Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

powers fresh and free for an opposite course.
Saul's efforts to reassemble the people failed. With his force
reduced to six hundred men, he retreated to the fortress at Geba on
the south side of a deep, rugged gorge a few miles north of
Jerusalem. The Philistine force had encamped at Michmash on the
north side of the valley and were sending troops out in different
directions to destroy the country.
Jonathan, the King's Son, Is Honored
God had permitted a crisis in order to rebuke Saul and teach
His people a lesson of humility and faith. Because of Saul's sin in
offering the sacrifice himself, the Lord would not give him the
honor of defeating the Philistines. Jonathan, the king's son, who
respected the Lord, was chosen. Moved by a divine impulse, he
suggested a plan to his armor-bearer that they make a secret attack
on the enemy's camp. "It may be," he urged, "that the Lord will
work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or
by few."
The armor-bearer, also a man of faith and prayer, encouraged
the idea. Together they left the camp secretly to avoid opposition.
With earnest prayer to the Guide of Israel, they agreed on a sign to
help them know how to proceed. Going down into the gorge
separating the two armies, they silently threaded their way under the
cliff, partially hidden by the ridges of the valley. Approaching the
fortress they came in sight of their enemies, who taunted them:
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