Jonathan – Son of Saul

Jonathan - Son of Saul - Read I Samuel 20:30-42
(By 1 p.m. January 27, a reading of the following can be found at http://www.ourchurchvideos.com/93940/montereymethodist/
The video will be under the channel for the Online Bible Study)

(Pieces of the story of Jonathan are found through Chapters 18 – 23 of I Samuel)

Jonathan was King Saul’s eldest son. Saul was the first king of Israel. Thus “royalty” was a new experience for this family, and new for the nation of Israel.

  Jewish legends say that Saul was chosen king for numerous reasons. His physical attractiveness, his victories against the Philistines, his concern for a servant and his modesty. Legend says he was free from sin and thus deserved to receive the gift of prophecy. He also had good ancestry. His grandfather Abiel, in particular, was a man interested in the public welfare, and wanted the streets lighted at night so that the people could go to houses of study.

Jonathan was skilled as a military man.

Jewish legends state that Jonathan was great in military prowess and was equally skilled in his depth as a scholar. Despite this, it is said that he was one of the most modest men known to history.

After his work in the liberation of Jabesh-gilead, Jonathan was placed in charge of a thousand troops. His father commanded two thousand. This was in the midst of an ongoing war with the Philistines.


The military situation was not going well for the Israelites when Jonathan took the initiative (without his father’s knowledge) and made a surprise raid against the enemy. Saul was able to capitalize upon it, though he failed to make as much use of it as he might have done.


Saul promised to curse any man in his army who did not abstain from food that day. Jonathan knew nothing of the situation and ate some wild honey as he pursued the enemy. When the other soldiers told him of Saul’s orders, Jonathan answered that it had been an unwise decision, handicapping the soldiers from achieving an even greater victory. When Saul was unable later to determine God’s will for the situation, he decided it must be due to the breaking of the fast. Lots were cast to determine the guilty party and they eventually fell on Jonathan. Saul was determined to kill his son, but the Israelites were grateful to Jonathan and ransomed his life.


Jonathan is best known for his loyal friendship toward David. After David dispatched Goliath, Jonathan made a covenant with him, and made a gift of his own robe and armor. (In ancient times, an exchange of armor or clothing was a common way of sealing a new friendship. Glaucus and Diomede made a similar exchange in Homer’s Iliad)


David’s spectacular military success and popularity proved difficult for King Saul to stomach. At that time Saul suffered from some form of psychological illness, which made it difficult for him to make rational evaluations and decisions. Saul wanted David’s life, encouraging both his courtiers and his son Jonathan to kill the potential threat to the throne and royal succession.


Although Jonathan could have looked forward to inheriting the kingship, he voiced vigorous support for David, reminding his father of David’s loyal service. This gained a temporary reprieve and a return of David to the court. When Saul suffered a relapse, David fled for his life.


Jonathan and David devised a plan to determine whether Saul might be persuaded to look kindly upon David. Afraid that their friendship might be lost in the hostilities between David and Saul, Jonathan asked David for a pledge that he would show kindness to Jonathan and his descendants. (I Samuel 20:1-14)


The attitude of Saul was unyielding toward David. Saul was angry and perplexed by his son’s attitude of friendship, protesting that David stood in the way of Jonathan becoming king. Yet Jonathan vigorously protested Saul’s intention to slay David and felt great grief for David, because Saul had sought to disgrace him. Jonathan then conveyed the knowledge of Saul’s attitude to David by the method they’d decided upon. This involved the shooting of arrows in an arranged pattern, to be observed by David. No doubt, it was unsafe for them to be seen together in public. Yet, when the boy with Jonathan had been sent back to the city, David immediately came to him. Scholars suggest that more than one story has been combined, making some time-lines and actions appear inconsistent. But it is also possible that David’s emotions simply got the better of him. Another possibility is that the boy served as a witness to the fact that Jonathan had simply been practicing with the bow, and not meeting with David. Saul had already tried to kill Jonathan for his support of David, so it would have been safer for both Jonathan and David if no one knew they spent any time together.


