Unsung Heroes of the Bible Part 2

God’s Unsung Heroes

Part 2

“Benaiah—The Lion Killer

1 Chr. 11:22-24

As we shared last week, David had two groups of men at his disposal—a group of thirty and a group of three.

They were collectively called David’s Mighty Men.

Very few would know their names.

They aren’t the Front Burner people we usually talk about in Scripture.

The top three, whose exploits we covered last time, were the leaders of all the armed forces of Israel, the "Joint Chiefs of Staff” if you will.

The band of thirty were the commanders of various divisions within the military.

It was among these thirty men that our mighty man Benaiah the son of Jehoiada became prominent.

He was made captain of David's bodyguard.

He was chosen for that position of honor because of three great deeds of valor for which he became famous.

The FIRST GREAT DEED was that he smote two lion-like men of Moab.

This feat distinguished him because these two men were ferocious and powerful as their description implies, and he took them on together.

The SECOND GREAT DEED of Benaiah was that he fought an Egyptian, a man of great stature, about nine feet tall!

That is about the same size as Goliath.

This man had a tremendous spear, like a weaver's beam—about six or seven inches thick.

We might liken it to something like a flag pole.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiadah met this huge man with this great spear, and, using only his staff, somehow knocked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, seized it, and killed the giant with his own spear.

This increased his fame in Israel as a man of valor.

A THIRD DEED for which he was known and the one we will focus on today was that he went down and killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

He met the lion in a terrible place under terrible circumstances and killed him.

"Well now," you might say, "that's all very inspiring, but what does it have to do with me?”

Well, here is how it applies to us:

Paul tells us in Romans 15:4,

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

These heroic accounts in the Bible are not just Sunday school stories, or myths and legends made up for our entertainment.

They really happened and they are designed to give us HOPE IN OUR OWN BATTLES!

For instance, these three enemies that Benaiah overcame are all used in the Bible as types or symbols of enemies the believer faces today.

First, we’re told that "Benaiah smote two lion-like men of Moab."

Who was Moab?

Back in the book of Genesis we are told that when Lot fled from Sodom, he hid with his two daughters in a cave.

There, in a tragic fall, we are told that Lot was made drunk by his two daughters and that, in his drunken stupor, he sired children by each of his own daughters.

One was named Ammon, and the other was Moab.

So the Moabites were closely related to the Israelites through Lot and grew up right next to them.

But any place we find them in Scripture they were always enemies of Israel.

Likewise, we have an enemy within us we are “related” to.

In the New Testament it is called "the flesh."

It is referred to as our "self-life," the "old life.”

But as Moab was related to Israel, our flesh is related to us.

It is part of us.

We cannot get rid of it this side of heaven.

It lives in the back room of the house of our life like an unwelcome guest.

Moab is a picture of the flesh throughout the Word of God.

Benaiah, figuratively speaking, got victory over the flesh.

Next we’re told that Benaiah, “…slew an Egyptian."

Egypt is also used as a type, or picture, of another enemy throughout the Bible.

Egypt was the leading nation of the world of that day.

It was the country that was looked up to as the source of worldly power.

It possessed vast armies and awesome temples.

Its pharaohs with all their pomp and splendor, and its libraries and accumulated wisdom were the envy of the world.

All this is a picture of the superficial impressiveness, the empty glory of the world and its ways.

John warned of the world, “Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world…”

So this second victory of Benaiah over a giant Egyptian is a powerful illustration of a man who overcame the world.

So far, our mighty man Benaiah has overcome the flesh and the world.

But we’re also told that Benaiah killed a lion—the king of beasts.

I have read that a lion can, with one blow of his paw, smash the human skull just as you would break an egg.

He would slap you and your skull would cave in.

A lion is able, with his teeth, to bite through any bone of the human body, including the thigh bone.

With one crunch of those jaws he could smash that bone.

And to face that kind of ferocious beast at close quarters in terrible circumstances is an extremely daring thing to do.

That is what Benaiah did.

Now the parallel for us today is easy:

Peter tells us: "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour," (1 Pet 5:8).

This is our ultimate enemy, the devil.

He is sinister and, like a lion, has tremendous authority and power.

Peter says he is out licking his chops, looking for something to eat.

So here in Benaiah’s story, we see a man defeating in the natural the three great spiritual enemies of the believer—the world, flesh, and devil.

We must all deal with these three enemies on a daily basis.

We regularly feel the attack of the FLESH, our relative, Moab, sneaking up on us when we are least aware.

And we hear the daily call of the WORLD in all its attractiveness.

We resist being involved in it, and fight the suggestion that we are missing something if we are not.

And we have all felt the hot breath of SATAN breathing down our necks, felt him creeping up on us with some sinister temptation.

Benaiah’s victory symbolizes our battle with and victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.

This is why he’s called “MIGHTY.”

Now, back to the lion.

FACT: Every one of us has a lion in our life.

For Benaiah, the lion was the worst possible foe he could meet.

And most of us have something like that, right?

You have something -- and it leaps into your mind as I say these words -- which is the worst possible foe.

It is something you fear, or a weakness that stalks you—something you feel helpless to defeat.

It might be a painful memory.

Or a crushing disappointment you haven’t been able to get over.

Or the loss of a loved one.

Or some haunting memory of abuse or of some sin you committed.

