David’s Mighty Men | Eleazar

Introduction

Last Week:

DEFY THE ODDS WITH JESUS — looking at Josheb-basshebeth

Coward Christian - 2 Timothy 1:17 “17 but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me—”

Compromise Christian - 1 Timothy 6:11–12 “11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Combat Christian - Isaiah 42:13 “13 The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.”

(Zeal is what takes us from zero to ZONED IN)

Today we take another look at the battle field that is swarming with enemies. There is man like Josheb-Basshebeth that is conquering the enemy

2 Samuel 23:9–10 ESV

9 And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. 10 He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.

PRAYER

____________________

I came across a Scottish Proverb:

“If there is no blood on your kilt, you’re only a dancer.”

| | |

BRAVEHEART - “May take our lives but they will never take our freedom”

Scottish rebels fighting for freedom and what is right

Let’s set the scene of our passage before we get into the battle.

King David and warriors on one side and the Philistine army on the other

Philistines and Israel were each others great enemy. When it came to war, there was more at stake than just land and bragging rights.

Here we have two groups of well trained soldiers. As kick-off approached and the stare down intensified —— fear stole the hearts of David’s men and they fled.

Wherever the closest option of comfort and protection was, they WITHDREW.

Here stands Eleazar, hand clung to the sword during battle, and even afterward of being exhausted - hand clung to the sword

Before we get into the heart of the message, I offered a challenge to everyone in the room. I suspect many of you would like to try. Here is the setup & rules

goal: get the sword form my hand

no punching/kicking/biting

30 seconds to win

no offense from me - only defending

MS can elect 2-3 contestants

HS can elect 2-3 contestants

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

Psalm 1:1-3 “¹ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

² but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."

Proverbs 3:5-6 “⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

2 Tim 2:22 “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Psalm 71:17-18 “¹⁷ O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

¹⁸ So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come."

Deut 6:5 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

1 Cor 10:21 “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons."

The Hard Corps: Combat training for the man of God 2. Strengthen Your Grip

We don’t know how many he was up against, but the skirmish (battle) was clearly long and intense as, by the time the last Philistine had fallen, Eleazar couldn’t even let go of his sword. The image of this heroic warrior standing victoriously over a multitude of vanquished foes, his trusty sword still clenched in a trembling, vice-like fist, is both breathtaking and compelling. Crucially, however, we can still learn so much from Eleazar today.

READY FOR WAR

2 Samuel 23:9 “9 And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of Dodo, son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew.”

Enemy troops were on the warpath and they were thirsty for his blood. Eleazar knew this and he was ready.

We should be too.

Man of God, you need to understand that when Jesus saved you, you were instantly drafted into the ranks of the army of Christ. His arch enemy, Satan, is now your enemy too, and as one of the King’s soldiers you are engaged in the epic war to end all wars:

Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

This is a bigger and far more brutal campaign than anything David’s Mighty Men were ever involved in. This is a spiritual conflict with eternal consequences, and your enemy takes no prisoners.

He is a cunning, skillful, ruthless adversary whose sick lust for destruction will never be satisfied. He is the embodiment of sheer evil, and while we rightfully celebrate Jesus’ devastating cross and resurrection combo that ultimately sealed his fate, we can’t afford to get complacent.

Yes, victory is assured, but until our King returns to sort things out once and for all, the battle rages on—and it’s intense:

Revelation 12:12 “12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!””

Be under no illusions—Satan is for real, he’s vexed, and like a wounded animal backed into a corner, he ain’t going down without a fight. He hates you like he hates Jesus and he is bringing the war to your door, phone, your room, your school, your team. His warcraft, however, is far more subtle than that employed by the Philistines.

He’ll come at you with lies that unsettle the mind and temptations that seduce the flesh. That might not sound like a particularly fearsome arsenal, but these are Satan’s weapons of choice— and he’s lethal with them! (Check out the way he infiltrated and obliterated humanity in Genesis 3).

