66 – Goliath Meets David

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

Why didn’t I title this, “David Meets Goliath”? Because it wasn’t David who had a problem. It was Goliath. He was actually the underdog even though he didn’t he had a problem. His arrogance was the problem, as we shall see in the next teaching! David didn’t meet Goliath; Goliath met David!

Today, we will learn about one of David’s most important prophecies and something about those 5 stones that might have something to do with your destiny. Yes, your destiny – not just David’s. We will also talk about something frightening to most believers: textual variants in scripture.

I have to start this teaching with a lesson in textual criticism because it is the first thing we encounter in 1 Samuel 17 starting at verse 12. Textual criticism is not about criticizing a text but in critically understanding it through analysis. The definition of textual criticism is an academic, forensic discipline that analyzes and compares ancient manuscripts to identify …variations or errors caused by human copying. This is an academic discipline and career field that examines all ancient texts, not just the Bible’s. As much as we would like to think ancient Bible scribes never made mistakes or had contrary opinions about what should be included in scripture, it just isn’t so. God’s Word has been fought over from very ancient times. But there is something good about this which I will tell you. Therefore, we will compare the Septuagint’s and Masoretic text’s account of 1 Samuel 17:12-31 because of the glaring variants between the two texts.

Textual variants exist between the Septuagint and Masoretic texts. People make a big deal these days about textual variations, especially those who want to prove the Bible is false or mythical. Some people base their faith in God on textual difficulties, saying if there are variants, it must mean the Bible is false and they don’t know what to believe. That’s not the way to approach one’s faith. His Word is well preserved; it never changes even when man tries to change it and, if it appears to get changed, YHVH reveals His Truth to His people. His sheep know His voice. However, there is one way that people can know the Bible is true even with its variants. I will tell you what this is in just a minute, so hang in here.

The good news is that the more we study textual variants, the more we find that 1- 99% of them are spelling and grammar errors, and 2-we also get a more complete history of the Bible where scribal insertions have been made in that 1% of variants. Our knowledge of the historical facts in the Bible increases.

But here’s more good news for especially for those whose faith is challenged by scriptural variants: none of the variations of texts refutes the Gospel message that God became a man; He died by crucifixion, resurrected after 3 days, and ascended back to His throne after 40 days. This is called the Apostolic Creed. There never has been found in any authenticated text a refutation of this core Kingdom precept in the New Testament.

There are some manuscripts in the world which textual critics, whether atheist, agnostic or religious, have identified as faked or forged. With over 7,000 manuscripts, fragments of manuscripts, copies of manuscripts and fragments of copies of manuscripts now identified, not one authenticated New Testament manuscript or copy refutes the Apostolic creed. The men and women working in the field of textual criticism are atheists, agnostics, Christians and some are even Jews. Yes, there are Jewish textual critics who verify authenticity of the New Testament manuscripts. So let’s not be afraid to address the variants because sometimes they help our understanding. Now let’s talk about a glaring discrepancy between the Septuagint and Masoretic texts of 1 Samuel 17.

The verses from 1 Samuel 17:12-31 are not in the Septuagint but they are in the Masoretic text. The Septuagint’s manuscripts were translated from Hebrew scrolls dated about 1,000 years earlier than those used by the Masoretes. They used Hebrew scrolls written much later: the Cairensis Codex (895 AD), Aleppo Codex (930 AD) and Leningrad Codex (1008 AD) included a Jewish oral tradition which says Saul had let David return to Jesse to shepherd the sheep (1 Samuel 17:15). The Septuagint’s account has David continuing with Saul, not returning to Jesse. Scholars believe this section became part of Jewish tradition during the Persian period of 539 BC to 332 BC. This oral history was then written into our current Masoretic Bibles by the Rabbinic Masoretes using scrolls dating from 895 AD to 1008 AD. We will find the Jewish tradition actually adds to the parallels between David and Yeshua.

Starting here in verse 12 is the Masoretic insertion.

1 Samuel 17:12  And David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem-Judah named Jesse. And to him were eight sons. And the man was old among men in the days of Saul. 

“Ephrath” was one of the ancient names for Bethlehem-Judah. David was a native of Bethlehem. Samuel probably wrote that David was an Ephrathite because Samuel’s father, Elkanah, was called an “Ephrathite”, as well. He may have wanted us to make the prophetic connection between himself and David, as prophets, even though Elkanah and Hannah were not from Bethlehem.

Jesse, the father of King David, had 8 sons according to 1 Samuel 16:10-11 and 17:12 but 1 Chronicles 2:13-15 lists only 7 sons (Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem, and David. Scholars think the 8th son may have died prematurely without an heir or perhaps died in disgrace and was, therefore, left out of the post-exilic chronology.

