Jonathan Helps David (Part 2)
Introduction:
God has a plan and purpose for our lives.
Living out that plan can be difficult.
Emotions can run high. Tears might be shed.
We might experience rejection by others, including family members.
Personal sacrifices might be required.
We might be faced with personal harm or injury.
However, when we live out the life God has planned for us the hardships are far outweighed by the blessings, hope, and promises found in the scriptures.
The David we read about in the Bible experienced many challenges and difficulties during his lifetime.
1 Samuel 20:18-42 NLT
Jonathan’s Secret sign
18 Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty. 19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid before, and wait there by the stone pile. 20 I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy to bring the arrows back. If you hear me tell him, ‘They’re on this side,’ then you will know, as surely as the Lord lives, that all is well, and there is no trouble. 22 But if I tell him, ‘Go farther—the arrows are still ahead of you,’ then it will mean that you must leave immediately, for the Lord is sending you away. 23 And may the Lord make us keep our promises to each other, for he has witnessed them.”
Jonathan talks to Saul about David.
24 So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat at his usual place against the wall, with Jonathan sitting opposite him and Abner beside him. But David’s place was empty. 26 Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.” 27 But when David’s place was empty again the next day, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse been here for the meal either yesterday or today?”
28 Jonathan replied, “David earnestly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go, for we are having a family sacrifice. My brother demanded that I be there. So please let me get away to see my brothers.’ That’s why he isn’t here at the king’s table.”
Saul’s rage against Jonathan.
30 Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him. “Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? 31 As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king. Now go and get him so I can kill him!”
32 “But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?” 33 Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him. So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.
34 Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father’s shameful behavior toward David.
Jonathan warns David of the danger.
35 The next morning, as agreed, Jonathan went out into the field and took a young boy with him to gather his arrows. 36 “Start running,” he told the boy, “so you can find the arrows as I shoot them.” So the boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy had almost reached the arrow, Jonathan shouted, “The arrow is still ahead of you. 38 Hurry, hurry, don’t wait.” So the boy quickly gathered up the arrows and ran back to his master. 39 He, of course, suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David understood the signal. 40 Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to take them back to town.
41 As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from where he had been hiding near the stone pile. Then David bowed three times to Jonathan with his face to the ground. Both of them were in tears as they embraced each other and said good-bye, especially David.
42 At last Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn loyalty to each other in the Lord’s name. The Lord is the witness of a bond between us and our children forever.” Then David left, and Jonathan returned to the town.
Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 20:18-42 NLT
Jonathan Helps David (Part 2)
From previous lesson:
David believed that Saul would try again to kill him again if showed up at the king’s table.
Jonathan’s Secret sign
18 Then Jonathan said, “Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty.
- Jonathan was planning to use David’s absence from the celebration of the new moon festival to determine Saul’s feelings about David.
If Saul became upset about David’s absence, then David would know that there was little hope in patching up their differences. If Saul was amenable, there was hope for restoring this relationship.
19 The day after tomorrow, toward evening, go to the place where you hid before, and wait there by the stone pile.
- The day after the new moon festival, Jonathan and David planned to meet by the “stone pile”
This was a well-known landmark.
Many translations call it “the stone Ezel”.
Ezel may mean:
Separation.
The Departure Stone.
The Going Away Rock.
- This location became the place of the meeting and parting for David and Jonathan.
20 I will come out and shoot three arrows to the side of the stone pile as though I were shooting at a target. 21 Then I will send a boy to bring the arrows back. If you hear me tell him, ‘They’re on this side,’ then you will know, as surely as the Lord lives, that all is well, and there is no trouble.
- Jonathan was still hoping that the relationship between Saul and David could be restored.
The son, Jonathan, was hoping that his father, Saul, would do the right thing.
22 But if I tell him, ‘Go farther—the arrows are still ahead of you,’ then it will mean that you must leave immediately, for the Lord is sending you away.
- Jonathan recognized the Lord’s role in all of these activities.
“… the Lord is sending you away.”
23 And may the Lord make us keep our promises to each other, for he has witnessed them.”
The scripture tells us that God witnessed the vows Jonathan and David made with each other.
NIV: “… remember, the Lord is witness between you and me.”
CEB: “… the Lord is witness between us forever regarding the promise we made to each other,”
ESV: “… the Lord is between you and me forever.”
“… may the Lord make us keep our promises to each other …”
Numbers 30:2 NLT
2 A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do.
Ecclesiastes 5:5 NLT
5 It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.
- Promises are meant to be taken seriously.
Jonathan talks to Saul about David.
24 So David hid himself in the field, and when the new moon festival began, the king sat down to eat. 25 He sat at his usual place against the wall, with Jonathan sitting opposite him and Abner beside him.
Abner was Saul’s cousin and commander of his army.
But David’s place was empty. 26 Saul didn’t say anything about it that day, for he said to himself, “Something must have made David ceremonially unclean.”
- Saul thought that David was absent from the new moon festival because he was ceremonially unclean.
