2 Samuel 23:8-12

Our text tonight, 2 Samuel 23 verses 8 to 12. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had. The Tecmanite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains. Same was Adeno, as knight. He lifted up his spear against 800, whom he slew at one time. and after him was Elieazar, the son of Dodo, the O’Holite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away. And he arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, his hand clave under the sword, and the Lord brought a great place. victory that day, and the people returned after him only to spoil. And after him was Shama, the son of Egi, the Hararite, and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop. There was a piece of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines, and the Lord wrought a great victory. May God bless to us his sacred and holy word this evening. Martin Luther once recounted a story about a man named Themistocles. He was a soldier. He was a statesman who commanded the Athenian squadron. And through his brilliant strategy, he won the Battle of Salmanus, drove the Persian army from Greek soil and saved the city. A few years. later, however, he fell out of favor and was ostracized by his countrymen and banished from the city that he saved. The Mystocles did much good for Greece, but sadly he was forgotten. The people didn’t remember the role that he played as a hero, and it’s a sad case. God carefully recognizes those who help to maintain and expand his kingdom under David as we see in this section of scripture. The rest of this chapter provides us information about David’s mighty men who fought for his kingdom, God’s king and God’s kingdom, and were given an everlasting tribute in the scriptures as we see in our text tonight. Scan attention is often paid by believers when they read through this section of scripture and perhaps they’re not always sure how to to apply it. Even many commentators are nearly silent here upon this list. People find it difficult to clean much that will be useful to their soul from it. However, we know that there’s nothing meaningless in scripture and all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it is probably profitable for us and therefore we need to consider what is useful or beneficial from this passage tonight. We should remember that what is done literally and physically in the Old Testament often provides a type of what is done spiritually in the New Testament. And for this reason, we find all sorts of military expressions are used in the New Testament. like fight the good fight of faith, or put on the whole armor of God, or perhaps the wielding of the sword of the spirit, things of this nature, as examples. So to spiritually benefit from this passage, I think you have to transfer the teaching about these mighty men to the heroes of the faith in the New Testament and see if indeed we can, gain some practical benefit from this passage of Scripture tonight. Let me draw a few conclusions here as we look at this text. When God calls you to perform a special service for his kingdom, he raises up people to help you. And we see at verse 24 that these are the names of the mighty men whom David had. When God called David to be king over Israel, and to advance his kingdom, he raised up people to support his cause and to strengthen David’s hand. David would never have won the battles that he did, would never have subdued the mighty enemies that he had, unless Providence had supplied him with loyal and conscientious men who fought on his behalf and aided him. The breakdown of this passage is quite simple. We have a special trio of heroes that we see in verses 8 to 12, A Dino in verse 8, a liaison are here in verses 9 and 10, Shama in verses 11 and 12. Then we have a second trio of heroes, not quite on the same level as the first group, verses 13 to 23. One is unnamed, verses 13 to 17. Then we have a Bishai, versus 13. 18 and 19 and Beniah, verses 20 to 23. And then we have an extended list of heroes in verses 34 to 39, 31 names in all. This list would grow as well as diminish when some of them died. And as First Chronicles Chapter 11 seems to indicate there were others that were either added to the list or may have been subtracted from the list. Well, these men came to David and remember when his fortunes were bleak, when he was in flight for his life from King Saul, when he had nothing but the reputation of an outlaw and a rebel at the time. But God moved these men to join with David, and they remained faithful to him throughout all his days. And weary of the men. evil rule of King Saul. They sought out God’s righteous king, whom God had had anointed to be the true king of Israel, and served country and God in this manner. And though, as we shall see, it entailed great risks to serve David here and God’s kingdom, they eventually were rewarded and honors were shared with David when he came into power. Now in the New Testament, when the Apostle Paul, who was especially called to expand the kingdom of God, went and involved himself in the missionary work, we find God raised up helpers for him as well. God raised up Barnabas and