Being a Benaiah, Part 2

The title gives you a hint that this is a continuation of thought. The earlier blog revealed the characteristics of a mighty man of David named, Benaiah, a man recorded as "more honorable than the other thirty," not an easy feat. He was so outstanding, David chose him to be his personal body guard (2 Sam. 23:23)! Wow, how would you like that responsibility! Personal body guard to the winningest warrior-king in the history of Israel, the one every other nation would love to destroy. We've looked at the nature of honor and how Benaiah won victories against the world, the flesh, and the devil, now let’s look at some other aspects related to this fascinating warrior.

In fighting with the Egyptian, the Bible says he “wrested the spear out of his hand and killed him with his own sword.” This shows a level of creativity to use the very weapons of the enemy against them. I see us as current Benaiahs being effective in using TV, Movies, Radio, and Social Media (a tool often used by our enemy) to “stab” our enemies and get the truth of the Gospel into the hearts and minds of those that have been duped by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Turning our enemy’s weapons back on them is a most creative and effective means of warfare. Benaiah gives us a beautiful picture of a cunning military maneuver.
 
In fighting with the Moabites, the Bible describes the fact that they were “lion-like,” demonstrating the ferocity and blind focus of this enemy. Being on guard against such a physically powerful enemy is vital in order to survive. The Scripture also says that there were two of them, a clear picture that this enemy comes in waves, never alone, and uses the strategy of flanking. In every man’s heart is the tendency to drift into fleshly pleasures, self-gratification, and carnality. We are prone to slip. Don't be lulled into thinking that this conflict with our flesh is not that big a deal. Seeing the battle from Benaiah’s perspective helps us to keep our guard up and to realize that since the Bible calls these Moabite’s, “heroes,” we must be a hero in order to defeat a hero!

The conflict with the lion is the most interesting. Notice that the Bible states that Benaiah "had gone down" to fight the lion. This shows personal initiative and confidence in doing the right thing. He didn't wait for the "fight" to come to him, but rather he engaged the enemy. Also, it shows the willingness to fight an impossible battle in the worst of situations. Samuel declares that Benaiah fought "a lion," the worst of enemies, "in a pit," the worst of locations, "on a snowy day," the worst of conditions! And, get this, he did it voluntarily! What a guy! What a great character to emulate and pattern our lives after. Here is the vital part of honor - doing what is right regardless of what it may cost, regardless of the circumstances, and regardless of the unforeseen consequences. Sadly, this characteristic is woefully lacking in our churches. Oh, Lord, please wake up some "Benaiahs" today!

Big, Bad Benjaminites! Part 2

The passage of Scripture that we are studying in this continued look at “Characteristics of Biblical Heroes” is 1 Chronicles 12:1-2 (it is in the previous blog in italics). The Benjaminites were unusual in that they possessed the ability to fight and fire weapons with both hands. We looked at this importance of this characteristic in the last blog, but there is still much we can learn from these big, bad boys. We each are equipped with skills, abilities, talents, and natural tendencies that are unique and specialized and we have these qualities through the combined “blessings” of giftedness, aptitude, experience, and upbringing. That is what makes each one of us so different. The “Weapons of our Warfare,” is still the Sword of the Spirit, the infallible, inerrant, living words of Holy Writ. How we utilize, wield, and display our own personal technique of “Sword play” is as unique as each one of us, allowing those individual “blessings” to create our own style of methodology in Weaponry. What we must do is learn the Sword and then allow that knowledge to permeate our own talents, thinking, and skillset. Such a person is indeed formidable!

Studying these Benjaminites also reveals that they were the first group to respond to David’s leadership. This quality of immediate response to a calling or need is attractive and shows initiative and commitment. Chronicles also describes them as blood kin to the present king, “Saul’s brethren,” making the current affairs of state quite personal being directly related to the sitting leadership. They confronted the reality of Saul’s lack of obedience, irrational use of military resources, and poor decision making skills. Notice how they looked past the “blood is thicker than water” tendency and saw that David would provide the type of godly direction Israel needed. Application? Heroes do not give family or acquaintances a pass just because they are personally close. Equally as important they take the initiative in creating the environment for change. These two attributes together illustrate a critical attitude in the heart of a hero.

 

The take away this week is the fact that we could all do a better job increasing our skill in using the Weapons of our Warfare, the Scriptures. We you consider that Jesus used this very weapon when tempted by the devil (Matt. 4, Mark 1, Luke 4), who are we to think that we could somehow do a better job with some other tool?! There is not a better exercise program we can engage in than to the one that extends our reach, builds our strength, and widens our target by the acquisition of God's Holy Word in our hearts and minds. In essence, Biblical strength training and conditioning IS the breakfast of Spiritual Champions!