Second Samuel chapter 23. Now last week I said I was going
to go to chapter 24 without dealing with some of the things in uh... this class but i've changed my
mind i want to give the meanings of every one of these names and
i want to look once again at those three men who out of love
to david broke through the philistine camp in order to get him a drink
of water and i was thinking about that that's so amazing you do
that for a drink of water for the lord's sake and that's what
i want us to consider but I'm not going to read this whole
chapter, but let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our merciful heavenly Father,
we come into your presence in Christ's name, that name that's
above every name. And we pray that we might be
enabled by your grace to worship him and to sit at his feet and
hear his word. Lord, feed us with heavenly manna
for the Lord's sake. Forgive us of our many sins.
Give us grace to love you more. Give us grace to trust you more.
Give us grace to love one another more. Bless us for the Lord's
sake. In his name we pray, amen. 2 Timothy 3, 16. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And these names I'll wait here a second. We've
got a lot of people coming in. It's OK. These names in the scripture
are just as inspired as Isaiah chapter 53, just as inspired
as Romans chapter 8, these names of David's mighty men. There
are 37 names in all. Sometimes the names are repeated,
so we're not going to look at all of them. Last week, you'll
remember how we considered that five of the men, what they did
was recorded. The other men, their deeds were
not recorded, but they were part of David's, I guess, elite army,
or elite, the elite of his army. But I thought it was interesting,
the first man with one swoop of his sword, or spear, I don't
know how he did it, he killed 800 people at once. And it lets
us know that the work of Christ was one work. The next fellow,
his sword, clave to his hand. He couldn't let it go after he
went and took on the Philistine army by himself. His sword was
just attached to his hand and he couldn't get rid of it. And
what that lets us know is there's only one thing God uses, the
word, the word, the scriptures, the scriptures of truth. That's
all he uses. He doesn't need to use anything else. And the
next man protected the barley field. You remember that? He
protected the barley field and made sure that none of the enemies
would take Israel's food. And he protected it by himself. In every one of these instances,
it was one man that did something. Not two, only one. There's one
man who accomplished our salvation, Christ Jesus the Lord. And then
we read where the man stirred himself up to fight and Christ
stirs himself up to fight our battles in the sense that he
doesn't look for a reason in us. He does it simply because
it's his will. He finds the reason in himself
to do something for me or you. Doesn't have to find a reason
in you. Isn't that good news? I'm so thankful. And then the man
who slew the lion like men and slew the lion, representing Satan,
and he slew him. That's what our Lord accomplished.
But the names of these men are all mentioned in 2 Samuel chapter
23. And the first name that I'll
consider is David. David, you know what David means?
The Beloved. The Beloved. Truly, he is the
Beloved. Picturing Christ, the Beloved. And every believer is accepted
in You know, that's one of my favorite scriptures. He hath
made us accepted in the beloved. Christ is the beloved of God,
the well loved. God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. Not merely with whom I'm well
pleased, but in whom. I'm well pleased. That means
if I'm in him, God is well pleased with me. He looks at me right
now and I'm so aware of my sinfulness, but he looks at me right now
in Christ and says, I'm well pleased with him. That's the
gospel, isn't it? Accepted in the beloved. Now
the next man's name that's mentioned is found in verse eight, Adino. Adeno. He's the man who killed
800 people with one swipe of his spear. His name means ornament. Ornament. Now he most clearly
pictures the gospel in doing this in one act. And the ornament
that which shows Christ's beauty, his ornament is his salvation.
Nowhere is he seen more beautiful than when he's hanging on the
cross, obedient to the father's will, putting away the sins of
his people. Now, this is very important.