Silas and Titus and John Mark and Timothy and so forth to support him. To support him in his work. Paul would speak of his fellow workers, his fellow helpers, his fellow laborers, his fellow soldiers throughout the epistles that he wrote. During the Reformation, God raised up people to support and aid the work of Luther and Kelvin. It’s rare for God’s servant not to have someone raised up to help them in the work. and in the service of Christ. Pastors are normally given other elders to encourage them and help them in the work and to share the burden of the church labor. Christian authors often find that God raises up someone to financially aid them in the printing of the book that they write. Missionaries find that God moves churches and individuals to help support them. in their endeavors on the foreign field. I’ve been amazed at times as the way God has moved people to support this particular church financially. There are people in Colorado who have never visited our church, and I’ve never met them. They came out of the blue over decade ago, and they’ve been praying and sending support to this church ever since. And this must be attributed to God. God’s work or God’s hand on our behalf, for I never contacted them. They contacted me and asked if they could support the church. Of course, I wasn’t about to say, no, you can’t. And so God, you know, provided help in this way. They were looking for a reformed Baptist church to help. So when God calls you to perform a special service for his kingdom, he raises up people to help, and we see that with David with these mighty men. Now, secondly tonight, no. Notice that God often raises up mighty men to advance the cause of his kingdom. And we see this in verses 8 to 12. The three mighty men who stood above the rest are mentioned here. And the first section of this scripture, the trio of men, Dino, Eliezer, and Shama. They were men endowed by God with extraordinary strength and vow. they remind us, if you read their feats of Samson in many ways, because of their amazing feats. They stood head and shoulders above the rest of the soldiers in David’s army. And they were unequaled. Adino here in verse 8 was the best of the best. He was the chief among the three, top men. He killed 800 men at one time with his spear. Reminds us of Samson with the jawbone of an ass killing a thousand men at one time. Eliezer and Shama refused to yield ground against the heathen Philistines, regardless of the overwhelming odds against them. And all three of these men were capable of taking on hordes of enemy soldiers and winning as we find them. They’re sort of like the three musket. tears taking on hundreds of palace guards and defeating them. They have the ability to do that. Imagine fighting alongside these three mighty men with their bravery and skill. You certainly would want to be alongside one of these guys if you were in battle. If you think about the military, if you were able to fight alongside a congressional medal winner, someone who’s been decorated for their bravery, someone who has been decorated for their bravery, in battle and prove themselves to be strong. That would be a great thing to be right next to that person when you’re fighting. I remember when I was in seminary, there was a man I met. He became one of the sweetmates when I was in the dorm there. His name was Ricky Austin. This guy was built like a bull. He was as strong as one as well. And I was never afraid to go out at night with him because before he was going to, He was in gangs. He was in, you know, he had either the knife fights, chain fights, all this. So whenever we went out in the streets of Arlington, Texas at night, if I was next to him, I wasn’t worried because I figured if anybody tries to do anything, he would step in and save me. So we have this, can you imagine if you were alongside one of these men? These are very powerful men. It had to be something like that. Because these men were illegal. soldiers, amazing display of power and strength here, and they stood above the rest. Now in the New Testament, I’ll direct you attention to the book of Galatians chapter 2 and verses 8 and 9. We read here, Paul writing here, for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James and Cephas, James Cephas and Peter, James Cephas and Peter, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me. They gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship that we should go to the heathen, and they should go under the circumcision. Now in the New Testament, if we start looking at the soldiers of Christ, Peter, James, and John certainly stood out, did they not? And they’re called in this passage of Scripture, pillars. who seem to be pillars here. The word means a column that supports the weight of a building. You can imagine these individuals were bearing the main responsibility of upholding Christ’s church, the house of God. They were exceptional men in the early church. Just as Adino was chief among the captains, there’s a sense in which Peter and Paul Paul here stood out as chief here among the apostles, as verse 8 of Galatians 2 indicates. These two men displayed unusual bravery