The Way
The Giant in the Valley of Elah
Forty days of a giant's taunts
Story
With the Valley of Elah between them, Israel camped on one hill and the Philistines on the other. Every day one man walked out of the Philistine camp: Goliath of Gath. He stood six cubits and a span tall, and his bronze helmet and coat of scale armor weighed five thousand shekels. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his shield-bearer walked ahead of him.
The giant shouted across the valley: “Choose one of your men and send him down to me. If he kills me, we will be your slaves. If I kill him, you will be our slaves.” All Israel trembled, and Saul promised great wealth, his own daughter, and freedom from taxes for his father's house to the man who killed him. Morning and evening, it went on like that for forty days.
David was still going back and forth between Saul's court and his father's sheep in Bethlehem, and around that time Jesse sent his youngest to his brothers with roasted grain and ten loaves of bread. As soon as David reached the camp, the giant's taunts rang in his ears. The soldiers shrank back in fear, but the boy asked the men standing near him, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” His eldest brother Eliab heard and flared up: “Who did you leave those few sheep with?”
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and David
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine anyway, that he dares to defy the armies of the living God?
What have I done now? I only asked a question.
Today I defy the armies of Israel. Send out a man, and let the two of us fight it out.
Why have you come down here? Who did you leave those few sheep with out in the wilderness? You only came to watch the battle.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 1 Sam 17:1–30
Background
Six cubits and a span is about 2.9 meters. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint read four cubits and a span, a little over 2 meters. The Valley of Elah was the route that climbed from the Philistine plain into the hill country of Judah.
Pause and Reflect
Facing a frightening problem, am I forgetting how great God is?