Jonathan's Armour Bearer Wonders: "Will They Postpone COP26?" (I Samuel 13 & 14)
Climate Bible Study: May 2021
Jonathan and his armor bearer climb toward a Philistine position. (Drawing from “The Story of the Bible,” Charles Foster)
“[COP26] is the most important climate summit since the landmark Paris Agreement was agreed at COP21 in 2015,” so declares the influential UK-based NGO, Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). That certainly was the sentiment in April of 2020 as we anticipated COP26 scheduled for November 2020. By the end of that month though, because of the risks and uncertainties of COVID-19, the UNFCCC and the COP hosts (UK and Italy) announced that the summit would be postponed until November 2021. “Now, though,” as ECIU reports, “as Covid-19 is still very much with us, the question has been raised again as to whether COP26 can go ahead in November, and in what form.” ECIU provides a good analysis of the pros and cons of four options: an in-person COP26 as scheduled, a hybrid—partly online COP, a totally on-line COP, or a (once again) postponed COP.
I went looking in Scripture for a story that would speak to us about how to engage uncertainty when the stakes are high. Either COP26 is the “most important climate summit” or it isn’t. How do we move forward, not only with our planning but also with our passions, when there might not even be a COP26 this year, or at least not one where the “cons” list doesn’t make the climate challenge just that much more challenging. I think I have found a helpful story with Jonathon (King Saul’s son) and his armour bearer as they climb a thorny and exposed path to engage their oppressors (I Samuel 13-14). “Perhaps the Lord will help us.”
The key to understanding Jonathan’s faith and courage in chapter 14, is to do your accounting thoroughly in chapter 13. The opposing army of the Philistines was comprised of “3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers, and as many warriors as the grains of sand on the seashore!” They occupied the high ground at Micmash. Saul’s men “were trembling with fear” and began to desert en masse, dwindling from an original 3,000 to a final 600. The author of this account mentions one final detail: since the Philistine occupiers had outlawed blacksmithery in Israel, “on the day of the battle none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan.” And we’ll point out a detail in chapter 13 particularly salient for Jonathan: because of Saul’s disobedience regarding the handling of the sacrifices, Samuel had pronounced “But now your kingdom must end.” Jonathan was the heir of a dynasty that had now been cursed by God himself.
So, what’s going to happen? Let’s go find out, says Jonathan to his armour bearer as they sneak out of camp. He concocts a plan. “We will cross over and let them see us. If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then we will stop and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up. That will be the Lord’s sign that he will help us defeat them.”
At this point, I am once again puzzled, as I often am as a modern reader of Scripture, how Jonathan knew that this was a sign that God himself would sign off on. Instead, I am more intrigued by what Jonathan had just said earlier to his armour bearer: “Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans. Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!” The stakes are already high for COP26. The pro/con lists for its various forms makes it even higher. In the face of the high stakes uncertainty, here’s what I choose to believe:
“The Lord can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!” COP26 as an event is not as important as the work that COP26 is meant to accomplish, and God can see that work to completion whether the human resources available to him are many or few.
“For nothing can hinder the Lord.” Not even a global pandemic.
“Perhaps the Lord will help us.” God is gracious, and compassionate, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness. In the face of high stakes uncertainty, we focus on the character of God and meditate on his inclinations. Jonathan considered his own dynastic curse and nonetheless concluded, “Perhaps the Lord will help us.” Over a thousand years later, the Apostle Paul would claim that “while we were still sinners,” nonetheless “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us.” The inclinations of God are always for our help, and thus every fraught situation is accompanied by a great Perhaps.
“Let us go across to the outpost.” High stakes uncertainty need not result in paralysis. Sure, Jonathan and his armour bearer had to wait ever as much as their compatriots, but they didn’t spend that time hiding out in the caves trembling with fear. Instead, they went to become front row witnesses to what God would (or would not) do. The climb wasn’t easy. The two rocky cliffs that formed the pass at Micmash were called Bozez and Seneh, literally “shining” (so likely “exposed to the sun”) and “thorny.”
In the end, you can read in the remainder of I Samuel 14 the outcome of their adventure, and the victory that God gave Israel. (God even tossed in an earthquake for good measure.) We have no guarantee that COP26’s story will be parallel, but perhaps. Two other news stories about COP26 broke this week. In the one, COP26 president, Alok Sharma, renewed his call for an in-person COP and is promoting plans to vaccinate the 30,000 delegates and observers would normally attend such an event, while taking additional measures to safeguard our Glaswegian hosts. In the second, Pope Francis renewed his previous announcement: he hopes to visit an in-person COP26 in November.
Consequently, I’m identifying with the character of the armour bearer in this story from I Samuel. Like he said to Jonathan, I’ll say to Mr. Sharma and his Holy Father: when it comes to your desire for an in-person COP among the four options, when it comes to doing the hard work to make that a safe, wise, and viable option: “Do what you think is best. I’m with you completely” in my prayers.
You are very dear to God,
Lowell Bliss
On behalf of the Climate Intercessors leadership team