Advanced Level, Block 6, Week 59: Jonathan not Standing for the Truth

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Advanced Level, Block 6—Struggling with a Kingdom

Week 59
Jonathan not Standing for the Truth

Point to Emphasize: We must stand for the truth by speaking it.

Reference Reading: 1 Samuel 18:1-4; 19:1-7; 20:1-42; 23:16-18; 31:1-5, footnote 21; Life-study of Samuel, msg. 19

Memory Verse: Therefore having put off the lie, speak truth each one with his neighbor… (Ephesians 4:25a)

Story Sample

King Saul did not want David to be king. Do you know who Saul really wanted to be king after he was gone? Yes, he wanted his son Jonathan to be king. His plan was to have Jonathan replace him. But Jonathan knew that God had prepared David to be king. In 1 Samuel 23:17 Jonathan says to David, “…And you will become king over Israel, and I will be second to you; and even Saul my father knows that.” This was the truth. Jonathan knew it and this verse says that even Saul knew it. But Saul refused to accept that David would be king. So he tried many different ways to get rid of David. But out of his love for David, Jonathan came in to try to keep David from harm.

To know the truth and to stand for the truth are two different things. For example, there was going to be a big feast and David was supposed to be there. But David knew that if he went to the feast, Saul would kill him. He asked Jonathan to give the king an excuse for his not being there. At the feast, Saul demanded that Jonathan tell him where David was. When he gave the excuse, Saul got angry with his son and declared that unless David died the kingdom would not go to Jonathan as he had planned. Jonathan knew that God had given the kingdom to David. At that point Jonathan should have spoken the truth. He should have told the king that Jehovah had already anointed David to be the next king. He should have said, “I will never take the kingdom. It does not belong to me but to God’s anointed one, David.” But Jonathan was passive to the truth. He did not speak up. It is a tragic thing to know the truth but not stand for it. In the end, Jonathan was killed in a battle with the Philistines, along with King Saul.

I have a friend who, when she was in high school, was in an advanced biology class. The teacher was going on and on and on about the theory of evolution and how we descended from apes. She didn’t know that much about the Bible at that time but had begun to read it. When she read Genesis, she wondered where all the prehistoric history fit in. She was sure that there was a gap of time that was not recorded in Genesis. So, when the biology teacher was going on and on and on she raised her hand in class and told him respectfully that she could not believe the story of evolution. It did not seem reasonable nor logical to accept. He asked what her theory was. So, she spoke the truth from the Bible as much as she knew it at the time. Several years later, when she knew more about the truth in the Bible, she went back and shared the truth of the gospel with the teacher. [Storyteller, tell your own personal story of speaking the truth to someone.]

Today all around us there are many people who speak things that are not according to the truth in the Bible. What are some of these things? [Lead the children in a discussion about things that are not according to the truth today.] Sometimes, because we are so young, it is not so easy to speak according to the truth. But we should have a strong reaction within when we hear these things. This is something we should talk to our parents about and to see what the best way is in handling these situations. We have to remember that Jonathan was an adult when he was passive toward the truth. When you are an adult, you should be one that stands up for the truth. But we are not yet adults. So, when we hear things that are against the truth, what should we do? Please go talk to your parents.

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