Text: 2nd Samuel 23:8-39 (NASB)
Introduction: These men were real people. They are not fictitious characters. These are real lives that are being portrayed. These Men were David’s Mighty Men. True: It is never WHAT you know, but rather WHO you know that makes the difference. But even more than that, it is not only WHO you know, but more importantly, WHO knows YOU.
Matthew 7:21-23 (AMP) & (NLT)
John 10:25-27 (NASB)
To be known as one of David’s mighty men was one of the greatest honours a man of that time could have. The same is true today. For one to be known as a mighty man of faith in the Lord Jesus - or to be known as a Christian is the greatest honour and privilege that one can have in this life!
The lives of these great men are worth studying. Two entire chapters in the Bible were written in their honour: 2nd Samuel 23 and 1st Chronicles 11. These verses tell of some of the exploits that the special corps of David’s army carried out. There were two elite groups of men: “the Thirty” and “the Three.” To become a member of such a group a man had to show unparalleled courage in battle as well as wisdom in leadership. “The Three” was the most elite group. The list of “the Thirty” actually contains 37 names, but it mentions some warriors known to be dead (Uriah, for example). Apparently, new members were appointed to replace those who had fallen in battle.
These Mighty men were divided into THREE sets. The Mightiest (Adino, Eleazar, and Shammah). The Three of the Thirty (Abishai, Benaiah, and then Asahel). The Thirty (Including Uriah the Hittite, 23:39). They all were different than the rest of the armies of Israel, and all the rest of the Jews. Something made them special.
This morning we will examine the top six men called Mighty. Note, we are examining the lives of these men to learn their secret, so that we can ourselves be known by our Captain as MIGHTY! Let us examine the secrets of David’s Mighty men.
I. The three mightiest men. (Vv. 8-12)
A. Adino (V. 8)
1. Ready & Prepared
2. Always ready to do the Impossible!
a) A great quality.
b) David knew Adino could handle any situation, and it would never overwhelm him!
c) He was always prepared for the fight.
d) Constantly in training.
e) Adino, according to most Bible scholars was a special whiz who could figure or fight his way out of any situation!
3. Slew 800 Philistines at one time (23:8) No one came to help him
4. Slew 300 at another time (2nd Chronicles 11:11) All by himself!
5. David himself possessed this same quality.
a) Always ready to handle situations, all by himself.
(1) Lion
(2) Bear
(3) Giant
B. Eleazar (V. 9, 10)
1. Determined
2. No matter what the odds, he was going to fight, and not run!
a) God can even use the son of "a Dodo"
b) He Defied and Challenged the enemy, not running from them.
c) Lots of guts, little brains (10,000 to 1)!
d) He Arose - Didn’t just "talk" about what he was going to do.
e) He got up and did it!
f) Found himself ALONE!
g) He says, "Let’s go boys," and heads into the battle, and then looks around and says, where did everybody go?
h) Then determines to go ahead and fight, says "I’ll have to now!"
i) PRINCIPLE: You know what, since you are saved, why don’t you just get all the way IN today!
j) Just get all the way IN to living for Christ, and quit living "on the fence."
3. Found Strength beyond himself!
4. Exhausted ALL his strength!
a) God gave you health for His work! Use it!
b) 2nd Corinthians 12:8-10 (NASB)
(1) God takes over after you have exhausted everything of your own strength.
(2) In verse 10 of our text, he truly wanted to stop and give up, but his sword and his hand were now inseparable!
(3) That’s how God wants the word of God to be in your life - to get you to the point where you may be weary and worn, but the word of God just keeps working through you, and winning the victory in the lives of sinners getting saved, and marriages getting back together!
(4) And then God steps in, and works a GREAT victory!
(5) God always does GREAT things with LITTLE things.
(6) Here, a sword (what Eleazar had).
(7) With Moses, a rod (Ex 4:2-4),
(8) With Jesus, five loaves and two fishes (Mark 6:38)!
(9) God is interested in using what we have and doing great things with them!
(10) EX: our jobs, talents, children, our bodies, our money, our careers.
(11) And then everybody notices, and wants in on the spoil - Jump on the bandwagon. Everybody else (claiming to be in the battle, yet always running away from the fight) comes back and reaps the blessings of those who stayed at it - those who didn’t quit! Which are you?
