The Faith I Didn't Grow Up With

Plus: rude letters, elephants, gorgeous slime molds

Hello! Hope you’re well. Here’s the latest.

Is Obeying God Enough?

A new episode of Holy Ghost Stories dropped yesterday for you: it’s the story of Jonathan and his armor bearer sneaking off to attack a Philistine outpost of 20+ soldiers.

This story has always fascinated me—mostly beause of the startling agency Jonathan takes on as he presents an idea to God. God has not commanded him to engage in this lopsided battle. But Jonathan’s confident he could win if Yahweh enables it. So he proposes the plan to Yahweh. Creates a code for them to use—“If this happens, I’ll know you’re in; if that happens, I’ll know you’re not.” And then, once he feels the code has been used, Jonathan bets his life (as well as his armor bearer’s) on Yahweh coming through.

I did not grow up with this kind of faith.

The faith I possessed was not—what’s the word?—playful like that. Obedience to stated commands was more than enough to preoccupy me. I devoted no energy to dreaming up ideas for adventures on which God and I might embark. I was low on holy imagination.

I charged no Philistine outposts.

In fact, I might have argued Jonathan was out of line. After all, didn’t Jesus tell Satan it would be wrong for him to jump off the temple, just to prompt the angels to save him? Well, yes. But Jonathan doesn’t do this at all. Jonathan isn’t trying to force divinity’s hand. He’s inviting Yawhen on a quest. (And he’s very much of the mind that Yahweh is at liberty to decline the invitation—in which case, Jonathan has no interest in proceeding.)

This is not reckless faith.

I think it’s just…faith.

Interesting Info from this Episode:

• I loved being able to foreshadow the beautiful story of Mephibosheth in this episode. Jonathan and David’s friendship was so fraught with obstacles, I’d be surprised if Jonathan didn’t think about when (or if) Uncle David might meet his little boy. It didn’t happen while Jonathan was alive, but Yahweh made sure it happened.

• It’s fascinating to see the same trait play out in different ways in Saul and Jonathan. Both seem to have quite a bit of spontaneity in their personality. Jonathan, thanks to the way he welcomes Yahweh’s influence, channels his spontaneous leanings in exciting, God-honoring ways. In Saul, however, that same trait finds expression in repeatedly impetuous and rash behavior.

• So many key scenes in the Bible are associated with trees—Gideon under the oak, Deborah at the palm, Jael near the oak tree of Zaanannim, Saul here at the pomegranate tree. It all begins, of course, with the two trees in Eden and their forking destinies. And it’s all leading, in the end, back to the Tree of Life. To redemption. Renewal. A redo.

• The two cliffs that feature in this story, Bozez and Seneh, are located in the ravine between Gibeah and Michmash. Snaking from west to east, today it’s known as Wadi Al-Makuk. Here’s a photo of the probable location of Jonathan’s descent and ascent. The cliff on the left in the foregrand is Bozez; on the right is Seneh. He would have climbed down on the right in this photo and up on the left. (I freaked out when I found this photo. So cool to be able to picture them here.)

  

  Bozez & Seneh

• The larger-scale victory against the Philistines is enabled for the most part by Yahweh turning the soldiers on one another, killing each other by means of friendly fire. Have you noticed how often God does this for Israel? Time and again, He saves his people from so much of the effort of fighting their enemies. Part of this is certainly to keep them from misappropriating the credit for their victories. But I wonder if some of it isn’t to guard them from the trauma of so much killing. He’s just a God of power, but of kindness and concern.

• Before spending creating this episode, I’d never been struck by how much longing Jonathan must have been carrying around for a full-on, nothing-between-us partnership with his dad. They did some amazing stuff together, but Saul’s misshapen faith was always in the way. I hate that for Jonathan. But I loved imagining the future at the end of this episode—a future not at all lacking in exhilirating partnership, where Jonathan will be able, finally, to reign in a way he never got to in Israel.

Take a Listen

I hope you’re blessed by this episode. And I hope we all find ourselves inspired by Jonathan to get into a little more holy mischief with our Father. Check it out and share it with someone who likes good stories.

Have you already listened? I’d love to hear your impressions. Reply and let me know if you think I got Jonathan right.

South Africa Lately

My family and I have been living in South Africa since January and finally got a chance to venture out of Cape Town—we took our youngest (a huge fan of elephants) on a safari for her 13th birthday and she loved it. On the way, we stopped in South African wine country at town called Stellenbosh. What a beautiful place this is.

At the aptly named Postcard Cafe in Stellenbosh

Our daughter’s face as we approach the elephants :)

Great trip; good to be back in Cape Town.

My favorite animal on the safari was probably the cheetah, but maybe the oryx—those things are magnificent. Speaking of oryx, here’s a bit of HGS trivia: in what episode does a white oryx feature? 50 points if you know.

4 Cool Things

Chibi Unity - Cool dancing using shadow and light? That’s at least three of my favorite things. (Thanks, Michael!)

Letters of Note - Been digging this substack newsletter lately. Interesting letters from history (and the present), often short and grouped according to theme. (Like this edition: all letters refusing invitations of various kinds.)

Slime Mold Photos - I present the beauty of slime molds as Exhibit 427,826 in the case for the unnecessariness of creation (to borrow a phrase from Robert Capon). “To a radically, perpetually unnecessary world. God is eccentric. He has loves, not reasons. Salute!” Indeed.

Look to Love, the podcast - I know a lot of you have read J.L. Gerhardt’s new book, Look to Love: A Better Way to Read the Bible. What you may not know is that she’s been quietly publishing an excellent podcast, putting into practice the approach to Scripture she proposes in her book. One 20-minute episode weekly—very much worth your time.

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That’s the latest! Be sure to check out “The King and the Prince” and share it if it blesses you.

Gratefully,
Justin

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