Bible Studies

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Preface
I will be using a lot of symbolization in this exhortation of scripture. It is a way that God speaks to me and reveals many great mysteries that I would never have got to know from life. It all started when I first became a Christian an elderly gentlemen said these words to me "If you only discover one thing Kevin, about being a Christian then this is my advice; search the scriptures and look for Jesus, He is there in every word, line and passage". Hence that is why now I can say that every time I pick up my Bible, there comes over me an excitement that has lasted for the last 17 years. I pray that those words spoken to me will touch your heart, and will lay a key in front of you to start a grand adventure.
1 Samuel 17:1-10
" Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”" (1 Samuel 17:1-10, NKJV)

The scene is set, the lines are drawn for a battle, but should there have been a battleground. The answer to that question is an absoulute no. But that fact stands and the past is gone. The time has come to fight, one army looking across to the other. The Philistines on side interestingly the word Philistine means "Immigrants" and that was precisely what they were being. And on the other side the Israelites. The meaning of the word Israel is "God Prevails" The Philistines were beaten force not long ago, and even now as the names say they were already defeated. But they were looking at the circumstances instead of the facts. What it needed was a great man of faith. King Saul had been disobedient to God and because of that Samuel said these words;
But Samuel replied, "I will not return with you! Since you have rejected the LORD'S command, he has rejected you from being the king of Israel."
It was just like a bad dream for King Saul, a man who had been told that he no longer would be king. Yet there stood a great army in front of Him, under his command. Things looked so normal, and yet running to and fro amongst the Israelites army was a lad who only recently had been anointed, by Samuel to be king. But that was to be some time in the future. Saul was still in command and David was obedient to that fact, it was not his time to be King. But the anointing was so strong that he saw right through the situation and as we shall find out. He is to become the "The Giant Slayer". As we spend time studying this event in the Bible. I pray that the revelation will not only reveal to you great steps of faith, but will also encourage you to step out and put into action the things that God has revealed in your life. Maybe things that you know that he has said to you, but you have felt that you did not have enough faith to do.


So back to the passage that we are studying. David is about to rescue Israel from the hands of the Philistines. The Man of faith enters the scene, there in front of him was this scene; 1 Samuel 17:4-7
Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. An armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield.
Goliath stood there in front of the Philistine army, looking directly across to the Israelites. He was full of arrogance and he despised them so much, he could not understand that not long ago this army had defeated them. He wanted revenge and he was going to glory in it. Forty days he was shouting and taunting them. But they were afraid to challenge them. Why?

The Stature and armor reveal a lot about the situation. And I believe they also reveal to us today in situations that we still face. Let me explain;
Goliath was a champion he was the best warrior they had. So it only seemed logical that the Israelites should put up a worthy contender, someone of the same pedigree. A warrior was needed, a great warrior. How many times in your life have you seen this. The best sportsmen battle it out. One country against another, they step into the arena to compete. That was the problem for Israel they had taken there eyes of God and put them on man.
Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, "Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!"

I believe that we do exactly the same today, we look to mans ways of doing things and not God's. From this, I hope we will learn that God can and will supply an answer to all our problems. But we need to be obedient and take time to listen to Him. Back to Goliath Here is a breakdown of what I believe each part means

9- 10 ft tall - The situation looks bad.
Bronze helmet - Goliath's thoughts were to make them suffer.
Bronze coat - This shows that this was a heavy burden.
(125 pounds)
Leg protectors - He was sure he could win.
Spear - He was capable of doing real damage.
Weaver's rod - There was real substance in his claim.
Blade - He was determined to pierce through the
Israelite army.

In our lives we face the same issues, there are not warriors standing in front of us, but situations. They seem giants in their appearance. The situation looks bad, there seems to be no way out. But have we as did the Israelites ignored God in the situation. Let's see how David, who as we shall see, looks upon the problem in an entirely different way.
David was asking questions about the battle with his brothers when Goliath made yet another challenge, it is then that we see the anointing starting to work on him. He asked questions? If you want to know the situation you need to ask questions. The Israelites were afraid and asked or should I say cried out for help
.1 Samuel 17:25
"Have you seen the giant?" the men were asking. "He comes out each day to challenge Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? The king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!"

