Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: GIANTS (10/22/20)
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TITLE: The Death of a Bully | Previous Challenge Entry
By John Custer
10/28/20 -
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His brother called to him, “Goliath, we have a couple of sheep and a good fire. Are you hungry?” He sauntered over and placed a leg of lamb over the fire. It sure tasted good, flavored with herbs, and capped off with a few olives. He didn’t much care where the sheep came from. Perhaps they were stolen from an Israelite shepherd.
The Israelites had been intimidated by the Philistines for a very long time. So what shepherd would challenge a Philistine soldier? Many of them were giants as Goliath was and much stronger than the Israelites. (Actually the Philistines were distantly related, but they treated each other like enemies, not relatives.)
While they were eating, Goliath said to his brother, “I’m getting tired of waiting here in Sokoh. Who knows how long it will be before the Israelites will accept my challenge and fight me?”
“I have no idea,” his brother said. “Obviously, they are afraid. They don’t want to serve us if they lose, and they can’t win if they fight because they are much weaker. They know we will whip them big time.”
“Do you suppose their strategy is to wait until we give up and go home?”
“Well, it might be,” his brother answered. “Why don’t you really ridicule them? Make fun of them and their God. Make them so mad that they will respond! Maybe they’ll do something stupid.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Goliath. “Let’s get ready.”
Goliath put on his coat of scale armor which weighed 125 pounds, his bronze greaves to protect his legs, his bronze helmet, then picked up his bronze javelin with an iron point weighing 15 pounds. “I’m ready,” he exclaimed boastfully as they headed to the Valley of Elah for the challenge. His brother and the rest of their army also went out to face the Israelites.
“How could I possibly lose,” he mused, “I have every advantage with my armor and my stronger army.”
He had expected to see Saul, the King, accept his challenge because Saul was the tallest Israelite.
Goliath threw out his challenge as usual. “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, 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.” (Samuel 17:8 NIV)
After some time he saw a young man headed toward him with no armor except a slingshot and a few stones. “This can’t be! This is an insult! I will kill him so quick, he won’t know what hit him,” he growled to himself.
Then the young man made a ridiculous boast,
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.”
Goliath, even though offended, countered, “How will this lad kill me with all my strength and armor. I’ve never seen a god help an army. What kind of armor will this god wear? I’ll show the lad how ridiculous he appears. This will be quick. This evening we will finally go home and relax.”
As the lad approached he was winding up his slingshot. Goliath was moving slowly toward the boy with his javelin over his head. Then suddenly, as if from nowhere, a small stone split the giant’s skull and he collapsed.
David did what he said he would do and the Philistines fled in terror because they knew what the terms of the battle were.
The giant was no match for David’s God, The Lord Almighty!
Biblical fiction based on Samuel 17 - NIV
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