1 Samuel 17:13  And the three oldest sons of Jesse went out, and followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the first-born; and his second, Abinadab; and the third Shammah.
1 Samuel 17:14  And David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul.
1 Samuel 17:15  And David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 

Verse 15 is the Masoretic explanatory text about David returning from Saul to Jesse to continue shepherding sheep. David feeding his father’s sheep shows us that he was a good shepherd. The parallel to Yeshua is that He called Himself THE Good Shepherd. The Septuagint simply has David continuing to the battle with Saul from the beginning. So we can see how the Masoretic text adds to our understanding of the parallels between David and Yeshua.

1 Samuel 17:16  And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
1 Samuel 17:17  And Jesse said to his son David, Please take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers. 

David honoring his father to deliver supplies to his brothers shows us his servant’s heart and agrees with the account of Joseph who also was sent by his father, Jacob, to check on his brothers. These also parallel Yeshua’s own servant’s heart and how He came to bring aid to His brothers. The Jewish insertion of this tradition into the written Masoretic text serves as a Messianic parallel of David to Yeshua.  

1 Samuel 17:18  And carry these ten cuttings of cheeses to the commander of their thousand, and see how your brothers are faring, and take their pledge.
1 Samuel 17:19  And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.
1 Samuel 17:20  And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and got up and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the barricade, and to the army which was going out to fight, and shouted for the battle.
1 Samuel 17:21  For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in order, rank to rank.
1 Samuel 17:22  And David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage and ran into the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
1 Samuel 17:23  And he was speaking with them. And, behold, the champion man, named Goliath, the Philistine of Gath, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to these words. And David heard.
1 Samuel 17:24  And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, they ran from him and were very much afraid.
1 Samuel 17:25  And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man that has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And it shall be, the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. 

The males would be free from military conscription, forced labor and any taxes which might have been levied and they would be given Merab, Saul’s oldest daughter, in marriage.

1 Samuel 17:26  And David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away this shame from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? 

David seems to be showing what others would likely think was mere bravado with nothing to back it up. In my opinion, these words were given to him by the Holy Spirit.

1 Samuel 17:27  And the people answered him in this way, saying, So shall it be done to the man who kills him. 

They repeated Saul’s offer.

1 Samuel 17:28  And his oldest brother Eliab heard when he [David] spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David. And he said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the naughtiness of your heart. For you have come down to see the battle. 

These are the false accusations of a very jealous brother but also the sting of his own cowardice. We now see why YHVH did not choose Eliab even though, to Samuel, he seemed the likely candidate. It turns out that Eliab did not have the courage required to handle this situation and perhaps other situations to come. David asking about this “uncircumcised Philistine” in this way ridiculed those who had not made an attempt against Goliath and Eliab felt it most of all. He was Jesse’s firstborn, the son of Jesse’s strength who was supposed to be courageous. Now here was his youngest brother, David, seemingly insulting the Israelite army for doing nothing.

This is another instance of YHVH choosing the youngest son. Think of Jacob, the youngest. Think of Isaac, also the youngest. It may be that David had to fight for every scrap of everything. Maybe that is what gave him his abundant intestinal fortitude. But none of that came from David. It was part of David’s training to be King of Israel.

1 Samuel 17:29  And David said, What have I done now? Was it not only a word? 

David, being somewhere between 1 and 2 years older at this point, now has attained some confidence of against his brother, Eliab. He had only asked for clarification of Saul’s offer and had cut Goliath down to size as an “uncircumcised Philistine” which meant he was nothing against an able man of Israel. To jealous Eliab, this was an insult.

1 Samuel 17:30  And he turned from him toward another, and spoke according to this word. And the people answered him again in the same way. 

David has also gained some leadership skills, not the least of which was to obtain information from more than one person. A leader hears all of the testimonies before making a decision.

1 Samuel 17:31  And the words which David spoke were heard. And they were told before Saul. And he sent for him. 

This is where the Septuagint picks up the account again with tattle tales. That upstart David had called Goliath nothing more than an “uncircumcised Philistine”, which in essence was calling the entire Israelite army cowards, and some of the men had gone to tell Saul. David would now be answerable for his words. He would either have to put up or shut up. But rather than shrink from Saul:

1 Samuel 17:32  And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 

Imagine the look on Saul’s face as he viewed this 17-year-old sheep herder, this untrained warrior.

1 Samuel 17:33  And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. For you are but a youth, and he is a man of war from his youth. 

The idea that this teenage shepherd could fight who no one in Saul’s army could was incredulous!

1 Samuel 17:34  And David said to Saul, Your servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. 

From here comes one of the most important prophecies in scripture. Prophetically, the lion is Babylon and the bear is Persia.

1 Samuel 17:35  And I went out after it and struck it, and delivered it [the lamb] out of its mouth. And when it rose against me, I caught it by the beard, and struck it and killed it. 

I laugh out loud at this because I think of David holding onto the lower jaw of the lion and bear and just slapping them around like stuffed animals! Hallelujah!

1 Samuel 17:36  Your servant killed both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God. 

Before I get into more of the most important prophecy, let me suggest that David also prophesied about conquering the “uncircumcised Philistine”. He was not the least bit afraid. Every man in Saul’s army, including Saul, was in utter terror! But David was not. This was not because of David but because of the Holy Spirit in him. This is what it means that YHVH is our strength.

