David is, without a doubt, a person of great influence in the history of the people of God, as he is the most famous king of Israel, with the exception of the King of kings Yahshua. But what is not so well known about him is his origin, where he came from, and the fact that he was the last of eight brothers, whom no one in Israel took into account to accomplish any task, certainly not for a major task.

However Yahweh, the omniscient God, does know the hearts of men, and therefore He tells Samuel, the prophet He raised for his people, that the first king, Saul, whom all had as the leader of Israel, is rejected by Him, due to his disobedience, and that in his place He is going to appoint a young man, who before the eyes of men does not seem to have the abilities to govern Israel, unknown and dedicated to take care of his father’s sheep. He is precisely the one chosen by God, because his heart trusts his God, and because God knows that David, an archetype of a man of faith, imperfect like we all are, would precisely be obedient to God, but who had also received a special gift: the conviction and the trust in the authority of God and his determination for His people.

The same way as David did, today, any disciple has to face Goliath in his life; the philistine, who is no other than the representation of the trials that seem impossible to our eyes, but that if we have faith and above all we trust our God, if we obey Him and we are living a life of spiritual effort for love to our Yahweh Jesus Christ, Yahshua, and our neighbour, we know that God is with us and we are with Him.

David’s victory over the giant represents our victory against the enemy, who in principle is stronger than we are; the Almighty God, our Father who loves us, is infinitely superior to the enemy, whom He already overcame on the Cross of Calvary, the biggest evidence of the fact that God is on our side, if we love Him, believe in his Son Yahshua, and obey Him.

In the Bible Text about the war between the armies of Israel and the armies of Philistine we find the battle that in one and only act gives the victory to the people of God; a smooth stone thrown with a simple sling sank in the forehead of Goliath before the amazed eyes of his army. This is not the most surprising, but the fact that the army of Israel is also amazed by the action of David. Israel, the same as Thomas the unbeliever in the Gospel, when he placed his hand in the wound of resurrected Yahshua, and glorified God and praised Yahweh, the same as the armies of Israel gave glory to God for the victory of a young shepherd who without any specific garments for war, without armour, without sword of his army, and without other usual equipments of a soldier, wins the war for his people, astonished by the unbelief of his nation, which for him is protected by his God, and they don't see it.

BIBLE TEXT

1SAMUEL 17

1Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belons to Judah, and encamped between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3The 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.

The philistines, enemies of the people of God, gather to attack; the powers of evil, in all the fields of action, both earthly and spiritual, organize themselves to attack the people of God on earth, I mean the spiritual people of God, those obedient to God of the Hebrews and those obedient to God from the Christians or Messianic. In this Bible study we will discover that although Saul and the literal Israel are attacked, these represent the people of God in a situation of spiritual distance from God. The full contents of the Text will show us the appalling state that the people of God are in - in terms of faith and obedience - both in the O.T. and in the N.T. when we trust a false religious structure, or in the abilities we have learned from the world, in order to fight against our spiritual enemy.

4And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5He had an helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a javelin went before him. 8Then he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am  I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then we will be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall you be our servants, and serve us. 10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

The champion is the strongest man in the army of the enemy, their leader, in this case the devil, who equips himself with all kinds of armour which represent the powers of the world, to beat precisely those who trust in them. Six hundred shekels represents that his javelin, what he throws at us, is followed by the name of the enemy in the Bible, number six, in opposition to seven, the number of God, this way we can identify its origin and what it means. His squire helps him in his task by announcing his attack, just like Yahweh when John the Baptist announced His arrival. Cried to the armies of Israel, this means the angels of Yahweh and the church to threaten us. Whether we fear or not, it depends on our faith, so let’s pray together with the same purpose, let us be of one mind guided by the Holy Spirit, for the spiritual battle because the victory is great, because our leader is Yahweh of Hosts.

Servants of Saul implies that although he is the king of Israel, he is not in the faith as he has no strategy, has no revelation of what is happening so that the enemy is threatening the people, which today is a symbol, as well as it was then, of the spiritual people, the church. This is what's happening today in the church in the world.

11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

This is the confirmation of the above, the fear of the people of God today facing the threats of the enemy. We must trust Christ, not men. We must pray that God raises the spiritual leaders, many who are not known to anybody inside the churches, those who have the faith.

