To Encourage You

2 Samuel 23:8 “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.”

2 Samuel 23:8-39 provides a list of the “mighty men” that served King David.  These men were fellow soldiers who distinguished themselves by incredible feats of valor.  We are provided with some information about the exploits of a number of these men. Most were known for their victories against overwhelming odds. One such man was Josheb-basshebeth who single-handedly killed eight hundred of Israel’s enemies at one time with a spear.  Another of David’s mighty men was Abishai, who we are told, took the life of 300 men. Then there was Shammah. Of him we are told that “the Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines.  But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.”  And so these mighty men were known for the lives they had taken in warfare, warfare that was frequent in David’s day.  

So, what does this have to do with you and me? Anything?  Well, do you know that one of the things that the New Testament calls us to is spiritual warfare?  Ephesians 6 talks of the spiritual armor believers are to put on.  In Philippian 2:25 and Philemon 2, Paul talks about his “fellow soldiers” Epaphroditus and Archippus, respectively.  So, what are we to make of this? What is this warfare about? Well, throughout the Scriptures, believers are told that we have a great and powerful enemy.  We are told that he “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  He is one who has established great “strongholds” in this world.  In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 we are told that “though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” And so we see that the enemy’s “strongholds” are lies that are opposed to the Truth of God’s Word, and the believer’s warfare is to fight against them, for it is by these lies that people have been bound by the devil and held captive to do his will.  

Ephesians 6:12 describes it like this: “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.”  And warfare against spiritual forces requires spiritual weapons to wage it. One of the greatest of these weapons is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). We wield this sword, for one, in actions of self-defense, as we resist the temptations that the devil might bring to us with the Truth of what God has said.  However, another way we use this sword is on “offense” if you will, by sharing the Truth of the gospel with the world.  Of this gospel the apostle Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). 

So, in contrast to David’s mighty men who used their weapons to take life, we are called to use the spiritual weapons that God has given us to do a greater thing, and that is to give life to the spiritually dead.  It’s an awesome privilege God has given us. It’s an awesome warfare in which we are engaged. And as we engage in it, we can experience the great might of God on display, for we are told that He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). 

So, do you want to live your life as a “fellow soldier”?  Do you want to live your life as one of the Son of David’s “mighty men (or women)”? Then ask the Lord to give you the boldness to get in the fight by sharing the life-giving gospel, and “that God may open to (you) a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ . . . (and) that (you) may make it clear, which is how (you) ought to speak” (Colossians 4:3-4).