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; 15:21. We also find the same word used of our Lord Jesus in Mark 3:7 and John 6:15. It is also used of the Wise Men in Matt. 2:12 & 13; and of Judas in Matt. 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. 9:24 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!”
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." (Rom. 8:37)