Sharing Alike by Francis M. Wilcox

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Aug 29, 1912

Sharing Alike

By Francis M. Wilcox

"As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." This was the custom in Israel of old. The circumstances which gave rise to this regulation were these: During the absence of David and his men from their homes in Ziklag the Amalekites visited the country, sacked the city, and carried the inhabitants away captive, together with much spoil. The wives and children of David and his men were among the captive host. Returning to his desolate home, David inquired of the Lord whether it was his will that they should pursue after the Amalekites, and if he would give them the victory. An affirmative answer was received. Stopping neither to eat nor drink nor for much-needed rest, David and six hundred of his men started in earnest pursuit. They knew that their time was short, and that every energy must be enlisted for the chase.

In the course of their journey they reached the brook Besor. Here one third of David's followers became so weak and faint that the question arose as to the advisability of their going farther, and indeed it was a serious question that confronted the entire company. For two hundred men to drop out meant a great lessening of the fighting force of the little army. For these two hundred men to remain behind when every impulse of love and family devotion urged them forward was for them a great trial. They preferred to fall by the wayside and to die in the attempt rather than to weakly succumb to physical conditions; but better counsel prevailed, and against their own will they were persuaded to remain. The record is of these men that they were "made to abide at the brook Besor." 1 Sam. 30: 21. With them were left army supplies and equipment. While they were unable to go to the front, they were to remain behind and guard the base of supplies, as a rear-guard to their companions who went forward.

With a firm reliance upon Almighty power, David led his four hundred men on to the conquest. God gave them a signal victory. Every captive was recovered. They recovered likewise all their goods, and in addition they obtained as a reward of the conflict very much spoil that the Amalekites had taken from the Philistines. With thanksgiving and rejoicing the little army started on their homeward journey. As they neared the brook Besor, the two hundred men who had been left at the base of supplies came forth to greet them. In this meeting was afforded an opportunity for the exercise of the heart's natural propensities. There were selfish men in David's company, "men of Belial," who said, "Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart." Again better counsel prevailed. Their leader responded, "Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will harken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day." 1 Sam. 30: 22-25.

It is not difficult to make an application of this beautiful lesson to the work of God to-day. We, like Israel of old, are called to go up against the strong-holds of sin and carry forward battle against principalities and powers. Some are called to go out in active warfare, away out on the firing line, face to face with the forces of evil. Others, like the two hundred men left at the brook Besor, are unable to engage in this active service. They can not go to India or China or Japan or South America or the islands of the sea. They are incapacitated by age or ill health or other conditions that make them unsuitable for this service. The providence of God directs that these shall stay by the stuff. They have a most important part to act. It is for them to protect the base of supplies; to furnish the sinews of war; to pray for their fellows who have gone forth to the conflict, even as the two hundred men must have prayed for their companions pursuing the Amalekites. If faithful in this service, in what might appear the humbler and less heroic part, God will count them in the end as worthy of the same reward as the stronger ones who have been able to go forth to battle.

Think of this, faithful brethren and sisters, if by circumstances over which you have no control you have been kept from an active part on the great battlefield. Have you toiled on your farm or

in your shop; with your needle or in homely domestic duties; and of the means which you have earned, though perhaps at times a mere pittance, have you rendered to God his own, and responded with glad hearts and to the best of your ability to the calls for means? God recognizes this service as done unto him. He counts it as truly missionary labor as if you were in heathen lands teaching the blessed word to the children of darkness, and in the day of final accounts, when God renders to every one his due, you will share alike with those whom you have sustained by your labors, and upheld with your prayers.

And you, dear fellow workers, who long bore the heat and burden of the harvest, but have become worn and weary, and to whom the Lord of the harvest has said, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," or "Come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest awhile," the lesson is for you. You, too, shall share equally with your brethren, who, with greater powers of endurance and by God's grace, have been enabled to remain in active warfare. Though not on the firing line, God counts you still a part of his loyal army, even as did David his faint and weary comrades at Besor. So be of good comfort in God.

There is in this no encouragement, however, to the shirker—to the man who would remain at home to enjoy its comforts when God has called him into active service. Those who stayed behind at the brook Besor stayed not from choice, but in response to the judgment of their brethren. They were "made also to abide at the brook Besor." God recognizes the true heart's purpose and the motives that prompt every decision. Let every heart decide each question of life from the standpoint of eternity and the eternal value of those for whom Christ died, and not from the standpoint of convenience or selfish choice. "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike."