The Valorious Armor Bearer

In 1 Samuel 14:1 we find the beginning of an interesting story, of two men who single-handedly conquered a Philistine garrison. This story catches my interest because we often hear the name of one of the men, but the name of the other isn't even mentioned in the Bible. Nearly everyone knows who Jonathan was, great friend of King David, son of Saul, David's mortal enemy. However, we are never given the name of the armor-bearer. We do find that, throughout the story, this man follows Jonathan's every instruction.

1 Samuel 14:6-7 shows us the amazing faith of Jonathan, that he knew God did not need great numbers to remove opposition. God could use just these two young men to win a great victory. Jonathan's armor-bearer obviously shared his faith, as he told Jonathan, "I'm with you whatever you want to do." Here was a young man who had complete confidence, both in Jonathan, and in God.

And their faith in God was greatly rewarded, as in 1 Samuel 14:11-14 we read that Jonathan and his un-named armor-bearer were greatly victorious. With this single act of heroism, one act of bravery, God was able to bring a victory that was never expected. Israelites that had gone with the Philistines once again fought with Saul and Jonathan, Israelites that were in hiding came out to fight. The Philistines began to take their swords to one another. We can read the end of the story in 1 Samuel 14:20-23.

What an amazing story this armor-bearer had to tell: how he stood with Jonathan against a garrison of Philistines, and how that such a great victory was won for God. Sometimes we all want to play the part of Jonathan, the son of the king, the victorious warrior. We forget how that the armor-bearer is needed as well. We fail to see the need just to be an extremely faithful follower. We should notice that 1 Samuel 14:13 indicates that Jonathan didn't kill the Philistines, the armor-bearer followed him killing the men the Jonathan brought down. God uses faithful followers right along behind faithful leaders, all we have to do is be willing.