1 Samuel 14:8

1 Samuel 14:8 says, And said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them.  Jonathan decided they would make themselves known to the men.  They would not continue hiding.  As followers of Christ, must make ourselves known to men and cannot continue in hiding because we fear what might happen if we reveal our faith.  Verse nine adds, If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.  Jonathan said if they told them to stand still until they came to them, that was what they would do.  He was not making rash decisions, but as we will see, was using how the Philistines responded to their presence to determine how they would react.  Going rashly into any dangerous situation is not the best way for us to react to it.  Verse ten continues, But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.  Jonathan then said if the Philistines invited them to come up to them, that they would go, because it would be a sign that the LORD had delivered them into their hands.  There was still only two people, Jonathan and his armor bearer, but Jonathan put his faith in God being able to deliver the Philistines into their hands.  As Christians, if we feel overpowered by the world today, we need to remember Who our God is.  Verse eleven states, And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.  Jonathan and his armor bearer showed themselves to the Philistines, who said mockingly I believe, look, some Hebrews have come out of the holes where they have been hiding.  They had very little concern about the Hebrews, God's chosen people, and evidently had little concern about nor respect for their God.  When we as Christians make ourselves known to the people of the world today, they may mock us and thereby mock God, but as long as we are faithful to Him, He will do great things though us.  Verse twelve adds, And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.  The Philistines told Jonathan and his armor bearer to come up and they would show them a thing, and Jonathan told his armor bearer that they would go up because God had delivered the Philistines into the hand of Israel.   He didn't just see them as being there for their own glory, but for the glory of Israel because of the work of God.  As Christians, we should never see our actions as something to bring honor to us, but as bringing honor to God and all Christians.  The Philistines may have thought they were going to show them a thing, but Jonathan and his armor bearer through the power of God were about to show them a thing.  Verse thirteen continues, And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.  Though Jonathan had to basically crawl up the rocks to get to the Philistines, they still began to fall before Jonathan and his armor bearer after him.  They were so confident that they had basically ignored Jonathan and his armor bearer, just two Hebrews that they believed they had already beaten, and they found out how wrong they were to do so.  The world may look around at Christians today and think that we are so few in numbers and that God is so powerless that they either look down on us or ignore us, but as long as we remain faithful to God, the victory will always be ours.  Jonathan acted out of faith in God and not his own fighting skills, and so must we today.  Verse fourteen declares, And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.  The first group of men that Jonathan and his armor bearer killed was about twenty men in about a half acre of land.  That would have meant they were outnumbered about ten to one by a force that was superiorly armed, but God was with them.  We may be facing a superior force today as followers of Christ, but God is with us as long as we are acting under His leadership and authority.   Verse fifteen adds, And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.  Though there were still only two men fighting against them, the whole army of the Philistines trembled so badly that they shook the ground.  We should never underestimate to power of God to cause His enemies to shake in fear when just a few of His people stand up to them.