It is there on the horizon of your thinking, always threatening, and you have been wondering if you will ever get victory over it.

The worst possible foe, the thing you have battled more than anything else -- that is the lion in your life.

But now, not only did Benaiah meet this worst possible foe, he met him in the worst possible place.

He met him in a pit.

If you are going to fight a lion, certainly the one place to avoid is a pit, where you cannot get away, where you are confined with this lion and there is no escape.

If I were to fight a lion, I at least would want to be in the open where I could run for my life!

But you cannot run in a pit.

Benaiah met the worst possible foe in the worst possible place.

Have you ever been there?

Have you ever run into your lion and found there was no way to avoid it?

You could not just walk away.

You had to face up to it.

But it was even worse than this for Benaiah!

Benaiah met this lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.

This circumstance tripled the treachery of his situation.

Snow numbs the fingers and makes it difficult to handle weapons.

Snow makes footing treacherous and slippery.

And snow blinds the eyes.

The brightness of the sun upon the snow can temporarily destroy your vision.

All these factors were involved in this battle when Benaiah the son of Jehoiada met the lion in a pit on a snowy day.

He met the worst possible foe, in the worst possible place, under the worst possible circumstances.

Now, the thing we want to know is, “how did he win?”

The whole focus of this story is that Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was able to kill this lion.

How did he do it?

On the surface, the passage does not tell us.

We are told of his victory without being told how it happened.

But God has left us a clue, and the clue is in his name.

In the Bible, when you want to know what a man is like, look at his name, because biblical names are deliberately designed to give you a clue to the character of the individual.

We see in Scripture that God often changed a man's name when he changed his character.

For instance, Jacob meant "usurper, supplanter," but God changed his name to ISRAEL, "prince with God," when Jacob went through a transforming experience in his life.

He changed Abraham's name from Abram, "exalted father," to Abraham, "father of a multitude."

He changed Sarah's name from Sarai, "dominating," to Sarah, "princess."

Jesus changed Peter's name.

He said, "Your name is Simon, but I'm going to call you Peter, for I'm going to make you into a rock." Peter means "rock," {Matt 16:18}.

So, God names people according to their character.

What then does "Benaiah the son of Jehoiada" mean?

With only one or two exceptions, his name is always given as "Benaiah the son of Jehoiada."

So his father's name is important too.

If you take the meaning of those two names in the order of seniority, you get the secret of how to kill a lion on a snowy day.

Jehoiada, his father’s name, means "God knows."

And Benaiah means "God builds."

Those two truths are the secret of how to meet a lion, the worst possible foe, in the worst possible place, under the worst possible circumstances, and win.

First,

GOD KNOWS

When you face your lion in the worst possible place under the worst possible conditions, it is important to remember that God knows where you are.

He knows all about your pit, is with you there, and knows how to get you out of there.

David wrote, “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of the horrible pit…” (Ps.40)

One of the secrets of David’s victories as well is that he knew that God knew all about him:

He wrote, “O Lord, You have looked through me and have KNOWN ME. YOU KNOW when I sit down and when I get up. YOU UNDERSTAND my thoughts from far away. 3 You look over my path and my lying down. YOU KNOW all my ways very well. 4 Even before I speak a word, O Lord, YOU KNOW IT ALL.

He knows all about you.

And He knows what you are going through.

And he not only knows what you are going through, he FEELS WHAT YOU FEEL.

God knows how you feel.

That is one of the most comforting things to realize.

When you are angry, or remorseful, or impatient, or are tempted to be bitter, or have been betrayed, or have been hurt -- God knows how you feel.

Hebrews tells us, "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses," (Heb 4:15).

We do not have the kind of God to come to who says, "Go away, don't bug me!"

No, we have one who "in every way has been tempted as we are,” who has been where we have been, and knows how we feel.

But remember, the second part to Benaiah’s name means:

GOD BUILDS

I can go through almost anything when I understand that GOD HAS A PURPOSE IN MIND in all my troubles.

He knows what is happening and he is using it to work toward an end goal.

The Apostle Paul described in detail the heartache sorrow, and pain he suffered in serving the Lord, yet he wrote triumphantly, "This light affliction is but for a moment, and is WORKING FOR US a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" {2 Cor 4:17 },

This is not only in heaven someday, but NOW.

When a Christian goes through heartaches, pressure, problems, and tribulation, we always emerge softened, mellowed, more loving, warmer, and more compassionate because through it all, God is building Christ in you!

Listen, if you’re in a pit with a lion on a snowy day, do not fear for GOD IS BUILDING!

You may not see it.

You might even feel you can share Paul’s pain when he wrote, “… when we were in Asia, the load was so heavy we did not have the strength to keep going. At times we did not think we could live. 9 We thought we would die.” (2 Cor. 1:8)

Yet God knew, and God was building.

Paul went on to say, “This happened so we would not put our trust in ourselves, but in God Who raises the dead. 10 Yes, God kept us from what looked like sure death and He is keeping us. As we trust Him, He will keep us in the future.”

God’s purpose was to teach them total reliance on Him!

This is the secret of survival when you’re with a lion in a pit on a snowy day.

Knowing that God Knows, and God Builds.

If you keep those two truths firmly in your thoughts, you will have the strength to kill your lion in a pit on a snowy day.

LET’S PRAY:

Are you in a pit with a lion today?

Do you feel like there’s no way out?

God will help you!