Christian sermons | Biblical studies
Goliath
1 Samuel 17:4 Then there came out of the camp of the Philistines a paladin, whose name was Goliath, from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span tall:
A paladin, a champion, an authority in matters of the arts of combat, that in addition to his imposing and superhuman physique, his height of almost three meters was truly impressive, his chain mail weighed much more than 100 pounds, the tip of his spear weighed about 7 kg. In the Wikipedia encyclopedia we can find the tallest man recorded throughout modern history, this man whose name was Robert Pershing Wadlow with 2.72 m tall and 199 kg in weight and his excessive growth was the product of a glandular-type disease from 4 years of age.
1 Samuel 17:8 And he stood up and cried out to the squadrons of Israel, saying to them, Why have you arrayed yourselves in battle array? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose from among yourselves a man who will come against me.
1 Samuel 17:9 If he can fight me, and overcome me, we will be your servants; and if I were able to do better than him, and overcome him, you will be our servants and you will serve us.
1 Samuel 17:10 And the Philistine added, Today I have defied the camp of Israel; give me a man to fight me.
1 Samuel 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were troubled and greatly afraid.
The giant shouts, he offends the squads of Israel, he does not feel any fear for what these squads represent, these same squads that under the command of Joshua had knocked down Jericho where there were also giants, the squads of the living God, of the Most High Jehovah, were being reviled by a heathen. Not being found in the ranks of Israel man who went out to fight for the honor of Jehovah.
Saúl does not fulfill his role.
1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son named Saul, young and handsome. Among the children of Israel there was none more beautiful than he; From the shoulders up he towered over anyone in town.
Saul himself, a man versed in the arts of war and also endowed with great size and physical strength, was disturbed by Goliath’s exhibitions, no man in Israel found the courage to wash away the insult, that the faith of the sons of God was in a bad way living beings who placed their expectations on the muscles and arts of men, but Jehovah was already coming with his champion by the hand.
40 days
1 Samuel 17:16 So the Philistine came morning and evening, and he did so for forty days.
Genesis 7:12 and there was rain on the earth forty days and forty nights.
Exodus 16:35 So the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the limits of the land of Canaan.(F)
Exodus 24:18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.(C)
2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
Mark 1:13 And he was there in the desert forty days, and was tempted by Satan, and was with wild beasts; and the angels served him.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was on earth for 40 days after resurrecting and before ascending to heaven to reign at the right hand of Jehovah. The periods of 40 days, years have been manifested throughout the Bible as tests, exams of God towards his children, the Israelites were tested 40 years in the desert when their food depended on the will of Jehovah, there they were revealed against God and they tempted him, rejecting the manna that Jehovah gave them. For forty days Moses was on the mountain taking the Law from the mouth of the Lord, but the people lost their faith and made an idol for themselves. Forty days Goliath challenged the troops of the living God, they failed in their faith in God by not going out to fight the giant. Only our Lord Jesus Christ was victorious in the test in the desert since Satan could not tempt him in any way.
Jehovah’s champion is coming
1 Samuel 17:17 And Jesse said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain, and these ten loaves, and bring it quickly into the camp to your brothers.
Obedience to God is also demonstrated in obedience to our earthly parents, David who alternated between his functions as Saul’s musician and left the comfort of living under the protection of the king to take care of his father’s flock, was an obedient and dedicated son. taking care of your house. That is where obedience to Jehovah begins, he was not a street lamp and darkness in the house as it is said in the world, he was a man after Jehovah’s heart, the obedience and diligence of young David should be today in conjunction with his faith and courage the letters of introduction of today’s young christian.
1 Samuel 17:23 As he spoke with them, behold, the paladin who stood between the two camps, whose name was Goliath the Philistine from Gath, came out from among the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words, and David heard them.
1 Samuel 17:25 And every one of Israel said, Have you not seen that man who has come out? He steps forward to provoke Israel. Whoever defeats him, the king will enrich him with great wealth, and will give him his daughter, and he will exempt from taxes the house of his father in Israel.
The Israelites repeated daily the promises made by Saul, he would give them his daughter in marriage, vast wealth and exemption from tribute to the royal house. But none of this moved the hearts of the men who, faced with the imminence of certain death if they went to fight Goliath, devalued those Saulicas prebends, the fact that he did not fight by faith, said a lot about the accolade that Jehovah had given his people to because of their errors and their monarch Saul.
