I RETREAT
ANA-CHOREO Ανα-Χωρεω
“By weakness and defeat,
He won the mede and crown;
Trod all His foes beneath His feet,
By being trodden down.”
I do not think we have the word 'retreat' in our ordinary English Bible, though we do find 'retire' several times, and a good many times we find 'withdraw': words which have a very similar meaning. There are, I think, six different Greek words that are translated 'withdraw' (though they are also translated in many other ways).
I would like to ask you to look for a few minutes at the word And-CHOREO. This word has the meaning of retreat in war. (Liddell & Scott) Moulton & Milligan say that 'retire' is too weak for it, "The connotation of 'taking refuge from some peril' will suit most of the New Testament passages remarkably well.”
This word is used 14 times in the Greek New Testament: ten of these are in Matthew's Gospel, of which six refer to our Lord Jesus Christ: Matt. 2:14, 22; 4:12; 12:15; 14:13; 15:2114When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: (Matthew 2:14)
22But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: (Matthew 2:22)
12Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; (Matthew 4:12)
15But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; (Matthew 12:15)
13When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. (Matthew 14:13)
21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. (Matthew 15:21). We also find the same word used of our Lord Jesus in Mark 3:77But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea, (Mark 3:7) and John 6:1515When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. (John 6:15). It is also used of the Wise Men in Matt. 2:1212And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. (Matthew 2:12) & 13; and of Judas in Matt. 27:55And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:5).
You will notice that Matthew uses this word far more often than any other of the New Testament writers: indeed besides those mentioned, it is only found in Matt. 9:2424He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. (Matthew 9:24) and twice in Acts. Our readers will recall that Matthew presents to us our Lord Jesus as KING. How very remarkable that in this Gospel we find the King of Kings, the Captain of our Salvation, the Captain Who has never lost a battle, and Who never will lose one —here we find Him six times in retreat. In this Gospel, we do not see Him destroying His enemies, as He could so easily have done, but retreating before them. In this Gospel, we see Him who is the King, "meek and lowly in heart". It is in this Gospel our Lord says, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" (26:53). But He did not pray for those legions; instead He allowed Himself to be bound, to be abused, to be scourged, to be crucified by wicked men. It looked like utter defeat, after years of retreat. Little did the enemy know that this was the greatest Victory that has ever been won: and won "by weakness and defeat".
And through the centuries the soldiers of the King have often passed the same way: often has defeat seemed to be our portion; and retreat instead of advance has taken place. What a sad retreat we have watched with breaking hearts in China! But let us remember that the Captain under whom we are fighting is still in command, and He will yet prove to be the Victor, even in these sad, dark days of weakness and defeat. So, beloved fellow-soldiers, Take heart! Let us press on! Let us never be discouraged! We have a Captain in Whom we may implicitly trust; and the last words He says to us in the Gospel that tells so plainly of His retreat are these:
“All power is given unto ME in Heaven and in earth.
GO YE THEREFORE!”