Because the feast involved sacrifices, one had to be clean to participate.
Leviticus 7:20-21 NLT
20 If you are ceremonially unclean and you eat meat from a peace offering that was presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community. 21 If you touch anything that is unclean (whether it is human defilement or an unclean animal or any other unclean, detestable thing) and then eat meat from a peace offering presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community.”
27 But when David’s place was empty again the next day, Saul asked Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse been here for the meal either yesterday or today?”
Under many conditions, a person who had become unclean was unclean until the evening of the same day.
- David’s continued absence, on the second day, required an explanation,
Saul did not even use David’s name.
28 Jonathan replied, “David earnestly asked me if he could go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go, for we are having a family sacrifice. My brother demanded that I be there. So please let me get away to see my brothers.’ That’s why he isn’t here at the king’s table.”
David’s oldest brother Eliab, serving as the family leader, would have been the position to call the family together to observe an annual family sacrifice.
Saul’s rage against Jonathan.
30 Saul boiled with rage at Jonathan. “You stupid son of a whore!” he swore at him.
- Saul directed his rage against Jonathan.
Saul used some strong words to curse his son Jonathan.
Saul was cursing his son Jonathan, not Jonathan’s mother.
“Do you think I don’t know that you want him to be king in your place, shaming yourself and your mother? 31 As long as that son of Jesse is alive, you’ll never be king.
At this point in history, the King’s oldest son was likely to become the next king.
Saul was beginning to realize that David, not Jonathan, was the LORD’s anointed who would one day replace him as king.
- Saul thought that Jonathan was being foolish for not aggressively pursuing the throne.
Saul is incapable of understanding Jonathan’s lack of concern for his own succession to the throne.
Saul himself almost prevented Jonathan from becoming the next king (verse 33).
Now go and get him so I can kill him!”
Again Saul expresses a desire to kill David.
Saul continues to pursue David (1 Samuel 21 – 1 Samuel 27)
David on the run from Saul (1 Samuel 21 – 1 Samuel 31)
32 “But why should he be put to death?” Jonathan asked his father. “What has he done?”
- Jonathan interceded for David again.
Previously:
1 Samuel 19:4 NLT
4 The next morning Jonathan spoke with his father about David, saying many good things about him. “The king must not sin against his servant David,” Jonathan said. “He’s never done anything to harm you. He has always helped you in any way he could.
33 Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan, intending to kill him.
- Saul attempted to kill his own son because Jonathan had advocated for David.
Saul was filled with rage toward David and also toward Jonathan.
So at last Jonathan realized that his father was really determined to kill David.
- Reality set in. Jonathan had been reluctant to believe the truth about his own father but he could no longer deny it.
34 Jonathan left the table in fierce anger and refused to eat on that second day of the festival, for he was crushed by his father’s shameful behavior toward David.
- Jonathan was crushed by his father’s behavior.
Jonathan warns David of the danger.
35 The next morning, as agreed, Jonathan went out into the field and took a young boy with him to gather his arrows. 36 “Start running,” he told the boy, “so you can find the arrows as I shoot them.” So the boy ran, and Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy had almost reached the arrow, Jonathan shouted, “The arrow is still ahead of you. 38 Hurry, hurry, don’t wait.” So the boy quickly gathered up the arrows and ran back to his master. 39 He, of course, suspected nothing; only Jonathan and David understood the signal. 40 Then Jonathan gave his bow and arrows to the boy and told him to take them back to town.
- Jonathan proceeded to communicate Saul’s intentions to David in the way they had previously planned.
41 As soon as the boy was gone, David came out from where he had been hiding near the stone pile. Then David bowed three times to Jonathan with his face to the ground.
David bowing down more than once acknowledged Jonathan as the prince.
David gave proper respect to Jonathan as the king’s son.
Both of them were in tears as they embraced each other and said good-bye, especially David.
- Jonathan and David wept together.
42 At last Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn loyalty to each other in the Lord’s name. The Lord is the witness of a bond between us and our children forever.”
They parted, reminding themselves of the commitments they had made to each other and to their descendants.
- Jonathan was willing to give up the throne for the love of a friend.
Then David left, and Jonathan returned to the town.
- David was an outcast from the royal court.
Jonathan most like went to Gibeah, the home of his father Saul.
Jonathan will only be mentioned two more times in 1 Samuel.
1 Samuel 23:16-18 NLT
16 Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be next to you, as my father, Saul, is well aware.” 18 So the two of them renewed their solemn pact before the Lord. Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.
1 Samuel 31:2 NLT
2 The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons, and they killed three of his sons—Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malkishua.
Review:
God has a plan and purpose for our lives.
Living out that plan can be difficult.
Emotions can run high. Tears might be shed.
We might experience rejection by others, including family members.
Personal sacrifices might be required.
We might be faced with personal harm or injury.
However, when we live out the life God has planned for us the hardships are far outweighed by the blessings, hope, and promises found in the scriptures.
