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00:00:01 He was a mighty man. 00:00:04 He felled the heroes of the enemy. 00:00:08 He slayed a giant. He even killed a lion. 00:00:10 And his name was not David. 00:00:14 Who was he? 00:00:15 Open your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Chronicles chapter 11 00:00:21 —1 Chronicles 11:22: 00:00:27 “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada 00:00:29 “was a courageous man who performed 00:00:32 “many exploits in Kabzeel. 00:00:35 “He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab, 00:00:39 “and he descended into a waterpit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 00:00:44 “He also struck down an Egyptian man of extraordinary size 00:00:48 “—five cubits tall. 00:00:51 “Though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand 00:00:53 “like the beam of loom workers, 00:00:56 “he went against him with a rod 00:00:58 “and snatched the spear away from the Egyptian’s hand 00:01:00 and killed him with his own spear.” 00:01:04 He is Benaiah. 00:01:08 Look at all we learn about him in these verses, 00:01:12 the qualities that Benaiah displayed. 00:01:16 It tells us in verse 22 that he “was a courageous man.” 00:01:20 He “performed many exploits in Kabzeel.” 00:01:24 Kabzeel—Kabzeel is a small place 00:01:27 on the very southern border of Judah. 00:01:30 It borders Edom in the middle of nowhere. 00:01:35 But Benaiah worked there. 00:01:38 He was happy to be there. 00:01:39 It may be that that was his home. 00:01:41 Or it may be that that was his assignment. 00:01:44 No matter, as obscure a place as Kabzeel is, 00:01:48 that’s where he worked. 00:01:50 And the record says that he performed 00:01:52 many exploits courageously in Kabzeel. 00:01:58 He killed a lion—courage. 00:02:01 But do you notice that “he descended into a waterpit . . . 00:02:06 and killed a lion”? 00:02:07 Courage. 00:02:09 He descended into a waterpit with a lion. 00:02:11 There’s only one coming out, and it was Benaiah. 00:02:15 “He descended into a waterpit on a snowy day.” 00:02:18 He didn’t wait for the sun to shine. 00:02:20 He knew that was the day —adverse conditions, no matter. 00:02:25 Benaiah went in, and he slayed the lion. 00:02:29 Look at verse 23, some more amazing qualities. 00:02:32 He struck down the giant, ‘an Egyptian of extraordinary size.’ 00:02:35 But notice this: “Though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand 00:02:38 “like the beam of loom workers, he [Benaiah] 00:02:41 went against him with a rod”—a rod, a stick. 00:02:45 He didn’t have the right equipment 00:02:47 —courage, adaptability, commitment. 00:02:52 And notice this. What does he do? 00:02:55 It says: “He went against him with a rod and snatched the spear away 00:02:59 from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.” 00:03:04 Courage, commitment, adaptability, resourcefulness 00:03:09 —these are admirable, beneficial qualities. 00:03:12 Are those the qualities that distinguished Benaiah? 00:03:17 Not entirely. 00:03:19 There was one quality that exceeded these, 00:03:23 and that quality was loyalty 00:03:27 —tenacious adherence to the person of Jehovah. 00:03:31 That’s what the Bible record reveals about Benaiah: 00:03:35 personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:03:40 There is a caution, though, with loyalty. 00:03:44 The demarcation 00:03:46 between loyalty to Jehovah and loyalty to self 00:03:52 can often be blurry. 00:03:56 It hides under the inertia 00:04:00 of imperfection and selfishness. 00:04:04 That line of loyalty to Jehovah versus loyalty to self 00:04:09 can become very difficult to see. 00:04:12 In fact, loyalty to self can lie dormant within us 00:04:17 until the circumstances arise and change, 00:04:21 and then it can emerge. 00:04:23 And Benaiah and his contemporaries 00:04:26 provide for us a beautiful contrast 00:04:30 in loyalty to Jehovah and loyalty to self. 00:04:35 Think of Benaiah. He lived in a very tumultuous time. 00:04:39 David was a fugitive with his mighty men. 00:04:41 One of them likely was Benaiah, among others. 00:04:44 These men were comrades in arms running with David. 00:04:48 They were a band of brothers. 00:04:50 They were fiercely loyal to David 00:04:54 and, to be sure, they were loyal to Jehovah as well. 00:04:57 For example, among these three mighty men 00:04:59 were three brothers, fleshly brothers. 00:05:03 They’re mentioned in verses 20 and 26: 00:05:06 Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. 00:05:12 Now consider when circumstances changed for the mighty men, 00:05:18 when Saul died and David now became king, 00:05:22 in these changing circumstances, 00:05:26 what happened to the mighty men? 00:05:29 Here’s the contrast: Joab and Benaiah. 00:05:34 What happened to Joab? 00:05:36 Joab saw opportunity in changing circumstances, 00:05:41 and his loyalty to Jehovah was eclipsed 00:05:46 by his loyalty to himself. 00:05:49 For instance, 00:05:51 it was Joab who took matters into his own hands, 00:05:55 and he killed Abner 00:05:58 with whom David had already concluded a covenant. 00:06:02 He took matters into his own hands. 00:06:04 Why? He wanted Abner’s job. 00:06:09 His selfish ambitions got the better of him, 00:06:12 and they eclipsed his loyalty to Jehovah. 00:06:15 Joab was a courageous man. 00:06:17 He was resourceful. 00:06:18 He was adaptable. 00:06:20 Admirable qualities. 00:06:22 But in the absence of deep personal loyalty to Jehovah, 00:06:27 they seem somehow tainted, don’t they? 00:06:31 But consider Benaiah in the same circumstances. 00:06:34 Benaiah had no part in these kind of intrigues like Joab and his brothers. 00:06:39 Benaiah was loyal to Jehovah, and he was a loyal man 00:06:42 to Jehovah’s anointed one, David. 00:06:46 And look at what we find in verses 24 and 25, 00:06:50 verses 24 and 25: “These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, 00:06:55 “and he had a reputation like that of the three mighty warriors. 00:06:59 “Although he was distinguished even more than the thirty, 00:07:03 “he did not attain to the rank of the three. 00:07:07 However, David appointed him over his own bodyguard.” 00:07:14 You see, in the same circumstances as Joab, 00:07:19 Benaiah’s tenacious adherence to Jehovah 00:07:22 —his deep personal loyalty to Jehovah— 00:07:24 safeguarded him in these circumstances. 00:07:28 What did David see in Benaiah? 00:07:32 David saw in Benaiah what he himself exemplified, 00:07:37 and that was deep and strong personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:07:41 You can see that in this verse, in verse 25, can’t you? 00:07:44 It says: “However, David appointed him over his own bodyguard.” 00:07:49 David knew that to assign someone 00:07:51 to this very, very trusted position 00:07:55 (head of his own bodyguard), the man in that position, 00:07:59 if he was loyal to Jehovah, would be loyal to him. 00:08:03 And that’s what David saw in Benaiah. 00:08:07 Then came another time of change decades later. 00:08:11 When David died and Solomon became king 00:08:15 —changed circumstances, another time of opportunity— 00:08:20 how would Benaiah react? 00:08:23 The same way he always did: 00:08:26 deep personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:08:29 And it was Solomon when he became king 00:08:33 who rewarded Benaiah. 00:08:36 The son of David, Solomon, Jehovah’s anointed, 00:08:39 rewarded Benaiah for his loyalty. 00:08:42 Turn with me, please, to Proverbs 19:22. 00:08:47 You see, Solomon knew something about loyalty. 00:08:51 He was the son of David. 00:08:54 And look at what he wrote about loyalty at Proverbs 19:22. 00:08:58 Solomon said: “The desirable thing in a man 00:09:02 is his loyal love.” 00:09:04 His loyalty —that’s what Jehovah looks for in us. 00:09:11 So Benaiah was indeed a mighty man, 00:09:14 and he had beautiful qualities. 00:09:17 Did they distinguish him? 00:09:20 Not entirely. 00:09:22 It was his deep personal loyalty to Jehovah 00:09:25 first and foremost that distinguished him. 00:09:29 And because of that deep personal loyalty to Jehovah, 00:09:32 those qualities of Benaiah were beautiful. 00:09:37 So daily cultivate your loyalty to God 00:09:42 through prayer and study. 00:09:44 That’s been your training here. 00:09:47 Use your training to develop your close personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:09:53 That’s what Benaiah did. Think of Benaiah’s training. 00:09:56 He was the son of Jehoiada. 00:09:58 Jehoiada was one of the chief Levitical priests in Israel. 00:10:04 Benaiah was raised with scrolls, not with swords. 00:10:08 Growing up as the son of a priest, that was his training. 00:10:13 So like Benaiah, 00:10:16 be willing to do the work without the rank. 00:10:20 Remember, loyalty is tested not when you are at ease. 00:10:24 Loyalty is tested under adversity. 00:10:27 So be careful in changing circumstances. 00:10:31 Guard your hearts. 00:10:34 Dear students, you all have beautiful qualities. 00:10:37 We’ve seen them over the last five months. 00:10:39 But may loyalty, 00:10:42 may your deep personal loyalty to Jehovah, 00:10:46 distinguish you.
