He was one of David's "Mighty Men!"
We, Lord willing, shall study the one
named "Shammah."
Depending on the way it is "pointed" in
Hebrew, how its vowels are written, Shammah means
"astonishment" or, the natural result of astonishment,
"desertion!" When combined then, the idea is one of fear and
flight! We're scared ... run!
But, as we shall see, that is exactly what
Shammah did NOT do!
Depending on the meaning of one's
particular name, he or she can use it a motivation concerning
what to do ... or what not to do! "Mary" means "bitter," like
"Mara" back in Ruth 1:20, but that should certainly push its
owner to be "sweet" instead!
However, Michael means "like God!" While
such a life would be impossible, its sure makes a great goal!
Shammah!
The term "mighty men" is not original. It
has been adopted from 2nd Samuel 23:8. "These be the
names of the mighty men whom David had ...."
The Hebrew noun used here is "gibbor" and
means strong or valiant or chief, a literal champion! "Gibbor"
is translated "mighty man or men" 68 times in the Old Testament!
Today let's meet a few of David's famous
fighters!
They would make great subjects for
sermons!
There was "Adino the
Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom
he slew at one time." The name means "ornament!" Sounds
like he was ornamented with bravery and boldness and might! "Eznite"
means a strong sharp spear! 2nd Samuel 23:8
Then there was another one.
"And after him was Eleazar the son
of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with
David, when they defied the Philistines that were there
gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone
away: he arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was
weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a
great victory that day; and the people returned after him only
to spoil." His name, "Eleazar," means "God has helped!"
I've heard of shopping 'til one dropped and even known of
several who attempted such a feat! But fighting 'til one was
that tired is nearly unprecedented! Paul admonished us to "Fight
the good fight of faith" in 1st Timothy 6:12.
Three more men remained unnamed, but
risked their very lives to get their leader, King David, a drink
of water he was craving! One from strongly held enemy territory,
the well in Bethlehem! Water from the House of Bread! 2nd Samuel
23:14-17 ... loyalty! "And the three
mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew
water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate,
and took it, and brought it to David."
Next, "And Abishai,
the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three.
And he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and
slew them, and had the name among three." Zeruiah
was David's Sister according to 2nd Samuel 2:18. Even David's
Nephews were bold and daring! By the way, Zeruiah had other
well-known boys as well. "And there were
three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and
Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe."
Beniah, meaning "Jehovah has built," was
strong too! "And Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done
many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also
and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: and he
slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in
his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the
spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own
spear. These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and
had the name among three mighty men." Here's a "pattern"
of boldness, not just a single incident! Lifetime fighters!
Beniah could truly, based on the meaning of his name, say "I am
what I am by the Grace of God!"
Then comes a summary,
"Asahel the brother of Joab was one
of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, Shammah the
Harodite, Elika the Harodite, Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of
Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anethothite, Mebunnai the
Hushathite, Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, Heleb
the son of Baanah, a Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai out of
Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,
Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth
the Barhumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, of the sons of Jashen,
Jonathan, Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the
Hararite, Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the
Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, Hezrai
the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, Igal the son of Nathan of
Zobah, Bani the Gadite, Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the
Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah, Ira an
Ithrite, Gareb an Ithrite, Uriah the Hittite: thirty and seven
in all." 2nd Samuel 23:24-30
Just the names here! But brave deeds stand
behind those names! Every Preacher I meet is a potential "mighty
man" for God! I must remember that and honor them as such too!
Some are seasoned warriors who, like Paul, "bear in their bodies
the marks of the Lord Jesus!" Look a them! See the evidence of
their long years of faithful service!
Did you notice this? In that third from
the last verse we met "Naharai the
Beerothite, armourbearer to Joab the son of Zeruiah."
Just an armourbearer! This big long noun is simple spelled "nasa"
in Hebrew. One whoi "lifts up and carries" a heavy load, here
breastplates and swords and helmets and girdles! What an honor,
to serve God's warriors!
