WHO DAT!? - Benaiah the Lion Slayer

We started a new series!!!

No, it's not actually about football.  Although the name was chosen in the spirit of all the wonderful New Orleans fans we've got hanging around.   

This series, rather, is a tribute to all the lesser known...or typically unknown altogether...characters of the Bible.  We all know the stories of David, Abraham, Paul, Noah, and Mary.  But what about Benaiah, Josiah, Bezaleel, Ehud, or Baalam?  

I believe that every story in the Bible, down to the most minor detail, is important to our understanding of God and our place in His mission.  Over the next six weeks, the kids and leadership at Jacobs Well will be exploring the stories of a few forgotten Biblical characters.  

It all started with Benaiah.

Many of you are now racking your brain in an attempt to draw information pertaining to this name from the recesses of your brain where you store all the Biblical knowledge.  

I found it easier to concede and simply ask, "Who dat?"  

This kids figured it out pretty quickly...

Let me tell you about Benaiah.  

Benaiah was one of King David's top 30 warriors.  Tucked away in 2 Samuel 23:20, there are a few short sentences about him.  "And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds.  He struck down two ariels of Moab.  He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen."

With that, we have to ask a few questions:

• What made this Benaiah guy so great?   There had to be many other men who could have accomplished the same task.  
• Why was he so impressive to David?   It isn't as if the king had few warriors to choose from. 
• And why did God see to it that he was mentioned in the Bible?  What are we supposed to gain from his story?

I think it all comes down to the reality of the risk he took and the significance of that one single act.

Lions are scary animals.  They're strong, fast, and smart.  And they typically don't play nice with others.   I envision Benaiah sitting at base camp, awaiting some orders from Kind David.  He gets word of a lion terrorizing people and livestock in the city.  They can't have that.  A lion, allowed to run free in their fields, could ruin everything.  It could destroy their livelihood, damage their property, and harm their people.  Most people would run from the problem.  Pack up and move away or hole up until it was safe to come out.  But not Benaiah.  He set his mind to destroying the lion.  

He dug a pit (in the snow remember), maybe placed a nice juicy steak at the bottom, waited for the lion to come, and ssssslllliiiipp!  Gotcha!  The lion was trapped below ground feet below the ground, where he could no longer cause problems for the city.

Benaiah's lions didn't quite look like this, but I couldn't help myself.  Our kids make precious little lions! 

Back to the story...because that isn't where it stops.  Benaiah could not simply leave the threat contained beneath the surface.  No.  He had to destroy it.  The conditions were less than ideal.  Jumping in that pit with the lion was a life or death decision.  The fallen snow was a complication.  Not exactly what Benaiah had planned for his day, I'm sure.  The opportunity was seized, Benaiah dealt with his lion, and he was rewarded with many honors by the King.  

It is easy to make a correlation between this story and what we encounter in our own lives.  Now maybe we don't have lions roaming around in our neighborhoods, harassing our house pets.  (I know I don't at least.) But we do encounter less-than-ideal situations that threaten our comfort, security, livelihood, or character.  Often, it is easy to simply walk away from these.  While this isn't necessarily wrong and may not result in destruction (Benaiah had the situation handled as soon as the lion fell into the pit), walking away also does not result in growth.  We must chase our lions and deal with them appropriately no matter the cost.  When we step out in faith to do so, God receives glory and we are rewarded.  

Our kids practiced chasing down lions.  Check it out!  What you will see is a team of lions (the seated children and our lovely balloon holder, Andrea) cheering against team Benaiah (Sebastian and his teammates who are heard but not seen).  Despite the silliness of the activity, the kids were able to understand the significance of who really comes out victorious in the end.

I really like Sebastian's style here.  Makes me think back to volleyball days.  Coach O always used to say, "Sacrifice your body for the ball!" I think you've got that down Sebastian!  Just like Benaiah, you were willing to take a risk to do what you were supposed to do.

In his book In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day (which I conveniently had sitting collecting dust on my bookshelf thanks to Steve Ward), author Mark Batterson pulls apart this seemingly insignificant passage from scripture.  He sums it up perfectly in this way:

"God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time.  But the right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the  wrong time...Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what threatens us.  We're called to chase lions -- look for opportunities in our problems and obstacles, and take risks to reach for God's best."

Until next week, I encourage each of you to seize the opportunities presented to you.  Chase your lions!

C.