When Christ was on the cross, forsaken by God, that doesn't
mean the father stopped loving him. As a matter of fact, he said,
therefore, doth my father love me because I lay down my life. He was forsaken by God, but God
never stopped loving him. Oh, the beauty of Christ as he
obeys his father and saves his people from their sins by that
one act. And then the next word in verse nine, Eleazar, Eleazar. God, he's the one who had the
sword stuck on his hand. You know what that means? God
has helped. God has helped me. The living
God, if you're a believer, God, the living God has helped you. Isn't that wonderful? And then verse 11, Shammah. Shammah. His name means astonishment. Astonishment. And this is, in
some respects, this is the one that made me think most. I dread
the thought of ceasing to be astonished by the gospel. Astonished at the greatness of
the Lord. Astonished. Where it just becomes
doctrine. Or that's what I believe, I agree
with that. I don't want to get there, do you? I want to always
be astonished. You know, when you read Revelation
2 and 3 about the progression of the churches, in Revelation
2, 3, the letters to the seven churches, it begins with Ephesus
where the church at Ephesus had lost her first love. And then
it goes on with the church at Pergamos and Thyatira where they
became tolerant. of that which Christ hated. They
became tolerant. And then you get into the church
at Sardis, and they were living in the past. He said, you have
a name that you live, but you're dead. You're living off past
accolades. And then you get to Laodicea. They had become lukewarm. And
that's what happens when we lose our astonishment. Oh, I want
to be astonished at the gospel at all times. I stand amazed
in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could
love me. Isn't that astonishment? And then in verse, where's the
next one? Verse 18, and Abishai, the brother
of Joab. Abishai means my father is a
gift. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. And that's, there's another thing
to be astonished by, to think of the gift of God. Everything
you have is of the Father's gift, isn't it? The gift of God. And then Benaiah, verse 20, Benaiah,
the one who fought the two lion-like men and the lion in the snow
and killed the Egyptian, his name means Jehovah has built. Jehovah has built. Now, what
comes to your mind when you think of that? Christ said, upon this
rock will I build my church. Christ is the builder of the
church. Jehovah has built. You know,
I think it's almost interesting. It's not the right word, but
people get involved in what they call church planning. We're going
to get this happen, and we're going to get that to happen,
and we're going to go establish a church here. Christ is the
builder of the church. You know, one of the things I
like to think of when I think of this church, I didn't have
a plan. I didn't have a plan. Well, this is what we're going
to do. Man with no plan. Maybe that's bad, but this is
the work of Christ. It's not the work of a man. The
church is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ upon this rock,
this confession of me. The gospel is, it's a confession
of him, who he is and what he did. Upon this rock, I'll build
my church. And isn't it wonderful to know
that he's the one who does the building? Not us, it's him. Now, beginning in verse 24, we
have the rest of everybody. And their names are mentioned,
but not their deeds. Asahel is the first mention,
and his name means God made. God made. Now that's true in
two senses. God created the universe. I love
thinking of him just willing the universe into existence.
There was a time when all there was was God and the trinity of
his persons, and he wasn't lonely. He didn't create the universe
because he's lonely. Oh, there's an eternal withness
between the three persons of the Godhead, and they were in
complete satisfaction, but to manifest His glory, He created
the universe. But not only did He create in
the physical universe, He's the author of the new creation, isn't
He? He's the author of salvation. He made us new creatures in Christ
Jesus. Christ was made sin. And he is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That's, that's
who he's made. God made. That's the gospel,
isn't it? God made. Now the next name mentioned
is, um, Elhanan. I'm not, I'm sure I'm not pronouncing
any of these things right, but the word means simply God has
been gracious. For me to be saved, God's gonna
have to be gracious. He's gonna have to save me for
Christ's sake, because there's not a reason found in me. God has
been gracious. Can't you say amen to that? With
regard to your salvation, God has been gracious. And then in
verse 25, we've already gone over Shammah. There's another
guy named Shammah. So we're going to look at Elika. Elika. That means God rejects. God rejects. God rejects everything but his
son. God's going to reject you if
you come in on the footing of your own works. God's going to
reject you if you think there's something in you that he can
accept. God rejects all false gospel. He rejects all error. He rejects. That's who he is. And I need to see that. That's
going to make me avoid. What about Cain when he comes
into God's presence offering up his works? God rejected him.
God had no regard for him. Abel comes in, God receives him
because he looked only to Christ. He brought nothing but the blood
of Christ, but God's going to reject everything else. So to
speak of a God who doesn't reject is not to speak of the God of
the Bible, is it? God rejects. And what's the next one? Heles, verse 26. Heles. God has saved. God has saved. Salvation is of
the Lord. God has saved. Boy, these are
glorious names, aren't they? God has saved. And if you're saved, it's because
God saved you. He did it all. God has saved. And next is Ira. And Ira means watchful of a city. Watchful. Now, why is it that
you have persevered up to this point? because God has been watchful
over you. That's the only reason, isn't
it? You can't congratulate yourself as being the reason behind this.