Among such men our current "hero" is
placed!
Shammah!
Come back tomorrow and we shall learn what
he did that was so great! It will surprise you. We are about to
learn a lesson about God's priorities!
Faithfulness is near the top!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 2:
The man Shammah is a hero, although an
unknown one!
Today we need to investigate his
background, what little of it we can discover. Did heredity play
any part in his becoming such a fighter? Or was it merely
environment? Or providence?
"And after him
was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the
Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a
piece of ground full of lentiles: and ...." 2nd Samuel
23:11
This man's father was named "Agee." While
there is no clear consensus on the meaning of Agee's name, the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says this, "fugitive!"
One who flees!
If Agee ran from his problems, living here
a while and there a while, Shammah did the opposite! He, the
son, would not even vacate his bean field when the enemy
attacked!
Negative traits in others can lead
to the development of positive traits in us! If we try!
The "key" to Shammah's life and witness is
the very fact that he did not run. He
stood and fought
and conquered! Sounds like he's already read Paul in Ephesians
6:13. "Wherefore take unto you the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to
stand."
Furthermore, Shammah and his family were "Hararites."
In Hebrew "harariy" is the plural of a noun that means "mountain
dwellers!" Likely from the hill country of Judea! You remember
that I'm sure! The Hebrew word for "hill" is "har." Look:
HARmageddon! That is, the mountains around Megiddo! That's
Armageddon folks! Mary the Mother of Jesus, soon as she heard
about the coming miraculous Virgin Birth, went to visit cousin
Elisabeth in the hill country! "And Mary
arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste,
into a city of Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias,
and saluted Elisabeth." Luke 1:39-40
Yes, John the Baptist came from the hill
country!
Something about that area must breed
strong men!
Fighters!
Someone ought to buy some land there and
start inviting Preachers to come and stay a while, breathing the
air or drinking the water or whatever! Many of us have lost our
boldness! No longer do we stand as we should! And defending the
faith is all too rare nowadays!
Look also at this!
Still from 2nd Samuel 23, the chapter that
lists David's mighty men! "Shammah the
Hararite, and Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite."
Here's another one! Verse 33 introduces us to Sharar! And he
also is from the same mountains! A Hararite!
Yes, one's upbringing or background or
environment no doubt can be used of God to form and mold us into
what he wants us to be!
Praise the Lord, "We
know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
Thank God for your heritage.
Say right along with Jesus,
"The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant
places; yea, I have a goodly heritage." Psalm 16:6
Like David who had first slain a lion,
then a bear, and finally a giant too, Shammah transferred that
hard mountain life into basic training for defending his bean
field! Philistine-ology 101 that class is called! How to whip
the enemy of God's people!
One can learn a lot from a very few words
... of Scripture!
Shammah, hero of the faith!
Son of Agee!
A mountainous Hararite!
One of David's mighty men!
It's not where you've come from that
counts ... but where you're going!
By the Grace of God, Christians are going
to Heaven!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3:
The enemy!
Philistines they are.
"And the Philistines
were gathered together into a troop," so says our Text,
2nd Samuel 23:11
These unsaved Gentiles are about to
attack!
The noun "Philistines" means "immigrants."
Those who wander "in" and "out" of a country!
Whereas God's people are different,
"planted" in fact! "Those that be planted
in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our
God." Psalm 92:13
Notice that the wicked here are "gathered
together" against the Israelites!
Seldom can we get God's people that way!
At Pentecost they were! In one mind and one accord! But maybe
not since! Even two women at Philippi, Paul's best Church, had
to be reminded! "I beseech Euodias, and
beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord."
Philippians 4:2
But the devil's crowd! "Asaph," or
"gathered together," means "to assemble or to associate." The
word hints at unanimity also! Twice it's translated "rereward"
in the King James Text. Those are the soldiers that bring up the
rear of an army, last place! But no matter, they still are
fighting for the cause! That's impressive!
Why can't we Christians obey Paul in
Philippians 2:11? "Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus."
