The Bravery of Benaiah

“And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:”
2 Samuel 23:20

The mighty men that David had around him were brave warrior soldiers.
Brave warrior soldiers are placed into situations that lesser men would shrink from.

We’re all aware of elite fighting forces like Delta Force, the Navy SEAL teams, and the British SAS. The men in these Special Forces units have seen things that would shock the average human. They’ve had to deal with things that cannot be easily catalogued or presented for public consumption.

It takes a special bravery to embrace extremely dangerous situations…and it’s evident that Benaiah was built for such situations.

What were these “lionlike men of Moab” that he killed?
I don’t know, but they were scary enough that fighting and killing two of them required great bravery and earned him a special mention in the Bible.

Benaiah didn’t have a 12 Gauge Benelli shotgun.
He had (at most) a quality sword, spear, and shield to complement his mountain of courage.
And he was the only one to walk away after the fighting was done.

What’s the backstory behind killing the lion in the pit?
I don’t know, but somebody determined that the lion had to be dispatched, so Benaiah went down into the pit (in the snow) and killed the lion. We call that “nuts” where I come from.

How much bravery did THAT take? More than I possess at this point in life, to be honest.

Questions for you, Christian: If God calls on you to do something beyond your comfort level in 2024, are you brave enough to step up and do it? Are you prepared to go, speak, and act when God tells you to?

Your greatest ability is “availability” …just be a brave, willing servant and He will lead you through the difficult, special missions that He gives you this year…so be bold for the Lord!