God is watchful. He that keepeth thee, the scripture
says in Psalm 121, he that keepeth thee shall not slumber or sleep. How often are you not even thinking
about the Lord, but there's never a time when he's not thinking
about you. He is watchful, and that's our hope. Abiezer is the
next one in verse 27. Abiezer is the way it should
be pronounced, but that means my father has helped. My father has helped. Now what came to my mind when
I was thinking of this scripture for whatever reason was the Syro-Phoenician
woman coming after The Lord had said, I'm not sent but to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. She came and worshiped him. And
this becomes more clear to me every time I read the scriptures.
You only worship when you worship him for who he is and not for
what he does for you, because he hadn't done anything for her
yet as far as she knew. But then she came and worshiped him saying,
Lord, help me. Help me. Well, my father has
helped me, and every child of God gets to pray this prayer,
help me, help me. He will. He helps. Abiezar, my
father, has helped. And then, Mi B'nai in verse 27. Mi B'nai, the building of Jehovah,
is what that means. It doesn't mean Jehovah is built,
but the building of Jehovah. That's talking about the church.
The building of Jehovah. The church of the living God,
which is the house of God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And then in verse 28, Zalman. That means Shady. Shady. The Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand. Shady. He's what keeps the sun
from smiting me. This is talking about Him as
being our protection, our Savior. His righteousness is the shade
that keeps the wrath of God away from me. Shady. The sun shall
not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. Verse 27, mi-bu-ni, mi-bu-ni. I wish I could pronounce these
things, but I like the meaning of it. It means spontaneous,
impetuous. Now you think, how could that
be a good thing, to be impetuous? If somebody's impetuous, that means
they just act before they think. They just respond. But the Lord
doesn't need to think before He acts. I think that's glorious. He doesn't need to think before
he acts because he never responds to anything. It's simply his,
there is one divine will that covers everything. There wasn't a sequence of events
where God willed this, God willed that, God willed that, and He
made all of His plans. No, there was one divine fiat,
one divine act of the divine will, and He never has to think
or respond to anything. He just acts because He's God. Spontaneous. I love thinking
of the Lord in that light. And then the next, in verse 29,
is helab. Helab. And that word simply means
milk. Milk. Desire the sincere or the
pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. Milk. Don't
you want the Lord to feed you? with the milk of His Word. We
don't want anything but the Word, do we? You don't want my opinion,
or my thought, or my anything that comes from me. We desire
the pure milk of the Word. And the next one is in verse 29, etai. And etai means with me, with
me. Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art with
me." Now, to have the presence of Christ, there's nothing like
that, is there? To have His presence. And you
know what I've found in my own experience, when things were
worse is when I found His presence the most precious. When everything's
fine, I don't even feel His presence. Don't even think about it. But
oh, when I... To have His presence. You know,
I love that... Prisons, when blessed with a
sense of his love, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons
would palaces prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. With
me. What a name. With me. Next is verse... Hidai, where is that? I must
have, well, I'm sorry. I think I skipped that one. Verse
30. Okay, Hidai. Yeah, Hidai. And his name means the rejoicing
of Jehovah. The rejoicing of Jehovah. The Lord will rejoice over thee
with singing. That's what the Scripture says.
He rejoices in His Son. He rejoices in Himself. He rejoices
in His people. And I want to be reverent when
I say this. I want to be very careful how
I say this. But the Lord is happy. He's the
happy God. I say that reverently. Of course
He is. His will's always done. He's
in absolute, complete control over everything. And He rejoices. He's the rejoicing God. I love
to think of that. He rejoices. And looking unto
Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high. The rejoicing of Jehovah. And then in verse 31, Abbai al-Ban. That simply means God is our
father. Our father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. God is our father. And next,
Asmaleth. That means strong unto death. Well, first of all, who's the
one that's strong unto death? Christ. Oh, how strong He was
unto death. But it's talking about a believer
who perseveres all the way to the end. What is the evidence
that God has really done something for me? if I persevere all the
way to the end. Be thou faithful unto death,
and I'll give thee a crown of life. It's only that one who
endures to the end. And you know that the only way
you'll do that is if he preserves you. But the meaning is faithful
unto death. Verse 32, Eli Abba, Eliabba. And that means God hides. God hides. And you know the psalmist
said, Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself. God hides. Now this is part of who He is.
He hides Himself. He makes it to where people can't see Him.