The world wants to stop you
1 Samuel 17:26 Then David spoke to those who stood by him, saying, What will they do to the man who defeats this Philistine, and takes away the reproach of Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should provoke the squadrons of the living God?
1 Samuel 17:27 And the people answered him the same words, saying, Thus shall it be done to the man who overcomes him.
1 Samuel 17:28 And when Eliab his elder brother heard him speak with those men, his anger burned against David and he said, Why have you come down here? And to whom have you left those few sheep in the desert? I know your pride and the malice of your heart, that you have come to see the battle.
David asks what will be done to the man who defeats the Philistine and removes the reproach of Israel, his starting point is correct, he is not moved by wealth and fame, he is moved by faith in Jehovah and it is that faith that makes that he wants in the first place to harangue the army to remove the reproach of Israel, secondly he is dismayed to see the little faith of men and tells them who is this uncircumcised to provoke the squadrons of the living God. But the world always tries to stop the brave, just as in our times there is always someone who will question your faith, there have always been and there will be mockers, who judge our actions, since the words of God are always harsh and of rebuke, when David does not agree according to his faith with the prevailing cowardice and lack of faith, he speaks harshly to the army and it is his brother who rebukes him, hiding his own cowardice in his rebuke, underestimating the value of David that was not his, but it came from the Most High Father. But brothers, the world will always want to stop us, because the things of God are not pleasing to them who walk in their foolishness.
1 Samuel 17:29 David answered, What have I done now? Isn’t this just talk?
1 Samuel 17:30 And turning from him to others, he asked likewise; and the people gave him the same answer as before.
1 Samuel 17:31 The words that David had spoken were heard, and they told them before Saul; and he made him come.
1 Samuel 17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight against this Philistine.
The Christian must value very well this attitude of David, since he does not contend with his brother, he simply stands aside and speaks to others. When our Lord Jesus Christ sends the 70 to preach:
Luke 10:10 But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, going out into its streets, say:
Luke 10:11 Even the dust of your city, which has clung to our feet, we shake against you. (D) But know this, that the kingdom of God has come near to you.
At no time does David curse or argue with his brother, but seeing his folly shakes the dust off his feet and went to others with the word.
David’s words reached Saul’s ears, Saul makes him come to personally hear what this beardless boy is saying, how could a teenager speak in this way in the presence of men hardened in combat, but David, anointed as he was by the Holy Spirit already comes to Saul saying that he will fight against Goliath.
Can you move forward without Jehovah?
1 Samuel 17:33 Saul said to David, You will not be able to go against that Philistine, to fight with him; because you are a boy, and he a man of war from his youth.
1 Samuel 17:34 David answered Saul, Your servant was shepherd of his father’s sheep; and when a lion came, or a bear, and he took some lamb from the herd,
1 Samuel 17:35 I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered him from his mouth; and if he rose up against me, I would lay hands on his jaw, and he would strike and kill him.
1 Samuel 17:36 Whether it was a lion or a bear, your servant killed it; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has provoked the army of the living God.
1 Samuel 17:37 David added, The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David: Go, and the Lord be with you.
Saul, astonished by the statement of that boy of medium height and bearing, that blond and beautiful boy, whose face resembles that of a maiden, Saul tries to stop him, brings into consideration his immaturity in the face of Goliath’s experience in weapons. David is not impressed by the words of the monarch and note well that it is not just anyone who dissuades David from his purpose, it is Saul, the monarch of Israel, the anointed of Jehovah, but brothers, the anointing of David is even greater, he tells him to the King his experiences in combats with beasts and in his faith is where Saul glimpses hope.
1 Samuel 17:38 And Saul clothed David with his robes, and put a bronze helmet on his head, and put a breastplate on him.
1 Samuel 17:39 And David girded his sword on his clothes, and tried to walk, because he had never tried. And David said to Saul: I cannot walk with this, because I never practiced it. And David cast those things out of himself.
Even when Saul was half convinced of David’s faith, he wanted to invest him with powers of the world and not with powers of God, Saul put his armor on him but David could not walk with it, he had no experience in the arts of war, his only fortress was the Rock of life, the living God, the Lord of hosts.
1 Corinthians 1:27 but…