00:00:01 He was a mighty man. 00:00:04 He felled the heroes of the enemy. 00:00:08 He slayed a giant. He even killed a lion. 00:00:10 And his name was not David. 00:00:14 Who was he? 00:00:15 Open your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Chronicles chapter 11 00:00:21 —1 Chronicles 11:22: 00:00:27 “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada 00:00:29 “was a courageous man who performed 00:00:32 “many exploits in Kabzeel. 00:00:35 “He struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab, 00:00:39 “and he descended into a waterpit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 00:00:44 “He also struck down an Egyptian man of extraordinary size 00:00:48 “—five cubits tall. 00:00:51 “Though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand 00:00:53 “like the beam of loom workers, 00:00:56 “he went against him with a rod 00:00:58 “and snatched the spear away from the Egyptian’s hand 00:01:00 and killed him with his own spear.” 00:01:04 He is Benaiah. 00:01:08 Look at all we learn about him in these verses, 00:01:12 the qualities that Benaiah displayed. 00:01:16 It tells us in verse 22 that he “was a courageous man.” 00:01:20 He “performed many exploits in Kabzeel.” 00:01:24 Kabzeel—Kabzeel is a small place 00:01:27 on the very southern border of Judah. 00:01:30 It borders Edom in the middle of nowhere. 00:01:35 But Benaiah worked there. 00:01:38 He was happy to be there. 00:01:39 It may be that that was his home. 00:01:41 Or it may be that that was his assignment. 00:01:44 No matter, as obscure a place as Kabzeel is, 00:01:48 that’s where he worked. 00:01:50 And the record says that he performed 00:01:52 many exploits courageously in Kabzeel. 00:01:58 He killed a lion—courage. 00:02:01 But do you notice that “he descended into a waterpit . . . 00:02:06 and killed a lion”? 00:02:07 Courage. 00:02:09 He descended into a waterpit with a lion. 00:02:11 There’s only one coming out, and it was Benaiah. 00:02:15 “He descended into a waterpit on a snowy day.” 00:02:18 He didn’t wait for the sun to shine. 00:02:20 He knew that was the day —adverse conditions, no matter. 00:02:25 Benaiah went in, and he slayed the lion. 00:02:29 Look at verse 23, some more amazing qualities. 00:02:32 He struck down the giant, ‘an Egyptian of extraordinary size.’ 00:02:35 But notice this: “Though the Egyptian had a spear in his hand 00:02:38 “like the beam of loom workers, he [Benaiah] 00:02:41 went against him with a rod”—a rod, a stick. 00:02:45 He didn’t have the right equipment 00:02:47 —courage, adaptability, commitment. 00:02:52 And notice this. What does he do? 00:02:55 It says: “He went against him with a rod and snatched the spear away 00:02:59 from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear.” 00:03:04 Courage, commitment, adaptability, resourcefulness 00:03:09 —these are admirable, beneficial qualities. 00:03:12 Are those the qualities that distinguished Benaiah? 00:03:17 Not entirely. 00:03:19 There was one quality that exceeded these, 00:03:23 and that quality was loyalty 00:03:27 —tenacious adherence to the person of Jehovah. 00:03:31 That’s what the Bible record reveals about Benaiah: 00:03:35 personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:03:40 There is a caution, though, with loyalty. 00:03:44 The demarcation 00:03:46 between loyalty to Jehovah and loyalty to self 00:03:52 can often be blurry. 00:03:56 It hides under the inertia 00:04:00 of imperfection and selfishness. 00:04:04 That line of loyalty to Jehovah versus loyalty to self 00:04:09 can become very difficult to see. 00:04:12 In fact, loyalty to self can lie dormant within us 00:04:17 until the circumstances arise and change, 00:04:21 and then it can emerge. 00:04:23 And Benaiah and his contemporaries 00:04:26 provide for us a beautiful contrast 00:04:30 in loyalty to Jehovah and loyalty to self. 00:04:35 Think of Benaiah. He lived in a very tumultuous time. 00:04:39 David was a fugitive with his mighty men. 00:04:41 One of them likely was Benaiah, among others. 00:04:44 These men were comrades in arms running with David. 00:04:48 They were a band of brothers. 00:04:50 They were fiercely loyal to David 00:04:54 and, to be sure, they were loyal to Jehovah as well. 00:04:57 For example, among these three mighty men 00:04:59 were three brothers, fleshly brothers. 00:05:03 They’re mentioned in verses 20 and 26: 00:05:06 Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. 