Like a pebble dropped into a pool, Jonathan’s action soon rippled out, but it became a tidal wave!
In attacking the Philistine outpost, Jonathan and his armorbearer had certainly poked the hornets’ nest! Listen to the description: “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 14:15). Saul’s watchmen at Gibeah were amazed at what they saw: “there was the multitude, melting away; and they went here and there” (v 16). Saul couldn’t understand it; HE certainly hadn’t caused this seismic event. Who might be behind this? When the roll was called, “surprisingly, Jonathan and his armorbearer were not there” (v 17). So Saul called for the priest, perhaps to get directions from the Lord, but the king was off schedule again. The battle was already in full swing. The trembling caused by the two brave men shook the Hebrew turncoats who had sided with the Philistines, and they came back to the Israeli side (v 21). The ones hiding in their Ephraimite caves gained courage and joined the ranks, too. The Philistine army was routed and fled, and “the Lord saved Israel that day” (v 23). But Saul not only didn’t help, he seriously hindered the cause. “The men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies’” (v 24). Your enemies, Saul? Oh the distress caused among God’s people when someone turns from simply doing God’s will to their own private agenda. It is these who rob the saints not only of clear and certain victories over the enemy, but also withhold from them the Lord’s judgments that are “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Ps 19:9-10).