The king was offering a great deal for the one who would stand and challenge Goliath . Yet there had been no offer made to take the job. Why? Because they were only seeing with their eyes the physical truth. What they did not see was the spiritual truth.
David responded to the statement, he not only repeated the offer, but he added to it. 1 Samuel 17:26
David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his abuse of Israel?" he asked them. "Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?"

David saw things from Gods eyes and heart, who is this that has the right to stand against the Living God. We tend to often to allow the situation to escalate out of control. So much so that we become blinded to the truth. And the things around us become reality. David became quite angry, about his situation. We need to show the same kind of anger, when something is allowed to become an illegal immigrant to that which God intended.

There will be opposition to your statement of faith, and at times you will be surprised from where it comes. In David case it came from his brother Eliab. Eliab only looked at David as the youngest brother. He had already set boundaries around his thoughts about what David could do. Most of the time the nearest are sometimes the most blind. They only see from the actions of the past, when they had authority over you, by being the oldest or by having power to decide the outcome of your life. In life so many people want to hold the power of choice, and we get so involved in this that we forget that it is the creator Himself that has the final say. So if you are letting anyone have that power you are actually allowing them to rob you of the things that the creator Himself has for you. Eliab became angry, and that is the reaction you will get, when you stand up to those that are interfering with the freedom that God has given you. They will become quite verbal, they will call upon all the past records to hold you down. For David it was that he was the youngest, he should be looking after the sheep. David answered back and stood his ground, precisely what we should do. He replied a familiar saying that we use today. "What have I done wrong? Can't I even talk?" You see the brother wanted to show his authority by not allowing David to express how he felt. How many today do the same?
The report about that account on the battle ground reached the ears of Saul. You will be surprised at the outcome of your stand for God. It will give others the opportunity to see the person that God intended you to be. Don't be surprised if people start to ask for you, it is then that you will see the wonderful purpose, God created you for. From the very beginning of time. Such freedom and boldness, the purpose of life becomes very clear to you. You will start to live for Him, not for yourself or for anybody else.
Have a focused mind when God reveals to you the reason for your stand of faith. Be clear and bold. David in front of the king answered so positively;

1 Samuel 17:32
"Don't worry about a thing," David told Saul. "I'll go fight this Philistine!"


Saul answered the statement immediately in the negative;
1 Samuel 17:33
"Don't be ridiculous!" Saul replied. "There is no way you can go against this Philistine. You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!"

Saul was looking at the circumstances instead of the facts that God is master of it all. That is precisely how some will react, using language that counters the statement that you have said. David then replies to Saul with an account of what he has achieved in the fields to protect his fathers sheep. He was actually saying that God has the power to protect his sheep. He then goes on to describe events that he encountered, that were of real danger not only to him, but also to the sheep. David was using this to demonstrate that there was no real difference between the Philistine and the lion and bear. There end result would end up the same death and defeat.
With that statement Saul said to David; "Go, and may the Lord be with you",. He still had doubt because he used the word "may". He still did not fully understand the situation. It will be the same with people that are around you, they will let you go, but will still have doubts. Because it has not come from them. They even may try to influence you by adding their insecurities on to you. That is precisely what Saul did to David:
1 Samuel 17:38
Then Saul gave David his own armor--a bronze helmet and a coat of mail.

Again Saul and the people wanted David to look the part, they were more interested in impressing the opposition than defeating it. David humored them and showed them how ridiculous this was. David could not even walk, let alone fight. David could not go in the armor because it was foreign to him. We too often try to fight the battles that are in our lives by putting on the thoughts and even imitating their actions. It is not about seeing and hearing only, it is about applying and understanding in your heart. It is about faith, your faith in what God has imparted into your life. By being who you are and not being a imitation of someone else.
David took the armor off and he took what he knew, He took his stick or staff, five smooth stones from the stream, and he put them into his shepherds bag. Then he grabbed his sling, and went into battle prepared to meet the Philistine face to face. God wants us to be the same to do things by the power that he given each one us. It's not for others to fight it is for you to fight.

I want to list the item and for me what those items mean in the symbolic way. I believe we will see through this the significance of David's weapons. Compared to Goliath's that we saw earlier.


STAFF Liberating factor

5 SMOOTH STONES Gracious promises of God

STREAM Word of God

SHEPHERDS BAG Faith of the believer

SLING Vehicle of Faith

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