Bible Studies
The Christian life is a battlefield. If it wasn’t so, the Apostle Paul would not have commanded us to put on the armor of God. “
Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11.
All believers are called to combat. I Timothy 6:12 says,
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
This is a good battle because we have been equipped with the necessary gear to claim victory.
When a person is born again and gives his entire life to Jesus, he is drafted into God’s army. He becomes a soldier for God.
“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” II Timothy 2:4
You have been chosen by God himself to be enlisted in His army. What a wonderful privilege! This is a spiritual military army. The armor of God in Ephesians 6:11 is a spiritual one. It is needed to engage in combat with our adversary the devil whom is constantly seeking whom he may destroy.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8.
We are called to fight, resist and declare victory.
There is no specific time and place where this spiritual battle takes place. It is an ongoing everyday combat are the rules of engagement are simple.
Number 1: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might”.
Acknowledge that your strength and skills come from God and only God. It is because of Him that you are able to endure.
Number 2: “Put on the whole armour of God…”
You are to dress yourself daily with God’s armor. We cannot sit around waiting for God to put on the protective gear for us. This is a step we have to do ourselves. When we get up in the mornings we put on cloths to go to work. In the same manner, we must also put on the amour of God daily.
Number 3: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” (Ephesians 6:18)
We must make prayer and supplication in the Spirit an essential asset. We must pray for our fellow soldiers who are in combat with us. We pray for them because we love them and we want God’s protection over them. God loved the world and He gave his son for us. We love our fellow Christian and therefore we give our prayers for them. Not only are we instructed to put the armor on and pray always; but also to watch with all perseverance. To watch means to stay vigilant and be on alert for enemy activity. It is part of the armor we are instructed to put on. We must endure for Christ’s sake.
“Therefore, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” II Timothy 2:3.
There are many times that Jesus fought the enemy. It was never easy but he prayed to his Father and spoke the Word of God.
God has equipped every believer with the necessary equipment not only to fight but to win. We are already victorious because of the simple fact that Jesus Christ went straight to hell and took the keys of hell and death away from Satan. (Revelation 1:18). All we have to do is know how to use those keys in a spiritual warfare. The difficult part was already done by Jesus Christ through his sacrifice on the cross. Our part is to endure, resist and win the battle of the everyday temptations of our adversary, the devil. The Word of God gives us the expendable items directly related and necessary to weapon systems combat principals and tactics for winning the war.
We are going to study one of the greatest and most notorious war ever recorded in history. It is the battle of David and Goliath. We will study it in detail and find out the secret of David’s victory against the giant. The story starts in I Samuel 17: 1-3.
“Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gather together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoch and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.”
Here is the scenario: The good guys (Saul and the men of Israel) are in an active war zone with the bad guys (the Philistines). The Philistines are on a mountain and the Israelites are on another mountain. The Israelites were stationed (established) in a row. They were on the defensive side. They had rows of soldiers lined up to protect all attacks. Between them is a valley. There are no specifics what combat activities took place in the valley. However, it may seem that the ancient ritual of one on one combat was employed. The Philistines had such a good warrior that Israel was in a defeated state and did not know how to contra attack. Note that they were in Judah. The territory belonged to the Israelites and the Philistines were intruders. Let’s read verse 4:
And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”
Goliath was a 9’ 6 1/2” feet tall man that was separated from the rest of the army. He stood on his own and the Philistines were using him as their weapon. He was their champion or defender. A champion is one who has repeatedly come first among contestants in challenges. Verses 5 through 7 tell of his great armor. Can you imagine how large and heavy this giant’s gear was? He was suited with a 175 pound armor plus and extra 32 pounds for his sword. His mere image caused an impression to all spectators. This giant was fully prepared for combat assault and although his sword was great, his choice of weapon for attack was his words. His words were used to humiliate and demoralize his enemy. He knew how to use this weapon and was fully aware of its target. Samuel tells of Goliath’s first combat-assault strategy.
Enemy Strategy # 1: To Belittle or sneer at the Israelites. (I Samuel 17:8)
“And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.”
