In Kings and Chronicles, God is working just as he is in 2012. God removes Saul from being king, and replaces him with David. Significant, I think, is one of the ways Yahweh did this.
In 1 Chronicles chapter 12, God tells us of the mighty men that fought with and for King David. In gaining him the kingdom, these men were helpful. Let's see what the Bible says first.
Starting in verse 1: " Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjaminites, Saul's kinsmen."
After verse 2, their specific names are listed. Picking up in verse 8: "From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were swift as gazelles upon the mountains: Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab third, Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, Attai sixth, Eliel seventh, Johonan eighth, Elzabad ninth, Jeremiah tenth, Machbannai eleventh. These Gadites were officers of the army; the least was a match for a hundred men and the greatest for a thousand."
David meets them and says, (paraphrase) "You can help me if you'd like, and be my friends, but if you don't, God will judge you." Verse 18: "Then the Spirit clothed Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said, "We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, Peace to you, and peace to your helpers! For your God helps you." Verse 22: "For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God."
Let me list their resume:
1) Skillful Archer
2) Excellent with a sling
3) Ambidextrous
4) Spear and Shield connoisseur
5) Face like a Lion
6) Fast as a gazelle
7) Can kill between 100-1,000 men without a break
8) When combined with others, I feel like an army of God
A couple thoughts. From least important to most: Whenever you watch a movie and there are 1,000 bad guys, and one good guy, and that one good guy beats up all the bad guys, and you really question how real any movie really is, think about this. These men were unequally skillful in combat. They were mighty men. The least of them could take out 100, and the best could clean up 1,000. There really were people like that. This is amazing.
The most important thing to take away has to do with God. I would argue that the only reason these men were mighty is because God raised them up for this very purpose. God planned on making David the King, and in order to do so, he raised up mighty skillful warriors who would swear allegiance to David, and had the capability to destroy his enemies by the handful. God provided skills to these men and enabled them to kill thousands of God's enemies. An enemy of David's was an enemy of God's.
Don't let verses 18 and 22 get past you. 18: "Then the Spirit clothed Amasai.." God worked through this leader of the men to proclaim allegiance to David. 22: "there was a great army, like an army of God." Breathtaking....
Implications? If you aren't God's anointed for some grand purpose like David, it doesn't mean God doesn't plan to use you for his glory.
These men were unstoppable because they were squarely in the service of the King, and I don't mean David.
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