I AM: Robed Week Six - Day Five: A Narrative of Jonathan

By Central Women

The people had spoken, they wanted a king. All the other nations had one; they too wanted a king that would fight for them, lead them, and be their judge.

God's prophet warned them, not everything that shines is gold, a king can turn to be an oppressor. But when fear enters people's hearts, we fail to ignore advice and red flags.

This and other memories flooded Jonathan's mind as he laid there fatally injured; he fought bravely against the Philistines that day in Mount Gilboa, but he and his brothers were overtaken. As he took his last breaths, snippets of his life started flashing through his mind. He recalled the day his father, Saul, left to find the missing donkeys. His grandfather Kish had been worried because even though the donkeys had returned, his father and his servant were still missing, it was a difficult night not knowing what had happened to them. “That day” he thought, “was the last of my ‘normal’ life.”

His father returned the next day as the anointed King of Israel! He seemed a different man from the insecure, proud man he knew. Jonathan could see the change of heart; he could also sense that God was with his Father.

Jonathan loved God with all his heart and was elated to serve Him under the leadership of the new King, his father. God picked his family, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be the royal family! What an honor! To live in obedience to God, to have His favor!

And things were good…only for a little while…the memories kept firing quickly…his father defeating the Ammonites…the time he, himself, with God's help and no more than his armor-bearer sneaked up to the Philistine camp and defeated them all, those were good times.

But then his father changed, his insecurities came back, his pride and fear of losing the respect of the people led him to disobey God too many times. Jonathan tried to help him; it wasn't easy, he was never like his father…how do you respect and obey your father, when you have to obey God first? He loved his father, but he loved God more.

One day he found his father in utter despair, he had disobeyed God's instructions and the consequences were devastating, Samuel had told him "For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel" Saul pleaded for forgiveness and yanked Samuel's robe so hard that it tore, Samuel turned to him and said "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you."

The Kingdom lost to another, Jonathan fully knew what that meant for him. He would never be king, and this was God's will. In the midst of all this trouble, the Philistines continued with their attacks day and night…that's when he met him…David, son of Jesse.

The Philistines had brought their best warrior to taunt them, a man so tall and strong no one dared to fight him, day and night he taunted them with insults, calling them cowards; all the men were so afraid! Until one day…a young man…armed only with a slingshot, five rocks, and a faith in God bigger than anything he had ever seen, defeated him. Who was this kid? He couldn't be more than 15 years old…could he be the one? The one that God had appointed to take away his throne?

After that day, his father brought David home, and a friendship was born. He loved him from day one, a bond so deep that was sudden and irrevocable. He couldn't help but see in David a younger version of himself. He too was a warrior; he too loved the Lord.

How would they demonstrate such love and friendship? A love so deep requires a giving of yourself, and on that day he pledged his allegiance with a covenant where he decided to give David his royal robe, his belt, and his weapons. He knew it…by doing this, he was abdicating the throne and accepting God's will that David would be the next king.

He didn't know at that time how many times he would have to uphold their covenant, how his father's jealousy of David, his fears, his conniving, would have to make him choose David time and time again. That his loyalty would be tested and he would have to deny the call of his blood to save the life of a friend.

He knew he did the right thing, now as his life was ending, he understood that God put him in David's way to be an encourager, to protect him, to be a tool for God's will.

And now, things were not going as planned, but he was at peace. Had he stayed with David at their last meeting at Horesh maybe he would not find himself here, but he had to go home to his father. He trusted that they would see each other again…

"Don't be afraid," he said to David "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this."

It would be ok, he had kept his covenant, and he had known friendship in its highest and purest form and was now ready to meet the Lord.