The final meeting recorded between the friends was in the Wilderness of Ziph. Jonathan made a covenant to support David as the next king. Jonathan was to be his first minister. (I Samuel 23:16-18)


Jonathan died in the battle at Mount Gilboa against the Philistines. Saul and two other sons also died there. Their bodies were mistreated, being exposed by the Philistines on the wall, but were retrieved by the men of Jabesh-gilead, who buried them in Jabesh (I Samuel 31: II Samuel 2:5-7; 21:12; I Chr 10:1-12). The bodies were later moved by David to the tomb of Kish in Zela of the land of the Benjaminites (Jonathan and his family were of that tribe) II Samuel 21:13-14


Upon hearing the news of Saul’s & Jonathan’s death, David lamented both the fate of the king and the loss of his beloved friend Jonathan (II Samuel 1). He would later seek to show kindness to Jonathan’s only son, Meribbaal, also recorded as Mephisbosheth, who was five years old when Jonathan died.

As earlier mentioned, Scholars note some choppiness in the stories from this period. (The focus is, of course, upon David as he would become the celebrated king of Israelites history.) Time lines do not always appear to be consistent, and scholars believe there might be two collections of stories about David that have been combined. It also seems possible that some inconsistencies may be explained due to the erratic nature of Saul’s mental state. For example, some scholars question whether David as a youth with only one military achievement (the killing of Goliath) would so quickly have been given military command. But if Saul was not completely rational, and was desperate for victories, this could also be one explanation.

Despite confusion over time-lines of events, a consistent thread throughout the passages is the friendship and love felt by Jonathan for David. David’s feelings in return are not as strongly stated, but he does appear to have cared for Jonathan and valued their friendship. Their loyalty was something to which they asked Yahweh to be a witness and thus a participant.

Some Conversation Starters

How would you define friendship?

What do you find most meaningful in the friendship between Jonathan and David?

In what ways might we invite God into a friendship today?

Any other thoughts about this passage or about frendship?

What would you like to Study?

During this holiday week, as we approach the beginning of 2010, the question arises:  What part of the Bible would you like to study? 

Question:  Old Testament?
          or New Testament?

Would you prefer to study a book of the bible?
   Or would you prefer to study scriptures relating to a specific subject?

Would you like to simply choose between several books in the bible?
    (such as Genesis, Job, Isaiah, Matthew, Acts or Galatians)

What would make this study most meaningful for you?

Sign in and let us know on a blog or e-mail the church at montereyumc@redshift.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

December 16, 2009 - Luke 1:46-53

December 16, 2009


General Bible Study Information
One way to use this study:  Read the scripture(s) from your Bible.  Read the commentary included here. If you have additional study information, you might want to look at it. Consider the Discussion questions.  Post comments or additional questions.  Return during the week (two weeks this session) to read other comments and add additional thoughts.

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Luke 1:46-53 - The Magnificat


     After Mary received the visit of Gabriel and accepted the calling to be the mother of Jesus, she went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was older, had never had children and by that time of life had not expected to ever have them. Yet now she was six months into her pregnancy.
     Elizabeth recognized what had happened to her young cousin. The Magnificat, as it is called, is the ecstatic song of praise that Mary spoke at that time.
     Scholars generally call upon readers to compare Mary’s Magnificat with the Song of Hannah in I Samuel 2:1-10. Both songs open with a couplet exalting the Lord.
     (A couple is a unit of poetic verse, consisting of two successive lines, usually rhyming and having the same meter)
     Mary said:
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord,
Rejoice, rejoice, my spirit, in God, my savior

Hannah prayed:
My heart rejoices in the LORD,
In the LORD I now hold my head high;