12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. And the man was old, anvanced in years, in the days of Saul. 13The three oldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14And David was the youngest: and the three oldest followed Saul. 15But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

The older brothers go to war and the youngest, David, feeds his fathers’ sheep. This is the attitude, to feed the sheep the Word of God and to entrust the battle in God’s hands, for no one can beat Him. To concentrate in prayer and in the Word of God and lay down our burdens in the hands of Yahshua, the only one that can carry them and resolve them. He teaches us, if we ask Him, and shows us when and how to intervene and when we must not do anything, so that He will do.

16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

Forty days and nights was our Yahweh in the desert and was tempted by the enemy. The same way we are shown here in times of David when he would be prepared by God to defeat the enemy. This is a good tool that must serve us as a time of separation and sanctification before we begin any battle or ministry of Yahweh. The "morning and evening" prayer, which were even instituted in the priesthood, serve us, amongst other things to strengthen and keep us in the faith. ...Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit... 1Thessalonians 5:16 onwards.

17And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers; 18And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and look how your brothers fare, and take their pledge.

Pledge means to come back with the Gospel received by someone and to present this to God the Father for His glory. Jesse means "Yahweh is" represents the Father, who sends us to our brethren with dried grain, which represents the Word of God before cooking it, interpreted in preaching to make it bread. The cheeses come from the milk which is the Gospel of Salvation, which as the cheese, is a symbol of the spiritual milk on which time has passed and has remained pure and therefore has become food for adults, spiritually, and this with regards to the captain of the thousand, meaning a great assembly of the church.

19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the camp as the army was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran to the army, and came and saluted his brothers. 23And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words: and David heard them. 24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel. 26And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that kills him.

A keeper is a deacon of the church, brothers that help and angels who the Father sends.

The men that fled are the souls of believers, men and women, young and elders that fled before the trials, before the threats of the devil, instead of getting on their knees to pray and sharing with their congregation to make a common prayer task.

A prize of great riches for the one who beats him. A prize of the world at first site, but the daughter of the king of Israel is the royal lineage, the entrance to the kingdom that God puts in our hands, in our personal life, in which, with Christ we live spiritually like kings and priests and those around us perceive it. Do we have the faith and the trust in God? This is something that you can see, you feel it, it flows and it is a powerful testimony to preach the Gospel.

To exempt our house of tax, does not mean the tenth, but the freedom before God to use all that He gives us, not only the tenth, but even the air that we breathe, asking Him, not being under the law, under the rudiments, under the traditions, and under the impositions of some false prophets and false teachers who are undercover in the Church and whom we beat like Goliath, with the faith in Christ, in the living Word of God.

We, the Church, are the armies of the living God, and the armies of angels that are on our side from Yahweh. That way an uncircumcised person, someone, man or angel who has not circumcised his heart spiritually to emanate love for God and for his neighbour is no one to win the war against God and against His People. Even though he may win battles, he loses the war. Therefore ...What shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?... Romans 8:32.
 

28And Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why did you come down here? and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the insolence of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle. 29And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 30And he turned from him toward another, and spoke after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner. 31And when the words were heard which David spoke, they reported them before Saul: and he sent for him.

In the same manner as Jesus of Nazareth was rejected by his own brothers, David also was, and today many brothers in churches around the world are rejected by their own brothers in the faith, they do not consider them, nor respect them, because Goliath has seeded panic between the unbelievers, many of them are respected group or assembly leaders, but who don't have the power of God, because they hate the brothers who don't submit to their sectarian totalitarianism and false prophecies that never fulfill. Churches that disappear. Come out of her, my people! Says Yahweh about these small children of the great harlot of Revelation, in which their leaders terrify the children of God.

If you experience this, leave to another congregation; if there are a few of you, then meet in your homes, or seek real Christians, who emanate love of God and brotherly kindness. ...You shall know them by their fruits... Matthew 7:16. Never despair, God has plans for your lives. It is sad to see how many brothers write from all over the world who are suffering these situations with leaders like Saul who, being terrified by Goliath, don't obey God and don't know how to tend nor feed the people of God. Don't let anyone trouble you, because Paul had a prayer for those who do so in Galatians 5:12.

God has plans for many, He says that He reserves 7000 that have not bowed their knee to Baal, known to be proud and evil. If any of you is hated by his brothers, in the church, in the family, at work, if you know you are on God’s side, and God on yours, be patient because God has plans for your life.

32And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for your are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34And David said unto Saul, Your servant use to kept his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock, 35I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and killed him. 36Your servant killed both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. 37David said moreover, Yahweh that delivered 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 Yahweh be with you. 38And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of bronze on his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 39And David fastened his sword upon his armor, and he tried to walk; for he had not tried them. And David said unto Saul, I cannot walk with these; for I have not tested them. And David took them off him.

