“He stood and yelled at the armies of Israel, ‘Why come out and draw up a battle line? I’m a P’lishti, and you are servants of Sha’ul, so choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he can fight me and kill me, we’ll be your slaves; but if I beat him and kill him, you will become slaves and serve us.'”-1 Samuel 17:8-9
So there wasn’t anything super fancy about the weapons Goliath carried.
They were just BIG.
The long stick part of his spear was as big as a weaver’s beam (that cylindrical rod used to make a loom).
The sharp metal part of the spear all by itself was as heavy as 15 pounds!
That’s not the type of weapon your average soldier could easily carry, let alone hurl any reasonable distance.
Goliath also had special bracelets to protect his ankles.
And he had a scimitar hanging on his back.
You know what a scimitar is, don’t you?
It’s one of those traditional oriental weapons that’s curved with a sharpened blade on the outside of the curve.
The bottom line is that every part of Goliath’s body was covered except for his face.
This means from a physical perspective, there was no way in hell your average five-foot-tall Hebrew soldier could beat this giant.
He possessed the size, the weapons, and the confidence to boot.
In his arrogance, Goliath sauntered out to the flat valley and shouted out a proposal to the terrified Hebrew soldiers.
“How about you choose one Hebrew soldier to battle it out against me?”
…was his suggestion.
This was a common thing and served a practical purpose.
When only one man fought against another, instead of multiple casualties, only one person would lose their life.
Now, it’s interesting how Goliath calls the Israelite soldiers “slaves”.
He was referring to the fact the Hebrew army was not a legitimate army.
They were just a militia mostly made up of farmers, herders, tradespeople, and merchants who served King Saul.
However, by comparison, Goliath was a professional soldier and a member of one of the strongest armies on the planet at that time.
Okay, so the takeaway today is kinda similar to yesterday.
What has Goliath, this uncircumcised gentile, placed his faith in?
He’s placed his faith in his size and his weapons.
Which is pretty much the way the entire gentile world thinks today.
Just substitute “size” and “weapons” for things like “good looks”, “height”, “nice cushy corporate job”, “money” or whatever…
And you get a good idea of the fleeting and materialistic things the unbelieving world latches onto for self-esteem and satisfaction in their lives.
However, we’re about to see what happens when gentile might comes up against Hebrew faith.
Boy, it ain’t gonna pretty homie.
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