Cowboys & Indians
As a boy I grew up loving westerns. Some of my favorite memories would be on Saturday morning waking up to the smell of bacon and gravy. I would jump out of bed just in time to hear the theme song to one my favorite westerns, Bonanza. (I’m well aware of the fact that I’m dating myself here.) But as the map of the Ponderosa burned off the screen and the family of cowboys galloped toward my living room, I would run to my room to grab my six shooter; complete with holster and belt, my trusty rifle, and my cowboy hat; the one with the blue plastic star on top,
After breakfast and I would find myself back in my room aboard my trusty steed, Rawhide. It was akin to a rocking horse only it was on springs which I wore out rather well. I still have that horse somewhere. When we moved up north, I couldn’t bare to part with it, we had so many great adventures together. But I digress, one of my favorite type of westerns were the classic cowboy and indian westerns. The Law vs. Jake Wade was my favorite, but I’ve seen dozens of them. There was a common scene in almost every one of the good cowboy and indian westerns I saw. Inevitably, there would be a chase scene that ended with a dead end into a deserted canyon and our favorite protagonist would be surrounded by the enemy. To make the dilemma worse, across the horizon would emerge dozens of half-naked, painted savages ready to descend on our cowboy. As the ominous music begin to swell, so did the fear in our hearts for the good guys. The suspense was building, what was our hero to do? Something about that scene burns into my mind.
More recently, I was watching the movie Tarzan and there was a scene that reminded me of those old westerns; only this time it was beefy, muscle-bound Africans that dotted the landscape. There Tarzan stood in the rain, alone, ready to fight no less than a hundred natives. Whether its Africans or Indians, it’s an effective plot twist to reveal scores of enemy braves perched high above the plains ready to descend the hill and attack.
But that effect wasn’t dreamed up in the mind of a creative storyteller, it’s actually ripped right from the pages of Scripture. One of my favorite stories in all the Bible is found in 2 Kings 6. In the story, the King of Syria has it out for Elisha, because Elisha keeps telling the King of Israel where Syria is going to attack them. Everywhere the Syrians go, the Israelites are there waiting on them. Perplexed, the King of Syria thinks that he’s likely got a snitch in his ranks, until his aides finally say in verse 12, “Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom!”
The King of Syria finds out Elisha is held up in Dothan, and like the Indians in our western, they have the prophet and his poor servant surrounded…or so they think. The servant represents the natural response to such a predicament. He’s scared to death, the ominous movie score is building for the battle sequence. All hope seems lost and death or bondage awaits them for sure. Obviously, Elisha’s math skills were off just a bit, because the servant runs to him in fear and Elisha’s response was simply, “those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16) As the throng begins to descend upon the tiny dwelling, Elisha asks that the poor boy’s eyes be opened and He peeks out the window to behold the whole hillside ablaze with the fiery host of divine reinforcements to protect and defend the old prophet of God. Elisha then asks that the entire Syrian army be struck with blindness, much like his servant had. The difference is all about what you see and what you don’t see.
As a young boy, I was told a story of a missionary named Donnie Whitlock. Years later, I had the privilege of speaking with the missionary myself and corroborated every detail of the story I am about to tell. Donnie and his family were missionaries to the natives of Indonesia. These primitive natives were hostile to the gospel that Donnie and his family had come to share. He’d had a scuffle with the witch doctor in the town and Donnie feared for his life. One rainy afternoon, the savages, at the request of the witch doctor, armed themselves with knives and spears and made their way to the hut that Donnie and his family had built on the edge of the little town. As the men approached the missionary’s porch, Donnie sent his wife and kids into the back room and instructed them to barricade themselves in the room and pray for God to deliver them.
As Donnie walked out the door, knowing the fate that awaited him, his heart pounded in his chest, his hands shook as he greeted the men who had come to murder him. In their native tongue, they explained that they had come to kill he and his family. By his own testimony, Donnie said that, for whatever reason, as the men finished their death chant, Donnie straightened his back, threw his shoulders back and began to laugh. The look in those savages eyes in that moment turned from anger to fear, and at once, they dropped their weapons and began to run for their lives from the midst of the hut. Puzzled at the bizarre turn of events, Donnie continued his ministry among the people and the incident wasn’t spoken of for some months later.
After some time, Donnie asked one of the men who was there that day and ready to kill him, a man who now had become his friend, why they ran for fear on that faithful rainy day? The savage-turned-friend, explained that in their culture, much to Donnie’s ignorance, that laughter was a sign of no fear and that someone was about to die. Donnie’s face couldn’t hide the amazement as he said to his friend, “were you really that afraid of one white man?” His friend’s response sends chills up my spine, “no, he said, it was the host of armed men around you that we feared.”
Donnie thought he was alone that day on his porch in the rain soaked hills of Indonesia, but encamped around him were the same heavenly host that encircled the prophet Elisha at that little house in Dothan.
Friend, whatever enemies may be aligning themselves against you and gathering around the dusk filled horizons of your life, remember that “those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16) Remember the words of King David as he celebrated his deliverance from Achish in Psalm 34, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” Remember what Stonewall Jackson said when he was asked how he could be so serene as he marched into battle, he replied, “I am invincible until God is through with me.”
Whatever desert canyon you find yourself in today, whether you're the lonely cowboy surrounded by indians, or the lone white man encompassed by Indonesian savages, they are no match for the armies of the living God.
