Three Brave Men

Three Brave Men We want to spend a few moments today talking about three very brave men that are talked about in the Bible. When we mention 3 brave men our thoughts may immediately go to someone like: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Peter, James and John Daniel, Noah and Job Although all of these may be considered brave we will not be discussing any of them today.

Three Brave Men Instead we will be discussing: Adino, Eleazar and Shammah These were three of David’s “mighty men”! The Bible records in 2 Samuel 23 that David had 37 “mighty men” but these 3 were the best of the best! 2Sa 23:8 ¶ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time.

Three Brave Men 2Sa 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 who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated. 10 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.

Three Brave Men 2Sa 23:11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. Then the people fled from the Philistines. 12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. And the LORD brought about a great victory.

Three Brave Men These men had victories that would rival those of Sampson. They bravely faced overwhelming odds in battle and were granted victory by God They loved and were fiercely loyal to their King. Listen to what they do next. 2Sa 23:13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

Three Brave Men 2Sa 23:14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 And David said with longing, "Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" 16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD.

Three Brave Men 2Sa 23:17 And he said, "Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?" Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men. The story of these men is being told near the end of David’s life. However, these events transpired in the very early days of his reign.

Three Brave Men As soon as the Philistines heard that David had been made king they began to search for him in order to kill him. David sets up his camp along with his soldiers at this cave. While there David no doubt begins to think about home and he begins to crave some of the water from the well at Bethlehem. We can all relate to that can’t we. We may miss some of Momma’s cooking or Grannies Pie when we have been away from home for a while.

Three Brave Men David mentions his desire for some water from home. This was no doubt heard by Adino, Eleazar and Shammah They decide in my opinion because of their love for and loyalty to their king to risk their own lives in order to bring some of this water to David. These men are an extraordinary example for us today.

Three Brave Men What are some lessons we can learn from these three? We don’t have a physical king today to serve. We do have a spiritual king, Jesus Christ. We need to serve Him with the same type bravery these men served David with. Paul tries to impress upon the Christians at Corinth the need to be brave. 1Co 16:13 ¶ Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Three Brave Men He tells them to “stand fast in the faith” In other words stand your ground, don’t be moved away from the Truth. Then he tells them “quit ye like men” They needed to act like a man! NKJV: be brave RSV: be courageous MNT: be manly We can’t be a coward when it comes to serving God.

Three Brave Men Re 21:8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.“ If we are a coward when it comes to obeying God then we will not make it into Heaven. When Taylor went to Muskogee a few years ago to go to school and play baseball we had an opportunity to hear a preacher talk about this verse.

Three Brave Men He said this is kind of like a catcher in baseball. It’s the bottom of the last inning and the other team has the tying run on 3rd base. The ball is hit, a throw is made and there is going to be a play at home plate. What does the catcher do? He knows if he catches the ball and tries to tag the runner out then he is going to get run over. An he knows it’s going to hurt!

Three Brave Men

Three Brave Men

Three Brave Men He has seen all of this before. Will he “chicken out”? Or, will he catch the ball, make the tag and take the hit in order to win the game? To a real catcher there really is no decision to be made. He is going to try and make the play! As Christians we are sometimes put into situations where obeying God may hurt a little bit.

Three Brave Men Friends may tease us because we don’t use filthy language like many do. We may not get the job we want because it conflicts with worship services. Family and friends may turn their back on us because we are Christians. One day we might be thrown in prison for being a Christian We could even be killed because we are Christians

Three Brave Men If we are faced with these situations then what will we do? Will we be brave, obey God and take the hit in order to win the prize of Heaven. Or will we be a coward? Another lesson we may learn from these men is one of influence. There is no doubt in my mind that these 3 along with David were godly men.

Three Brave Men Since they were part of this elite group of 37 men then there is no doubt they spent a lot of time together. It makes it much easier to be godly and brave when those we associate with are godly and brave. Pr 27:17 ¶ As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. NKJV Pr 27:17 ¶ Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. RSV

Three Brave Men We can become better Christians when we associate with Christians. This is one of the main reasons it is so important to attend worship services. We have three wonderful opportunities every week to spend time with others who love us and love God. Where could we be that would be better for us spiritually than worshipping God with others who are interested in doing the same?

Three Brave Men If we don’t like spending time with Christians in this life then we probably won’t have to worry about spending time with them in eternity. Another lesson we need to learn from these three is sometimes you have to stand alone. We don’t know any details about Adino’s battle other than he killed 800 men by himself. But both Eleazar and Shammah continued to fight after the other soldiers had run away.

Three Brave Men This reminds me of what happened to the Apostle Paul As the book of Acts closes Paul had been arrested and sent to Rome to stand before Caesar. Secular history indicates that Paul was released after appearing before Caesar but was rearrested a couple of years later and brought before Caesar again. It was during his second imprisonment in Rome that he wrote 2 Timothy.

Three Brave Men Paul describes his first appearance before Caesar to Timothy. 2Ti 4:16 ¶ At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

Three Brave Men Just like Paul there may be times we have to stand alone in doing what is right. We need to remember in those times we are not truly alone. God is with us! The final lesson we will look at from these brave men is their motivation. I believe they were motivated out of love and loyalty to David, their king. David did not command them to go and get this water for them.

Three Brave Men They went and got it because they wanted to please their King. Love should be our main motivation for obeying our King today. 1Jo 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. If we love God then we will obey Him because we want to please our King.

Three Brave Men Listen to what Jesus says about love and obedience Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. It’s very easy to tell if we love our King.

Conclusion Although these men are not as well known as others there are still great lessons to learn from what little we know about them. As Christians we need to be brave and obey God We need to associate with other Christians and allow them to be a positive influence in our lives Sometimes we are the only ones doing what is right. We need to love our King and obey Him.