Magnificent, David's courage and zeal for Yahweh, a meaningful lesson that must serve us not to let the fire of the Spirit of YHWH be extinguished. So David introduces himself to the king with his faith, his holy zeal and his experience in God and does not understand how neither the army nor the king have faith. He chooses then to offer himself to beat the philistine. He shows by his experiences that he has already beaten lions and bears, demons and powers of the dark that are more powerful than men and very tough tests, with his faith in God.

The king dresses him with his clothes and his armour, but soon David has to take it all off as it is a clothing that is weak in the faith, of trust in man’s systems, in armies, and in all that is logically used to win battles, either physical or spiritual. The bronze helmet the same as the philistine's stands for the personal law, moral or religion in which each of them trusts, things with which one cannot gain the blessing of God, without a superior moral and relationship with God, the Holy Spirit, the trust in God, the trust in the mercy of God and on his salvation by grace. 

The confrontation between Goliath and Saul is in equal terms, with the same clothing, sword and helmet, all of it is a symbol of that in which they trust. David, instead, trusts Yahweh only, takes it for granted that He is the victory, he does not doubt because his heart is in peace with God.

We find exactly the same situation in the church. Many trust religiosity, the building of the temple, the structure, but when all this is shaken, when the religious weapons are useless to raise the people of God, there is a need for a man who has enough faith and vision and conviction which the Holy Spirit gives to raise the people of God. Those who are like Saul offer and trust different doctrines, so-called revelations, false prophecies, visions and dreams that darken and trouble the determination of those who don't follow the Holy Spirit. Everything is useless to fight against theses powers; God is the only one with sufficient power; faith and confidence in Christ alive when you have a close relationship with Him.

Many pastors are not capable of leading their churches, and inside those churches one can find young people who are capable of it, but we already know about Saul’s attitude towards David. Saul is a leader without faith and disobedient to God who has the church in his hands, and David is obedient and has faith, therefore God gives him vision and wisdom as well as determination and projection.

At the same time, Saul and David are two attitudes in ourselves; one that believes that because God has chosen us we are worthy of everything, and the other one does not cease to obey, believe, trust and seek God and has no doubt about the leadership supported in Yahshua.

40And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

43And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45Then said David to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

46This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from you; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47And all this assembly shall know that Yahweh saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is of Yahweh, and He will give you into our hands.

This is the conviction with which we must face daily life, being the salt of the earth, preaching the gospel, defending the Word of God, being patient, supporting the week in the faith, bearing one another's burdens, sharing with those who love God and make the effort to do His Word, denying themselves for the love of God and of the brothers, because the battle is Yahweh’s.

48And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David harried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slung it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sank into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

To take a stone. From the five stones that we have, we must only use one, the faith in Yahshua that we are given by the Holy Spirit. The other four stones symbolize other four resources that depend on the first one.

The faith in Christ allows for the four resources of our being to be used in accordance with God and not according with our human way of thinking without God. Let’s take a look at these four parts of our being with which we could face the battle if we did not know God; which is what those who don't know Him do, but we, instead of turning to the other four stones, will place our faith in the first stone, so that we do not use the other four; our body, our soul, our mind and our spirit, all four must be subject to the Spirit of God, in the faith in Christ, so let’s see the result in our lives as disciples of Yahshua:

The faith in the body. The body gives us the feeling of existence in this physical environment; depending on the circumstances we can fall in trusting our physical capacities to fight the spiritual battle. If we stop ourselves from using, for example, violence, we must have the virtue of self-control and we will obtain the blessing of God and we'll be able to beat many of the weaknesses of this part of our being. Surely we must have faith in God for those things that affect our body, like our health which we must look after, to quit smoking (for those who still do so), that we care for our nutrition and fasting, that we believe that God gives us the power to overcome vices, drugs, alcohol, fornication ("any other sin is outside the body") because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The faith for the soul. The soul is another part of our being with the capacity of feeling and loving or hating, which we can use to fight against the spiritual enemy, and against people. Therefore our heart can deceive us in its sentimental perceptions and we must stop it from guiding us in the spiritual battle, in how to treat those who hurt us or others; we must pray in the Spirit that our feelings are from the Lord. Faith in God so that He heals our feelings, remove resentment and other obstacles, so that our feelings may be pure and full of piety and mercy, so we can love spiritually with our all our soul, with a patient heart, and of brotherly kindness to God towards our family, our wives or husbands, children, brothers in the faith, all this requires faith to obtain virtue and so that our heart is guided by God, and becomes a heart circumcised in Spirit.