     Hannah and Mary were in somewhat similar circumstances. Both were early in their pregnancies and neither woman had necessarily had cause to believe they would be expecting at that time. However, Mary was young and no doubt believed she would bear children at some time. Hannah had been married for many years to a man who dearly loved her, but their love had not resulted in the sons or daughters she desperately wanted.
     Hannah’s husband, Elkinah, was also married to Peninnah (this being legal at the time) for whom he had less affection. Yet this union had produced children, and the wife of this marriage was not always gracious to Hannah. (Remember that Elkinah loved Hannah and not Peninnah, which must have seemed terribly unfair to the woman who had been able to give him children.)
     Hannah prayed desperately for a child and she did become pregnant with Samuel. This gave rise to her song of praise.
     It may been seen as a reflection of the times and of the rivalry between Hannah and Peninnah that Hannah’s next words were less “elevated” than those of Mary. Both praise God, but Mary goes on in beautiful words to speak of how God has blessed her. Hannah expresses derision at her “foes.” Yet she quickly leaves that theme and returns to praising God.
     Both songs suggest that human pride is foolish in face of the one who is really in charge of the universe.
     Both songs point at the reversal of fortunes that human beings can experience. Strength is sometimes embarrassed, while the weak find strength. The rich may become hungry and the hungry can receive sustenance. As Hannah is acutely aware, being barren is not always an irreversible condition, while having children is not a guarantor of happiness. The powerful may be cast down and the lowly lifted up.
     Both songs end with confidence in God’s providence for the future.
     The overall stories of Mary and of Hannah are both different and similar. Hannah was a woman with experience of life and the world. Mary was a girl on the verge of entering the adult world.
     Hannah came to God, pleading, begging for a child. The prophet, Eli, thought she was intoxicated as she spoke without sound in her prayers. But when she spoke, he recognized her faith and sincerity. He expressed his hope that her prayer would be granted.
     We don’t know what Mary was doing when Gabriel came to see her. She is often pictured at prayer, but she could have been helping around the home or perhaps walking on a hillside. She was startled by the news, troubled by what it all meant. But she was willing to accept the task ahead.
     Both Hannah and Mary bore sons with special gifts and who did important things. Hannah gave her son to be raised by Eli—giving up that which she had wanted so badly. Mary was able to raise her son, but had to surrender him in the end, first to his great calling, finally to the cross.
    
Discussion Questions:


What life lessons arise out of the stories of Hannah and Mary?

If Mary remembered her “Magnificat” at the time of the crucifixion, how might she have reflected on those words?


In uncertain times (truthfully, all times are uncertain), how do we express faith in God’s providence for the future?

Session One

Wednesday December 2, 2009

Scripture Luke 1:5-25 (Please read in one or more of your favorite translations)

Verse five begins by dating the event. ‘In the days of Herod, king of Judeo, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.


Herod died in 4 b.c. This would indicate that John and Jesus were born before that date. The dating of Jesus’ birth has always been approximate.


Note the juxtaposition of someone like Herod with people such as Zechariah and Elizabeth. Although some scholars suggest that Herod wasn’t much different from many other rulers of the time, this could hardly be any comfort for the people of Israel. For political reasons, Herod murdered a great many people. Augustus is said to have once remarked that he would rather be Herod’s pig than his son. Among those whose deaths were caused by Herod were some brothers-in-law, his uncle, his wife Mariamne, his mother-in-law, and at least two of his sons. Although nominally Jewish (the offspring of converts to Judaism), he was not faithful to Judaism. The Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary reports that “he was the king of Judea, but never in any sense a Jewish king.”


As commentator, Walter Russell Bowie, indicates, many people might judge an age because of the newsmakers. “But meanwhile – in Herod’s time there was another sort of person, quiet, inconspicuous and yet more important than Herod, men and women who were the sound core of society and gave it such real wholesomeness as it did possess.” ...These are those “in whom the strength of the present and the promise of the future lie.”


Zechariah and Elizabeth are described as righteous before God. Bowie also underscores the fact that such comments remind us that it was out of the “heritage of Israel that Jesus himself came and that there was in Judaism a spiritual force which would produce souls that were accounted righteous before God.”


Zechariah was a priest in Israel. He was a priest by reason of ancestry. Every direct descendant of Aaron was automatically a priest. But this means that there were too many priests for practical purposes. Thus they were divided into 24 sections. Each section would serve for a week at a time, twice a year. Even then, there were too many to carry out certain functions of the priesthood. Lots were cast to select the ones who would be responsible. When the lot fell upon Zechariah, it must have been a high point of his life.


Zechariah was married to a woman who was also of priestly descent. They were both very good people, but there was one sorrow in their lives. They could not have children. Elizabeth was barren and they had grown old waiting.


Childlessness was then considered a tremendous tragedy. Society of the time judged it as a failure. At that time in Israelite history, childlessness was seen as a sorrow that eliminated the possibility that the Messiah would be among your descendants.


At one point, the Rabbis even included childless couples among those who were excommunicated from God. Childlessness was considered grounds for divorce. No doubt, the blame for the condition was usually placed upon the wife.


