Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.

• 2 Chronicles 15:13

(Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba after Arba, who was the greatest man among the Anakites.) Then the land had rest from war.

• Joshua 14:15

Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen in Israel this day?

• 2 Samuel 3:38

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

• 2 Kings 5:1

and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

• Job 1:3

“The greatness of man—We have so great an idea of the soul of man that we cannot endure being despised, of not being esteemed by any soul; and all the happiness of men consists in this esteem. …
“Glory—The brutes do not admire each other. A horse does not admire his companion. Not that there is no rivalry between them in a race, but that is of no consequence; for, when in the stable, the heaviest and most ill-formed does not give up his oats to another as men would have others do to them. Their virtue is satisfied with itself. …
“The greatness of man even in his lust, to have known how to extract from it a wonderful code, and to have drawn from it a picture of benevolence.“

• Blaise Pascal, Thoughts (thought numbers 400-402)

There are very few times that the word “man” follows the word “great” in the NIV.  The two words are in the same verse several times, but only a couple say “great man.”  Maybe that is partly due to 2 Chronicles 15:13.  Not really, but the part about seeking God turns the entire concept of a human being a great man on its ear.

In Joshua 14:15, the city’s name was changed to Hebron, the home given to Caleb, the faithful spy.  It had been Kiriath Arba, after Arba the greatest man of the Anakites.  In 2 Samuel 3:38, David tells his men that Abner, who had been King Saul’s military commander, was a leader and great man, after Joab had killed Abner.  The footnote is that in David saying this, he was bringing unity to the tribes of Israel, more political than what God would deem a “great man”.  In 2 Kings 5:1, Naaman was the commander of the army for the king of Aram and was considered a great man, a great man who had leprosy.  In Job 1:3, Job is considered the greatest man in the East, before Satan was given authorization from God to test Job.

So, other than possibly Job, these “great man” references are on human standards.  Job was great due to his faith and faithfulness.

So, now we come back to 2 Chronicles 15:13.  Asa has become king.  He serves the Lord God in the right way and he intends to have all of Judah do the same.  Thus, his decree is no matter how influential the person might be, if they do not serve the Lord, God of Israel, then they lose their life.  The country had lost considerable power in the reigns of Rehoboam and Abijah.  Only a return to the worship of God could make the country great again, and King Asa did not want rebels in the ranks ruining the blessings from God.

And that is where Asa takes a hard stand.  And that gives us the measure.  Does the person honestly seek the Lord?  If they seek the Lord, seek what the Lord’s will is, and obey, then, they are great.

In this case of Pascal’s philosophy, he is applying an earthly standard of comparison.  Comparing to all the other beings in the world, humans have greatness as a potential.  They can be a great leader or a great father, but the concept is about like the concept of being miserable yesterday.  Mankind has that concept in our makeup, while horses in a stable do not create a pecking order as to who is the greatest.

I have wondered about the Kentucky Derby winner.  The race has a nickname of the “Run for the Roses.”  They throw a blanket of roses over the horse.  Does any horse complain, “Hey!  I just won the race, and you give me the thorn end of the roses!”

And the problem that I see in making anyone the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Times) is that there is a lot of comparisons being made that are decidedly unequal.  When we start making anything based on a comparison, we bring the First and Tenth Commandment into question.

With the “greatness” that Pascal writes about, there is great responsibility to be good stewards.  But any further comparison means nothing before God.  He loves those that choose to love Him and keep His commandments.  Any further comparisons are worthless.  Even the heavenly rewards are based on how much of a servant to others that the person was.

And as for a great man? Jesus said that only God was good. So, Jesus is the only one who is a great man on God’s view of greatness.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.