Jonathan, A Type of Dissatisfied Remnant
Now there was no
blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel,
for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.” But all the
Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare,
his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; and the charge for a sharpening was a pim
for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the
points of the goads. So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was
neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with
Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son. And the
garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash. Now it happened
one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor,
“Come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side.”
But he did not tell his father. And Saul was sitting in the outskirts of Gibeah
under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron. The people who were with him were
about six hundred men. Ahijah the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of
Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD'S priest in Shiloh, was wearing an ephod.
But the people did not know that Jonathan had gone (1 Sam. 13:19-14:3).
In the very land of their
inheritance, the nation of Israel sat in bondage, due to the poor leadership of
the self-centered, fleshly King Saul.
When leaders in the kingdom of God exist to satisfy themselves, submit
to the fear of man or focus on building their own little kingdoms, a religious
spirit takes control of them and their ministries. They go through all the religious motions and
say all the right, religious things, but there is little or no impact for the kingdom
of God. The state of things becomes as
the leaders in Nehemiah’s day recognized:
Here we are,
servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and
its bounty, here we are, servants in it! And it yields much increase to the
kings you have set over us, because of our sins; also they have dominion over
our bodies and our cattle at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.
(Neh. 9:36-37.)
They lived in the
land of the inheritance, yet served the enemy, letting the enemy and his band
use all the resources for pagan and ungodly activities and ends. Saul, the kingdom leader at the time, was at ease
in bondage. Maybe he was tired,
discouraged or disillusioned. Whatever
the reason, the status of things had reached the place that the covenant people
of God had to turn to worldly methods to get even the necessary things for
living and existence, instead of possessing, using and enjoying the bountiful
blessings of God’s inheritance. Ichabod’s
nephew, Ahijah, was Saul’s priest.
Ichabod means “the glory has departed,” and the priesthood that was
operating under Saul’s leadership was one devoid of the manifest presence,
glory and power of God. Whatever
direction the leader takes, and whatever the leader allows, will be reflected
in the ministry of all those associated with them. Thank God there are some Jonathans who are
fed up with going through the motions, with carrying out rituals that have no
power or impact, and who are willing to take on the enemy, if necessary, alone!
Then Jonathan
said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison
of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing
restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few.” So his armorbearer said to
him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to
your heart.” Then Jonathan said, “Very well, let us cross over to these men,
and we will show ourselves to them. If they say thus to us, ‘Wait until we come
to you,’ then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. But if
they say thus, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up. For the LORD has delivered
them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us.” So both of them showed
themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look,
the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.” Then the men
of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, “Come up to
us, and we will show you something.” Jonathan said to his armorbearer, “Come up
after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” And
Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and
they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed
them. That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about
twenty men within about half an acre of land. And there was trembling in the
camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also
trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling (1
Sam. 14:6-15).
Jonathan (much like many in the
present generation in the church) was tired of waiting on what “God was going
to do.” It is very important that we
have wisdom before making a move, but a demonic illusion often operates within
the church, fostering a procrastination mentality that says, “Let’s just wait a
little longer.” It has been my
experience that when the will of God is known, many, because of the fear of
man, the fear of failure, and the fear of misunderstanding, fail to step out in
faith and act on the revealed will of God.
Besides possessing the hundreds of promises in scripture, many have
received prophetic words and promises for decades that have missed or delayed
seeing the fullness of God released in their lives, churches or areas because
of this “God is about to do something” mentality. As John Wimber pointed out many years ago,
faith is spelled R-I-S-K. If it does not
cost something and have something sacrificial attached to it, then it is probably
not of God! Usually the first thing it
costs us is our reputation with other churches, ministries or ministers.
From a natural standpoint, what
Jonathan did was foolish. But, in God’s
eyes, Jonathan exercised great faith.
The armorbearer in this passage of scripture represents the Holy Spirit
who is with us to “take hold of, together with, against” the enemy (this is a
pretty literal translation of Romans 8:26’s description of how the Holy Spirit
“helps us in our weaknesses.”) The
armorbearer was very excited that Jonathan decided to activate the power of God
by moving in faith. My good friend,
Bobby Conner, once pointed out that in the original Hebrew, the statement
Jonathan made in verse 6 could be translated, “Come, let’s go over…let’s
give God a chance.” When we move
in faith and obedience, the Lord moves.
He does not act independently of His bride, and desires for us to put
our feet in the water so He can display His grace, supply and power. When Jonathan moved, a supernatural work was
released as an entire army was routed through the faith of this one spiritual
warrior. The armorbearer first confirmed
the word in Jonathan’s heart and then did the work as he pressed forward. God
sent an earthquake and fear gripped the enemy because of one person’s
faith. Jonathan was tired of the
religious status quo. He risked
everything to see the power of God released in his generation and the
inheritance regained.
