David had 37 mighty men who fought with him in battle (II Samuel 23:8-39). Three were set apart for their valor: Josheb-Basshebeth, chief of the three, once killed 800 men in one battle; Eleazar stood against the Philistines when everyone else fled, taking the victory by himself; Shammah once stood in a bean field and killed Philistines until he was victorious by himself. They were labeled, “The Three.”
Others gained notoriety on the battlefield, like Abishai, David’s nephew, who killed 300 men in one battle. Then there was Benaiah, whom David put in charge of his own bodyguard. Benaiah killed 2 of Moab’s best men, killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day, and killed a huge Egyptian wielding a spear, while Benaiah had only a club. The rest of his mighty men are honored in God’s Word, including Uriah the Hittite, whom sadly David betrayed.
We need fighting men to stave off evil from our nation. We also need soldiers of Christ who will arm themselves against the devil, rulers, authorities, powers in this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (cf. Ephesians 6:10-19). We should honor all such warriors, for they preserve our freedom to serve God. God bless all our veterans, our mighty men.
~From Rick Cunningham
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