Anonymous writes "I remember watching MASH as a kid and one of Hawkeye’s lines, when thwarted in some action was “I don’t care whether we go off half cocked or all cocked but lets just go off.” Inaction in the face of problems is so often the preference of bureaucracy whether executive, military, or governmental. Jonathan, son of Saul, is having none of this cowering and waiting for the right moment to strike the Philistines. He and his armor bearer walk by an outpost and take a chance. They pray and ask God for a sign. If the soldiers at the garrison tell them to wait at the bottom of the hill , they will wait and fight what comes. If they call them up to the garrison for a fight then they will know that God has given the Philistines into their hands and join battle at the top of the hill. The men of the garrison hail them up and Jonathan alongside his armor bearer go through the soldiers like a hot knife through butter. The even triggers a panic, indicating that the overlord Philistines were not quite as secure in their conquest as one might think. The Philistines fear the emergence of some new champion or some evidence of God fighting for the Israelites as he did under Johsua’s leadership years ago. When you are tempted to judge God for the warfare in this passage remember that we need no prodding to engage in war, human beings manage that just fine on their own. Here God works to control the outcome of a particular battle.
Without Wax,
"