Saul and his army looked on and
were amazed. (1 Sam. 14:16-20.) The
first thing they did was to use all of their intelligence, rituals and methods
to try to determine if this was a true move of God or not. Saul finally realized that he was about to
miss out on this victory, so he abandoned all “reason” and decided to get
involved in this move of God. Very few
will join the battle until the breakthrough comes and the victory is in
sight. Until the breakthrough comes,
most Christians do not have a clue what has been happening. And, unfortunately, many times they react in
skepticism and criticism because something different from the religious status
quo is happening. God’s grace and mercy
abound! Even those who do not lift a
finger to help in the battle, or who stand outside and criticize or mock, He
will graciously allow in to partake of the fruit of the victory. But, in keeping with his fleshly nature, Saul
knew this was a great victory and wanted it for himself because he was the
king. In an effort to maintain his
kingdom and his unrighteous authority, he placed an “anointed curse” on the
people. (1 Sam. 14:24-26.) By the term
“anointed curse,” I mean a curse that comes from the lips of a ministry leader
that does not enable people to enter into God’s fullness, but disables, hinders
or excludes them. God did not tell Saul
to do this!
The people were told they could
not partake of the inheritance of the land until Saul got his revenge and
regained his reputation through this victory.
From the beginning, God gave the people the inheritance to sustain,
refresh and empower them as they fought the Lord’s battles so they could drive
out the enemies and fully possess the land.
They were in their inheritance, given by God, and Saul had no right to
keep them from partaking of the blessings while they fought the Lord’s
battles. One leader, controlled by
pride, witchcraft and a religious spirit, put them under a deceptive curse and
kept them from what was given by God. If
the enemy could not do it directly through the Philistines, he did it
deceptively through the operation of illegitimate authority.
But Jonathan had
not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he stretched
out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and
put his hand to his mouth; and his countenance brightened. Then one of the
people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed
is the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint. But Jonathan
said, “My father has troubled the land. Look now, how my countenance has
brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the
people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found!
For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the
Philistines?” (1 Sam. 14:27-30).
The people of God hunger for
their rightful inheritance. Part of our
inheritance includes the supernatural realm, the realm of the Spirit. This explains why it is very easy for people
to be drawn into occultism and Eastern mysticism, or to accept all kinds of
deceptive counterfeits if they are not shown, encouraged and allowed to partake
in what the cross has secured for them now.
There are some who have not heard that you cannot partake now. There are also some who were taught such
nonsense, yet the hunger in their hearts drove them past the manipulations of
man-centered theology to find the power and provision of their inheritance in
Christ. Jonathan was one who had not
heard that he could not have what was literally at hand.
The fruit and blessing of the
inheritance in and through Christ is to be our strength and sustenance now as
we fight in the end-time battles. But,
one might say,
“My pastor or my
Bible teacher or my theology professor or that televangelist said that these
things were not for today! I was told these
things are for heaven, those things are for the Jews in the tribulation,
and that salvation and a rapture are all I have to look forward to in this
life. I’m blood-washed and going to
heaven, but I don’t seem to have much power in my life to overcome the world,
even though 1 John 5:4 says that I should be overcoming the world. I have been attending the prayer meetings,
attending the services, serving in areas of ministry and doing all that is
being asked of me, but I still cannot overcome the lust, pride, fear,
hopelessness and onslaught of materialism that washes through western society
daily.”
The Lord never calls anyone into
service for Himself without providing everything that is needed, including the
grace, anointing and provision to not only sustain and “get by,” but also to
supply an abundance that overflows and brightens the heart and
countenance. Jonathan had not heard that
his inheritance was not supposed to be utilized and enjoyed NOW.
Honey symbolizes grace in
scripture. When Jonathan felt
weak and needed strength to sustain himself, he easily reached out and took
what the Lord had already provided. This
was not so he could just consume it upon his lusts. It was to be a provision for growing more
intimate with God and carrying out God’s purposes. Let’s get this picture: what was needed to
revive and empower him was literally running on the ground. No one else would partake of it, even though
they saw and smelled it, because of the curse placed upon them by a deceived
leader. What Jesus walked in, is what is available to each of us who belong to
Him. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, because the King lives within
us. The honey (grace - part of our inheritance) gave Jonathan renewed strength,
vision and joy with which to keep pressing in to see full victory come for
himself and his people. It was never
God’s intention to save us and leave us to get by and deal with things in our
own strength, reasonings and resources. He intends each of us to draw whatever
is available out of His storehouse (Mal. 3:10), armory (Jer. 50:25) and
treasuries (Col. 2:3). If the people of God do not have this revelation of the
heart of God, who is FOR them (Psalm 56:9), who desires them (Song 7:10), and
who wants them to experience all that has been given them (Luke 11:9-13; Eph.
