The Man Who Could Not Let Go

The Man Who Could Not Let Go

2 Samuel 23:9-10 KJV And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, 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: [10] He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand cleaved unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.

l. INTRODUCTION ¡V FORCED FUSION

-Forced Fusion is something that is produced under very intense heat or under very extreme scientific conditions.

ƒÀ Fuse ¡V To melt, to pour together.

ƒÀ Foundry ¡V A place where metal is melted and poured. It is in this place sometimes that metal is also shaped by very large cast and die processes.

-Comes from the Latin word fundere, to melt. Fusion is something that is melted together as a group or whole. Similar words for fusion: union, merging, alliance, coalescence, coalition. To fuse is to consolidate, link, combine, or to solidify.

ll. THE AREA OF THE TEXT

-We know very little of the full details of this battle that developed other than what we have read. It is cross-referenced in 1 Chronicles 11:12-14.

-These men who surrounded David were those who came into his life at one of his lowest ebbs. They were willing to go without the camp and bear the reproach and to contend earnestly. But this is the stuff that men are made out of. Frankly speaking, they were quite a crowd of degenerates and vermin. They were on the run from the Law and were a shiftless lot.

-What we can understand is that David found himself in the untenable position of being threatened by Israel¡¦s strongest enemy at that time. David had a number of enemies in his life and how he dealt with them all is another whole sermon (or series) in itself. But the facts are these:

ƒÀ We understand that it was only David and Eleazar.

ƒÀ We know they were overwhelmed by a great number of Philistines.

ƒÀ We can determine that all of the support had fled from the battle site.

-Other than that very little other details can be ascertained from it. However, when the fight cleared, the Philistines had been leveled and two men stood. David and Eleazor. However, the Bible brings in that a very interesting thing had happened to Eleazor. He had something that he could not let go of.

-His hand had fused to his sword. The battle had caused such a stir within that it affected what was without.

lll. THE LESSONS FROM THIS BATTLE

-From this fierce battle, there are some important lessons that we may learn in our spiritual quests and also in everyday life. Whether we are students, employees, parents, brothers, and so on, there are things we can apply from this Scriptural text to our lives.

-Someone may ask what does a battle that occurred 1000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ have to do with me in my present situation? I am glad you asked. . . . . . . . There is something on every page in our Bibles that we can apply to our lives right now.

A. The Power of One

-One of the first lessons we can gather from this text is the power of one. The power of one comes from a man who knows himself and knows his God. His is not turned with the masses nor the tide of public opinion. He does not solicit advice from every person around him. He seeks the will of God for his personal dilemmas.

-Whatever the rest of the crowd may do, Eleazor was willing to draw his sword and struggle on with or without any support. My responsibility to God in reality begins and ends with me. It is not the responsibility of others to dictate which direction that I go.

-The question sometimes arises in the mind concerning those of means and we may wonder why they do not use their efforts on the Kingdom. What we must understand is that we must take our own and use it. The same could be said for those who may have better talents and more time. However, it must come down to the fact that I must use my means, my talents, and my time for the construction of the Kingdom of God.

-It is far easier to criticize the work of others but it is far more profitable to invest yourself in changing your world with your own work.

G. K. Chesterton ¡V I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.