks down the valley of Zeboam, which was in the east toward the wilderness. So, that's the wilderness access. And so, basically, they are now surrounded. But God is positioning His people and also the enemy for His deliverance of the people. But in this surrounding of the people on every side, the enemy is doing that and He does it to us spiritually. He surrounds us to weaken us, to isolate us, to try to take away things that we have in our authority. And He can't physically do it, what he's going to use is that intimidation, you know, because he seeks to destroy. That's always what he's trying to do. He prowls around like a lion looking for something to destroy. Verse 19, now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, basically to make their weapons. For the Philistines said, lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears. But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare. So, his garden tools, like that's what they're going to use. His mattock, his axe or his sickle. And the charge was two thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. So on the day of the battle, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan, his son had them. And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. So basically, the people have been disarmed. Why would God do that? Well, sometimes He will allow a disarmament or a weakening so that we will trust in Him as our mighty warrior, as our defender, as our protector. He's going to take away the things that we once held onto as a thing of defense or security so that we have nothing else to turn to but Him in surrender and trust. because he is the true defender and he is the deliverer of his people. He was back then and he still is today. Chapter 14. Now, one day, Jonathan, the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, so this is his assistant, come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side. But he did not tell his father. Why? Well, this may have been a little bit of a reckless plan, you know, son looking to do a mighty thing, you know, a bold thing, and probably dad's not going let him because he knows his dad better than anybody. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave at Migron. He's chilling out in the back. The people who were with him were about 600 men, including Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ishabad's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. So Jonathan clearly is not like Saul and wanting to get credit. I mean, he's sneaking around trying to do a big thing. And I love how we see all of these people mentioned here. That is the heart of God, his orderly heart, how he maintains that proper worship, providing that continued access to his guidance for Saul. And even though nobody knew what was going on, again, the omniscience of God, he knows he recorded it right here. And within the passes, verse four, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. So pretty difficult here. The name of the one was Bozes and the name of the other Sina. The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash and the other on the south in front of Geba. So the way that I look at this is like, they're kind of between a rock and a hard place right here. But God, again, is strategically positioning his people for deliverance and clearly all powerful, sovereign over every situation, never limited by human weakness, nor is he limited by physical barriers, which are the rocky crags in this case. Verse 6, and Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, come, let us go over to the garrison of the uncircumcised or the Gentiles. It may be that the Lord will work for us for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. Oh, how I love this so much because this shows us how God values bold confidence and trust because clearly he does trust in the Lord here to save them. And we also see the omnipotence, you know, the all-powerful nature of God, despite the hindrances and limitations and weaknesses. He is the true God who will save and deliver. And then in verse 7, 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. So, he is unified with Jonathan. He's like, Do as your heart pleases because of the fact that he knows that Jonathan is desiring to do as the Lord wants him to do. His heart is aligned with God. So he's like, I'm with you, brother. You with God. I'm with you. We're in this together. And I also love that he has established partnerships. He always did. You know, he sent them out two by two a lot of the time. So we're seeing this partnership here. There is big time purpose in that. You know, we need someone who is going to support us, who's going to encourage us, who's going to say, I'm with you, brother or sister. I got your back. I'll stand with you when the enemy starts attacking. So we need people like that. So then Jonathan said, verse 8, Behold, we will cross over to the men and we will show ourselves to them. So he's kind of setting them up for a little bit of a, I don't want to say test. I don't want to say he's testing God, but what he is doing is seeking confirmation from God. So he's saying, 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 a sign to us Now God never rebukes this So what we can see from that is that he will guide and confirm his directions and his word. He values this clarity seeking and the fact that, you know, Jonathan and his servant are willing to submit either way. Like, okay, if this happens, then we won't go. But if that happens, we're going. Ultimately, God is sovereign over the actions and responses of his people. And we see that as we continue in verse 11. 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. A little bit of a false security there. 