The Great General Series – Part 3
The messenger fell to his knee before the group of men in
whose midst the Raja stood. His arms were stretched out on the floor before him and he spoke
without lifting his head.
"Please excuse this interruption, O Refuge of our people, but our
enemy requests your presence on the wall."
"Does he indeed!"
"Yes, my wise and powerful leader, he says that he will speak
to no one except yourself." The Raja smiled,
"Apparently he too is wise. I shall come and hear him." With
a wave of his hand the Raja bid the messenger to rise. As he walked towards the
open archway at the far end of the room several of the royal
advisers followed him. A young boy, who wore a cord of gold around his head and who had been standing at the Raja's side, started to go with him also but the
Raja caught him by the arm. "Our enemy needn't be flattered by any
great attendance upon the wall, my son, you stay here. Continue to entertain our friends and I will be back but shortly. " So saying, the Raja left the party in the
hall and made his way to the edge of the city.
The view that greeted him had changed but little from the
day before. Forrest covered hills rose to the left, the ground fell away in a steep cliff to
the right, and before the stronghold stretched mile upon mile of gardens and
fields intermingled. Amidst the green foliage that covered the footstool of the city an
army had encamped. A detachment of a hundred soldiers, drawn up in a strong, military
formation, had left the larger body and marched nearer. They now stood just beyond the range of the
archers on the wall. Only one among this party was mounted and when the Raja,
in his brightly coloured robes, was seen upon the battlement it was he who drew
near. He made an impressive picture - his golden armour glinting in the sun
beneath the blue cape that hung round his shoulders. The horse he rode, a tall
stallion with an ebony coat, was decked in a similar attire. The Raja watched
the pair with interest as they approached.
"My name is Alexander the Great," the horseman called, "and I
command you to surrender to me at once!" The Raja's eyebrows rose at the
instruction. The name he knew well, for the General's reputation proceeded him,
but the command was a presumptuous one from a man whose army was well
outnumbered. The Raja began to laugh.
"You must pardon my ignorance, General, but why would my people, who surpass your
troops in number and can claim the protection of a walled city, surrender to
you?" Alexander answered him not. Instead he turned and rode back to the
company from which he had come. The Raja watched in amusement. What
could he intend to do now? Surely his actions won’t be so audacious as
his words! Directly the General reached his men he gave them an order
but the Raja could not hear what he said. Soon the entire regiment was lined up in a
single file; their faces turned towards the precipice.
"March!" His voice was clear and strong and the General had purposely shouted
the command so that the audience upon the wall might hear it. The Raja leaned
against the ornate parapet, watching the march in bewilderment. Nearer and
nearer did the soldiers draw to the edge of the cliff, still they walked
steadily on. Their leader remained in motionless silence. Then the first man
stepped right of the cliff! He did so without slowing his pace. Without a
single glance back at his commander. The Raja's astonishment only grew as the
second soldier followed suit and then the third and the fourth, falling to
their deaths without a word of complaint. Never before had he seen such
complete compliance to an order! A fifth man disappeared over the cliff and
then a sixth in unquestioning obedience. The Raja diverted his eyes to the
person of Alexander. The General was watching the terrible scene along with all
of the observers on the wall. He sat straight and tall in the saddle. His brow
was furrowed but there was a smile on his lips. Finally, after eleven men
had willingly obeyed the command a second order followed it,
"Halt!" The soldier who was now at the front of the line had to grab
the hand of the man behind him, so close had he come to stepping off
himself. General Alexander turned his horse, Bucephalus, towards the city
again and rode up to it.
"Will you now give yourself up to my command?"
The eyes of all who were upon the battlements turned to the Raja. He stared at
the General, who stood almost directly below him, with an expression that his men
could not read. After a long silence the Raja gave his answer.
“I will.”
Alexander the Great had conquered the entire Persian empire and was beginning a
campaign in India. All this he had accomplished without suffering a single
defeat in battle. Thus, he had gained for himself a reputation that had
spread throughout the known world. The rumour was that he would not cease
until he had conquered all. Nevertheless, as he stood before the strong
defences of this city, accompanied by just a fraction of his army, it was not
his reputation that he depended on. When the Raja explained that Alexander was
outnumbered he did not argue. When the Raja laughed at the authority he claimed
he neither threatened or cursed. Instead he turned to his soldiers and asked
them to prove his authority. The demonstration was meant to show the Raja that
the General's men would obey him without question, without hesitation, and even
unto death. It successfully did so. Such obedience, so contrary to the nature
of a man, showed that his men completely respected and trusted their leader.