00:05:12 Now consider when circumstances changed for the mighty men, 00:05:18 when Saul died and David now became king, 00:05:22 in these changing circumstances, 00:05:26 what happened to the mighty men? 00:05:29 Here’s the contrast: Joab and Benaiah. 00:05:34 What happened to Joab? 00:05:36 Joab saw opportunity in changing circumstances, 00:05:41 and his loyalty to Jehovah was eclipsed 00:05:46 by his loyalty to himself. 00:05:49 For instance, 00:05:51 it was Joab who took matters into his own hands, 00:05:55 and he killed Abner 00:05:58 with whom David had already concluded a covenant. 00:06:02 He took matters into his own hands. 00:06:04 Why? He wanted Abner’s job. 00:06:09 His selfish ambitions got the better of him, 00:06:12 and they eclipsed his loyalty to Jehovah. 00:06:15 Joab was a courageous man. 00:06:17 He was resourceful. 00:06:18 He was adaptable. 00:06:20 Admirable qualities. 00:06:22 But in the absence of deep personal loyalty to Jehovah, 00:06:27 they seem somehow tainted, don’t they? 00:06:31 But consider Benaiah in the same circumstances. 00:06:34 Benaiah had no part in these kind of intrigues like Joab and his brothers. 00:06:39 Benaiah was loyal to Jehovah, and he was a loyal man 00:06:42 to Jehovah’s anointed one, David. 00:06:46 And look at what we find in verses 24 and 25, 00:06:50 verses 24 and 25: “These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, 00:06:55 “and he had a reputation like that of the three mighty warriors. 00:06:59 “Although he was distinguished even more than the thirty, 00:07:03 “he did not attain to the rank of the three. 00:07:07 However, David appointed him over his own bodyguard.” 00:07:14 You see, in the same circumstances as Joab, 00:07:19 Benaiah’s tenacious adherence to Jehovah 00:07:22 —his deep personal loyalty to Jehovah— 00:07:24 safeguarded him in these circumstances. 00:07:28 What did David see in Benaiah? 00:07:32 David saw in Benaiah what he himself exemplified, 00:07:37 and that was deep and strong personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:07:41 You can see that in this verse, in verse 25, can’t you? 00:07:44 It says: “However, David appointed him over his own bodyguard.” 00:07:49 David knew that to assign someone 00:07:51 to this very, very trusted position 00:07:55 (head of his own bodyguard), the man in that position, 00:07:59 if he was loyal to Jehovah, would be loyal to him. 00:08:03 And that’s what David saw in Benaiah. 00:08:07 Then came another time of change decades later. 00:08:11 When David died and Solomon became king 00:08:15 —changed circumstances, another time of opportunity— 00:08:20 how would Benaiah react? 00:08:23 The same way he always did: 00:08:26 deep personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:08:29 And it was Solomon when he became king 00:08:33 who rewarded Benaiah. 00:08:36 The son of David, Solomon, Jehovah’s anointed, 00:08:39 rewarded Benaiah for his loyalty. 00:08:42 Turn with me, please, to Proverbs 19:22. 00:08:47 You see, Solomon knew something about loyalty. 00:08:51 He was the son of David. 00:08:54 And look at what he wrote about loyalty at Proverbs 19:22. 00:08:58 Solomon said: “The desirable thing in a man 00:09:02 is his loyal love.” 00:09:04 His loyalty —that’s what Jehovah looks for in us. 00:09:11 So Benaiah was indeed a mighty man, 00:09:14 and he had beautiful qualities. 00:09:17 Did they distinguish him? 00:09:20 Not entirely. 00:09:22 It was his deep personal loyalty to Jehovah 00:09:25 first and foremost that distinguished him. 00:09:29 And because of that deep personal loyalty to Jehovah, 00:09:32 those qualities of Benaiah were beautiful. 00:09:37 So daily cultivate your loyalty to God 00:09:42 through prayer and study. 00:09:44 That’s been your training here. 00:09:47 Use your training to develop your close personal loyalty to Jehovah. 00:09:53 That’s what Benaiah did. Think of Benaiah’s training. 00:09:56 He was the son of Jehoiada. 00:09:58 Jehoiada was one of the chief Levitical priests in Israel. 00:10:04 Benaiah was raised with scrolls, not with swords. 00:10:08 Growing up as the son of a priest, that was his training. 00:10:13 So like Benaiah, 00:10:16 be willing to do the work without the rank. 00:10:20 Remember, loyalty is tested not when you are at ease. 00:10:24 Loyalty is tested under adversity. 00:10:27 So be careful in changing circumstances. 00:10:31 Guard your hearts. 00:10:34 Dear students, you all have beautiful qualities. 00:10:37 We’ve seen them over the last five months. 00:10:39 But may loyalty, 00:10:42 may your deep personal loyalty to Jehovah, 00:10:46 distinguish you.
