Friday, 03 November 2023
“David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel?” – 1 Samuel 17:26a NLT
Goliath was a monster and I don’t think most of us really appreciate what an obstacle he was. The average height for a man is 1,75m. And an avarge door is almost 2 meters high and yet Goliath was 3 meters tall. The Bible also described the body armor that he used on the day that he fought the Israelites. He wore a coat of scale armor of bronze that weighed about 58 kg. His spear had an iron point that weighed about 7 kg (weight of just the point, not the whole spear). This means he was walking around with at least (didn’t mention everything he wore) 65 kg of armor on him throughout the fight. For him to move around so easily and taunt the Israelites it means that he was very muscular and was able to effortlessly carry that much weight with him. Statistics in 2022 say that an average male (not obese) weighs 71kg. To put this into context it means Goliath fought his battles carrying armor that weighed as an average male, meaning he fought battles carrying a full-grown man on his back. Can you imagine how big and intimidating that was? This is why the whole of Israel (including its king) was so terrified of him. He must have looked like Hulk (Eric Bana one and not Edward Norton). Yet David, the last-born child of his parents stepped up and decided to challenge and defeat him.
Everyone around him at the time was worried and concerned about his small structure and how it was impossible for him to even give Goliath a challenge, let alone kill him. This is why Saul even tried dressing him up with his own armor so that he might have a slight chance of even challenging him. What they didn’t understand was that David wasn’t worried about the “battle” as he had already defeated Goliath in his mind, before he even stepped onto the battlefield. This is why he asked the question of his reward before he even confronted Goliath. He was more concerned about what he was going to receive after he had conquered Goliath. While everyone was busy stressing about the imminent battle between the two, David was already planning how to enjoy his win.
“For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has foundations, [an eternal, heavenly city] whose architect and builder is GOD.” Hebrews 11:10 AMP. Abraham while in the desert had no physical proof of what GOD had promised him. There were no physical foundations that he could point to to show people where GOD was gonna build his promised land. Yet with no tangible proof, he could literally feel and see the foundations. He had already possessed it in his mind. Same way David had already defeated Goliath even before he lifted his weapon, Abraham knew he was the father of multitudes before Isaac was even conceived. Same way Hannah had already given Samuel to the LORD before he was even conceived. Same way Jesus had already raised Lazarus before he even got to his sisters.
“And it is impossible to please GOD without faith” Hebrews 11:6a NLT. GOD calls those things that are not as if they were, and since we are made in His image and likeness, we too can speak things that are unseen (spiritual) and manifest them in the physical. We can’t see them with our physical eyes, yet like Abraham before us, we can see and visualize them in the unseen, and speak and manifest them into existence. This is the kind of faith that pleases GOD, believing that we have already received them after asking for them in prayer. This is the kind of faith that moves GOD, the faith that makes GOD take private and sincere prayers made by His children, manifest and answer them publicly. It all starts with me visualizing them and believing that I have received them even though I might still be in the wilderness.
GOD calls those things that are not as if they were, and since we are made in His image and likeness, we too can speak things that are unseen (spiritual) and manifest them in the physical
0 Comments