Unsung Heroes of the Bible SeriesPart 1

Unsung Heroes of the Bible Series

Part 1

“David’s Mighty Men”

2 Sam. 23:8-12

There are thousands of unnamed men and women in the Bible.

They are God’s anonymous heroes.

We usually fix our attention on the standout characters, yet a vast host of the inconspicuous and unnamed are worth a closer look.

In the Old Testament we think of King David, Moses, Abraham or Noah.

In the New Testament we think of Jesus’ disciples: Peter, James, John, or the apostle Paul.

But what we forget is that throughout the Old and New Testaments there are a host of minor characters who played key roles.

Though we can’t study all of them, I want to focus on some of the most outstanding of the unsung heroes of the Bible.

Let’s begin with the three men whose names likely did not ring a bell with most of you when we just read them.

They are lumped together as David's mighty men.

Now as we get into this, keep in mind that David is a type of Christ in the O.T.

As his future mighty men first gathered around him, it reminds us of Jesus’ disciples first gathering to Him.

There were the 70, the 12 and the top 3.

David had his hundreds, his top thirty, and his top three.

The types of men are very similar as well.

As with Jesus’ disciples, when we first meet David’s future mighty men they weren’t mighty at all.

When David fled to the wilderness to escape the murderous hand of Saul, Scripture records:

1 Sam 22:2 “And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him.”

The distressed, indebted, and discontented (which means bitter) gathered themselves to David.

This is a real motley crew!

These were not the cream of the crop, the social elites, the “Who’s Who’s” of Israel.

These men were mad at life, bitter, and disenfranchised—hardly an impressive bunch.

Now, David—a type of Christ—took these men who were very much like you and me before we knew Jesus, and transformed them into Mighty Men!

What a picture of our own salvation!

Most of us were in some way distressed prior to knowing Jesus.

We were indebted in that we owed a debt of sin we could not pay, we needed someone to wash our sins away.

And we were discontented. “There must be more to life than this!” we thought.

LORDSHIP

Now first, the bible records that the change in these men began when they made David “Captain” over them.

“So he became captain over them. And there were about 400 men with him.”

The whole nation of Israel knew of David, but these men made him their CAPTAIN, the one in charge of their lives, their guide, their leader.

In exactly the same way, spiritual change begins in us when Jesus becomes the “Captain” of our salvation and the Lord of our lives.

The whole world knows of Jesus, but a minority makes Him their Captain.

KINGSHIP

Second, we notice that not only did David become their Captain, they also strongly supported his Kingship, and sought to promote it everywhere:

They (the mighty men), together with all Israel, GAVE HIS KINGSHIP STRONG SUPPORT TO EXTEND IT OVER THE WHOLE LAND, as the Lord had promised—this is the list of David's mighty 1 men… (1 Chronicles 11:10–11)

They became evangelists for the Kingship of David.

Likewise, we as Christians also have a king—King Jesus—and we are to give his kingship strong support to extend his kingdom throughout the world.

Jesus said that we are to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18–20):

Their territory was Israel, but our territory is the whole world!

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Now, these men who had made David their captain soon discovered that in doing so they had been drafted into battle.

This is where David’s mighty men distinguished themselves.

David’s battle became their battle.

His cause became their cause.

His enemies became their enemies.

And even though their warfare was with sword and spear, it was still spiritual warfare for David had been anointed by God and his kingdom had been ordained of God.

Likewise, the Lord’s battle is our battle, His enemies are our enemies, and His cause is our cause!

THE CHIEF OF THE MIGHTY MEN

The chief of David’s mighty men was ADINO who was a TAK’MONITE; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. (2 Samuel 23:8)

Eight hundred men were killed by one lone man!

How is that possible?

Well, in Hebrew 'Takmonite' means 'one who possesses insight and practical wisdom'.

APPLICATION: If you wage war against an enemy—whether seen or unseen—you need to know what to do and when to do it, and that is where wisdom comes in.

Adino was the chief among them because he understood the battle and possessed the wisdom to defeat the enemy.

Adino combined STRENGTH WITH WISDOM.

PAUL had this same wisdom.

