A Manly Characteristic - Determination

Have you ever felt like you were out there by yourself? Or have you ever experienced the feeling of being in a coordinated effort only to sense everyone else just give up and leave you leading a charge of one? Well, that describes what happened to this mighty man of David named Eleazar. Read the text below:

“And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, one of the mighty men with David when he defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder.”  (2 Samuel 23:9-10 and 1 Chronicles 11:12)

Eleazar saw the injustice of the Philistine attacks, caught the vision of standing up against them, and threw himself into the fray. The only problem was “the men of Israel had retreated!” Oh, great! Eleazar is standing out there waling on the enemy and his companions have all abandoned him. He could have easily tucked tail and run with the rest of them, but he had something that marked him as unique, different, uncommon and I mean in a good way. He had determination.

Determination is one of those qualities that makes a man finish a task regardless of whether or not the situation changes or the stakes suddenly become heavier. Determination does not say, “Hey, now this is not fair, this is not what I signed up for!” Eleazar showed up and then the rest of his comrades checked out, but he stayed the course, he refused to give in, give up, or go home. The calling was to stand against the enemy shoulder to shoulder, but when everyone else gave up Eleazar reached into his heart and adjusted the calling to simply stand against the enemy, period. In a culture rife with so many wishy-washy, “fair-weather” Christians the need for “Eleazars” is immeasurable.

Another incredible symbolic message found in the life of this hero is in the phrase, “and his hand stuck to the sword.” The Hebrew word for “stuck” is ‘da vak,’ meaning to cleave, overtake, attach, or stick together. It’s a word picture of two things being glued together, in this case Eleazar’s hand and his sword. Now the word “sword” brings to mind the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17).” Eleazar displays for us the indispensable connection of God’s warrior and his quick, sharp and powerful offensive weapon, the Bible (Heb. 4:12). We should be so attached to this Book, so affected by its influence that you can’t tell where your physical person ends and the Word of God begins! With such confidence and training in the Word, it would be natural for a person to be steadfast, immoveable, and determined.

 

A phrase used in this passage that I pray will happen over and over is “the Lord brought about a great victory that day.” If we as spiritual leaders made the commitment to dive into the Word of God, allowing that life-changing Book to penetrate our thoughts, actions, and attitudes there would be no other result but great victories! Dive in with determination, my faithful warriors.

Where Are Our Heroes?

Heroes. The Bible is full of them! Some are globally popular, like David, the giant killer. But there are others, like Benaiah who killed a lion in the pit on a snowy day, who are basically unknown and stay in relative obscurity. The stories of burning passion mixed with super-human strength are actually quite common across the pages of God’s Word but they seem to lie unread, untapped, and thus left in oblivion. It seems that in every age there are these tough hombres that saw themselves as capable men, able to make a difference by defending Israel and the Kingdom and fighting against immeasurable odds. I read about them, study them, and then stop and ponder – where are these guys today? Is the only location for these “gladiator” style super-heroes on our sports channels? Oh, please, NO!

Let me whet your appetite by giving you some examples of such biblical heroes. There is a man called “Adino” that was challenged by 800 Philistines and he routed them all by himself (2 Samuel 23:8). Man, I want THAT guy on my team! There are the Gadites that crossed the Jordan during the monsoon season, when the river was overflowing its banks (1 Chronicles 12:15). Hey, it’s hard enough to cross the Jordon in normal conditions, and these guys did it when the flood warnings had been issued. I’d take any of them to be on my defensive line and pity any quarterback or fullback that gets the ball. These men are beasts! Or how about Eleazar that stood up and attacked the Philistines until his hand was so weary it literally stuck to his sword until the battle was over (2 Samuel 23:9). You talk about a committed warrior, a true man of principle, yet this guy’s name is virtually unknown.

I spoke of David and his famous battle, but did you know that he fought 4 other giants later in his reign as King? Check out 2 Samuel 21:15-22 and see how he obviously needed all of those “5 smooth stones!” I mentioned a man named Benaiah that fought the worst of enemies (a lion), in the worst of places (a pit), in the worst of conditions (on a snowy day). He also fought two lion-like heroes of Moab and a spectacular Egyptian to become one of the mighty men of David. He is briefly mentioned in Scripture but what a great role model. He was brave (willing to fight the most deadly of enemies), creative (he wrested the spear from the Egyptian and used it against him), and showed initiative (he went after the lion, not waiting on the lion to come to him). What father would not want to model and teach these attributes to his sons! But I must ask the question again - Where are these guys today? Where are the Davids, Adinos, and Eleazars?

I believe these guys are here today! I believe in the hearts of many of our young men (and matured men) is a longing to be more. To be the lion killers, the nation-savers, the ones that will answer the call to fight against all odds. I believe our culture has been slowly and meticulously emasculating our men removing all the tools and environments that create these heroes. Unfortunately, I also believe our churches have unwittingly done the same thing. In the weeks to come I will address some of the current trends that I believe are rendering impotent the seeds of heroism in our men. These are dreadfully desperate days and we need heroes, fully devoted risk-takers to stand in the gap, face the impossible odds, and allow their hands to grow weary while slinging the Sword, never giving up. Unless there are some significant changes in our “training fields” this battle will never even begin. Bear with me.