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 all fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer killed them after him. And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, killed about 20 men within as it were half a Pharaoh's length in an acre of land. And 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. So, not only did God sort of confuse the enemy in that moment, like they thought, oh, we got this. He also invoked fear in them and also panic. So, now there is like a lot of chaos and confusion within their camp. And with the earthquake, can we also see God's sovereignty over creation? Verse 16, and the watchman of Saul and Gibeah of Benjamin looked and behold, because remember, they're sitting back in the back, right? And they're seeing that this is taking place. And the multitude was dispersing here and there. And then Saul said to his people who were with him, count and see who has gone from us. So, basically, can you go check out who dug up out of here and who's leading that charge over there? And when they had counted, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there. So, Saul said to Ahijah, bring the ark of God here. So, now Saul, trying to seek the favor and the presence of God. For the ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel. Now, while Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the camp of the Philistines increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, withdraw your hand. Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into battle. And behold, every Philistine sword was against his fellow. And there was very great confusion. So now the enemy's attacking themselves. The Philistines are turning on each other. And that's what will happen when there is fear, panic, chaos, confusion. People start to devour one another. It's happening in our world today. It's all over social media. In the church, Christians attacking one another because of chaos, panic, fear, and confusion. It leads to that increased chaos and disunity. But God, that's always my answer. But God, he got this. Okay, verse 21. Now the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines before that time and who had gone up with them into the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. Likewise, when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, all the ones who ran away, and heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. So, the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed beyond Beth-Avon. So, the victory is the Lord's. He saved them. He made them victorious. He defeated the enemy. And the beautiful thing that we're seeing here is how God restored the people. He brought them home. He brought them back. Huge, huge heartbeat of God there. Because if you keep that in your heart, in your mind, that God's desire and heart is always to restore relationship, it will really help you to navigate not only hard parts of scripture, but also things that are going on in the world. It will help you to have grace. It will help you to have mercy. It will help you to be more loving and kind and forgiving, especially if you are able to take on that same heart. Like, how can I restore the relationship? How can I lead them to Christ? How can I be a light in this world? Now, of course, every time we see a victory, it's like, there always tends to be a little bit of testing after the victory. And that's what's happening here. Verse 24, and the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day. So Saul had laid an oath on the people saying, cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies. This is a rash vow. This is not an oath that the Lord has told Saul to put upon the people. So Saul's doing this on his own. He's trying to control the situation and he's trying to get out front and be the hero. So none of the people had tasted food. They listened to him. Now, when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. Now, this would, I would say, be temptation. I mean, you're hungry and you see honey on the ground. What's the first thing you're going to want to do is, yeah, eat the honey, right? Like they always tell you, if you're trying to abstain from something, get it out of your house. Like if you're trying not to eat sugar, get all the sugary snacks out of your house. Well, if you're hungry and there's honey, you know, it tastes good. You know, it's going to fuel you. You know, it's going to feel good, you're going to want to eat it. And that's what legalism does. Legalism, because that's what's happening here. Saul is adding, you know, his own rules to what God has called him to do. It actually increases temptation and it actually leads to rebellion. And we will see that in just a bit, but also it will weaken the people. I mean, that's what the legalism is doing here. It's physically weakening the people. Verse 26, and when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath. So he wasn't there when his father put this on them. So he put the tip of the staff that was in his hand, he dipped it into the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth and his eyes became bright. So it's like he's eating a bowl of honeycomb. Like he's got some honey bunches of oats, he got him some honey smacks, and he's like, this is good, you know, and his eyes become bright. He's able to see because this is the Lord's provision. That's what God's provision does. Taste and see that the Lord is good. It will open up your eyes. The joy of the Lord will now be shining upon you when you taste of His goodness, which is the Word of God, right? This is His provision for us. This is our daily bread. But if we abstain from it, you know, if we try to be legalistic about it, we're going to become famished and weak. Then one of the people said, your father strictly charged the people with an oath saying, cursed be the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint. Look how many times it keeps saying that. And then Jonathan said, my father has troubled the land. So Jonathan, we're starting to kind of see a glimpse of this father son relationship. And that Jonathan kind of knows like how his father can be and his tendency. Like my dad did this. He says, see how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little bit of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found for now, the defeat among the Philistines has not been great. So he's like, if we would have eaten, we would have defeated them way more. I mean, it's kind of like, I, I have a wrestler who had to cut weight a lot this year. And I'm like, if he wouldn't have waited to the very end and cut all that weight, if he would have listened to me and actually done it properly throughout the season, he wouldn't have been weakened. So that's kind of what I said. Well, if you would have just listened to me, if you would have eaten properly, you