As the Luke passage makes clear, Elizabeth and Zechariah’s barrenness was not a result of their lack of virtue. It was not a judgement against them, although Elizabeth certainly seems to have felt it was. (Note that although the barrenness was seen as belonging to Elizabeth, Zechariah had not chosen to divorce her, perhaps indicating a large measure of love and loyalty in their relationship.)


When the lot fell on Zechariah to be in the temple, it was his responsibility to burn the incense. In fact, the incense is mentioned three times in this passage. It was an important ritual.


The burning of incense is not a familiar practice in Protestant churches and it had not been always used in Judaism. In early days of Israelite history it was regarded as one of the marks of heathenism, likely connected with ideas of a human-like god who could be pleasured by the scent. It later became part of Jewish worship as a symbol of the ascending prayers of souls that reach up to God.


No doubt Zechariah and Elizabeth had prayed many times for a child. Perhaps this was in his heart that day, or at least the grief of knowing it no longer seemed possible.


As Zechariah burned the incense in the temple, a great multitude was gathered outside in prayer.


Suddenly Zechariah saw an angel of God.


Fear is a common experience of those who encounter the holy. Isaiah cried in distress that he was a man of unclean lips who dwelt among a people of unclean lips. Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God. Considering Moses’ career to that point, he certainly had justification for fear when encountering utter goodness. Even Zechariah, who is acknowledged as righteous before God experienced fear.


But the message of the angel was one of good news. His prayers had been heard. He and Elizabeth would have a son and name him John. John must never drink wine or strong drink. This prohibition. This seems to indicate that John was to be raised in the Nazarite tradition. Nazarite means one who was consecrated, devoted, or set apart. The two marks of a Nazarite was abstaining from wine or strong drink, and not cutting of hair. Samson was a Nazarite. But only the abstention from wine is mentioned in Luke. The scholars of the Cambridge commentary note that there was an ancient suspicion about wine, marking as it did the settling and raising of vines and the spiritual decline that took place at the same time.


Instead of strong drink, John would be filled with the Holy Spirit. He would prepare the way of the Lord with the spirit and power of Elijah. There was a long held belief that Elijah would return as the forerunner of the coming of the Messiah. Here it is not said that John would in a sense be Elijah, only that he would act with the spirit and power of Elijah.


Zechariah was very human and had trouble believing this amazing thing could happen. He raises the question of his age and that of his wife. The angel declares that he will be unable to speak until the great event has taken place.


When the priest burning the incense came out of the temple, it was expected that he would say a blessing over the people who had gathered in prayer. Zechariah was unable to do so and the people understood that it was a consequence of seeing a vision in the temple. Zechariah completed his week of service and returned home. Elizabeth conceived, but hid herself for many months. She was glad, believing that God had lifted the reproach under which she had lived because of her childlessness.


Discussion Questions (not in any particular order):




Do you think ancient attitudes about childlessness affect the way people feel today about infertility?




Why do you think Elizabeth hid herself?




Zechariah is described as experiencing fear in encountering the holiness of God. Why do you think fear is such a common reaction in spiritual encounter?


Why was Zechariah unable to talk after his vision? What was the purpose of it?




Zechariah had grown used to his life and found it hard to believe something good could happen. What do you think he would say to people today who find it hard to hope for good things?


How do you think John felt as he grew up learning about what happened that day in the temple? What would you feel?




Although modern worship does not include the use of incense, it does include things that involve the physical senses. Which ones do you find most meaningful?

Prayer Concern: On our prayer list at MUMC, we have three couples who are praying for the blessing of a child. Please keep them in your prayers.

Online Bible Study

Trying this again

The Monterey United Methodist Church is starting a new adventure with an online Bible Study.  Please be patient as we discover the new world of blogging!

The way this study will work is that the scripture will be posted with background information and discussion questions.  Read the scripture and material.  Study any additional information you might have in your personal library.  Ponder the questions and post your own comments and any further questions.  Check back to see other comments for a week-long discussion on the scripture.

Our first scripture will be Luke 1:5-24, starting (barring technical difficulties) on Wednesday December 2.   This is the story of howZechariah learns that, despite infertlity and old age, he and his wife Elizabeth will become the parents of a son called to remarkable responsibilities.