C. Shammah (Vv.11,12)
1. Purposed
a) He knew what was at stake in the battle!
b) Didn’t fight for fun.
c) Took responsibility for God’s Pea patch, and stood his ground!
d) Risking his life for a lousy field of lentil peas!
e) It wasn’t his, and yet it was, because the Philistines threatened all pea patches, and all of Israel, if they were allowed to start taking what was not theirs to begin with!
f) And he did it alone - just like the other two mighty men.
g) You had better be willing to enter into the spiritual warfare by yourself, and not wait on ALL the other Christians.
h) Cause most of them are not going to come!
i) He STOOD, proud, and valiant, and defended it!
j) Because of the principle at stake! And, the Lord wrought a great victory through someone who saw the challenge and rose to it!
k) PRINCIPLE: Don’t compromise over the little things.
l) The devil knows that if he could take away the seemingly insignificant things (the little pea patches) that God gave you to protect, he can then back you into a wall over the big things - like the Blood, the Book, and the Blessed Hope!!! The freedom to preach on the street, to witness door to door! You need to determine like Shammah, that if the devil wants my ground, then he’s in for a fight!!!
m) Now, you’ve seen The Three Mightiest (Adino, Eleazar, and Shammah), learn from the next three:
II. The Three of the Thirty - Mightier than the thirty, but not as great as the first three (Vv. 12-24).
A. Abishai (Vv. 18,19)
1. Fearless –
a) Took after Adino.
b) Didn’t consider what could happen to him, He just had himself a real Bible hero to strive to be like!
c) Remember, Adino also had a hero - David (slew his 10,000’s)
B. Benaiah (Vv. 20-23)
1. Obedient
a) Did the things that no one else wanted to do: like slay Joab (2nd Kings 2:28-34), like be like his daddy (while everyone else wants to be his own man)!
b) Followed in his father’s footsteps.
c) Dad, are you being an example for your family to follow?
d) Not only patterned his life after his father, but also after his king - David!
2. Slew two lions like men.
3. Got into unusual situations, and still handled them right!
4. Slew a lion while trapped with it in a pit during winter when the lion was most desperate! Tough dude!
5. Notice, he is always getting into it with lions, like David!
6. He saw that David could handle it, so why couldn’t he?
7. This is the best! Slew an Egyptian.
8. NOTE: Benaiah went right up to his enemy with a shepherds staff (not a normal fighting tool, but again, whatever he had available - God can use ANYTHING) and "plucked" the Egyptian’s spear right out of his hands and slew the Egyptian with his own spear.
9. Just like David, who was his hero!
C. Asahel
1. Substitution
2. Asahel was a great man, but someone else’s name should have been here. (Vv. 18, 24, 37). Where’s Joab?
a) 1st Kings 1:5-7 (NASB)
3. Asahel got into the list because someone "fell out."
a) What happened to Joab?
b) He had his own agenda.
c) Great leadership requires submission.
d) Joab, the great military leader, had two brothers who were also famous soldiers: Abishai and Asahel.
e) Joab proved to be the greatest leader of the three and was the commander of David’s army throughout most of David’s reign.
f) There is no record that his troops ever lost a battle.
g) Joab was a fearless fighter like his brothers.
h) Unlike them, he was also a brilliant and ruthless strategist.
i) His plans usually worked, but he was seldom concerned about those hurt or killed by them.
j) He did not hesitate to use treachery or murder to achieve his goals.
k) His career is a story of great accomplishments and shameful acts.
l) He conquered Jerusalem and the surrounding nations, defeated Abner, and reconciled Absalom and David.
m) But he also murdered Abner, Amasa, and Absalom, took part in Uriah’s murder, and plotted with Adonijah against Solomon.
n) That plot led to his execution.
o) Joab set his own standards—he lived by them and died because of them.
p) There is little evidence that Joab ever acknowledged God’s standards.
q) On one occasion he confronted David about the danger of taking a census without God’s command, but this may have been little more than a move to protect himself.
r) Joab’s self-centeredness eventually destroyed him.
s) He was loyal only to himself, even willing to betray his lifelong relationship with David to preserve his power.
t) Joab’s life illustrates the disastrous results of having no source of direction outside oneself.
u) Brilliance and power are self-destructive without submission and without God’s guidance.
v) Only God can give the direction we need.
w) For that reason, he has made available his Word, the Bible, and he is willing to be personally present in the lives of those who admit their need for him.
Conclusion: You know that we are in a battle. The problem is that we are not prepared for it. We are not striving to become mighty men! Mighty men of faith, of victories over sin. We not only need the armour of God, we need people of God who put it on, and fight the good fight like mighty men. We’ve seen the examples:
o Adino - Ready and Prepared to do the impossible
o Eleazar - Determined, no matter what the odds, he was going to fight, and not run!
o Shammah - Purposed. He knew what was at stake in the battle, and was willing to put his life on the line!
o Abishai - Fearless. Just wanted to handle the situation he found himself in just like his hero Adino did. No fear, just courage!
o Benaiah - Obedient. He decided that the path to greatness was in submission.
I believe that God today wants a new list of Jesus’ mighty men! And one day He will call it out - At the Judgment Seat of Christ, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." The problem is that God wants special men and women, who are different than normal religion, but who strive for Bible greatness, not in the world’s eyes, but rather only in God’s eyes. We need revival. And Revival is going to come when enough of us get tired of being like the rest of religion (lethargic), and rise up and engage our enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil) in the battle, and fight like these mighty men!
Are you going to join the ranks, or "fall out" like Joab because you have your own agenda? Examine your heart, and purpose of life. Desire to be a leader in God’s army and learn what it takes to be a part of the few, the proud, a Bible practicing Christian.
