2 Samuel 23:9 – 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:

2 Samuel 23:10 – 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.

Hello readers, his hand clave unto the sword. Hope you are all doing well, it’s a rainy day here in Adelaide… after a rainy week! Today we are talking about Eleazar, he was one of David’s mighty men. He was with David when they fought off the Philistines. They had no backup, no support, yet they defied the Philistines. The people came in at the end to spoil, but in the battle, it only him and a few others there with David.

Many people have left the fight. Many people are not like David’s mighty men. David couldn’t have done what he did in life without these mighty men helping him. Christians need other Christians. There was a day David ran into battle with Goliath while everyone else was running away. There was a day when Uriah ran into battle while all the rest of the army retreated away from him. Someone that’s fighting, we shouldn’t be gone away, but we should be doing our bit in the army. What a chapter in the Bible as David at the end of his life looks back on his mighty men.

Eleazar fought with David, and he smote them and his hand clave unto the sword. In the Bible, the word of God is called the sword of the Spirit. The Bible is your sword, Christian. We have a Christianity today that has retreated away from warfare. They don’t want to war. The Bible says God is a man of war. Christians instead lay down their weapons and run away from the battle. Let’s all get along, let’s compromise. But the life of a saved believer is warfare. There is a battle. There is a battle for souls, there is the battle with sin, this world and the forces of evil. It’s warfare like you’ve never seen. Many Christians aren’t in the battle because they’re already prisoners, they’re slaves in Egypt rather than slaying giants in Canaan. There’s no sword, no worship, no freedom in Egypt friend.

Christians have fallen away, they’ve retreated because they’re like the men of Israel… gone away. You wouldn’t forsake God’s word if you actually used it! People don’t care about God’s word because … they don’t care about God’s word. The person that reads, uses and relies on the Bible sticks to it. The sword is not cleaving to the hand of the preachers, the pastors, the flock… because they’re not in the fight, they’re not relying on God’s word, they’re not trusting it, they’re not USING it. Christians left God’s word because they had already stopped believed and obeying and trusting it. It no longer was central to their lives. Eleazar was a soldier, he needed his sword… until you’re a soldier of the cross, you won’t need the sword.

How are you going to defend others, how are you going to put the enemy to flight? How are you going to do it without a weapon? Being armed is Biblical, that’s why the American forefathers provided for the right to bear arms when setting up their country. The first thing the Philistines did was disarm Israel. When you’re disarmed you go from a free citizen… to a subject. You can’t fight, you’re controlled by those with weapons. You see, someone will always have weapons… the devil isn’t going to put down his fiery darts. Those wanting your guns, they just want to be the ones to have them… and you not… so they can control you. If you are going to be a mighty man or woman in God’s army, you need your sword.

I got to thinking… you’re liable to stick to something that’s used and proven in battle. People left the King James Bible because they had been convinced to lay it down. They didn’t think they needed it. They didn’t live by it, they didn’t trust it. And the Philistines are running all over them. Hey lots of Christians have left the fight, they’ll be back for the spoil, but when the battle is on, they’re nowhere. Life can come down to very few, there was only David and three men fighting the Philistines alone. Stand alone if you need to, but stand and hold firm with the sword in your hand.

His hand became one with the sword. When are we going to become one with God’s word. Noone and nothing is going to separate us from God’s word. It’ll change you, it’ll give you power, it’ll give you victory. See, something is going to cleave to you. You put down your sword, and sin will cleave unto you. And you won’t be able to get it off, you won’t be able to get free. Philistines swarming all over you. Psalm 101:3 – I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. We are in a battle, there is a lot of wickedness out there, wickedness that would come in and take us captive, wickedness that would take our Bible, our freedom, our victory away… that would enslave, subject and destroy us. People have turned aside, don’t let turning aside cleave to you, instead get God’s word in your hand… and use it, believe it, read it, study it, by faith act upon what God tells you to do in it.

The LORD wrought a great victory that day. You see, it was impossible what they did, but God fought on their behalf. The secret (well it’s not a secret but anyway) to Christian living is trusting God with it. We don’t have what it takes. God will go before, all we are required to do is trust and obey him. Stand and fight. Go and fight the good fight of faith. You know… faith IS a fight. It’s a fight to believe God… there’ll be a Goliath come out and really test whether you believe God’s word. All David did… a kid… was believe God’s word. Who was this uncircumcised Philistine to defy the armies of the living God? The key is in letting go of our ability and power to produce… of which we have none… and walking in faith in God… who he is and what he’s said do. The work of God he would have us do is believe on him who he hath sent. That’s Jesus Christ.

When you actually live by the Bible, you’ll value it. A soldier values his sword. The reason why people don’t value and care about God’s word, why they don’t know it, why they don’t care about people revising, editing, deleting, changing… perverting it… because they don’t use it, it’s not in their armory. They don’t believe it, so that’s why they don’t care. Christians used to die for God’s word, now they’ve laid it down and gone away happy to be ruled by Philistines, compromising, faithless perverse children. A perverted book will produce a perverted faith and a perverted salvation. He was weary, he was tired… that’s ok… but his hand clave to the sword. God gave him the strength to hang onto his sword. The only way someone should take your Bible from you is from your cold, lifeless, dead hands. And even then in death, they’ll need to pry it free. This was a guy who had his sword, he had it by his side, he trusted it, he used it. He was one with it. The more you read and obey the Bible, the more you will cleave to it, you’ll realize how absolute vital and essential it is. It’s the word of the living God.

When you’re weary, when the odds are stacked against you, when you’re standing alone, cleave to the word of God. This is why he was a mighty man. He didn’t run away, he stayed in the fight, he stayed with David his king. People want the spoil but not the battle. People want to stay out of hell, but they don’t want to forsake their sin. They want to be saved, but they don’t want the Saviour. If you really believed God’s word, if you really valued it and trusted it and it was part of your daily life and battle, your hand would cleave to it, not throw it away. Remember Samson, he threw that old jawbone away, that same jawbone with which he slew a thousand men. We’re pretty quick to chuck away God’s word. Samson made a poem about him beating the Philistines “I have slain a thousand men”. It wasn’t his victory it was God’s. The battle is the Lord’s David said. You should be inseparable from God’s word, you should be one with it. Your hand needs to cleave to it… that weary hand, but as a soldier of the Lord, hang onto it and keep swinging, God’s going to wrought a great victory in your life. When you use it, when it’s your breath and life, you can’t let go of it. People have only let it go, put it down, thrown it away… because they never believed it, trusted it and obeyed it… they never swung it in battle. But for Eleazar, that mighty man of David’s army… I can’t, I won’t, I will never let it go.

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