Goliath - the Underdog Pastor Douglas Garno September 9, 2018
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Goliath - the underdog Pastor Douglas Garno September 9, 2018 Philistia Slide 2 INTRODUCTION Good morning, I'm pastor Doug Garno and I'm honored to bring today's message to you. A couple of weeks ago I was rudely interrupted by Pastor Dave during my discussion of the “Young Earth” question. So instead of a discussion about Goliath, we are going to talk about “Radiocarbon” dating or better termed Carbon 14 dating. And I have to comment on the whole “Nuclear Engineer” statement. Anyone can be one of those guys; just raise your hand and volunteered. Now for Sonar Technicians, we were the eyes and ears of the submarine. Just kidding, I had to throw that in the message this morning. Now, back to the real message. We can't read scripture like a Bookman's novel we have to investigate what is going on. We have to dig deeper to understand what God wants us to know about the story. Digging deeper also brings about how science views scripture to either prove or dis-prove some parts. Our story also shows the faith of a young boy that God will be on his side and deliver this foe for the glory of God. So I've titled the message Goliath - the underdog. Slide 3 MISS-CONCEPTION For years, I've had a miss-conception about the story of David and Goliath. I have always looked at the story where Goliath was the one who had the advantage and would easily defeat anyone who would come against him. I have to give credit where credit is due. Malcolm Gladwell, gave a talk at a TED conference in 2014, and got me thinking about the great story. As you know, I'm a historian and love to dig into scripture to better understand the culture, political climate, traditions, and customs. With a deeper understanding of this information, the stories seem to come alive. I'm going to give you a different look at this epic confrontation and maybe you will start to look at scripture differently. So lets get started. We open our story in the book of First Samuel chapter 17. Slide 4 1 SAMUEL 17:1-3 (MSG) The Philistines drew up their troops for battle. They deployed them at Socoh in Judah, and set up camp between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. Saul and the Israelites came together, camped at Oak Valley, and spread out their troops in battle readiness for the Philistines. The Philistines were on one hill, the Israelites on the opposing hill, with the valley between them. Slide 5 WHAT BROUGHT THIS ON So what brought this on? If we look back to chapter 16 we don't get any help, because that chapter talks about how David could sooth Saul in time of depression. Scripture doesn’t give us a clue why these two armies are opposing each other. Here is the digging deeper part. We have to look at the region, the culture of both Philistia and Israel. They were mortal enemies and each side constantly harassed the other. Israel occupied the high mountain region and the Philistines were a costal community. History does not have a lot of information on the Philistines and they left no texts. What we know about Philistia is from the interaction of other people and nations. Most of the region's inhabitant’s speak negatively about the Philistines. And even today the picture we get from the word Philistine is someone who is warlike or who doesn't appreciate art or culture. They didn’t put much stock in what we call the arts. Painting, writing, sculpture, or even building. There are similarities to the Vikings of the north during the 7th century BC. The Philistines were very loyal to each other and would fight at the drop of a hat. When conquered by the Assyrian rulers, they found it very difficult to control the Philistines. Even the Egyptians found it tough to deal with them. It wasn't until the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon that the Philistines were destroyed and scattered, no longer to be an effect in history. I could go on for a deeper study on the Philistine people, but that would take us way past lunch. Lets just say that Israel and Philistia were not on good terms. Slide 6 THE REGION Lets take a look at the region that Samuel is talking about. The area is often called the Shfela. The Shfela is a series of hills and valleys and one of the most beautiful regions of Israel. Many of the battles in ancient times were in this region. Especially when the western neighbors of Israel came against them. The costal armies would have to go through this region to move against the mountain communities. The Shfela. Not only is it a region built on conflict, but also you can see, it has a rich agricultural significance for Israel. This is where much of the food came from. The rich soil produces some of the world’s best wines, figs and dates. In contrast to the Judean hills, you can see why raising cattle and sheep was the mainstay food source for Israel. The hills were not well suited for farming. This is also well suited for the wild animals that David eluted to in our story. This valley is called Elah. The Judean hills. Another map showing the Shfela area. Slide 7 DIVIDE AND CONQUER Back to the story. Most of the strategic military goals of a battle are to divide and conquer. To split the opposing forces and then you can disrupt their supply lines, delay reinforcements, and conquer one group and then the other. If you remember back in 1864 at the end of the Civil War, Sherman split the Confederacy in two from the Mississippi river to the Atlantic Ocean, cutting through the heart of the Confederacy. The strategy worked and it brought about the end of the American Civil War. The Philistines had the same idea, if we can split Israel in two at Bethlehem then they will be able to occupy the mountain region and eliminate the Israelites. Ironically Israel will do it for them in the near future all they had to do is be patient. At this point in history it was the Philistines who had the monopoly on iron implements and weapons. They controlled the costal region and apparently had the resources to produce the iron that was needed by the region. Kind of like Pastor Dave, they ran out of patience and decided to end the conflict with Israel. They thought they finally had the advantage. Slide 8 THE CAMPS King Saul gets wind of the Philistine's movements against them and sends his army down to confront them. The Philistines occupied the east hill and the Israelites the west, with the valley between them. They just sat there staring at each other for weeks. No one wanted to attack the other because they would have to go down into the valley and up hill on the other side and the whole time they would be exposed. They were at a stalemate, neither side wanted to retreat and neither wanted to attack. There was a tradition in the ancient world called single combat. Each side would send their champion to confront the other and eliminate the unnecessary bloodshed of a major battle. The Philistines sent down their mighty warrior. Slide 9 1 SAMUEL 17:16 (NLT) For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army. Slide 10 GOLIATH He was a large man and some even called a giant. He had massive armor and weapons. We know from Biblical accounts he had a sword, a javelin, and had a spear with most likely some knives. He is an intimidating warrior to look at, even to the point of bringing terror to those who would even consider fighting him. Listen to the Biblical account: Slide 11 1 SAMUEL 17:4-7 (NKJV) 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. Slide 12 BETTER UNDERSTANDING To get a better picture of Goliath, we need to understand some of the ancient measurements. A Cubit is an adult’s forearm length – elbow to fingertip. Mine is about 18 ½”. A span is half a Cubit. 6 cubits and a span = 9 foot 9" 5,000 shekels of bronze = 125 lbs. 600 shekels of iron = 15 lbs. Staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam Slide 13 HOW LARGE IS LARGE? Here are a couple of pictures of some recent tall people. Frederick Kempster – The English Giant Andre the Giant Now imagine these two guys all decked out in shining armor. I wouldn’t want to go up against them, even without armor. Slide 14 1 SAMUEL 17:10-11 (KJV) And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.