So, unlike Eleazar, you may not have to hack your way through legions of Philistine thugs to go about your business today, but you can rest assured that as a soldier of Christ you will encounter savage, relentless opposition from your enemy. Whether it comes in the form of nagging doubts, an identity crisis, haunting memories from the past, the constant “need” to prove yourself, or the lure of illicit sexual temptation, you can be sure that the enemy has got you locked firmly in his sights, and he’s dedicated on taking you down.

Many Christians believe that when they are tempted it must be because they are either wicked, weak, or both, but that’s simply not true! Facing temptation is neither sinful or unusual. It is absolutely normal—so get used to it! Tragically, however, Christian men are dropping like flies, apparently powerless against the forces of hell that have been unleashed against them. Left, right and centre, men are wrecking families through adultery, perving over pornography, drifting into apathy, shackled by fear, seduced by materialism... the carnage is horrific!

Man of God—we need to know what we’re up against!

And we need to be ready and able to fight back.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

The question is, how do we fight back?

How can we do any damage to “cosmic powers” and “spiritual forces of evil”? How do we “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul”? (1 Peter 2:11 “11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” ) Well, spiritual combat requires spiritual weaponry and just like Eleazar stepped into the fray armed only with a sword, the great news is that just like him, we get to swing a blade too!

Ephesians 6:17 “17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”

Real men carry Bibles! No matter there age - REAL MEN CARRY BIBLES. REAL MEN USE BIBLES. Whatever digital or paper form. Anyone who refuses to CARRY & USE

This might come as a shock to you, but the only chance we’ve got of going toe to toe with the hordes of hell and living to tell about it, is by gripping up the BIBLE and becoming a bona fide, black-belt Bible-basher!!

That doesn’t mean you have to turn into the dude on the corner wearing white sports socks and open-toed sandals while hurling Holy Bible hand-grenades at passing shoppers. But you DO need to be a Bible guy.

Some give the lame excuse: “I’m not really a Bible person!” That is seriously more insane than an unarmed soldier stepping into the middle of a war zone and saying: “I’m not really a weapons kind of guy!”

They’ll be wiped out in seconds!

We need to be Bible guys! We need to believe that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12) and that no other weapon compares to it. We need to be confident that God’s word is all we need, and that by bringing it to the battlefield we’re wielding a weapon that can smash the enemy to bits:

2 Corinthians 10:4 “4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

Now, all this talk about smashing Satan up with the Scriptures might sound great in principle, but what does it actually look like in practice?

Just like Eleazar gave the men of Israel an emphatic master class in sword-handling, what better way to learn the art of gospel warfare than observing the Grand Master of the biblical blade, Jesus Christ?

The Gospels record that before Jesus ever preached a word or performed a miracle, He was Himself confronted by Satan, who proceeded to bombard Him with some seriously heavy artillery. For 40 days Jesus was literally tempted in EVERY SINGLE WAY that we are[7]. Incredibly, after Satan had hit him with everything he had, Jesus was still standing, morally pure and spiritually supreme!

How did He do it?

In short, He knew how to handle his Bible.

Each devious lie and sinister temptation was masterfully cut down with the word of God:

Whatever Satan threw at him, Jesus hit back with: “It is written...”

Matthew 4:4 “4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ””

Matthew 4:7 “7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ””

Matthew 4:10 “10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ””

• He employed divine Truth to diffuse demonic temptation.

• He was armed to the teeth with Scripture and Satan had no answer.

• By simply speaking out the Word of God, Jesus sent Satan packing.

As we wage war against temptation in our own lives, we should be encouraged that the very same sword that Jesus brandished is available to us today. The gospel is still all we need to bring to the battlefield and is more than enough to get the job done. That’s because behind every temptation is a lie that, if believed, will weaken our defences, leaving us wide open to enemy attack and powerless to resist temptation. The word of God, however, is divine truth and it’s this truth that exposes Satan’s lies for what they are, giving us freedom and victory over sin and temptation.

