[ ] 5/24/2015 #1108
HONORING A TRUE HERO
1 Samuel 14:5-15
INTRODUCTION: Memorial Day is a time to remember those killed in all American wars for the cause of freedom. It is a time of reflecting upon those who paid the ultimate price so we can enjoy the blessings we have today. We read in our text of a young soldier and his armor bearer who were heroes to the people of Israel. Jonathan was a young man of courage. God used him to bring about a great victory for Israel.
The Israelites were facing the Philistine army in a conflict that seemed impossible for them to win. The Philistine army was huge in comparison to Israel's army. The Philistines had greater military weapons and 30,000 chariots as well.
I. HUMILITY OF JONATHAN
True greatness is found in those who are humble. This trait was evident in the life of Jonathan. He was the son of king Saul, but a soldier and servant at heart.
A. FAITH IN GOD.
Pride will say I can do this on my own. Humility will say I need God for I can do nothing without Him. In verse six, we read of Jonathan's faith. He said "that the LORD will work for us; for there is not restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few." Jonathan and his arm-bearer had faith to believe that God was more than able to use them in winning the battle against unbelievable odds. Trusting in God, he slew 20 Philistines in a half-acre area of land.
B. FRIENDSHIP WITH DAVID.
David and Jonathan were the best of friends. The greatest evidence of their friendship is understood in their covenant they made with each other. (1 Samuel 18:1-4) The Bible states that the "soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David." Jonathan loved David "as his own soul." (1 Samuel 18:1) This was a pure, godly love.
David and Jonathan made an agreement that Jonathan was to be second in command in David’s future reign, and David was to protect Jonathan’s family. (1 Samuel 20:16-17,42;23:16-18)
The covenant was sealed by Jonathan giving his rob, garments and sword to David. Samuel had already stated that David was God's choice to reign after Saul. (1 Samuel 16:1, 12-13) The significance of this gift was that Jonathan recognized that David would one day be king of Israel.Many times Jonathan protected David, warning him that his father was seeking to take his life.
David and Jonathan reveal what true friendship is according to the Bible. True friendship involves commitment, sacrifice, loyalty, attachment, and love. Some have tried to say that David and Jonathan's relationship was sexual in nature, that they were homosexual lovers. This is absolutely false. Men are known to have deep friendships without having sexual desires.
Jonathan's humility is seen in his willingness to be second to David. There was no jealousy or bitterness in Jonathan toward David. He was glad to be David's friend.
C. FAITHFULNESS TO SAUL.
It was hard for Jonathan to be the son of King Saul. They would often disagree about David and how to lead the army of Israel. Jonathan knew that God's plan was for David to be the next king and so did Saul. Saul was jealous of David and tried on numerous occasions to kill David. Jonathan was always faithful to his father even when Saul made some very foolish decisions. He fought alongside Saul and stood with him until their death on the battlefield.
II. HEROISM OF JONATHAN
A. STRATEGY AGAINST THE PHILISTINES.
King Saul only had 600 men with him. (1 Samuel 13:15) The Philistines had kept the Israelites from having iron weapons. The Philistines had said, "Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears." The Philistines had removed the blacksmiths from the land of Israel so no weapons could be made. No one had a sword or spear among the Israelites other than Saul and Jonathan. (1 Samuel 13:19-22)
It reads like a foolish strategy for Jonathan and his armor-bearer to take on the Philistine's garrison. It seemed dumb for two men with one sword taking on the soldiers of the Philistines. It seemed even idiotic to step out in full view of the enemy. In verses eight through twelve, we read of Jonathan's plan. If the Philistines said, "Come up unto us," Jonathan and the young man with him would take that as a sign from God that He had delivered the Philistines into their hands. (1 Samuel 14:10) The Philistines challenged them to come up so Jonathan took that as a word from God that the LORD had "delivered them into the hand of Israel." (1 Samuel 14:12)
In a heroic fashion, Jonathan and his armor-bearer climbed the sharp rocks to where the Philistines were stationed.
B. SUCCESS AGAINST THE PHILISTINES.
Jonathan and his armor bearer killed about twenty men of the Philistines. God had answered Jonathan's request in giving him success over his enemy. The victory sent fear through the Philistine army. The earth did tremble from a great earthquake causing even greater panic to the Philistine army. (1 Samuel 14:15) This conquest led to a bigger victory over the Philistines. It caused panic and confusion in the Philistines' camp so they fought against each other. (1 Samuel 14:16, 20-21) The Israelites recovered their courage and they fought against the Philistines. (1 Samuel 14:22) Israel's success was due to the LORD who "saved Israel that day." (1 Samuel 14:23)
III. HONORING OF JONATHAN
A. TRAGEDY OF HIS DEATH. (1 Samuel 31:1-2)
We read of the tragedy of Saul and Jonathan's death in 1 Samuel 31. The first two verses tell us that Jonathan and his brothers were killed by the Philistines. On hearing the news of Saul and Jonathan's death, David and his men tore their clothes, mourned, wept and fasted until evening. (2 Samuel 1:11)
B. TRIBUTE TO HIS LIFE. (2 Samuel 1:25-27)
David mourned for Jonathan. Jonathan was David's closest friend. He was like a brother to him. David gave Jonathan the greatest of tributes in 2 Samuel 1:25-27.
"How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle!