Humility!
I thought it would be interesting to see
how many times in Scripture the Philistines had "gathered
together" against God's people.
In the early days of King Saul they came.
"And the Philistines gathered themselves
together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six
thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the
sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in
Michmash, eastward from Bethaven." 1st Samuel 13:5
When they had Goliath they came again!
"Now the Philistines gathered together
their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh,
which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and
Azekah, in Ephesdammim." 1st Samuel 17:4
Then again in Saul's last days the enemy
returned. "And it came to pass in those
days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for
warfare, to fight with Israel." 1st Samuel 28:1
In the first Philistine attack they used a
great army; 30,000 chariots for example!
The second time, a huge giant! His name
was Goliath.
The third time, they were armed with less
than ever, but Israel had sinned! And Saul's sins, still
unconfessed and unforsaken, weakened his resolve and gave the
Philistines a great victory!
But look yet again!
The first time the Philistines came Saul
lost his Kingdom!
The second they they came, Saul lost his
honor and reputation, his glory!
And the third time, Saul lost his life!
And here's the really sad thing. Israel
could have easily defeated the Philistines every time they were
attacked!
Had they just obeyed God!
Lastly the word "troop" is used. "It's "chay"
in Hebrew and means that which is filled with "life!" Translated
as "creature" 15 times and "beast" 76 times, "chay" implies
vitality and strength too!
Israel is spiritually half-dead!
Philistia is alive and well!
The battle is joined!
Will anybody fight?
Shammah will!
Come back tomorrow and see.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4:
They were just beans!
Called "lentiles" in the Old Testament,
these vegetables were legumes, small pea-like balls growing in a
pod, much like butterbeans do in America.
Spelled "adash" in Hebrew, the word only
occurs four times in the whole Bible, each time rendered as
here, "lentiles."
Nothing special about a plot of beans!
Maybe the enemy, the Philistines, was
seeking to destroy Israel's agricultural crops for that year!
Maybe they were hungry themselves. Heathen need to eat too!
Then again perhaps the beans were
inconsequential to the these wicked citizens of Gath and Ekron
and Askelon.
This much we know, the bean-field here was
absolutely not a casual thing to one man, Shammah!
He refused to yield this property to the
advancing enemy troops.
Here's how the Bible describes this war
zone. "And the Philistines were gathered
together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of
lentiles ...." 2nd Samuel 23:11
It's not the whole farm that Shammah
defends!
Nor even the whole field apparently!
Just a "piece" of it!
"Chelqah" means a "part" of something.
That's all.
Yet the noun for "ground," in Hebrew "sadeh,"
does often mean cultivated farm land! Someone had
invested time in this property!
But, however incidental it may have been
to thousands in Israel, this field to Shammah was worth a lot,
his very life it seems!
And God takes note here of the place of
battle!
Most warriors would have run ... Shammah
did not!
Therefore he is still to this day known as
one of "David's mighty men!"
Dear reader today, are you defending your
"bean-field" from the devil's advances?
Or have you retreated long ago?
Preacher, what's my "bean-field?"
That you will have to decide.
It could be your son ... or daughter!
Wife or husband!
Church!
Your own heart!
Your Bible!
Your Pastor!
Your separation from sin!
Whatever, the Holy Spirit must decide.
Once the field is identified, do not run!
Stay!
Stand!
Fight!
Who knows, as with Shammah, "the Lord may
give a great victory!
"And having done
all, stand," so said Paul in Ephesians 6:13.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5:
It's a battle!
The enemy has attacked!
"And the Philistines
were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground
full of lentiles: and
the people fled from the Philistines." 2nd Samuel
23:11
Do notice, "the
people fled!"
The noun used for "people" here is spelled
"am," just "am." It usually indicates a united group of people,
a related tribe or family. A congregated unit! Often God's
people are in view, as here. Israelites! The parent word for
"am" is "amam," meaning "to associate, to overshadow." That's an
overshadowing by means of the crowd coming so close together!