You know the last thing that's written of the Lord's public
ministry in John chapter 12 is that He went and hid Himself. from them. That's the last thing
said in John chapter 12. He went and hid himself from
them. Thou verily art a God that hideth.
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you've hid these things. from the wise and prudent, and
revealed them unto babes." God is a God who hides Himself. And
when I see something or hear something like that, I think,
Lord, don't hide from me. Make Yourself known to me. Reveal
Yourself to me. I'm losing my place. I'm sorry. This is a lot of words they have
written down. Trying to give the definition of them. Where's
Ahiam at? That's where I'm at? Okay, 33 Ahiam. Ahiam means my
mother's brother. Now, what's that supposed to
mean? What's that got to do with the church, my mother's brother?
Well, in Revelation chapter 12, the church is depicted as a mother. And every member of the church
is my mother's brother. True brothers and sisters in
Christ Jesus. My mother's brother. Verse 34, Eliphelet. That means God delivers. God is deliverance. And the scripture,
I thought, in the New Testament is where Simeon said, Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, I'm ready to die, because
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And the next is Eliam. Eliam. And I love the name of
what this means. Eliam means God is my kinsman.
What do you think of when you think of that? the kinsman-redeemer. But God manifests in the flesh. He became my kinsman. He became
a man to redeem me. God is my kinsman. And then in verse... Well, let
me say this about Eliam. God is my kinsman. Notice it
says, the son of Ahithophel. The son of Ahithophel. Do you
remember who Ahithophel was? He was the guy that typified
Judas. And he was the grandfather of
Bathsheba. And he was dead set against David. He could... Can you imagine? If you were Bathsheba's grandfather,
how would you feel about David? He had Uriah murdered. I mean,
he committed some terrible sins. And Ahithophel couldn't forgive
him. He just couldn't. But his son
did. This man forgave David and he's
listed in part of his mighty men. I think that's a very... That's another example of the
inspiration of Scripture. You know, that something like
that is pointed out. And then the next is Hezriah. And that word means enclosed.
And the church is called a garden enclosed. Protected. Safe. You were enclosed in the
ark and you were completely safe. Enclosed. In Christ, I'm enclosed. I'm shut in and I'm safe and
I can't get out. The church is the church enclosed. And what is really interesting,
the next one means, where am I at? Pariah means wide
open. Wide open. Now, while I'm enclosed
in Christ, I think of how wide open the door is. He that cometh
to me, I'll in no wise cast out. Christ is wide open. You can't
say my sin's keeping me from Christ. No, it's your righteousness
that'll keep you from Christ. It's your goodness. You can come
to Christ right now because He's wide open. There's no sinner
that He will refuse to receive. That's who He is. Wide open.
Isn't He glorious? And the next word is egal. Verse 36, egal, the son of Nathan. And that simply means he redeems. He redeems. What's the scripture? Whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in His blood. The redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. He redeems. Now, He doesn't make
redemption possible. He doesn't redeem if me or you
fill in the blank. He redeems. And that's, oh, what
a part of the gospel that is. The next word is banai, the Gadite. Banai means built. The church
is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Zelech means ripped
or split. And the only thing I could think
of to correspond with this is the rent veil. It was rent in
two. It was split in two. we can come into God's presence,
into the very holy of holies, with that veil separating us,
the rent, the split. And then, neherai, neherai means snorter, nostrils,
nostrils. And the wrath of God, the word
nostrils is the main word to describe the wrath of God. This
is part of who he is, his nostril snorting, and that's a reference
to his wrath. Garab means, that's in verse
38, garab means scab. scab or scabby. What can I say about this other
than the fact that the blood clots and scabs and preserves
the blood. The blood is the safety and the
blood is the protection. I don't know what else to say
about that. I'm giving a shot at it. But
I like the last one. This is the name I like the best. The last one. Uriah. The man that David murdered,
Uriah. And you know what his name means?
Jehovah is my light. Jehovah is the light of how God
could save somebody as wicked as David. Here he murdered Uriah. Jehovah is the light as to how
God can be just and justify the ungodly. Now in these names of
these mighty men, We have the gospel. Now, like I said, next
week I want to deal with these three men who for purely passionate
love for David broke through the lines just to get him a cup
of water from the well of Bethlehem. And when he got it, he poured
it on the ground and said, I'm not going to drink it. We're
going to consider that next time.