As Goliath defied the armies of Israel he cried out and everyone heard him. He put himself in a high position because of who he was and called the nation of Israel servants to Saul. This was not only disrespectful but out of line. His words carried fear and dismay. He implied that they were wasting their time even thinking of fighting a champion of his category.
Enemy Strategy # 2: Unrealistic Treaty.
A camouflaged lie (I Samuel 17:9)
“If he be able to fight with me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.”
It is pretty much obvious that the Philistines would never be the servants of the Israelites. This is true because after Goliath was killed, the Philistines never did become the servants of Israel. Do not believe the enemy when he makes a treaty or offers something in return. An example is when the serpent offered Eve a reward for disobeying God and eating the fruit of the tree. After she listened to the serpent and disobeyed God, she never got a reward from the enemy, but instead a punishment from God.
Enemy Strategy # 3: Defiance (I Samuel 17:10)
“And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid”.
This specific statement “to defy” means to “expose or pull off as by stripping”. As Goliath challenged the Israelites to fight, he was literally stripping them of their protection from Jehovah God. He referred to them as servants of Saul (verse 8) when they were indeed servants of God. Saul had recently departed from God and an evil spirit had been tormenting him. This is where Goliath opened the door for his defeat later on.
Before we study verse 11 it is important to understand the fact that words are carrier vessels. They carry good or evil power. Words could be used as a weapon as so did Goliath. (Read Proverbs 6:2; 18: 4-8; Psalm 64:3). For 40 testing days and nights the giant came before the people and verbally challenged them. Saul and the people of Israel heard those words and were dismayed and greatly afraid. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word “dismayed” is “CHATHATH” which translated into English means “To prostrate or break down either by violence, confusion or fear”. (James Strong Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible). These people were literally paralyzed with fear.
If faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:18), then in the same token, fear comes by hearing and hearing by the word of the devil. Goliath used words to terrorize the Israelites. He had convinced them by daily sowing seeds of fear, that they were Saul’s army.
Words form images and images produce action. Thoughts are unspoken words that enter our mind through our ears. Those words become visual images that trigger the central nervous system of the brain causing us to understand a complete picture. We see what we are thinking through imagination or images which are usually temporary. These temporary images are replaced by new thoughts. There are those thoughts, however, that become impressed in our minds sort of like a photograph. They are called memories and they stay with us forever and we can recall them as often as we need to.
Because words form images they can also form or shape who we are and what we become. Genesis 1:26 says that we were created in the image and likeness of God. God “spoke” the world into existence. (See Genesis 1:1-26). We are his children and also have creative power. We cannot go creating new worlds but we can create the world we live in with words. A good example of this is of the mother who constantly gets annoyed at her young son’s behavior and calls him “stupid kid” or shouts “you’ll never amount to anything”. She does this for his entire growing up years. Eventually this young child becomes what she has spoken him into existence.
This is the same battle strategy Goliath employed. He spoke fear into the people’s heart. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he….” The Israelites believed the Philistine and thus became what he spoke of. When they began to believe that they were Saul’s servants and not God’s army that is exactly what they became and why they were greatly afraid. They were engulfed in Saul’s world.
It is extremely imperative that we choose what enters our minds and hearts because whatever enters our mind will either be disposed of or go into the heart thus becoming an action. The people of Israel believed for 40 days and nights the negative words of the enemy and were paralyzed with fear. Fear paralyzes faith. They were loosing the battle and many times did not have to engage in physical combat. But...something different happened that morning.
A young Shepard boy name David was asked by his father Jesse to take lunch to his 3 enlisted brothers in the war. As he arrived at the combat zone, he saw both sides lined up, army against army in an attack position. He dismounted his carriage and without fear ran into the middle of the warfare to salute his brothers. At that instance Goliath appeared and once again spoke the words he had been speaking for the past 40 days and nights.
The men of Israel once again heard the words and ran with fear. They began to talk among themselves of what would happen to whoever killed the giant, and how the king would reward him. (Read I Samuel 17:12-25). David turned and questioned the men around him concerning the situation. Verse 26 says the following:
“And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
Wow! What a powerful statement this was. He had no fear and he knew his rights as a descendant of Abraham. His father had instructed him well in his lineage and he had full knowledge that an uncircumcised man was not a godly man. Basically, he is saying that Goliath had no right to even address God’s people. He was a nobody and the people of Israel were the people of God.