1:3,17-19; 2 Pet. 1:3), then what happened next in this situation, with the
people under Saul’s curse, will happen to God’s people again and again.
Now they had
driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people
were very faint. And the people rushed on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and
calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them with the
blood. Then they told Saul, saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the
LORD by eating with the blood!” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously;
roll a large stone to me this day” (1 Sam. 14:31-33).
If the people are kept from their
inheritance in and through Christ, they will return to the ways of the flesh
and partake of the counterfeits Satan offers through the world. When they do,
the Saul-like leaders will always blame the people, blame Hollywood, blame the government, blame the
parents or blame the devil, and never see their own responsibility in
perpetuating a curse in the church. These curses come individually, through
families, through teaching/theology and through teachings that have relegated
the inheritance in Christ to future dispensations. They become generational
curses that hinder the people of God from experiencing their generational
blessings, and anyone who would dare to explore the realm of the Spirit,
operate in the power of God or see the full provision of the Holy Spirit
released in their lives, becomes the target of “blame” for all that wrongly
happens in the church. I have heard, on many occasions, the following said:
“Everyone knows it’s those
‘extreme,’ enthusiastic, passion-filled people who are ‘deceived’ and are
allowing Satan to infiltrate the church.
They are the ones who are to blame for upsetting the status quo and
causing trouble.”
I suppose the same thing could
have been said of Jesus. As a matter of fact, the same thing was said of
the Son of God: But they were the more fierce, saying, “He stirs up the
people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee
to this place” (Luke 23:5). Jesus came to show people how God really feels
about them and to demonstrate what the Father considered to be the “normal” life
of a son or daughter of God. The curses of sin, blindness, poverty, bondage,
powerlessness and death were broken over the lives of those He touched. We are
to be just like Him, not the religious system that resisted Him.
And Saul said, “Come
over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was
today. For as the LORD lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my
son, he shall surely die.” But not a man among all the people answered him.
Then he said to all Israel,
“You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side.” And
the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” Therefore Saul said to
the LORD God of Israel,
“Give a perfect lot.” So Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped.
And Saul said, “Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me.” So Jonathan was
taken. Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan
told him, and said, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that
was in my hand. So now I must die!” And Saul answered, “God do so and more
also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.” But the people said to Saul, “Shall
Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel?
Certainly not! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the
ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan,
and he did not die (1 Sam. 14:38-45).
Deceived leaders that are blinded
by ambition and religious spirits will receive many false signs to prove the
“Jonathans” are wrong and will try to stop them from partaking of their
inheritance. If this does not work, they
will seek to kill them by destroying their reputations. There is a mentality,
or a curse if you will, that causes a stupor or blindness over many church-folk
unless they were raised in a church or denomination that embraced the
possibility of the saints possessing the fullness of their inheritance in
Christ now and not in some future dispensation. I refer to this as “the curse
of Saul.” This curse can, indeed, be
broken very easily with repentance and an embracing of the truth. But there is
a cost that comes with it. The cost will usually be a stigma, misunderstanding
and possibly castigation. Those coming from “hard” or unchurched backgrounds
have already passed through the loss of the fear of man. Those coming from
organized churches or denominations that desire to press into the Lord and His
promises may have a price to pay to enter.
There is a transgenerational
“Jonathan Company” arising in the earth today who are hungry, who will believe
the Lord and are answering His call to become His “freedom fighters.” They are
presently small in number, weak, broken, and certainly no match for the demonic
army they face. But they are not
trusting in natural weapons, abilities, wisdom, knowledge, methods or theology. They trust God alone and the certainty of His
word. Because of this trust, God will cause the earth to quake and the heavens
to shake before them, and the host of hell to fall. They have learned how to
enter and partake of their inheritance in Christ - the communion, grace,
anointing, revelation, provision, etc. – and fight from a perspective of
victory.
Father, we renounce every curse of
unbelief that we have believed and embraced in our lives, our thinking and our
practices. We renounce the “curse of
Saul” that would keep us from partaking of the inheritance, blessing, provision
and power available to us through the work of the cross and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus. Forgive us for doubting You
and limiting You. We command every
spirit of deception, witchcraft and religion to leave us. We renounce every generational curse of
unbelief passed down to us from our ancestors and our past churches and
denominations that has limited You.
Cleanse us from the sin of unbelief and all the effects of these curses
and spirits. We receive the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the true knowledge of You so that we might behold Your
beauty, glory and inheritance. Open the
eyes of our hearts and release Your grace in and through us. We’re tired of sitting around and we will
arise in the power of Your word and Spirit and give You an opportunity to put
Your provision on display. We thank You
and praise You in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
____________________________________________________________
To find out more about Lionheart Restoration Ministries, visit us at:
No comments:
Post a Comment