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March 30 - Evening
"Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.
He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome,
and he despised him.
He said to David,
'Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?'
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
'Come here,' he said, 'and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!'
David said to the Philistine,
'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. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.'
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him,
David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone,
he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead,
and he fell facedown on the ground."
- First Samuel 17:41-49 |
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David and Goliath |
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The armor of Goliath does not match the images of Philistine weaponry seen in Egyptian reliefs and the feathered headdresses of the Philistines seen at Medinet Habu. Instead, every piece of Goliath’s armor, or panoply, is comparable to the Greek culture of the Aegean and the Mycenaeans of this time. The reason Goliath’s armor is given in such detail in this biblical account is because it is not the normal appearance of a warrior in the Middle East at this time.
The style of fighting Goliath is armed for is close range, hand-to-hand combat. But, David’s sling stone is a long-range missile that effectiveness is increased with David’s rapid movement towards his enemy.
A duel is normally begun with psychological warfare implemented by boasting of the strength and advantages of the one doing the boasting while scorning and ridiculing the enemy, their strategy and drawing attention to their weaknesses.
Goliath mocks David and his “sticks” while failing to recognize his five “long range missiles.” David counters by recognizing Goliath’s strengths (“sword and spear and javelin”), but compares them to “the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
Besides winning the long-range missile attack, David also won the pre-duel psychological battle, which may have itself, stunned Goliath. The lack of fear in David’s voice and his rapid advance toward Goliath caught Goliath off guard. David followed his pre-battle banter with a stone shot with the force of a large bullet into Goliath’s skull. This ended the duel before Goliath had a chance to implement either the offensive, or defensive, portion of his battle plan. |
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"A mature man of God will manifest God's will and
ways in his own thoughts, words and deeds."
- Galyn Wiemers |
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Around 48 AD James compares the human tongue to a rudder in James 3:4. Amenemope, a Egyptian scribe around 1300-1000 BC, wrote a similar comparison. (here) (See Amenemope compared with
Proverbs here.)
James 3:6 describes the tongue as a fire. This same images was used by the Roman philosopher Seneca (4 BC-65 AD) and Plutarch, the Roman historian from
46-120 AD.
Like Jesus, James also said honest men do not need to take oaths, because their word should be true and in agreement with what they intend to do (James 5:12) Epictetus, the Greek philosopher, speaks like this in 55-135 AD (XXXVII here.) |
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Strouthion (Gr) – Sparrow (Eng) – strouthion is a Greek word that means “a sparrow.”
Strouthion is used in Matthew 10:29, 31 and Luke 12:6-7. There is an ancient opened-air pool
from the time of the New Testament still visible in the Western Wall tunnels on the
northwest corner of the Temple Mount that was called “Strouthion Pool.” It was covered
over with arches and pavement by Emperor Hadrian in 135 AD.
(See details here and video here.) |
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David had a personal body guard (2 Samuel 23:23) which was made up of soldiers from Crete (Kerethites) and Philistia (Pelethites) according to 1 Kings 1:38. They remained loyal to David during three revolts:
- Absolom, 2 Sam.15:18
- Sheba, 2 Sm.20:7
- Adonijah, 1 Kg.1:38
It was common to hire foreigners as a personal body guard since they were less likely to get involved in internal affairs and conspiracies. Pharaohs and national leaders hired foreigners as personal body guards, also. |
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Do I use the tools and the wisdom that God has provided for me?
I will take advantage of the available equipment, tools, knowledge and insight that are at my disposal. |
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"“Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store
up their food in the summer;
hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make
their home in the crags;
locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;
a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found
in kings’ palaces."
- Proverbs 30:24-28 |
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Eyes to see needs that you can meet |
Favor with man |
Welfare |
Cape Verde Island
Cayman Islands |
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| Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
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