David also saw what Saul and the rest of the army failed to see: “...that he should defy the armies of the living God.” He knew that his brothers and friends were not servants to Saul but in the army of the living God, who had never lost a war. Defeat was not an option.
Take note that as soon as David expressed the concern of his assessment, he immediately faced opposition from his own brothers.
“And Eliah his eldest heard when he spake unto the men; and Elihab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.” I Samuel 17:28.
This opposition did not stop David from his ongoing mission. He was determined to find out why this Philistine was bringing grief to God’s people. Anytime someone is going to do God’s work he will always face opposition and it is not always from the enemy. Many times, resistance comes from within our own family as in this case. Enemy alert must always be high and we must always be vigilant and on alert. David’s brothers in their mission to oppose him confused pride and mischief with courage and valor. He did not let this opposition stop him. He continued to enquire about the uncircumcised Philistine. Word reached Saul (I Samuel 17:31-32) and he sent for David. He tried to talk him out of fighting this warrior.
“And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” (verse 33)
Discouragement usually follows opposition.
The king himself tried to discourage him but David pressed on because he came before Saul as a warrior and not a Shepard. He humbly pled his case before his king and convinced him of his skills and faith in God.
“And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took the lamb out of the flock; And I went after him, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord that delivereth me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.” I Samuel 17:34-37.
David knew that an enemy was an enemy no matter what or who he was. He knew that if he was able to kill a lion and a bear, then why not kill Israel’s main enemy. An adult male lion can weigh from 330 to 500 pounds and a bear from 125 to 500 pounds. If David was able to kill these animals in defense of his flock; then how much more power and faith would he employ in defending God’s people?
Saul allowed David to fight Goliath but wanted to control his actions by dressing him with his armor and loading his wih his weapons. (verses 38-39). David looked at himself with this oversized uniform and immediately knew there was no way he could fight with someone else’s armor. So he stripped it off.
When we fight the spiritual warfare with the enemy we must strip off all excess weight that can hold us back from victory. God is calling the church to get rid of man’s armor that has no anointing and put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11) to fight the good fight of faith. When a believer puts on God’s armor and his helmet’s eye plate is closed he is ready to charge. The enemy knows no different and only sees God charging at him since it is God’s armor. But if we battle with man’s armor it is easy for the enemy to spot us.
David knew that he was skillful with the tools he had used as a Shepard.
“And David took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a Shepard’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and the drew near to the Philistine.” I Samuel 17:40
He took his Shepard’s staff and chose five smooth stones. Weapons that he knew how to use. His sling in his hand and ready for assault combat, he planned on defeating the giant and had no intention of backing down. Goliath saw David ready to fight and instantly began his enemy routine strategy.
And the Philistine came on and drew near David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philstine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.” I Samuel 17:41-44
In this showdown, the enemy belittled him, made fun of, stripped him, insulted, and cursed him. Afterwards, he attempted to put fear in the same manner he’d been doing to Israel. But David was not afraid of his stature, his weapons and especially his words. He didn’t cower down and run off like the Israelites were doing. He stood his ground and boldly spoke to the Philistine.
“Then David said to the Philistine, Thous comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” I Samuel 17:45
Note that David mentions 3 weapons by name:
1. Sword
2. Spear
3. Shield
There is a purpose for this. It is in verse 46 when David tells Goliath 3 different victory statements. One for each of the Philistine weapons.
1. The Lord will deliver thee into my hand.
2. I will kill you.
3. I will take your head and feed it to the prey.
David makes these 3 statements of faith, he knew the power of faith, and had absolute trust in the Lord of host: the God of the armies of Israel.
“This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the hosts of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beast of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.” I Samuel 17:46-47.
David was coming not in Saul’s name nor was he of Saul’s army. He was enlisted in God’s army. The God whom Israel had allowed to be defied for 40 days and nights by an uncircumscised Phistine.