wouldn't have been so weak. And so that's kind of what Jonathan is saying. You would have defeated him, you know, because you would have had strength. So they struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people were very faint. The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood. So now they are straight sinning because this was a violation of God's law. They were supposed to drain the food of the blood because blood represents life, the sanctity of life. So that's a heartbeat of God right there. You know, he wants to protect the sanctity of life. But now there's that rebellion that's taking place, that increased temptation of just like, right? Right? And then they told Saul, behold, the people are sinning against the Lord by eating the blood. And he said, you have dealt treacherously. Roll a great stone to me here. And Saul said, disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, let every man bring his ox or his sheep and slaughter them here and eat and do not sin against the Lord by eating with blood. So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night and they slaughtered them there. And Saul built an altar to the Lord. It was the first altar that he built to the Lord. This is a good thing, but is it happening with the right motives and the right heart? I don't know, because we've already seen how he has assumed the role of the priest, and in this building of the altar, it's kind of leading to that same thing. He's trying to take on an authority that is not his, but despite his failure, God is still faithful to his covenant, and the building of this altar is what is going to keep that covenant alive because this represented that ability to fellowship with him and worship him. And he's very merciful here because we don't see him directly rebuke Saul in this second. So, I guess on the flip side of that, you could say, okay, well, maybe he's restoring the worship here. You know, he is restoring that proper order once again. Verse 36, then Saul said, let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light. Let us not leave a man of them. and they said, do whatever seems good to you. Now, I don't know if this is the same, do whatever seems good to you as Jonathan's armor bearer said, because remember, he knew that Jonathan's heart was aligned with God. So he was like, I'm with you, brother. I got your back. We've seen previously that the people are just straight scared of Saul and they're going to do whatever he says. So I believe that this statement is more out of fear, like, okay, do whatever you And it kind of like how you see in communist societies where they will do whatever the leader says but as soon as that dictator falls they like yeah they celebrating you know because that shows that they were simply fearful of that dictator And it wasn they weren loyal to that dictator because they believed in what he believed in, right? So I don't know, that might be the case here. But the priest said, let us draw near to God here. Thank God there's a priest. Thank God there's always, always someone who is able to be like, hey guys, can we do it the right way? And God does desire for his people to draw near to him and seek him, seek his guidance. So, verse 37, Saul did. He inquired of God. He says, shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel? But he did not answer him that day. Interesting, right? That God is silent. He doesn't answer the question. Actually, his silence is an answer because I believe that his silence is letting Saul know that he needs to check his heart. He needs to check his motives. he needs to get something right. Verse 38, and Saul said, come here, all you leaders of the people and know and see how this sin has arisen today. So clearly, you know, he's recognizing that there is sin among the camp. And that is why God is not answering. He gets it. For as the Lord lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die. So basically what he's saying is like, even if it's my son, he will be held accountable today. I don't think he knew it Jonathan at this point, you know, but he's trying to make a point here that like, nobody's getting away with this. But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. Then he said to all Israel, you shall be on one side and I and Jonathan, my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, do what seems good to you. Therefore, Saul said, O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan, my son, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people of Israel, give Thummim. So, remember, the Urim and the Thummim were basically like their dice. I mean, it was like, we're going to roll the dice, one black one, one white one. And these were holy items that the priest would use, and they were divine items. I mean, God, He divinely gave answers through this, in this time. He doesn't do that today through the Urim and the Thummim, but he did back then. And so, they would usually ask like a yes or no question. And basically, what is implied here when it says, and Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped, and then Saul said, cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan, and Jonathan was taken, that meant that the question was probably, is it me? Is it Jonathan? And the answer was yes. So, God clearly revealing truth here. He's bringing the hidden matters to light, And it continues in verse 43. Then Saul said to Jonathan, tell me what you have done. So he's allowing for this opportunity again of confession. God values confession, even though Jonathan hasn't done anything wrong. He still values the confession. And Jonathan told him, I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am, I will die. So he's being held accountable and he's taking accountability, taking responsibility. And Saul said, go do so to me and more also you You shall surely die, Jonathan. But then the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it. As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. So the people ransomed Jonathan so that he did not die. Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. Well, thank God. You got some people of integrity here, who God is using to protect and preserve his people, especially those who are acting according to his purpose. In this case, that is Jonathan. So even though Saul is the human authority in this case, God is the sovereign authority, the supreme authority, and he will always overrule any human authority and any act of misjudgment, which was what was going on here. Saul was clearly misjudging the situation. And God was like, no, no, no, no. You are not going to get away with that. That is not my will. So, we continue in verse 47. When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them or harassed. Basically, in a shallow way, he was able to scatter them. And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them. So we saw that increased opposition once again, but that external success that Saul has, that's not always indicative of an obedient heart. And we'll keep an eye on that. Like just because you're winning at life does not necessarily mean you're winning the spiritual battle. So, don't let people's successes fool you into thinking that, oh, they must have favor with God. Verse 49, now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malkishua. And the names of his two daughters were these. The names of the firstborn was Merib, and the name of the younger, Michal. And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimeaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's uncle. Kish was the father of Saul, and Nerth, the father of Abner, was the son of Abiel. So, God clearly sovereign over families, over legacy, leadership, and also history. There was hard fighting, verse 52, against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he attached him to himself, or he recruited him to his army. Lots of the sovereignty of God in these heartbeats today. I mean, not only sovereign over the families, the legacies, but over the seasons of conflict, but also the seasons of peace, showing here that He is indeed the true source of strength for His people. And because He is fighting for them, we see Him as the valiant and mighty warrior. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for reminding us of Your sovereignty today. You are sovereign over every single battle. You are sovereign over every single authority, over every delay, every single outcome. There's nothing that can stand against your authority. And we can walk in confidence today because of your dwelling presence that is in us. Will you help us to always remember, God, that victory doesn't come from us fighting harder. It simply belongs to you. We don't need to worry. We don't need to fight in our own strength because the battle is already won and we are simply showing up in it. So please guard our hearts today, Lord, from becoming impatient or maybe feeling as though we need to control the outcome of any situation. In times of uncertainty or overwhelm, Lord, help us to wait on you, knowing that your timing is perfect. And while seasons of waiting can't be difficult, may we stand still and know that you are preparing us for something that is yet to come. We know, God, that you are working behind the scenes constantly, especially when we can't see beyond the chaos or confusion. So help us to trust you rather than relying on our own strength or understanding. God, give us the Jonathan faith where we can walk boldly into a situation confident in your power that is within us. And may we never add to your word or commands, creating legalistic standards for ourselves or anybody else, bridle our expectations or desire to control. And may we never add burdens to others due to fear. God, refine our hearts today and allow every moment of pressing, to be ones that anchor us more and more in your truth. We love you so much and pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, we can't let this moment pass without recognizing that the Spirit of God and the Bride are saying, come. This is an open invitation to answer the call to salvation. It doesn't require perfection. It doesn't require making things right before you do. It's just simply acknowledging that you want to be made new. You want to walk away from the old life and live a better one. You want to know where you will end up once you take your last breath here on this earth. And none of us know when that last breath will be. But what we do know is that there will be no second chance whenever it happens. So choose heaven, choose life. You don't want to neglect this divine gift of salvation that he is offering. See, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death and we have all fallen short. But Jesus paid the price, not because we deserved it, but because he loves us and he would rather die than to live without us. So we're giving you the opportunity now to anybody who wants to say, I'm ready, or anybody who might feel that they want to recommit their life, because perhaps you've gone astray, or maybe you just want to make your calling and election sure. So if that's you and you want to know beyond the shadow of a doubt where you will end up once you leave this earth, we're going to pray together. and I'll put the words on the screen so that you can say them audibly with your mouth because the Bible says that when you believe and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the savior of the world who died and rose again, you will be saved. So as we pray, do so with all of your heart knowing that this is the day of your salvation. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus. Jesus, I believe that you are the son of God. You are real, and you came to the earth to die in our place, paying the price for our sin. So I confess my sins to you today, nailing every one of them, past, present, and future, to the cross. I want to live for you, so I turn from my old life. By your blood and resurrection, I know that I am made new. I am no longer a slave to sin, but am free from the power it has in my life. And I commit to living for you. I surrender my life to you and receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, make sure you stay tuned for what we're calling our after party, another heart-to-heart conversation between me and Holly and Winter, where we are discussing this lesson, lesson 101, 1 Samuel chapters 13 through 14. And we are taking a deeper look at the response, the human response of fight or flight. So, make sure you got that notification bell on and we'll see you there.