PJP2 PROLOG 160510 PROLOG Focus - 1 Samuel 14:6, 8-10, 12-15....
....The Battle of Micmash Pass

Psalm 66:8 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."Bless our God, O peoples; Let The Sound of His Praise Be Heard,"....

PJP2 PROLOG POST 160510 -1 Samuel 14:6, 8-10, 12-15 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj).... "Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, 'Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised.  It May Be That The Lord Will Work For us, For Nothing Can hinder The Lord From SAVING by many or by few.'....Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them.  IF they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ Then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them.  BUT IF they say, ‘Come Up to us,’ THEN we Will Go Up, FOR The Lord Has GIVEN them INTO our hand.  AND THIS Shall Be The SIGN To us.”....AND the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come Up to us, And we will show you a thing/teach you a lesson.”  AND Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come Up after me, FOR The Lord Has GIVEN them INTO the hand of Israel.”.... THEN Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him.  AND they (the Philistine soldiers) FELL before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him.  AND That First Strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.  AND there was a PANIC in the camp, in the field, and among all the Philistines.  The garrison and even the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great PANIC."....

I have mentioned before the thought of writing a tome on "The Battles of The Bible", or "The Bible's Battle Book".....still mulling that over....I'll keep you posted.  Today's Passage Of the Word, Select (POWS) is an example of such musings.  If you aren't familiar with King Saul, as we see in 1 Samuel 14:52...."All the days of Saul there was bitter war"....so, Saul (and his three sons) led the Army of Israel into a lot of battles.

1 Samuel 14 is an account of "The Battle of Micmash Pass"....The True Hero of Micmash Pass would first appear to be Jonathan (Saul's son) and Jonathan's un-named Armor Bearer (we'll call him "ABE".  I mean we see in 1 Samuel 13:5 that Saul's 600 warriors of Israel are facing a Philistine force of 6,000+ ('soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore').  A 'detachment' of the Philistines have gone to Micmash Pass.  Jonathan and ABE go nosing around the Philistine Micmash Pass Outpost, to see what might happen.  As you read through 1 Samuel 14, it is pretty amazing that Jonathan and ABE's 'attack' throws the entire Philistine Army into a Panic....(See 1 Samuel 14:15)...

Ok, so what's The Point(s) I'm Hearing The Holy Spirit Share with regards to The Battle of Micmash Pass?

Here we go.....(1) TRUST; (2) Confidence; (3) Fearless; (4) BOLD; (5) IF....THEN

BUT, His Bottom-Line/Up-Front of His Five Points for today's PJP2 PROLOG POST 160510 is encapsulated in this -

Believe On the Lord's Deliverance (BOLD).

Indeed the True Hero of Micmash Pass would be none-other than YAHWEH.

At first glance one would have to say Jonathan and ABE were strategically unsound in their approach.  This Israelite 'RECON' Team was outnumbered "who knows how many against" two.  The Philistines, tactically, had the high-ground - always tough to fight an enemy who has the high-ground.  Jonathan and ABE did a 'frontal assault' - which is almost always the most difficult, especially uphill!  Last bit of Intel - According to 1 Samuel 13:22, Jonathan was the only one (besides Saul) who had a sword - so ABE, most likely, was unarmed!

So think on that for just a minute - here's a two-man RECON Team, climbing up-hill, to take-on at least 20 well armed Philistines (see 1 Samuel 14:14).....

Nope, not a mission I would normally sign-up to take on.  Yet, we can sense from Jonathan's words, he TRUSTs that The Lord is With him.  He has Confidence THAT if God IS With them, then All Things Are Possible.  Clearly his TRUST and Confidence has made him Fearless of the Philistines.  There's no doubt that Jonathan and ABE's 'attack' on the Philistine Micmash Pass Outpost is flat-out BOLD.  Jonathan rolls all that up to the basic plan....IF our Prayers are Answered one way....THEN we Follow this way....IF our Prayers are Answered this other way.....THEN we Follow this way.  Pretty easy to be BOLD when you have Jonathan's TRUST, Confidence, Courage (Fearlessness), and Grasp of God's IF and THEN Plan.

So....My Prayer for us today would be - Lord Jesus, Empower us to Be BOLD in You.  Holy Spirit, Encourage us and Strengthen our TRUST in You.  Father God, Give us Your Confidence that we May Follow You in all our Ways.  Lord Jesus, Instill Your Courage Within us to be able to face our own Micmash Pass, or Cross, as You Lead us. Holy Spirit, Fill us With Your Courage and Fearlessness as we meet head-on, With You Before, Behind, Within and All Around us, the forces of darkness that Your Light Has Already Overcome!  Father God, In All of This, Teach us to Believe Your Promise of IF and THEN.  Lord Jesus, May we Ever Reflect Your Love, Light, Mercy and Grace.  We Raise our Prayers and Praise in Your Holy Name.....Amen/Amen....jaj