Ⅲ
Jonathan loved David, made a covenant with him, and predicted that David would become the king and that the kingdom would be his kingdom—1 Sam. 18:1-4; 19:1-7; 20:8, 14-17, 41-42; 23:16-18:
A
Saul's intention was to preserve the kingdom for Jonathan; however, Jonathan was not willing to take the kingdom but recognized that David should be on the throne.
B
Jonathan should have told his father about this and then should have left his father to be with David; in typology, for Jonathan to follow David would have signified our following Christ today and our giving Him the preeminence—Col. 1:18b; Rev. 2:4.
C
Jonathan lost the proper and adequate enjoyment of his portion in the good land promised by God because of his failure in not following David according to God's will due to his natural affection for his father; although Jonathan realized that David would be king, he stayed with his father, and as a tragic result, he suffered the same fate as his father and died with him in battle—1 Sam. 31:2-6.
D
Jonathan stood between Saul and David; he was one man standing between two ministries; he should have followed the second ministry, but because his relationship with the first ministry was too deep, he could not disentangle himself:
１
In every age the Lord has special things that He wants to accomplish; He has His own recoveries and His own works to do; the particular recovery and work that He does in one age is the ministry of that age—cf. Gen. 6:13-14.
２
David was a minister of his age with the ministry of that age (Acts 13:21-22, 36a); in the Old Testament, Noah had the ministry of that age to build the ark, Moses had the ministry of that age to build the tabernacle, and David and Solomon had the ministry of that age to build the temple.
３
A minister of the age with the ministry of the age is different from the local ministers; Luther was a minister of his age, and Darby was also a minister of his age; in order to catch up with the ministry of this present age, there is the need for us to see the vision; Michal was married to David, yet she did not see anything; she only saw David's outward condition, and she could not tolerate it; as a result, she was left behind—2 Sam. 6:16, 20-23.
４
In the New Testament, the ministry of the Lord Jesus is to build up the church as the Body of Christ (Matt. 16:18); the many gifted persons produced in the Lord's ascension have only one ministry, that is, to minister Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ, the church; this building up is not accomplished directly by the gifted ones but by the saints who have been perfected by the gifted ones (Eph. 4:11-12, 16).
５
In God's building ministry there are those who take the lead in that ministry in every age; may the Lord open our eyes to see that as long as we are human beings, we should be Christians; as long as we are Christians, we should enter into the Lord's ministry in this age.
６
It is God's mercy that a person can see and come into contact with the ministry of the age, yet it is altogether a different thing for a person to take up the courage to forsake past ministries and enter into God's present ministry—cf. 1 Sam. 14:1-46; 2 Sam. 6:16, 20-23.
７
The ministry of the age ministers the present truth to God's people; in 2 Peter 1:12 the present truth can also be rendered "the up-to-date truth"; every worker of the Lord should inquire before God as to what the present truth is—Matt. 16:18; Eph. 4:15-16; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-29; 3:5, 12, 21; Psa. 48:2; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2.
Morning Nourishment
Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.Acts 13:36 Now David, having served his own generation by the counsel of God…
Eph. 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.
Jonathan loved David, covenanted with him, and predicted that he would be the second in David’s kingdom when David would be the king (1 Sam. 18:1-4; 19:1-7; 20:8, 14-17, 41-42; 23:16-18). Saul’s intention was to preserve the kingdom for Jonathan. However, Jonathan was not willing to take the kingdom but recognized that David should be on the throne. Jonathan should have told his father about this and then should have left his father to be with David. In typology, for Jonathan to follow David would have signified our following Christ today and our giving Him the preeminence.
Jonathan realized that David would be the king, but instead of going to follow David, Jonathan stayed with his father because of his natural affection toward his father. Because Jonathan would not leave his father, he suffered the same fate as his father and died with him in the battle. Jonathan lost the proper and adequate enjoyment of his portion in the good land promised by God because of his failure in not following David according to God’s will due to his natural affection toward his father. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 129)
Today’s Reading
In every age there is the ministry of that age. These ministries of the ages are different from the local ministers. Luther was a minister of his age. Darby was also a minister of his age. In every age the Lord has special things that He wants to accomplish. He has His own recoveries and His own works to do. The particular recovery and work that He does in one age is the ministry of that age.Jonathan stood between Saul and David. He was one man standing between two ministries. He should have followed the second ministry. However, because Jonathan’s relationship with the first ministry was too deep, he could not disentangle himself. In order to catch up with the ministry of the age, there is the need for us to see the vision. Michal was married to David, yet she did not see anything. She saw only David’s condition before God, and she could not tolerate it. As a result, she was left behind (2 Sam. 6:16, 20-23).
It is God’s mercy that a person can see and come into contact with the ministry of that age. Yet it is altogether a different thing for a man to take up the courage to forsake the past ministry…. Whether or not one can set aside his past ministry is entirely up to God’s mercy. (CWWN, vol. 57, pp. 260-261)
During the age of David and Solomon, God desired to build the temple…. At that time there were not two different ministries building the temple; hence, there were not two different leaderships. In David’s age it was David who was taking the lead. After David…, Solomon was the one taking the lead.
The first one who participated in the ministry of building the church was the Lord Jesus [Matt. 16:181. The Lord’s ministry was to build up the Body of Christ. For this He chose twelve apostles and brought them into the ministry of building the church.
It stands to reason that in this age also there should be the continuation of the Lord’s ministry. We cannot deny that on the earth today there is the Lord’s building. May the Lord open our eyes to see that as long as we are human beings, we should be Christians; as long as we are Christians, we should enter into the Lord’s ministry in this age. (CWWL, 1987, vol. 2, “Words of Training for the New Way,” pp. 99-100)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 57, ch. 25; CWWL, 1987, vol. 2, “Words of Training for the New Way,” ch. 2