The verb "fled" is "nus" and means "to
vanish away." Then, "to escape!" Perhaps forgetting and
certainly forsaking their land and homes and possessions, the
frightened citizenry are leaving town!
Fear has gripped the populace!
They no doubt would have labeled such
action "common sense."
Danger lurks!
But these folks are sacrificing everything
they own!
They are like sheep without a shepherd!
Everyone is going his own way!
They need a leader!
An example!
A fighter!
And God gives them someone!
"Shammah" is his name.
The whole story:
"And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite.
And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where
was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from
the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and
defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a
great victory." 2nd Samuel 23:11-12
One man will "turn the tide" of events!
Like a Daniel or a Nehemiah or a Paul the
Apostle ... Shammah stands!
Stands alone apparently!
Her did not just stand either!
He fought!
He fought the enemy!
Now, watch this. While
"the people fled," Shammah did not
decry them! He did not mock or jeer the retreating farmers! He
caused no harm to his brethren!
He kept his eyes on the real enemy, the
Philistines!
I know some preachers who would, I think,
have shot a time or two at the poor retreating Jews!
"Cowards," they would have yelled!
"Quitters," too!
"Compromisers!"
Not Shammah!
The fleeing people right now need
defending, not scolding!
Correction can come later.
Focus on those uncircumcised heathen
today!
Fight the Devil, not the saints!
If one is only interested in "target
practice," the retreating throngs will suffice! Fire away!
But if one is interested in tactical
victory, the enemy is plain! He has attacked before and will do
so again ... unless someone renders him ineffective!
Thank God for Shammah!
He knows not only when to fight ... but
whom to fight as well!
May his kind increase!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 6:
Here's the Bible Story so far. It is
related during an accounting of King David's mighty men of
valor! This man Shammah is one of them.
"And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite.
And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where
was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from
the Philistines. But he
stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and
slew the Philistines ...." 2nd Samuel 23:11-12
What a testimony,
"but he stood!"
Shammah stood!
Everyone else ran!
This verb, "yashar," is reflexive, Shammah
himself stood! Effort is implied! Determination!
Searching for this verb in its exact form
as here, I could only find five other Bible examples. To really
stand! That's out of 48 total appearances of "yasher" in the Old
Testament.
Here are those five ...
"And the LORD
descended in the cloud, and stood with him (Moses) there,
and proclaimed the name of the LORD." Exodus 34:5 shows
the Lord as the First One Who stood so mightily!
An angel can take a stand too!
"And God's anger was kindled because he
went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an
adversary against him (Balaam). Now he was riding upon his ass,
and his two servants were with him." Numbers 22:22
"And the LORD came,
and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel.
Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth."
1st Samuel 3:10 records a young man's call to the Ministry!
Sadly, Saul once stood for God!
"And they ran and fetched him thence: and
when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of
the people from his shoulders and upward." 1st Samuel
10:23 shows that standing for God is not automatic or easy or
static. It must be maintained!
Even the devil's crowd can stand it seems,
until God removes them. "And the
Philistine (Goliath) drew near morning and evening, and
presented himself forty days." 1st Samuel 17:16
But, thank God, men can stand too!
Godly men!
Standing in a bean field!
Refusing to yield it to the Philistines!
But of what value is such a place, a mere
piece of ground?
God can do some great things with a piece
of ground. Yes, some astounding works of God have been
manifested on the ground. Think of the manna on the ground every
morning for many years! And the dew in Gideon's day! And broken
Dagon fallen to the ground before Jehovah God! And the
multitudes Jesus fed sitting on the green grass on the ground!
Jesus even wrote on the ground! He spat there too and made a
poultice to heal a blind man's eyes! Jonathan found honey on the
ground, honey which was delicious to eat and strengthening to
his weary body! Jesus is a Root out of dry ground! Also real
wheat, and false tares too, grow simultaneously out of the
ground ... until the day of harvest! The Holy Land is special
ground to God as well, every acre of it having been given to
Abraham and his sons! "And the LORD shall
inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose
Jerusalem again," Zechariah 2:12 says. Come to think of
it, Shammah was defending a little patch of that holy land,
wasn't he?
