Sunday School: David and Goliath – What Does This Mean?

Encore Post: When Saul and David lived, war was very personal. Most of the fighting was done with swords, shields, and other weapons in hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes it was very hard to predict who would win a battle. Yet everyone knew hundreds to thousands of soldiers on both sides would die. To spare the armies of such losses, the two sides would sometimes agree to have their two best soldiers fight the battle for their armies. These soldiers were called champions.

Goliath proposed to fight for the Philistines. If he won, Israel would surrender to them. If he lost, the Philistines would surrender. All of Goliath’s strength did him no good, since he couldn’t reach David with his sword. David used his sling. Men from the tribe of Benjamin were known for their marksmanship with a sling. Like them, David learned his skill with the weapon fending off animals that attacked his sheep. God guided David’s stone, which killed the giant. He finished off Goliath with the Philistine’s own sword. But the Philistine army did not honor the agreement, but broke ranks and fled. The army of Israel followed them, killing many as they ran.

Saul recognized talent when he saw it. He kept David with him and sent him out on military missions. As David won victory after victory, the people came to love him. David became a good friend of Saul’s son, Jonathan. Saul would eventually give David his daughter Michal in marriage. Soon Saul would become jealous of David’s fame and see him as a threat to his throne.

David’s descendent, Jesus, is our champion. He fought sin, death and the devil for us on the cross, suffered and died for our sins and rose from the grave to defeat them. Because our Champion died for us, we now will live with Him forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

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