Faith and a Foolish Oath

While Saul sat under a pomegranate tree with six hundred men, Jonathan acted in faith. He told his armor bearer that the Lord was not limited by numbers. The two climbed the cliffs to the Philistine garrison. God answered their faith with a great trembling and an earthquake, and the Philistines were thrown into confusion.

Saul, meanwhile, made a rash oath, cursing anyone who ate before evening so that he could be avenged on his enemies. The tired soldiers grew faint. Jonathan, unaware, ate honey and was refreshed. He said his father had troubled the land, because the people would have won a greater victory if they had eaten.

When God did not answer Saul one day, Saul used the lot to find the guilty one, and it fell on Jonathan. Saul said Jonathan must die. But the people rescued him, because he had worked with God that day. Saul's oath showed more concern for his own revenge than for his people.