Can you begin to imagine this handsome young man, with beautiful eyes armed only with his sling and his stones in his pocket, a shepherd boy called David in front of Goliath the Philistine, a mountain of a man, said to be 9 foot tall, who was dressed in his bronze armour, his massive heavy shield and sword. It must have been a sight! 1 Samuel 17
All those soldiers, including 3 of David’ s older brothers, had quaked in their boots for 40 days, terrified of Goliath and his threats. Morning and evening that giant shouted, challenging them to a fight. They were all watching on as David took up the challenge for them. Goliath must have looked and sounded scary and impressive with all that heavy armour, arrogance and attitude but this also hampered him. I believe that David was scared but he knew that if he ran from the problem it would still be there. It took a courageous boy from Bethlehem to remind them that their God was bigger than Goliath and his threats, they had forgotten they were the armies of the Living God. No-one realised Goliath had a weakness but David spotted it, weighed down with all that armour and protection Goliath was a target too big to miss!
Now envisage another couple of young men, Caleb and Joshua( Numbers 13) They spoke up against the other 10 men that had entered the promised land with them. The rest of the group said, that the promised land was full of giants that could not be beaten. Yet Joshua and Caleb knew that their God would not have sent them there unless He would protect them; their God was bigger than the giants. It must have been very daunting when the furious crowd didn’ t believe them and wanted to stone them. God was enraged, He showed up threatening to get rid of all of those who could not believe that He alone would protect them. He wanted to start again with a new people but Moses and Aaron managed to persuade God to allow them to live, those doubting Israelites had to live with the consequences of their mistrust: their punishment was they had to wander in the desert for 40 years until they died; a year for every day the group of men had explored that land initially. They wandered in the desert until all that generation was dead except Joshua and Caleb, they and the children of that disobedient generation were the ones that entered the promised land.
Their God would not have sent them there unless He would protect them; their God was bigger than the giants.
With Joshua as their leader, Israel remained faithful to God throughout Joshua’ s lifetime because he listened and obeyed. He was a man who knew His God.
What do these men have in common? Joshua as his name suggests in Hebrew, Yahweh is salvation or Yeshua, Joshua has pictures of Christ in his life story just as David did. They were men who truly loved God and had a very good relationship with Him, they absolutely knew that God would protect the people of Israel if they trusted Him. Joshua led
God’ s people into the promised land, just as Jesus, the Saviour of the New Covenant people will. Jesus goes before His people to bring them to the true inheritance.
David, even though not perfect as Jesus was, was known as the mighty warrior king, the Shepherd king, who was chosen by God to rule His people in perfect covenantal faithfulness, the king of Israel. Doesn’ t that sound familiar? There were many other things about David’ s circumstances that foreshadowed the coming of Christ.
Are you facing your giants now? Have you got circumstances right now that feel as if they are insurmountable? Just like David, Joshua and Caleb can you trust God with your life? Your God is bigger than any of your circumstances. Do you have that close relationship with God and Jesus? It’ s not how good you are, it’ s not what you have or what you do but how much time do you spend in God’ s company, what is your heart condition? Your identity is in Him. Our blessings come from Him so we do not have to worry about what is going to happen, do not burden yourself unnecessarily with worries about the giants we face.
Trust in Him, our mighty provider, our mighty God, surrender to Him, surrender your problems to Him. Try to remember this ditty when you are facing doubts:
When a Christian is in a fix, remember Proverbs 3: 5 & 6.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.( N. I. V) p
By Teresa L. Randle Missionary, Preacher and Bible Teacher
April- June 2017 SHARE | MAGAZINE | 11