1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. 4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels[b]; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.[c] His shield bearer went ahead of him. 8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “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. 9 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.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
I read this, I know Jonathan is listening to this and yet he doesn’t go out against Goliath. This is how faith works, it grows and grows unto “all the riches of the full assurance of the faith”. Jonathan had “one rich”. He knew that there are two kinds of bullies, those who boast and those who bite. He had the faith to go up against those who boast, but not against those who bite. But to become a king you need to be able to deal with all bullies and so we need to go on to see David’s faith.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old.
Spoiler alert, once again I see this being a very significant portion of the story: David is the son of Jesse. We learn here that Jesse is very old, that is given to us, I would add that we also learn that Jesse is very wise.
13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
I know that my interpretation of this chapter differs from all the depictions of the little kid with the lucky shot. Atheists want to depict the Bible stories as fairy tales. In the fairy tale God comes in as a fairy God mother who waves His magic wand and poof, the kingdom is saved and the cute kid becomes king. I don’t buy it. If Samuel is the “Mike Tyson” of the Priesthood, then Jesse is the Sun Tzu of the time. He is the one who turned David into a killer. Everything in this chapter is straight out of “the Art of War”.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
First off David has been spying this situation out for forty days and then going back to Jesse to report what is going on and for them to come up with a plan. The idea that David one day comes into camp and sees Goliath is a myth from those who don’t read the chapter. It says in verse 15 “David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem”.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[d] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance[e] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
Second, Jesse sent David to the camp when he killed Goliath. Jesse had 5 other sons besides the three at the camp, but he has chosen David to be the one going back and forth. I believe they have been working on a strategy and practicing for those forty days.
20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.
This all played out “as Jesse directed”. Some people are drawn to the battle, they are good at it, they are motivated for it. Jesse had eight sons yet he knew that David was the one who was a killer. David had been in Saul’s house as his armor bearer. Why would the “armor bearer” not be with Saul on the battlefield? Once again, this is “as Jesse had directed”. David has been anointed by Samuel to be king, he is the armor bearer to Saul, and we know that this kid is not shy about getting into the fight. Yet David agrees at this critical moment to go back and tend sheep? I don’t buy that. David is not like you or me. He is like Tom Brady, no one is going to tell Tom Brady he has to leave the football battlefield to go home and take care of the kids. So again, “taking care of the sheep” to me is an excuse to work out a plan and strategy to take out Goliath. The first thing we see this morning is the timing. It was essential that David arrive in time to hear Goliath’s challenge.
21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
This is portrayed as though David hears this for the first time, yet the word is very clear here “whenever the Israelites saw the man”. David has been going back and forth for forty days, he knows about Goliath, he knows what people say “whenever they saw him”.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. 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.” 26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
This sounds like Joe Namath to me, guaranteeing a victory prior to the super bowl.
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” 28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
Eliab knows David better than anyone else there and he has seen through this charade. He knows this is an act and David already has a plan. He is angry because he feels it should have been him. This reminds me of Scottie Pippen sitting out the last seconds of a game because they didn’t draw up the play to give him the final shot.
I read this, I know Jonathan is listening to this and yet he doesn’t go out against Goliath. This is how faith works, it grows and grows unto “all the riches of the full assurance of the faith”. Jonathan had “one rich”. He knew that there are two kinds of bullies, those who boast and those who bite. He had the faith to go up against those who boast, but not against those who bite. But to become a king you need to be able to deal with all bullies and so we need to go on to see David’s faith.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old.
Spoiler alert, once again I see this being a very significant portion of the story: David is the son of Jesse. We learn here that Jesse is very old, that is given to us, I would add that we also learn that Jesse is very wise.
13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
I know that my interpretation of this chapter differs from all the depictions of the little kid with the lucky shot. Atheists want to depict the Bible stories as fairy tales. In the fairy tale God comes in as a fairy God mother who waves His magic wand and poof, the kingdom is saved and the cute kid becomes king. I don’t buy it. If Samuel is the “Mike Tyson” of the Priesthood, then Jesse is the Sun Tzu of the time. He is the one who turned David into a killer. Everything in this chapter is straight out of “the Art of War”.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
First off David has been spying this situation out for forty days and then going back to Jesse to report what is going on and for them to come up with a plan. The idea that David one day comes into camp and sees Goliath is a myth from those who don’t read the chapter. It says in verse 15 “David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem”.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[d] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance[e] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
Second, Jesse sent David to the camp when he killed Goliath. Jesse had 5 other sons besides the three at the camp, but he has chosen David to be the one going back and forth. I believe they have been working on a strategy and practicing for those forty days.
20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.
This all played out “as Jesse directed”. Some people are drawn to the battle, they are good at it, they are motivated for it. Jesse had eight sons yet he knew that David was the one who was a killer. David had been in Saul’s house as his armor bearer. Why would the “armor bearer” not be with Saul on the battlefield? Once again, this is “as Jesse had directed”. David has been anointed by Samuel to be king, he is the armor bearer to Saul, and we know that this kid is not shy about getting into the fight. Yet David agrees at this critical moment to go back and tend sheep? I don’t buy that. David is not like you or me. He is like Tom Brady, no one is going to tell Tom Brady he has to leave the football battlefield to go home and take care of the kids. So again, “taking care of the sheep” to me is an excuse to work out a plan and strategy to take out Goliath. The first thing we see this morning is the timing. It was essential that David arrive in time to hear Goliath’s challenge.
21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
This is portrayed as though David hears this for the first time, yet the word is very clear here “whenever the Israelites saw the man”. David has been going back and forth for forty days, he knows about Goliath, he knows what people say “whenever they saw him”.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. 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.” 26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
This sounds like Joe Namath to me, guaranteeing a victory prior to the super bowl.
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.” 28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”
Eliab knows David better than anyone else there and he has seen through this charade. He knows this is an act and David already has a plan. He is angry because he feels it should have been him. This reminds me of Scottie Pippen sitting out the last seconds of a game because they didn’t draw up the play to give him the final shot.