by Irvin Himmel<\/p>\n
The situation looked grim. Saul’s men had dwindled to only about six hundred. The army of the Philistines numbered into the thousands. Saul’s men were poorly armed. Since all the smiths were among the Philistines, Saul’s soldiers had neither sword nor spear. There was much trembling among the Israelites. Some were hiding in caves, thickets, rocks, pits, and other out-of-the-way places. Some had fled to the region east of Jordan (I Samuel 13).<\/p>\n
Jonathan, Saul’s son, took his young armor-bearer and approached the Philistine garrison. Saul was not informed of this movement. Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armor, “Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few<\/em>” (I Samuel 14:6).<\/p>\n The faith that Jonathan had in God brought reward. Despite their being terribly outnumbered and poorly equipped to fight, the Israelites were given victory over the Philistines. God turned seeming defeat into certain triumph.<\/p>\n Too often we suppose that we are defeated if outnumbered. Not so! God is able to save by many or by few. God can use a few faithful people to do great works in his sight. God is not swayed by numbers.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Irvin Himmel The situation looked grim. Saul’s men had dwindled to only about six hundred. The army of the Philistines numbered into the thousands. Saul’s men were poorly armed. Since all the smiths were among the Philistines, Saul’s soldiers had neither sword nor spear. There was much trembling among the Israelites. Some were hiding…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-49768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29294,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-the-number-is-few\/","url_meta":{"origin":49768,"position":0},"title":"When the Number Is Few","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton We often show a lack of faith when we compare a small church to a large church. Some want to hide in a large crowd and they fail to grow spiritually. Jonathan had the right quality of faith. \"Then Jonathan said to the young man who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0021-2-244x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49836,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-to-ask-for-non-miraculous-signs\/","url_meta":{"origin":49768,"position":1},"title":"Is it proper to ask for non-miraculous signs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I had a question regarding asking God for a sign in the Bible. I was reading an article on your site about it (Should we ask for signs like Gideon did?). I'm curious about signs of a non-miraculous nature. Does God communicate with people like Jonathan in I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69520,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-there-a-significant-age-difference-between-jonathan-and-david\/","url_meta":{"origin":49768,"position":2},"title":"Was there a significant age difference between Jonathan and David?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read a comment online that some scholars believe that there was a 20 - 30-year difference between Jonathan and David, that Jonathan was at least 20 years older than David.\u00a0 I have been searching but cannot find scripture that verifies that.\u00a0 Do you know of one? Answer: Jonathan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13262,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-god-allow-the-gibeonites-to-kill-seven-of-sauls-sons\/","url_meta":{"origin":49768,"position":3},"title":"How could God allow the Gibeonites to kill seven of Saul’s sons?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In II Samuel 21, it speaks of how David spared seven of Saul's descendants for the Gibeonites to kill, and afterward, God answered prayers. That just doesn't make sense. Did God justify that once upon a time? Answer: \"Now there was a famine in the days of David for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33901,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/king-saul-an-i-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":49768,"position":4},"title":"King Saul – An “I” Problem","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward Text: I Samuel 9-15 Looks to himself - at Gilgal I Samuel 13:5-14 - Saul offers sacrifice Samuel delayed Philistines prepared to attack Saul's soldiers ran scared King Saul's 'I' problem I saw, I said to myself, I have not, I forced myself I Samuel 12:24-25 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90105,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bravery\/","url_meta":{"origin":49768,"position":5},"title":"Bravery","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: I Samuel 14:6-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When we were teenagers, my brother, after a history class, pointed out that wars are cyclic. 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