for the cause of Christ. Peter, remember, on the day of Pentecost, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, being the main speaker and leader of the Jews. He was a standout in this issue. Paul, a special spokesman of God. An apostle. called out a due time, and yet the apostle of the Gentiles going out to preach the gospel to those or in the heathen Roman Empire. These men were enriched with spiritual wisdom and strength to stand for Christ and pull down the strongholds of Satan. These people could wield the sword of the scripture, which is the sword of the spirit, the sword of the spirit, the pierced men’s heart of the spirit. hearts in a special life. And God provides a great variety of spiritual gifts and abilities for his people. Not all are gifted alike, but certainly we see in the case of these men that are mentioned here, these five in particular, they stand out, don’t they? They stand out. Some are specially gifted to lead the people of God and advance the kingdom. of God on earth, some spiritual Samson’s. Where would the church be without our Luthers or our Calvins or our Owens or Owens or Edwards or our Gills or Hodges or Spurgeons or Bonars or and so forth? God raises up special men at times to lead and to guide his church. Now, you and I may never obtain such greatness as these men have. but we serve in the spiritual capacity that we have been granted and pray for those who serve on the front lines who are, as we sometimes say, in the tip of the spear and dealing with the enemy and advancing the kingdom of God. So God often raises up great men to advance the cause of his kingdom. Thirdly tonight, there are times when you must stand alone against the enemies of God’s kingdom. In verses 9 to 12, we have the story here of Elie Azar and Shama. Both of these events demonstrated tremendous courage to stand alone and turn the tide against overwhelming odds as they stood there when everybody else left and kept fighting. When the Army of Israel retreated before the enemy, Elie Azar and Shama just kept fighting. fighting and cutting down the Philistines. They were like one-man armies putting the enemy to flight in this case. Only after they had beat down the enemy in many ways, did the other cowardly Israelites decide they were going to come back and take care of the spoil. Only then did they rejoin them to complete the route of the Philistines. What is recorded here? here makes you think, at least in my thinking of the Apostle Paul, and we find he repeatedly had to stand alone. Yet he never let the defection of others be an excuse for giving up on his own efforts. He says in 2 Timothy 115, This thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me. here he is. He’s having to stand before Caesar given account of his preaching. He’s being accused of basically the insurrection. And being one of those troublemakers in the Roman Empire. Later in the same letter, he writes this, that my first answer, meaning before Caesar, no man stood with me, but all forsook me. I pray God that, it may not be laid to their charge. What Paul goes on to say is notwithstanding, the Lord stood by me and gave me strength to testify before Caesar in 2 Timothy 4, 16, and 17. We can’t control what others do, but you can control what you do. The fact that others run away from duty does not permit you and I to run away from our duty to Christ. And we have to realize that there are times we may have to stand alone if necessary to preserve the truth. We might have to be in Elijah and we’re up there against 450 prophets of bail on Mount Carmel. Who knows, however, what you may accomplish for Christ. Who knows what? but your bravery may cause others to return and start fighting along with you. A young Martin Luther went to a respected leader of the Roman Catholic Church when he was a monk and he told him what he had discovered in his scriptures. And the old gentleman told him, my brother, go back to your room and keep your thoughts to yourself, serve God, and make no disturbance. I dare say Luther would not have been able to stir up such a reformation with God’s help if he listened to prudent friends and said, just be quiet. We find that he wouldn’t have dared to stand alone. But by the fall of 15, 18, Luther insisted that the only authority in his dispute with the Roman Catholic Church would be the Bible. He didn’t care about the edicts of the popes. He didn’t care about the traditions of the church. If he didn’t find it in the Word of God, he wasn’t going to believe it. And so he began to take on all the falsity that he saw in the church at that time. In the Catholic Church, at the Diet of Worms in 1521, the Roman Catholic’s best theologians were all opposing Luther who had to stand alone, who was by himself. They demanded Luther retract his views or be censored by the church. Luther refused to do this unless he could be convinced by Scripture that he was wrong. And then he said this, here I stand so help me God, I can do no other. One man, one mighty man for the church, stood alone. And he wrought a great victory as we see. Do we dare to stand alone? Because there may be times when we have to stand alone for the cause of Christ and his kingdom. My fourth thought is this. You must persevere in your service for God’s kingdom despite weariness. Now look at verse 10 here of our text back in 2nd Samuel. We’re reading here about Elie Azar. