Once in a while on this page I write about current events. I try to stay away from that type of writing in general because it’s not relevant to my mission, but sometimes it’s unavoidable to see modern parallels to ancient themes.
In Haiti we are seeing a major breakdown of civil order as warlords take over the country. This sort of thing happens frequently in the parts of the world most Americans can’t locate on a map, but since Haiti has a uniquely tragic history, and is in close proximity to the U.S. mainland, it’s worth seeing how closely it resembles a time period long ago where similar chaos reigned.
The following passage is from 1 Samuel 25. I have italicized the section to pay special attention to:
Now there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. He was a very wealthy man with a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
While David was in the wilderness, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep. So David sent ten young men and instructed them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel. Greet him in my name and say to him, ‘Long life to you, and peace to you and your house and to all that belongs to you. Now I hear that it is time for shearing. When your shepherds were with us, we did not harass them, and nothing of theirs was missing the whole time they were in Carmel. Ask your young men, and they will tell you. So let my young men find favor with you, for we have come on the day of a feast. Please give whatever you can afford to your servants and to your son David.’ ”
When David’s young men arrived, they relayed all these words to Nabal on behalf of David. Then they waited. But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters. Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”
So David’s men turned around and went back, and they relayed to him all these words. And David said to his men, “Strap on your swords!”
So David and all his men put on their swords, and about four hundred men followed David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.
Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail,
“Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scolded them. Yet these men were very good to us. When we were in the field, we were not harassed, and nothing of ours went missing the whole time we lived among them. They were a wall around us, both day and night, the whole time we were herding our sheep near them.
Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”
One of the most famous “younger David” stories, and the part of his life where those looking for anything resembling a romantic comedy plot can find solid material. Abigail is a fascinating character; we’ll look at her another day. In the meantime, we need to see why this passage and Haitian gang leaders have something in common.
At this point in his life, David is officially a warlord. He is still on the run from Saul, but has become powerful enough to keep the tormented king at bay. He has a fearsome private army that is deadly loyal to him. He is beholden only to himself.
What does he do with that formidable power? Does he violate and oppress the countryside? He easily could. No one could stop him from taking whatever gold or farmer’s daughter he wanted in the land.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, a report about his activities is given to us second-hand. The biblical narrator doesn’t describe David’s character at this point directly; he lets an eyewitness do it. The servant to Nabal tells Abigail that David and his men were “a wall around us, both day and night…”
Reports coming out of Haiti do not indicate that the gang leader named “Barbecue” is known as a wall of protection around his people.
Where civilization breaks down, ruthless men rule. The more ruthless the men, the more they rule. Earth is the land of wolves. It has been that way since Adam and Eve fell.
No one is more vulnerable to these wolves than women and children. This is who the Bible calls “the weak.” Modern folks can hate it all they want, and consume media propaganda about how women don’t need men, but the truth always shows up in real life.
I am deeply thankful that my daughter can grow up in a society where she has the freedom and opportunity to pursue her calling. I also know that most of the world does not provide such opportunities. I’ve spent considerable time in places where human evil is made manifest, and I thank the Lord she can grow up here. She is one of “the weak,” and she needs protecting. It must be me. If she gets married one day, that duty will be on her husband.
My wife is extremely courageous. She has been spiritually and morally strong in ways that I can’t imagine. She also does not go running alone at night because she is wise. Like most women, whenever she is out and about by herself she is generally alert to any danger. She knows wolves prowl in the dark.
When I am with her, she has no personal safety worries. She can and does release concern about her environment because she expects that duty to be assumed by her husband: me.
There are plenty of guys around the world who could take me in a fight.
But…threaten one of my “weak” ones? It will become the longest, most violent day of that guy’s life.
So many things about David were intriguing, including his inherent sense of kindness mixed with bloodthirsty rage.
Vulnerable farms and towns in Israelite lands were torn between pagan Philistine oppressors and a weak, mentally deranged King Saul. The power vacuum could have been filled by anyone strong enough to fill it. David possessed that type of strength. His army was capable of living off the land, would follow him into darkest suffering, and knew every type of warfare. If he wanted stuff, he could have taken it.
Instead, he and his men lived sacrificially. They walked the line, as all good men must, between protective tenderness and the capacity for intense warfare.
Do you know what keeps wolves at bay? A bigger, badder wolf.
David was such a wolf. When it was needed, he could slit throats better than anyone. I know that’s harsh-sounding, and it clangs off our New-Testament-letters-of-John sensibilities like a brass gong. But there you have it: the weak were being exploited by wolves, and a bigger wolf intervened. Because of this, peace was established in the land.
I don’t know if ‘Barbecue’ the Haitian warlord will come to Jesus and use his power for good. Stranger things have happened. The ability of God to redeem even the worst of men should never be underestimated.1
Lest people think I am picking on Haitians, here’s another wolf:
Ramzan Kadyrov. Chechen warlord. A bad guy.
He, too, needs the saving, redemptive grace of Christ.
If that doesn’t come, a bullet to a vital organ fired by a brave warrior will work.
In the meantime, let’s stop with the silly preening in feminized evangelical culture about how good men using heavy force in the Bible is outdated. If your house is broken into tonight, you’re going to call other men to arrive and use force to protect you and your family. If you are half a man yourself, you will be ready to use force, too.
Otherwise, you are a coward.
You may love Jesus passionately.
You may have 1-3 John memorized.
Still it remains that if you fail to use masculine power to defend the weak when the occasion arises, you are a sniveling coward, and you are not obeying the New Testament command to “act like men.”2
We can go even further and suggest that you are the most offensive and dangerous kind of coward: a coward who cloaks his cowardice in a garment of false gentleness and compassion.
As a man, you were not made for peace.
You were made for establishing peace.
You should always be found where there is battle.
You should always be found building a wall around the weak day and night.
There should be reports of you coming in from the countryside about your willingness to restrain your selfish ambition and channel your testosterone-fueled attack drive into protection and productivity.
It is the land of wolves out there. The weak need you to be strong.
Praise and Arrows-
The story of Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33 is proof forever that no wicked man is beyond redemption.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14