Isn't it fascinating how this great war between the Philistines and the Israelites comes down to this duel of David and Goliath. Imagine being in the shoes of David, a young boy on who has the fate of the entire Nation of Israel in his hand!
Let us relive the great battle. The first thing that God revealed to me when reading this passage was how the two sides drew their battle lines on this valley, they were split between two hills separated by a valley (the valley of Elah), each camp was on it's hill . Both the Israelites and the Philistines knew themselves, they knew which side of the war they were in. There is no record of an Israelite in the Philistine camp or vies versa in this story. The symbolism being, you are either for God or against God.
It is a call for us to know ourselves, in Mathew 12:30 it states "He who is not with Me is against Me, a clear indication that we cannot serve two masters either we are of God or of the world." The story gets better, in this story Goliath is described as a Champion, not as a description of his future but of his past. He is a champion not amongst God's people but a champion amongst his countrymen. Goliath is described as a giant amongst giants, I once went shopping in Gikomba for shoes and I stumbled upon this pair of size 15 shoes, I was shocked, it looked like a baguette (no offence to guys with size 15 shoes.). Now if you consider the average height of a man with size 15 shoes is 6'8 or 7 feet then you will be in awe of this great giant. Goliath is described to be 9 feet 9 inches. He was basically the height of a basketball rim, a basketball coach's dream! His armour alone sounds like the product of an entire bronze mine. Goliath was huge to say the least.
This giant not only looked big but his mouth also played the part. He said unto the Israelites 1st Samuel 17:8-10, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”
Verse 11 - 'On HEARING the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.'
The Israelites would have said sticks and stones may but words will never hurt me, but this guy had a spear that was heavier than Rambo's dumbbells. But here is the most fascinating thing about this story, immediately after the Bible mentions Goliath and how the Israelites were terrified, the focus of the story shifts completely to David. The very first thing the Bible does is to bring out the IDENTITY of David. verse 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah.
Jesse sends David to check on his brothers ( David's brothers were Israelite soldiers) , and Jesse sent David with food to give his brothers. Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. Here is the most amazing thing, David when he got to the battle field, he left the food with the keeper of supplies. When you picture David being an obedient son, who do you picture, Jesus obeying The Father! David was obedient and he went to the camp with the food as commanded. But he didn't leave his food with his brothers or with the commander, why? You can answer that David got there when they were doing their battle cries and preparing to go to battle, so he couldn't possibly give them their food at that time. Well he could, if he wanted to. Here is the answer, picture Jesus bringing the Gospel to the world, the word of Grace that all may be saved! When David gave the food to the keeper of supplies, the food would be used to feed any of the soldiers of Israel that received it!
It gets even better! When David was at the camp, after he gave the food to the keeper of supplies, he went to check out his brothers. While he was chatting up his brothers, Goliath did his usual antics, he stood tall and said his defiant words. David heard the words and he didn't cower like the other Israelites. He asked what the reward was for defeating Goliath, and he was told. His eldest brother tried to bring him down, but he asked again and was told of the reward again. David was taken before Saul, and he said he would fight Goliath, Saul saw how young David was and said to David that he couldn't take him on. Then David spoke to Saul this most amazing testimony and on hearing this Saul dressed David up with his tunic and amour and gave him his sword, but David wasn't used to these. He was a shepherd, all he did was pick up 5 smooth stones at the river, he put them in his bag and he went to face Goliath with a staff, his sling and five smooth stones.
Picture David going to face Goliath, but when you picture David, don't only picture a young shepherd, picture an Anointed King. In just the previous chapter, David is anointed as king of Israel! David went to face Goliath as an anointed king, he went against Goliath not with his stones sling or staff, but with the Word of the Living God. And with just one stone cast, he killed this great giant and cut off his head with Goliath's own sword.
This is exactly what Jesus Christ did! Did you know Christ is derived from the Greek word Christos which means anointed?! Messiah means the Anointed One! Jesus is our Anointed King!
David did the most peculiar thing after he killed Goliath, he cut off his head with Goliath's sword and took it to Jerusalem. This was symbolism of God's plan. About 1000 years later one of the descendants of David defeated a far greater giant than Goliath in Jerusalem in Golgotha. Golgotha derives from the Aramaic word Golgolta meaning the place of the skull! It is right next to Jerusalem. Right at this place where David took that skull is where Jesus was crucified and he defeated the devil and our sins. He gave us the greatest victory of, He died for our sins so that we may be free from them!
Goliath symbolizes our sins and the devil and Jesus defeated them all at Calvary. If you listen to the devil, he gives you thoughts that you are horrible, you are a sinner, you can't possibly beat sin, you will be dismayed and terrified just as the Israelites were. See after 40 days of staying in the battle camp none of the Israelites dared to face Goliath, they were scared, but David, used as a sign of what Jesus would do, beat Goliath and won the battle for the Israelites. All those soldiers didn't have to raise a sword for that war to be won! David before throwing that stone said, "...All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:47.
Our Anointed King, Jesus Christ, already defeated our sins and the devil, it is not your battle. He gave us the gift of salvation that if you believe in Jesus all your sins may be forgiven, and He doesn't stop there, He gives us eternal life! The battle is already won, it is upon you to choose life and be saved. The victory of the battle is being given to your hands today. Do you know what rewards David got for the victory? "...The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.” 1st Samuel 17:25. We are the brides of Christ,and Jesus is coming back for His brides. We no longer have to pay for our sins, our taxes are exempt! Jesus offers us great wealth, His victory let's us be rich in spirit 2nd Corinthians 8:9
The victory doesn't end there, Jesus rose from the dead and will reign forever! Jesus rose from the dead and He is coming back for His brides (believers). If you die in Christ, you get to spend the rest of eternity with Christ in heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The only way to receive the victory is to accept Christ into your heart today. It's the easiest and best choice you can make. All you have to do is speak to God, with your mouth ask Lord Jesus to come into your heart, ask Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sins and He will not only do that but He will give you the gift of eternal life and He will live in your heart! You get to have a relationship with Jesus!You get to rest knowing that heaven awaits you, Jesus is building a spot for you in heaven. Be blessed folks.
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