O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" (2 Samuel 1:25-27 KJV)
David said that the love of Jonathan was wonderful to him and surpassed the love of women. This was not a statement of sexual love. David was married to Jonathan's sister, Michal. David had other wives as well.
Someone has said, "Our present world has a hard time believing that love can be deep and real without it having a sexual aspect."
Jesus said: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
This kind of love was shown by Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe during his tour in Iraq. I want to share this moving story of his life.
WASHINGTON — When the roadside bomb detonated, it ripped through the fuel tank of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and ignited like napalm. The seven men seated inside were knocked unconscious and had no chance to escape the fire.
But the gunner, Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe, managed to crawl out of the burning wreckage. Wounded and drenched in diesel fuel, he pulled the Bradley’s driver from his seat before the flames reached there, dragging him to safety.
And then he went back.
The 16-year Army veteran had seen a dozen of his men die on that tour in Iraq, and he couldn’t bear to lose another. His uniform caught fire as he desperately tried to open the Bradley’s hatch.
By the time he got in, all he had on was his body armor and helmet, the rest of his uniform in ashes or seared to his skin. With help, he carried one of his dying men out of the fire and back to horrified medics trying to triage their charred colleagues.
And then he went back.
Soldiers couldn’t tell what rounds pinging off the Bradley were from insurgents’ weapons and which ones were from their own ammunition ablaze in the vehicle. As he reached the next soldier, Cashe tried to douse the fire on his uniform, only to realize that his own skin was peeling off from the heat. As another soldier helped pat out the flames, Cashe moved the next wounded friend to safety.
And then he went back.
Cashe was the last of the injured to be evacuated from the scene. Doctors later said he suffered second and third degree burns over 90 percent of his body, but he still walked off the battlefield under his own power.
He spent the next three weeks at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio trying to recover as his men died one by one in adjoining rooms. Of the seven he helped evacuate, five could not survive the burns.
Cashe’s family said that time was full of pain and grief for the platoon sergeant, his only consolation being that some of those Army brothers had the chance to say goodbye to their families.
Cashe was the last from that battle to die. A week after he passed away, the Army awarded him the Silver Star, the third-highest combat military decoration a service member can receive for battlefield heroism.
Cashe was the youngest of 10 children, born in an impoverished neighborhood just outside Orlando, Fla. His father died when he was 5, and Kasinal White (his sister) said his troubles with teachers and law enforcement escalated as he grew up.
But instead of a tragic downfall, his family boasts of his story as “a poor boy from the projects who made good.” He joined the Army after struggling through high school. His mother objected, but Cashe knew it was where he belonged.
“It was another family for him,” White said. “And he loved it. He was so proud to be in the Army. You should have seen him in his uniform, with his shoes spit-shined, the perfect crease in his pants.”
Cashe met his wife, Tamara, in the service, and had three children before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Relatives said they knew he’d be among the first to volunteer for combat overseas. White remembers chastising him before his unit left for Iraq in early 2005, telling him “not to be a hero” and to come home safe.
“He had always said he would never leave one of his boys behind,” she said.
The troops were immediately awed by reports of Cashe’s heroism. Battlefield narratives describe Cashe’s uniform and skin on fire for about five minutes while he pulled his men from the vehicle. At one point, another soldier had to extinguish the blaze on Cashe’s back so the platoon sergeant could continue tending to the wounded men.
Jon-Ray Falgout, who was a young private when the 1-15 deployed to Iraq in 2005, remembers Cashe as a tough guy who liked to laugh.
“Did it surprise me that he could do all of that? Yes,” Falgout said. “The pain he went through to save those guys … but it didn’t surprise me that he would try to do that. The character he had, he would do something like that.”
None of the burn victims looked like they would survive, but Cashe’s troops and family believed that somehow he would beat the odds. If he could endure the pain of walking through fire again and again, he could find a way to recover.
White said she never believed her brother would die until just hours before he passed. His body was broken but his spirit was not. Throughout the three weeks at Brooke Army Medical Center, he kept asking for updates on the men he pulled from the Bradley and the ones still fighting in Iraq.
When his own family asked why he ran into the fire, knowing he would burn, knowing it would cost his life, Cashe told them, “I had made peace with my God, but I didn’t know if my men had yet.”
“I didn’t really understand at the time what he had done, but I had soldiers and families coming up to me and telling me that he was a hero,” his sister said. “They were saying that because of him, they got to see their husband or son one last time. He was a big kid, and he loved those guys.”
“He got out of that [bomb blast] alive,” Falgout said. “He was safe. But he chose to go back in for his guys. “He could have sat out, but he didn’t. He went back in and got them. That’s definitely a hero.”
ByLeo Shane III Stars and Stripes Published: October 2, 2011
Many tears are shed during Memorial Day. Wives weep for their departed husbands. Children miss their dads and cry themselves to sleep at night. Fathers and mothers visit the graves of their loved ones. Their hearts are broken with grief. Many soldiers return with physical and emotional wounds they carry the rest of their lives. We should remember and honor all those who have given their lives for their country.
This Memorial Day, we remember those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Every day we need to remember and give thanks to Jesus Christ who has given us our greatest freedom, the freedom from sin.
Jesus Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice by dying on the cross for sinners. "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:7-8 KJV)
All those who are in Christ will live forever with Him in glory. They have trusted Him as their Savior and Lord. Have you? Today can be your day of salvation if you will turn from sin to Jesus in faith.