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave under the sword. And the Lord wrought a great victory that day. And the people returned after him only to spoil. Leazar’s hand grew weary. We see Elie Azar didn’t stop. He kept fighting. He didn’t leave his work half done. Bewielded the sword with the strength that he had and he just kept fighting. Even though he was weary. He wasn’t weary of the fighting, but his hand grew weary in the fight. Weary because of the enormous number of the enemy that he had to battle. He cut down scores of the enemy, soldiers, with his death-bearing sword, but the hordes kept coming, and he didn’t want to retreat, so he kept fighting. Weary because nobody helped him. No word of encouragement was provided to spur him on in his efforts. So intense was the battle that his hand became glued. to the sword, the scripture indicates to, so he couldn’t actually put up his sword. I read a story about a Highland Sergeant in the British Army during the Battle of Waterloo against the French. He was heavily engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the front lines, and he was using a basket-handled sword. There was so much blood that had coagulated around his hand that he had to be released by a blacksmith after the battle from the sword. It just clung to his hand. He couldn’t put his sword down. Perhaps something like this happened in this case as well. Eliezer’s hand grew weary. Now the Bible tells us we are not to be weary in well-doing. You live in such a day of ease and comfort that it’s easy to become discourage, and to give up when facing difficulties, but the scriptures says don’t be weary and well-doing, for you shall reap, if you faint not. God always rewards perseverance of faith under extreme difficulties. Lifelong service under great discouragement isn’t easy. Weariness almost always overwhelms us in this case. But the Lord will give you strength equal to the task, but your zeal must not flay. You must never let go or set down the sword of the spirit because you are always engaged in the battle. Cling to the Scripture and use it vigorously against all opposition. It is capable of defeating every foe. So you must persevere in your service for God’s kingdom despite weariness. My fifth point, And my last point is this. You must always look beyond men to the Lord to find the secret of their success for God’s kingdom. Notice verse 10. We read here, he arose and smote the Philistians until his hand was weary, and his sword clave on and his hand clave onto the sword. And notice, and the Lord wrought a great victory that day. And then verse 12, the last phrase, and the Lord wrought a great victory. You must always look beyond men to the Lord to find the secret of their success for the kingdom of God. Sometimes it’s easy to glorify the man. To look at what he has accomplished and think, boy, he must be great. But twice, for emphasis, the scripture indicates to us here, the secret behind the great achievements. Yes, God raises up great men. But the secret of his success is that the Lord brought the victory in all cases. This is not stated to negate the sheer daring and the stubborn courage of these mighty men. Yet behind all this daring courage, behind all this dogged effort, stands the fact that God granted the victory. God worked through these men to bring a body. about great deliverance for Israel. They could do nothing in and of themselves. What a lesson this provides for you and I with regard to any success that we might have. It is the Lord who provides victory. And all praise for victory, then, unto the Lord. Not let the wise man, glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man, glory in his might, nor the rich man, glory, and his riches. In glory, we need to glory in the Lord, as what Scripture says. We should do our work as if all depended on us, and yet look to God alone, knowing that all really depends upon Him. And so it is God, as the Scripture says, who works in you, empowering you by His Spirit, to do anything successful in this life to advance his kingdom on this earth. Well, the Mystocles saved Athens in Greece. He certainly was a hero, but he was soon forgotten and banished from his own city. God, however, carefully recognizes the heroes of the faith who helped maintain and expand his kingdom. In the Old Testament, we have the Mighty Men. In the New Testament, we have the apostles and their companions. Remember, do spiritually benefit from this passage, transfer the physical and the literal, if you would, the fighting of these mighty men into the spiritual fighting of the New Testament error. For you, too, are called to fight the good fight of faith, put on the whole armor of God, and the wield the sword of the spirit. So read this passage, if you would, as a visible, material picture of the invisible, non-material, spiritual realities of the New Testament. Let us close with the word.