Gospel Reflections #957: Covenant and friendship forged before God over ‘blood ties’

1 Samuel 20:30 But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him. Then Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David.

This is a dramatic scene depicting King Saul’s fierce determination to kill David and the desperate rift with his son Jonathan, who stood against him.

Saul flew into a rage when Jonathan defended David’s absence from the New Moon feast.

Saul had tried to persuade Jonathan that his claim to the throne would remain unstable as long as David lived, but when Jonathan asserted David’s legitimacy, Saul resorted to the violent act of hurling a spear. 

Until then, Saul had at times temporarily suppressed his murderous intent towards David, or remained ambiguous in Jonathan’s presence.

However, the fact that he hurled a spear even at his own son proved that he had completely lost his reason and that his resolve to kill David was now unshakeable.

Until then, Jonathan had been half-convinced that his father Saul was plotting to kill David, telling David, ‘My father would never do such a thing.’

However, having been targeted by a spear himself, he realised first-hand that David’s claims had been true.

This incident brought the father-son relationship between Jonathan and Saul to a point of no return.

Jonathan was deeply angered by his father’s unjust wrath and chose to help David escape in order to protect his friend.

This demonstrates Jonathan’s stance of faith, prioritising the ‘covenant and friendship’ forged before God over ‘blood ties’. 

God sees everything about us.

He does not leave things as they are, but brings them to light.

At such times, no matter how shocking the situation may be, if we can see God watching over us from behind the scenes, we too will be led to make choices like Jonathan’s.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.