"Mighty Men"
2 Samuel 23:8-17
'These are the names of David's mighty men:
Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised
his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.
Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the
three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines
gathered for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood
his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired
and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that
day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead.
Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines
banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils,
Israel's troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the
middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down,
and the LORD brought about a great victory. During harvest time,
three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of
Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of
Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the
Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and
said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well
near the gate of Bethlehem!" So the three mighty men broke through
the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of
Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it;
instead, he poured it out before the LORD. "Far be it from me, O
LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at
the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it. Such were
the exploits of the three mighty men.'
It's so easy to read over a passage like this one from the second
book of Samuel and not stop to grasp the tremendous feats that are
so often described in the Old Testament. Take for example
Josheb-Basshebeth who was able to kill EIGHT HUNDRED enemy soldiers
in one encounter - with a spear! Think about it - one man against
eight hundred trained soldiers. Unlike the other two mighty men,
where we are told that the LORD brought about a great victory,
Josheb-Basshebeth apparently accomplished this feat without the
LORD's intervention. Think about just how superior he must have
been over his enemies. What if it were you against eight hundred
others? Could you, for example, fight off 800 twelve year olds
without succombing? How about ten year olds? I venture to say that
I wouldn't feel confident unless they were about six years old!
What kind of training must Josheb-Basshebeth have gone through to
prepare for such a battle? Night and day, for years, honing his
skills, offensive and defensive, preparing to defend his king,
David. We can apply this to our lives today. God is calling us to
be mighty men in witnessing to a non-Christian world. We are not
being called to slay unbelievers until our hand is frozen to the
sword. Rather, we are being called to be tireless in our quest to
win the world to Christ. As the bible tells us in 1 Peter 3:15,
'Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect.' We must train as though mighty men to
be equipped to save a lost and searching world. How does one train
for the great commandment found in Matthew 28:18-20 ("Then Jesus
came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you." ? The best way is to memorize scripture - such that it
becomes second nature. The other primary training exercise is
putting on the full armor of God, as described in Ephesians Chapter
6: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against
the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so
that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm
then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition
to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers
and requests.
Amen.
This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page