The Battlefield

To begin our study we should first spend a moment in prayer, so please take a moment to ask the Lord to send His Spirit upon us that we can share His word. I ask that you do this every time you open this blog to read what is written here.

Now, let’s get started.  We are starting in 1 Samuel 13 with the first 11 verses for this week. I’m using the NKJV version. You can use any version you want, but I won’t argue versions with you. I’m a literature girl, so if you want to argue semantics with me we’ll take it back to the Greek if we have to, but honestly, God speaks louder than versions anyway. It’s what’s being said to our hearts that matter. If, however, you’d like me to use another version weigh in and let me know.

I’ve divided this week’s text into three areas to draw our attention to: the battle field, the enemy, and the home team’s reaction.  So let’s jump in.

The Battlefield.

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encampted in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in the line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 

There is a lot of interesting points that come into view about this battlefield. One of the first things we should see is that the Israelites had the home field advantage. This was their territory. The land belonged to Judah. This was land Saul was familiar with because it wasn’t that far from the place he’d grown up. Also, it was land with a historical significance for battles with the Philistines. This was the area where Samson had taken the jawbone of a donkey and slayed a thousand Philistines. (See Judges 15) God had already proved Himself faithful to Israel in this valley before. Still, the armies faced off, yet again. 

 On one side was the army of Israel under Saul, a proven fighter by this time. “So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he harassed them.” 1 Sam 14:49  On the other side was the Philistine army with their champion. They stood on opposing hills with the valley between them. Along the valley floor was a stream, which more than likely both armies used as a water source, yet there is no mention of any hostilities taking place during the fetching of water. They were at a stand-off. Israel, who should have had the upper hand and been on the offensive, wasn’t attacking.

This is something for us to look at and apply to our own lives. How many times does our battlefields have these same characteristics? We are on our home turf, we’ve been there before, we know we’ve got this if we just trust God, and yet we’re not taking the offensive position.  We sit there in a stand-off with the enemy. Why do we do that? Are we lazy? Fearful? Do we think it will just go away?

The truth is there is three ways out of a battlefield: we either fight, we make peace, or we surrender to the enemy. We are not there to do the last two options with the enemy. We’re there to battle. Sometimes we need to remember that and enter in with that mindset, instead of exchanging pleasantries while fetching water.

The Enemy.

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 17:4-10 

The champion of the Philistines was a giant of a man named Goliath. He was from an area of Philistine called Gath, which was one of five cities that formed the hub of the Philistine culture. Some say he was around nine feet tall, other say he was only around seven feet tall. Regardless of how tall he was, for that era he was enormous. His armor weighed 126 pounds. His spear head weighed in at about fifteen pounds. He wasn’t a tall thin man, this guy was all muscle to be able to support that kind of weight. He was a champion warrior, and he had a shield bearer who walked out before him just to let it be known he was coming. A shield bearer wasn’t a guy who was there to offer protection. He was a servant, sort of like a mascot, on the field, but not in the game. Goliath had his own mascot. Everything about Goliath was intimidating, completely intimidating, and he hadn’t even spoken yet. I imagine that when he came through the troops the Israelites thought a tree was moving through. Just the sight of him was enough to cause the Israelites to stop dead in their tracks. They immediately forgot themselves and let their eyes do the judging. Each one of them lost who they were in the shadow of who they were looking upon.

And then he spoke, and what came out of his mouth matched the intimidation of his physical presence. His voice isn’t talked about, but I’m sure if it didn’t match his height it would have been noted. Instead it was the words that he said that offered the threat. He starts out asking why they’re lined up for battle since he’s the only one on the field. It’s like he’s saying, “Hey, I’m only one guy, aren’t you an entire army? Does it take an entire army to defeat one guy?” Now this is a serious question. Does it take an entire army to defeat only one guy? Usually the answer is no, unless the guy has an entire army backing him. Goliath quickly points out that he doesn’t by calling out Saul. Yes, he called out Saul by saying that the army is made up of the servants of Saul; so Saul bears the responsibility of appointing a champion if he’s not going to take on Goliath himself. It’s also important to note that the reason that Saul was noticed to begin with when the people were looking for a king was because he was also tall. He was ‘Tall Saul, the good-looking Benjaminite.” He further insults Saul by asking for a man to fight with, implying that there isn’t one facing him.  Everything about him was insulting and yet…the Israelites didn’t allow that offense to provoke them into action. They were too intimidated.

Goliath was looking for a fight, and no one would fight him. He even proposed a deal. If he lost the Philistines would lay down their arms and become the slaves of the Israelites. His death would enslave his people.

How often in our lives do we allow the enemy to intimidate us into passivity, empathy, or even surrender? What’s worse is when we completely lose heart before we’ve even attempted to pull out our sword. We forget that the battle isn’t ours, it’s the Lords. We may be wounded, and we might even fall on the battleground, but we will have fought and stood there with the enemy taunting us. Have we forgotten who our champion is? Have we forgotten that He is Goliath’s creator? Are we judging with our eyes and ears?  Saul was being called out. We are being called out every day, and we need to decide how we’re going to answer back. Are we going to stand on the hill and wait for someone else to move, or are we going to allow God to have the victory and head for the field? Isn’t it interesting that with our Champion His life gives us life, and his death frees us from enslavement. If He’s leading we’re in a win-win situation.

The Reaction

 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 1 Sam. 17: 11

The reaction of Saul and all Israel is that they were dismayed and worse than that, they were afraid. Fear is a great disability. It’s a handicap that can only be healed through the power of God. Do you remember being afraid of the dark as a child. I still get scared when I’m in the dark. It’s amazing what putting a little light on can do to make the situation bearable. What’s even better than that is when I put the word of God out there in the darkest places. When I’m scared I’ve got this app on my phone that plays the Word of God, “Faith Comes By Hearing”, and I just play it. It really takes my fear away. I also play worship music. The Lord inhabits the praises of his people. Rather than being disabled, I find ways to be enabled when it comes to defeating fear. What do you do to overcome fear? Weigh in and let us know.

Let us know your thoughts. Next week we’ll hit on the warrior who was willing to step onto the field. Y’all know who that was.