Part three in a series on great generals of the past.
The messenger fell to his knees before the group of men. His arms stretched out on the floor before him, 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 he will speak to no one except yourself.”
The Raja smiled, “He too is wise. I shall come and hear him.”
With a wave of his hand the Raja sent the messenger on his way.
As he walked towards an open archway at the far end of the room, several of his 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, would have gone with him also but the Raja caught him by the arm. “Our enemy needn’t be flattered by any great attendance upon the wall. You stay here, my son. Entertain our friends, I will be back 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. Amidst the green foliage which 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. These 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 a blue cape which hung round his shoulders. The horse he rode, a tall stallion with an ebony coat, was decked in similar attire.
The Raja watched the pair with interest as they approached.
“My name is Alexander the Great.” The horseman called. ” I command you to surrender to me at once!”
The Raja’s eyebrows rose at the instruction. The name he knew well – the General’s reputation proceeded him – but the command was a presumptuous one coming from a man whose army was well outnumbered.
The Raja began to laugh. “You must pardon my ignorance, General, but why would we, 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? Surely his actions wouldn’t be so audacious as his words!
As soon as the General reached his men he gave them an order. The Raja could not hear what he said but his interest peaked as the entire regiment began to line up in single file. Their faces turned towards the precipice.
“March!” His voice was clear and strong and the General had shouted the command so the audience upon the wall might hear him say it.
The Raja leaned against the ornate parapet, his eyebrows raised. 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 a second soldier followed suit and then a third and a 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 eyes turned to 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 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.
After a long silence the Raja gave his answer. “I will.”
Unstoppable
Alexander the Great had conquered the entire Persian empire and was beginning a campaign in India. All this had been accomplished without even one defeat in battle. That is how he gained for himself a reputation which 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 didn’t argue. When the Raja laughed at the authority he claimed, he neither threatened nor cursed. Instead he turned to his soldiers and asked them to prove his authority.
The General’s men were willing to obey him without question, without hesitation, and even unto death. This demonstration was meant to show his power and authority. 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 or how great the disadvantage of his position.
A Counted Cost
At first glance, this demonstration appears to be a hard and cruel way to show one’s power. Eleven soldiers died at Alexander’s command, to what purpose? Simply to prove a point? Solely to build the growing reputation of their leader?
Both of these ends were accomplished through the sacrifice of the foot soldiers, but their death achieved a great deal more. The maneuver convinced the Raja to surrender peacefully. An act which 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. His soldiers were men who had previously resigned to die in the pursuit of conquest. Their lives were surrendered to the use of their leader. Thus, when Alexander commanded the soldiers to march right off the cliff, he was not asking for a greater resignation than they had already agreed to. The maneuver cost soldiers lives, but so did every military endeavour.
God’s Strategy
An early church Christian named Tertullian once said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Meaning 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 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 I aught to be obeyed?”
Our General knows the path of obedience will lead some of His saints directly 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 in the process.
The Soldier’s Resolve
The very purpose of a soldier is to fight for victory. For the Christian that is to fight for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done.
We are to be people who have surrendered our lives, in much the same way as Alexander’s men had. We should have predetermined 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.”
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 He is Lord and be saved by such knowledge. We accept this commission even unto death. There is no reason why we should assume we will be spared in the battle.
Obedience, Even Unto Death
This method of conquest may be a surprising one. However, 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.
It is the job description also of a Christian. We do not question the prudence of our General’s plan. We simply obey. Our General promises us in return that our obedience and our lives will not be spent in vain.
He will live up to the reputation He has earned and victory will be gained. In faith, we step willingly over the edge of that cliff, believing our Commander knows exactly what He is doing.
Our General Went First
Christians have been given something Alexander’s men never had. An example.
You see, our General was not just the man on the black horse who gave the order. He was also the first soldier to step off the cliff and plummet 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 far better than the capture of an earthly city.
God knows what it is 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 – the One who has given the command 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 their obedience. It is God who suffers most in watching those who would gladly obey Him sacrificed, yet He never spends 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
*Scripture references in NKJV unless otherwise noted.
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