1 Samuel 14:9
If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them. If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.
Jonathan, who feared the Lord, and his armor-bearer, a man of faith and prayer, acted on a divine impulse and withdrew secretly from the Israelite camp so they would not be opposed. God moved the two men to go because Saul had forfeited the honor of commanding Israel by his presumptuous offering, so that His own name would be magnified and Israel would not credit victory to their own righteousness, valor, or wisdom. They went down into the gorge between Geba and Michmash, under the shadow of cliffs and ridges toward the Philistine fortress, where the enemy taunted them as Hebrews coming out of holes and threatened them with punishment. The verse records the negative half of the sign they set to learn whether God would prosper a secret attack: if the Philistines told them to wait where they were, they would stand still in their place and not climb up to them.
The opposite response, a challenge to come up, was the agreed evidence that the Lord would work for them, so they took it as the token of success and made their way by a secret, difficult path to a cliff deemed inaccessible and weakly guarded to begin Israel's deliverance. The plan was not presumptuous or dependent on their own strength; after earnest prayer they sought God's counsel and left the outcome in His hands, then moved forward fearlessly trusting in Him alone. Their plan expressed faith that God was able to work for them and to save and deliver Israel by few as well as by many. Through these two men God subdued the Philistines and delivered Israel for His own name's glory. God sent angels to protect and shield Jonathan and his armor-bearer from death and to fight by Jonathan's side, so that fear seized the Philistine host, the earth trembled, and the Philistines turned and slaughtered one another.