This in turn affirmed all that had been said about Alexander’s intelligence,
power, and skill in battle. A leader who could thus command his army was not
one to be withstood, no matter how few were the number of his troops nor how
great the disadvantage of his position.
At first glance, it appears to be a hard and cruel way to
demonstrate one's power. Eleven soldiers died at Alexander's command and
to what purpose? Was it simply to prove a point? Solely to build the growing
reputation of their leader? Both of these ends were accomplished in the
sacrifice of the foot soldiers but their death also achieved a great
deal more. The maneuver convinced the Raja that he should surrender peacefully.
An act that saved not only the lives of the city's inhabitants but many in
Alexander's ranks as well. The General could not have hoped to take the
stronghold with less sacrifice than that which he called for at the cliff.
Thus, he spent the lives of his men willingly but not uselessly.
Every time he led them into battle the General asked his men to lay down
their lives. Thus, they were men who had previously resigned to die in the
pursuit of conquest. Their lives were surrendered to the use of their leader.
When Alexander gave the command the soldiers to march right off the cliff he
was not asking them for a greater resignation than they had already agreed to,
he was simply sending them to employ a new military strategy. The maneuver cost
soldier's lives, but so did nearly every military endeavour. An early
church Christian named Tertullian once said, "The blood of the martyrs is
the seed of the church." Meaning that the church, the earthly
representation of the kingdom of God, was built upon the sacrifice of men's
lives. Jesus Christ, our General and Commander, is also willing to spend the
lives of His men and women! He, like Alexander the Great, does not argue the
measure of His power, nor does He become angry when His authority is not
recognised. Instead He turns to His men and says, "Will you prove My
reputation? Will you demonstrate to this rebellious man how it is that I aught
to be obeyed?" He knows that the path of obedience will lead some of His
saints to their deaths yet He doesn't hesitate to tell us to march! Why? Because
He knows what needs to be accomplished and desires that lives might be
saved.
The very purpose of a soldier is to fight for victory. For the Christian that
is to fight for His kingdom to come and His will to be done. We are to be
people who have surrendered our lives just like the men in Alexander's ranks
had done. We should have pre-determined to forfeit our lives in this war and
just be waiting on the time when He will call us to do so. In Matthew xvi. 24 Jesus said, “If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ” What is a cross? It is an executioner's device. Two
pieces of wood fashioned together for the purpose of killing a man.
“When a
man walked by carrying a cross there was one thing the people knew, they knew
he wasn’t coming back.” - Leonard Ravenhill
Our General has imparted to us a job - to obey Him in such a way that the
onlooking world might see that He is Lord and be saved by such knowledge.
We accept this commission even unto death. There is no reason why we should
assume that we will be coming back. This method of conquest may be a
surprising one but it is no great cruelty that a General should ask his men to
give their lives in order to take a stronghold. That is the very job
description of a soldier and of a Christian and we do not question the prudence
of our General's plan. We simply obey. Our General promises us this in
return: our obedience and our lives will not be in vain. In this situation also
He will live up to the reputation that He has earned and victory will be
gained. In faith, we can step willingly over the edge of that cliff believing
that our Commander knows exactly what He is doing.
Christians have been given something that Alexander's men never had. An
example. You see, our General was not just the man sitting on the black horse
who gave out the orders, He was also the first soldier who stepped off that
cliff and plummeted to His death.
“…He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the
point of death, even the death of the
cross.” (Philippians ii. 8)
He did it before He ever asked it of us. In His example we can see that the
prize is worthy of the cost it requires. That even in death victory can be
gained. A great and eternal victory; one that is far better than the capture of
an earthly city. He knows what it is that He asks yet He calls to us saying,
"Trust Me. Follow Me. Don't hesitate." The command is a good one with
a good purpose and the One who has given it must be proven worthy of obedience.
Alexander watched the march with a furrowed brow and a smile on his lips.
Our Lord feels deeply the loss of His men but at the same time He delights in
seeing the obedience by which they bring Him glory.
It is God who suffers most in watching those who would gladly obey Him
sacrificed yet He has not spent them in vain.
"For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory," (2 Corinthians iv. 17)
In Christ
quiana