If you think this "standing" was just a
little matter ... remember it got Shammah listed in Scripture!
As one of David's "mighties" no less!
Preacher, stand!
Christian, stand!
Lady, stand!
Bible student, stand!
Teenager, stand!
Stand up, stand up for Jesus!
Ye soldiers of the Cross!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 7:
The Bible says that Shammah "defended"
that field of beans!
"But he stood in the
midst of the ground, and
defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD
wrought a great victory." 2nd Samuel 23:12
Where did Shammah, certainly a Jew and
likely a believing Jew, get the idea of "defending" something?
As a soldier, one of David's bravest,
defense would have been as dear to his heart as offense, nearly
anyway!
There are just some things we Christians
need to defend!
To protect from the enemy!
The Hebrew verb used here for "defend" is
spelled "natzsal" and means "to save, to rescue, or to deliver!"
Actually the first-line definition in most lexicons is "to
snatch away!" Shammah boldly removed this field from the grasp
of the Philistines!
We Christians today are commanded to
defend some things too! Jude tells us:
"That we should earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints." Fight for it!
It's only natural that followers of Jesus
Christ, Jehovah God, should be students of defense!
After all, Palm 59:9 succinctly says:
"God is my Defence!"
Then, "But I will
sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the
morning: for thou hast
been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble."
Or "He only is my rock and my
salvation; he is my
defence; I shall not be greatly moved."
The Bible also reminds us that God is the
Defender of Jerusalem! "As birds flying,
so will
the LORD of hosts defend
Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and
passing over he will preserve it." Isaiah 31:5
Paul defended the Gospel.
"But the other of love, knowing that I am
set for the defence of the gospel." Philippians 1:17
Defending a field of lentiles!
Dear friend, reader of these lines today,
what do you need to defend?
What's the devil trying to steal from your
life?
I say the Bible is worth defending!
So are its precious doctrines; the Virgin
Birth, the miracle of Creation, the Blood Atonement, the
physical literal Resurrection and so many more!
The family is worth a fight too!
And our Churches!
Godly living also!
In a day when so many have fled the
battlefront ... where are the few who will stay and stand and
fight and defend what's left?
Jesus asked: "When
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
Luke 18:8 wonders if anyone will still be standing!
Let's not be like one who forsook Paul.
"For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world,
and is departed ...." 2nd Timothy 4:10
Lets' stand and fight and defend with all
our strength!
Like Paul said of Timothy,
"For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your
state." So he sent the young Preacher to Philippi to
faithfully conduct God's work there! Philippians 2:19
Calling all Defenders!
Help needed now!
God, in Ezekiel 22:30, said:
"And I sought for a man among them, that
should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the
land, that I should not destroy it."
I hope someone today is responding along
with Isaiah, "Lord, here am I; send
me."
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 8:
This is warfare!
Literally so!
Shammah killed some men, Philistines. Of
course they, the enemy soldiers, were trying to overrun his land
and home and family and kill the all the Israelites first!
"And after him
was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the
Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a
piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the
Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and
defended it, and slew
the Philistines ...." 2nd Samuel 23:11-12
The verb "slew" is spelled "nakah" and
means just what it says, "to strike or smite or beat or hit
until dead!" Also it's "time" sense here in our Text is
significant. It's framed as a verb that would be labeled
"imperfect." That does not mean that there is anything "wrong"
with it. It does mean that the word's action is "incomplete." It
took a while to conquer these persistent Philistines! It did not
occur in a split second!
What Shammah did was perfectly in order.
He defended his family and property and acted accordingly. To
have done less, an action apparently many of his neighbors
chose, would have been to act cowardly.
Shammah killed the intruders!
Now we cannot apply this part of the Text
to our lives today, not literally. We Christians, like our
Saviour, are peacemakers, not murderers. That is ... unless we
are soldiers or airmen or sailors or corpsmen in the armed
services, defending our homeland! Then, under orders, fire away!
I think you see what I'm saying.
Saints do not murder!
However, there is a sense in which we are
to "mortify" certain things in our lives! To "mortify" means "to
make dead," to kill them!
What, Preacher?
Let the Apostle Paul tell us.
"For if ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live." Romans 8:13 uses "thanatoo"
here. It means "to put to death." Or "to render extinct!"
Again he writes, "Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things' sake the
wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the
which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them."
Colossians 3:5-7 even enumerates those sins on the "hit" list!
Different verb though, "nekroo," meaning "to destroy the
strength" of something, thus "to slay" it! But this time the
verb is an imperative, a stark command!
Yes, Shammah killed people, but they were
threatening his very life. Self defense if it ever existed!
But we are rather to declare war ... on
our own pesky sins!
Down with those things!
Paul again, "Let
them not be once named among you, as becometh saints!"
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 9:
This two-verse Paragraph obviously was
focusing on a man named Shammah. He was one of King David's
"mighty men," a brave warrior.
Second Samuel 23
recounts some of the great exploits of these amazing heroes.
"And after him was Shammah the son
of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together
into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and
the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst
of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and
the LORD wrought a great victory." 2nd Samuel 23:11-12
In these few
inspired words we are given Shammah's genealogy.
Then the name of
the enemy army who attacked him and his neighbors, the
Philistines.
The object Shammah
defended, a piece of land.
The value of that
property, a field of lentiles. They are just beans!
Then we're told
how the general population acted, fleeing like frightened
children.
Next, beautifully
so, Shammah's great deed is detailed!
He stood!
Right in the
middle of the battlefield too, no hiding for this
man!
Let the enemy
come!
He fought!
"Talk" time was
over. "Hand me the sword," Shammah might have ordered.
Then he went to
work, simply doing what he was trained to do, killing the haters
of his nation!
He slew
some men!
How many we are no
told, but the "s" on Philistines makes it plural.
I suspect Shammah
was a godly man, as was his leader King David. Daniel 11:23
reminds us: "But the people that do know
their God shall be strong, and do exploits."
How different
Shammah is from, say, Demas! Paul sadly wrote in 2nd Timothy
4:10, "For Demas hath forsaken me, having
loved this present world, and is departed."
Also unlike John
Mark, at the first of his life anyway. Luke in Acts 13:13 tells
of the young man's defection in the face of hardship.
"Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to
Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to
Jerusalem." Perga and Pamphylia were hard places to
reach, and dangerous places to live!
No!
Shammah is true to
his calling!
Admirable!
But ... and here's
the lesson for today ... Shammah is not credited with the
victory!
After all that
emphasis on him, rightly so, we are informed:
"And the LORD wrought a great victory."
We fight ... but
God gives the Victory!
Our great God Who
once is called a "Man of War!" Exodus 15:3 says so.
"The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name."
The Lord Jesus,
prophetically thinking of Calvary said:
"Who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is
mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord GOD
will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo,
they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them
up." In Isaiah 50:8-9 Jesus as much as says, "Devil,
demons, bring it on! In the Name of God I will defeat you
surely!"
And Jesus did!
Our Lord is the
Ultimate Victor!
He is the King of
Glory!
We fight but He
oversees and grants the final outcome!
"That in all things he might have
the preeminence." Colossians 1:18
"That no flesh should glory in his
presence." 1st Corinthians 1:29
That verb
"wrought" is spelled "asah" and means God "constructed" that
victory! He "built" it! He is its Architect!
And the noun for
victory is "teshuah," related closely to the Hebrew word for
deliverance or salvation!
God gave salvation
to Shammah and his neighbors!
Thank God today
for the victories He has given you too!
Paul did!
"But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1st
Corinthians 15:57
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