He understood his enemy, and showed us who the enemy really is:

“We battle not against flesh and blood, but against…”

He said, “I fight to win. I do not beat the air” (1 Cor. 9:26).

FACT: You can be strong as an ox yet have no wisdom.

Adino was the chief because he possessed the lethal combination of both strength and wisdom.

The Bible says:

“For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,” (Pr.24:6).

“A wise man scales the city of the mighty, And brings down the trusted stronghold” (Prov. 21:22).

GOOD NEWS! Our Commander knows and sees everything!

We need the Spirit of Jesus to lead us in spiritual warfare if we are to be successful.

Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare are mighty: they have divine power to demolish (spiritual) strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3–4).

This is why we are taught that the Christian's most important spiritual weapons are:

•Prayer

•Fasting

•The Word of God

•Praise and worship (Acts 16:25–26)

•Personal testimony (Revelation 12:10–11)

These weapons are the wisdom of God given to us that we might win the fight!

So again, Adino illustrates the combination of STRENGTH WITH WISDOM.

PERSEVERANCE IN WEARINESS

Next, we come to Eleazar the Ahohite.

Eleazar, in Hebrew, means 'the Lord is my helper'.

We cannot fight spiritual battles in our own strength, or with our own power.

THE LORD IS OUR HELPER!

Success in spiritual warfare comes only from allowing God to work through us.

In this fierce battle, the men of Israel fled from the Philistines in the middle of a barley field.

But not Eleazar! He stood his ground totally alone and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword.

Think about it: His hand stuck to the sword!

Eleazar illustrates PERSEVERANCE IN WEARINESS.

“Be not weary in well doing,” wrote Paul, “for in due season you shall reap if you don’t faint” (Gal.6:9).

He gripped that sword for so long and so hard that he couldn’t open his hand back up!

The Bible tells us that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

Oh, that God would raise up believers that grip the Word of God so tightly in battle, they cannot be pried away from it!

The Word is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons God has given us.

When Satan came to Jesus in the desert he was defeated with the words: 'It is written…' (Luke 4:8).

Satan cannot defeat a believer who knows and cleaves to the Word of God.

Too many today are being defeated due to a very loose grip on God’s Word.

The Bible says that the Lord brought about a great victory that day.

It was God's victory.

So far we see STRENGTH MIXED WITH WISDOM, and PERSEVERANCE IN WEARINESS.

THE GREAT DEFENDER

Finally there was the third of David’s top three:

Shammah, son of Agee the Hararite.

Shammah means “ruin” or “desolation.”

But HARARITE means “mountaineer.”

This pictures a man once ruined who had been transformed into a mountain climber, a great overcomer.

The bible says, “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights” (Ps.18:33).

SHAMMAH’S STORY:

When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils (beans), Israel's soldiers once again fled.

But Shammah didn’t run.

In fact, one thing that stands out about these three men is they didn’t run with crowd.

They weren’t followers of the majority.

They stood alone for God!

Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field and defended it, striking the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory. (2 Samuel 23:11–12)

It could be that this field was Shammah's own inheritance from the Lord.

And the enemy was trying to steal his inheritance.

APPLICATION: The devil is a robber (John 10:10); and ever tries to rob us of our inheritance in Christ.

We must always be ready to defend what God has given us from the attacks of the enemy.

Shammah’s attitude was,

“It may not be real glamorous.”

“It may not be very impressive to the eye.”

“But it’s MY bean field from the Lord, so get your hands off it!”

Some of you need to stand in the middle of your own bean field and start defending it!

It may not be impressive to the eye.

It may not be valuable to anyone else.

But God gave it to you, and that gives it the highest value!

Fight for the ministry God gave you.

Fight for the marriage God gave you.

Fight for the hope God gave you about your future.

Fight for the freedom the Lord gave you from that addiction.

Never casually give up the bean fields of your life!

They are there for a reason and are more important than you know!

These three unsung heroes left a powerful message to us all:

We must have:

STRENGTH COMBINED WITH WISDOM

PERSEVERANCE IN WEARINESS

DEFEND GOD’S GIFTS