David’s purpose in killing this enemy was 3-fold:
1. That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
2. All this assembly (the people in the warzone) would know that God saves not with sword and spear but with His power.
3. He will give the enemy into the hands of the nation of Israel.
David wanted everyone to know that this Philistine had been lying to the God’s people. He had a 3-fold purpose and 3 victory statements of faith for Goliath’s 3 weapons. He knew what he was talking about and had a well planned battle strategy.
As I mentioned previously, words are carrier vessels. David’s words carried faith, power and victory. Goliath’s words carried fear, defeat and death. Words form images and images produce action. David saw himself winning the fight. He saw himself killing the enemy. He used words of faith to see what he was to accomplish. Hebrews 11: 1 says:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Take note that verse 40 says that David’s sling was in his hand. He acted in faith and was ready to fight. In the same manner, we are to be ready to battle the spiritual warfare at all times. Verse 48 and 49 says:
“And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew night to meet David that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistne. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the ground.”
David employed such force in slinging the stone that it sunk in his forehead and knocked him out cold. Sounds kind of funny when you think about it. David did not wait for the enemy to come to him. He ran to meet the enemy and without having second thoughts, acted upon his words of faith. Can you imagine the people’s reation when Goliath fell to the ground? I can imagine a great silence among the warriors. Many a people can presume and question David’s faith concerning the why of five stones instead of just one. Well, all I can say is; one for Goliath and the other stones, well… just in case he had four brothers! David did exactly what he said he would do. He knew God had his back.
“So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.”
I Samuel 17:50
If there was “no sword in the HAND of David”, then where was the sword? Hebrews 4:12 and 11:3 tell us exactly where David’s sword was.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were made of things which do appear.”
David’s sword was in his mouth.
It was the two-edged sword called THE WORD OF GOD. The same word that God used to created the world. David used the same principal. He spoke in faith, the enemy’s death before he physically saw it. When the Word of God is spoken in faith it moves mountains and destroys giants.
“Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slow him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.” I Samuel 17:51.
Who’s running now? It wasn’t David. He stood his ground and did what he said he’d do. Note here that when Goliath was killed, the entire army of the Philistines ran away in fear. This tells us that the entire time this war was going on, the complete regiment depended solely on Goliath. One man had an entire nation terrorized with fearful words. The sad part is that the army of God had believed this Philistine and indeed become servants to Saul instead of servants of the living God. We must be cautious of what we hear and what we allow to enter our heart.
After our final warfare with the enemy is completed, we cannot go into our tents and sleep. We must do as Paul instructed the Ephesians in chapter 6 verse 13:
“Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
We must continue to stand after we have endured. To stand means to conquer or to get ready to move into position. The enemy does not rest and neither should we. We must keep a constant watch because we ddo not know when the enemy is going to attack.
“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8
Steps to Destroying Giants
1. Realize that the Christian life is a spiritual battleground.
“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:11-12.
“Endure thou therefore hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man who warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” II Timothey 2:3-4.
2. Realize that you must dress yourself with the armour of God.
“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
3. Realize who your enemy is.
“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8
4. Realize that everything you do must be done in love.
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” I Corinthians 13:13
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
5. Realize the power comes from God.
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." Ephesians 6:10
6. Realize that we must not listen to the enemy because we are already victorious through His word.
“Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He afterward hungered. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” But He answered and said, "It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down. For it is written: `He shall give His angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Jesus said unto him, "It is written again: `Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Again, the devil took Him up onto an exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and said unto Him, "All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship me." Then said Jesus unto him, "Get thee hence, Satan! For it is written: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.” Matthew 4:1-11.
7. Realize that oppossion comes from within.
“But He turned and said unto Peter, "Get thee behind Me, Satan! Thou art an offense unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Matthew 16:23
“And Saul said to David, "Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth." I Samuel 17:22
8. Realize that you must always speak the Word of God.
“But He answered and said, "It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:1-11
“But what saith it?”The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart," that is, the word of faith which we preach:” Romans 10:8
9. Realize that we are going to suffer and we cannot get entangled in the affairs of this world.
“Endure thou therefore hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man who warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” II Timothey 2:3-4.
10. Realize that nothing can separate your from the love of God.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 1617 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Luis Nazario or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 1617 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.