Jonathan & His Armor Bearer

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข When a challenge arises, do you usually face it head on or do you approach it cautiously? Why?

โ€ข When you and the majority of your peers donโ€™t have the same values or beliefs, how do you respond?ย 

โ€ข What do you do when you have fears or doubts? Do you try to solve them alone or do you ask for help? Recall an instance explaining this.


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ, โ€œ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ.โ€ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ, โ€œ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต. ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ. ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ.โ€ ๐Ÿญ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿฒ-๐Ÿณ


(Read also ๐Ÿญ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿญ-๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ.)


Israel has had a history of conflict with other peoples, one of them being the Philistines. In this story, a large army of Philistines were fighting them on their territory. King Saulโ€™s son Jonathan and his men had defeated their troup at Geba, and as a result, the Philistines retaliated with 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and troops, outnumbering the people of God (1 Samuel 13:2โ€“7). As a result, everyone ran away in fear, except Jonathan and his armor-bearer. Today, letโ€™s look at their faith in Godโ€™s power, their confidence to go and fight anyway to lead Israel to victory, and the lessons we can learn from them.


๐Ÿญ. ๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐˜.

๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ, โ€œ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ.โ€ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ, โ€œ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต. ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ. ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ.โ€ ๐Ÿญ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿฒ-๐Ÿณ


(Read also ๐Ÿญ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿฎ,๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ.)


While Saul and his men were terrified and keeping a safe distance from the Philistines, Jonathan and his armor-bearer had faith in God and His power. Instead of cowering in fear and doubt, they boldly approached the enemy camp. When facts put our faith into question, God invites us to place our confidence in Him so that we can experience His power and freedom. Recall a time when you couldnโ€™t do what you needed to because of fear and doubt. How did God restore your confidence and faith in Him?


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—น๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ, โ€œ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ.โ€ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, โ€œ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ.โ€ ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‘๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ.ย ๐Ÿญ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฏ


After seeing the two Israelites, the Philistines told them to come up to the camp. They were confident in their numbers and in being on higher ground. But Jonathan and his armor-bearer knew that God was on their side. As soon as they arrived, they easily defeated twenty men, which caused panic and confusion in the enemy camp. Though Jonathan and his armor-bearer were outnumbered, they knew that nothing was impossible with God. Even when the odds seem to be against us, Godโ€™s good, pleasing, and perfect plan for our lives will always prevail. How has God shown you that He is fighting with and for you?


๐˜š๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜“๐˜–๐˜™๐˜‹ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜๐˜ด๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ-๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ.ย ๐Ÿญ ๐—ฆ๐—”๐— ๐—จ๐—˜๐—Ÿ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ:๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ


Dealing with fear and doubt is normal. When facts are thrown at us, it may seem easier to give in. But even in doubt, we can take steps of faith, no matter how small they may be. May we allow God to remove fear and doubt from our hearts and minds as we see how powerful He is to save, so that we may persevere in faithโ€”until we see victory.


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

โ€ข Most of the time, doubt is a battle in the mind, while fear is of the heart. What are some practical ways you can overcome these on a daily basis?

โ€ข Are there areas in your life that seem overwhelming? How can you respond in faith today?

โ€ข Do you know anyone who is struggling with an uphill battle? How may you be an encouragement to that person this week?


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข Thank God that through Him, all things are possible. Thank Him that we can put our faith in Him, our source of confidence and assurance.

โ€ข Ask God to quiet your fears and doubts so that you may hear His voice more and trust in His ways. Pray that you would not rely on your own abilities but on God and His word.

โ€ข Pray that God would use you as a testimony to others of being in faith, not fear. Pray that your life would point people to God.