The faith for the mind. This is probably the hardest part to submit to the Lord but it is just as necessary to do so as with the others, but the natural and human attitude is to trust our intellectual capacity and our knowledge to prepare strategies to use against all enemies that come, either from the world or spiritual, soon the man of God realizes the vanity of his own mind, and that there is no point using it unless it is subject to the Spirit of God and to the mind of Christ, specially because it lacks patience. The mind is quick to find a thousand and one solutions, but...What is God’s will? This is what we must learn, before we face the battles, especially those of the faith.

Men usually lack patience, but faith is the solution to learn how to wait for the Lord to explain things to us, and to be able to think with our mind guided by the mind of Christ - which is the spiritual mind of God - which is able to convert ours, that is naturally from the flesh, of the world. If we believe in Yahshua, if we pray to receive faith, for Jesus to increase it, then we will receive the blessing of virtue for wisdom and intelligence of the Lord, the knowledge of God, like all the men in the Bible.

The faith for the spirit. So many people say they feel that this or that way is correct through their intuition, or by a ‘gut feeling’ of by a strong feeling, and so many other ways of expressing that our perceptions may be correct, is a battle between mind and instinct. An interior battle which is rapidly put in order when the person receives Jesus Christ as his personal saviour and delivers in His hands the rudder of his life, of his soul, of his mind, and of his spirit so that He may direct it. Although we may make mistakes, because the man of God keeps growing spiritually, the Bible is the greatest guide which will confirm the perceptions, instincts and intuitions that the Holy Spirit will be teaching the disciple in his maturity, after he has learnt the obedience, acquired and worked in prayer the faith and trust in God that bring patience and that direct us to the perfect love that God allows to flow from our interior, not a human love, but a superior love, long-suffering and with purpose.

Above all, we must pray to have faith so that our spirit is one with God’s spirit and that we may hear His voice every day. So that we don't receive and accept any type of spirit and that we are able to discern the spirits; I guarantee that the Lord is the first one who is interested in giving us this gift of His Spirit.

So, let us use the first stone, and let this one win so that our entire life is blessed in the trust and in the faith that God gives us with all His love.

And many other examples that each one of us will be able to apply to his life if we apply faith and trust in the Holy Spirit – the source of our faith - to every part of ourselves, in such a way that we persevere until the end, and we may enjoy the glorious coming of our Lord Yahshua to take us to the Father, to eternity.

The faith is symbolically the stone that we must throw, it will direct all our being, as an orchestra director, having organized and prepared all the components of our being, so that well orchestrated, in harmony, we enjoy the balance that God gives those that trust Him. For this we must pray, asking God in the name of Jesus Christ, the virtue of persevering by His side always, that we may be a good spiritual instrument in His hands, that our lives may be lives of blessing, not only for ourselves, but for the glory of God and for others.

50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 52And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until they came to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

The sword of the philistine, represents his own law, his convictions, his beliefs, his moral, all of them take him to death, because they are a law, which like any law comes back against man, because he cannot fulfil it and because man cannot become perfect before God with any human law or moral. Is the spirit of God Who makes us perfect by the faith in the blood of Yahshua. Therefore God uses man's law, which He only has to compare with the law of God, to beat him, his own sword, with which to cut his head, that represents the idol in which he believed, the building that the man had built with his own mind and experiences, in which he trusted.

Man's head must be Yahshua Himself, as well as it is of the Church. The philistines, who symbolize the rest of the men who had believed in a leader of the world, or in a dream, see how it falls before God and they go and look for someone else. Sometimes they find God while seeking, or even better, God finds them, if in their hearts there is sincere hope.

53And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. 54And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. 55And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I cannot tell. 56And the king said, Enquire whose son this young man is. 57And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

From Bethlehem is Yahshua, from where our faith must be spiritually, born of Christ. The head of our spiritual enemies are given to us, the powers of the enemy run away when they see the champion defeated, and all this by faith.

Have you got an enmity with a member of your family, with a brother in the church, with a person of the world; do you have an illness that you don't know how to face, or a beloved one has it; do you have financial problems; do you lack faith. Pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, Yahshua, obey God, tell God about it, share your entire life with Him, lay your problem in the hands of God, and He will do, He'll never leave your with no reply if you trust Him. Be patient and wait in God, at His time and in His form He will win the battle, He will give you the light to see the solution. God will defeat Goliath, will give you a smooth stone, rock, that you may through with your sling and will hit the target.