The word ‘mighty’ is defined by the All Nations Dictionary to mean: having great power or strength, the state of being very great. In Hebrew etymology it means to be powerful, a warrior, tyrant, a champion, chief, giantor strong. This means that someone could either be mighty in good deeds or in evil deeds.
For a proper understanding let’s look at it under three perspectives the mighty, reasons the mighty may possibly fall and rejoice not when others fall.
• The Mighty
Reading through 2Samuel 1:19, 21 with a reflection in verse 23, you will discover: the beauty of Israel; a mighty love and the mighty touch.
The Beauty Of Israel
According to the parent Resource Bible the word translated as beauty means: “pride and Joy,” while NIV calls it glory; putting all together we could come to the conclusion that the beauty of Israel means:
A Reliable Heritage(2Tim 3:14; 1Tim 6:11-16)
As Christians we have an inheritance, which ought to be preserved, an inheritance that ChristJesus died to institute, which the early apostles and missionaries also died for. A great man once said: “The blood of the saints is the seed of the gospel.” This heritage referred to, is worth fighting and dying for; it is a heritage worth sacrificing our all for. If this heritage must be strong and progressive, there are certain things to flee from and others to pursue. In 2 Timothy 3:2-9, Apostle Paul clearly outlined that when men fall away from God due to hardship they become: lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to the authority of physical and spiritual parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection—a lost of the sense of humanity, truce breakers, false accusers, without self-control, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.They will have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof, the Bible expressly warned anyone who wants to stand for the heritage Christ Jesus died for to turn away from sin.
The God who protects his own jealously was the beauty of Israel for without him Israel was naked, empty and exposed. Through the manifestation of God’s power, God became to them a sense of pride and joy. Theirboast was on the Lord; the Psalmist in Chapter 34:2, says: “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.”
Reading through Psalm 44:1-8; you will discover that Israel boasted on the fact that God saves them and their boasting was evidenced even among the heathen nations.
When Saul, the king, fell in battle, it could suggest to the enemies of Isreal that their boasting was an empty one;this is one of the reasons Moses pleaded with God in Duet. 9:26-29: “I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27: Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin. 28: Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, ‘because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’ 29: But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.”
Sometimes when we fail God and become exposed to all manner of failure, and disappointment people may not know, then when the serpent bites, people will ask:‘God where are you.’ Ask yourself: What is the beauty of my life, marriage, business, and relationship with God.
• A Mighty Love
How many people’slovestick undivided even in death.Death here could mean:A hopeless time; a time people give up, a time of abandonment. It could as well mean a time of rejection, a time of downside experience, a time of dashed faith ora time of loss. Sometimes, people claim love for a person or institution as long as all is rosy, but abandon the ship when it seems to be sinking.
Today, people love you when all is well, when you are celebrated, powerful, rich, beautiful, great, but when the tide changes, they change direction and their reaction becomes opposite. Note this: even in death, adversityand,even, when everybody turned against Saul, Jonathan stood by him.
• Venerable Stephen Wolemonwu is the Rector, Ibru Ecumenical Centre, Agbarha-Otor, Delta State (08035413812).