STUCK TO HIS SWORD

In situations such as these, potentially destructive temptation can be resisted by exposing and ruthlessly demolishing Satan’s lies with the truth of the gospel.

No gospel = no defence!

In light of this you have to wonder why so many of us are so quick to let go of the word, relying instead on our own strength and resources to combat temptation, often with little or no success. This is yet another way that Eleazar is such a fantastic example to us because, as he stepped into the heat of battle, “his hand clung to the sword” and there was no way he was going to let go.

In fact as the victory shout was raised, his sword was so tightly locked in his war-weary fist that he couldn’t have let go if he had wanted to! We would do well to copy his example, because if we let go of the gospel, we’re sitting ducks for the enemy. Like Eleazar, we need to be stuck to our sword. We need the same unyielding commitment to scripture as godly men such as R C Sproul who, when asked about how he intended to bow out of the good fight, offered this brilliant response: “I’ll retire when they pry my cold, dead fingers off of my Bible.”

You’ve got to love that.

RC’s going out with his boots on. Gripping the gospel to the very end!

Man of God, we need to stop playing games.

Because Satan’s not!

We need to live as Paul encouraged the Philippians “holding fast to the word of life” (2 v 16). Not just owning a Bible, or memorising a few “life verses”, but drilled, skilled and brutally effective, able to inflict grievous injury upon the powers of darkness as they come against us. Refusing under any circumstances to let go of the gospel or compromise it in any way.

No soldier in the heat of battle ever complained that he had received too much combat training. You can never be too prepared for war. Effective training requires considerable discipline and sacrifice. We would do well to consider this when it comes to the good fight. So whether we roll out of bed an hour earlier to get our heads into the word, listen to sermons in the car, hook up with a friend to chew over truth, or simply make sure we’re at church each week—let’s be committed to honing our Bible skills.[8]

Eleazar’s blade was covered in blood, not dust.

His grip was unbreakably solid.

His gritty heroics rightly went down in history— and yet he didn’t get the glory for it…

CLOSING

The evocative image of Eleazar’s faithful hand clamped to the handle of his sword is promptly followed by these words:

2 Samuel 23:10 “10 He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.”

The sword might have been in Eleazar’s hand, but make no mistake, it was God who won the victory. The recurring theme of Scripture is that while we all have a part to play in the good fight, ultimately the battle belongs to God alone. So when we win, it’s really Him who wins and who deserves all the credit.

This is especially true when it comes to waging war with Scripture. God’s word is effective because the One who it’s all about has already won. We can only ever take our stand against Satan because Jesus has already smashed him on the cross.

He’s the real hero!

The heroics of Eleazar should rightly impress us, but may it be King Jesus who truly inspires and equips us to be white-knuckled warriors in our generation. And may He get all the glory for it.

While it would be great to leave this chapter on that high note, the text doesn’t allow us to do that. The account of Eleazar closes with these harrowing words:

2 Samuel 23:10 “10 He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.”

We are presented with a graphic image of what becomes of men who let go. These are the same men who at one point stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Eleazar, but who chose to flee for cover rather than to fight for their king. Here, after Eleazar has stood alone, fought alone and won an astonishing victory alone, the men come skulking out from the shadows and return to the blood-soaked field of battle.

Why? To apologize to the king? To honor Eleazar’s courage? No. To plunder the spoils of a war that they refused to be part of.

This passage shows us that there are only two kinds of men in the ranks of the armies of Christ — the cowardly and the courageous. Those who let go and those who hold fast.

I know which sort I want to be. WHAT ABOUT YOU?

There is a battle God calls this student ministry to be in — REACH & TEACH THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS. This is not just said over you but designed for you to be apart and active in the mission.

Are you only going to benefit of the fight of students before you?

Are you going to enter the battlefield and reach students (invite to church and share the Gospel with)?

Are you the coward or the courageous?