Psalms 18:2 [Which was the written by David] The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalms 18:2 is reflected in 2 Corinthians 12:9.

2 Corinthians 12:9  And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me. 

David’s weakness was his age. At least is looked that way because young age equals inexperience and inexperience in a situation like this probably equals death! It was this which YHVH could 1-use against Goliath and 2-favor of David before the entire nation of Israel. The conquering of Goliath would launch David to the forefront of Israel though not yet as King.

Yeshua is going through this right now as I speak. He came in the weakness of a lamb. It put him in the forefront of all Israel for the last 2,000 years but the process of making Him King over a reunited and restored Biblical Israel is not yet over. Both Yeshua and His people have much more to endure before this happens. Back then, David had much more to endure before becoming Israel’s King.

Here’s the important prophecy and I hope you will be able to see why I say it is possibly the most important prophecy in the history of Israel. In another 500 years or so, YHVH would deliver the lamb from Babylon and Persia, from the lion and the bear. Who is the lamb? Yeshua. How did YHVH deliver the lamb, Yeshua, from Babylon and Persia? He did it by bringing the Jews back to the land when their punishment was finished where they then rebuilt the temple and culture through which Yeshua came. In other word, Yeshua delivered Himself back to Israel just like David had delivered the lamb from the lion and bear!

If you want to know how important David was to YHVH’s Kingdom, this is it! David’s rescue of the lamb from the mouth of a lion and bear was a prophecy that the Jews would be delivered from Babylon and Persia! And if they were going to be delivered, the unspoken implication was that they would first go into captivity. This is one of those prophecies that can’t be understood until after the fact. Without YHVH delivering Himself, the Lamb, from the Babylon and Persia via returning the Jews, there would have been no cross!

The prophecies about the Jews’ exile stands out more in scripture than the exile of the Northern Kingdom. YHVH is not slighting the Northern Kingdom exiles. He knows exactly where we all are but we need to understand the importance of the Southern Kingdom’s role in bringing Yeshua to the earth. He explained this to the Samaritan woman at the well. Yeshua’s words are still misunderstood today.

John 4:22  You people worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. 

The woman was from the northern House of Israel. Yeshua explained to her that the Samaritan rebellion against the Southern House was misplaced because salvation is of the Jews but He didn’t explain why. We must figure that out later. He did not explain the connection between the Jews’ release from Persian captivity with what was yet to come for Him. It wasn’t time for her to understand, but it was time for her to believe He is the Messiah. Sometimes we must believe without understanding or knowing why. Yeshua YHVH, the same man who talked with her, was the God who had saved the Jews from both of these empires and returned them to their own land and in doing so also delivered Himself as the Lamb of God! I find this utterly amazing! Hallelujah!

1 Samuel 17:37  And David said, YHVH has delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and may Jehovah be with you. 

The paws of the lion and bear have to do with war which came to the Jews by Babylon and the war which put them into captivity in Persia. But YHVH delivered David from the lion and bear and so, at some point in the future, David was prophesying (whether he understood it or not) about how YHVH would deliver the Jews, too.  

1 Samuel 17:38  And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of bronze on his head. He also armed him with scaled armor. 

People always think they have to help YHVH. It’s almost comical if it wasn’t so sad. We all do it. I doubt there is a believer who ever lived that didn’t think they needed to help YHVH do the job. As soon as YHVH prophesies something, we want to help because we hear that as “it’s our job”. What we should hear is that “it’s going to happen” because He has said so! But we’re like a bunch of toddlers who just want to help daddy!

Here is a famous example. YHVH announced a prophecy to Abraham and Sarah about a son that would come from Abraham’s own loins. YHVH didn’t say He needed their help but they helped Him anyway. Sarah made a suggestion and Abraham agreed to it. This happens over and over, and now Saul believes he has to  help fulfill David’s prophecy that YHVH will defeat Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:39  And David girded his sword on his armor, and he tried to go. But he had not tested it. And David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. And David put them off him. 

‘Here David… Go meet Goliath on the world’s terms because we can’t imagine any other way that YHVH could save us’. But then, to everyone’s amazement, including Goliath’s, David put his shepherd’s staff in his hand and chose 5 stones for his sling from the creek. What!?

1 Samuel 17:40  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones out of the brook for himself, and put them in a shepherd’s vessel which he had, even in a bag. And his sling was in his hand. And he drew near the Philistine. 

First, David didn’t reach for the stones. First, he took his shepherd’s staff in his hand. He went out to meet Goliath on his own terms, as what he truly was, not as others wanted him to be, but what he was for YHVH.

After taking his shepherd’s staff (which prophesies that YHVH’s people will always be delivered by their Good Shepherd), David’s next move was to choose those famous stones. But were not just any stones. They were 5 special stones. When we are between a rock and hard place, we just need to choose the right stones.

Whether David knew it or now, the stones in the Valley of Elah are dense barium sulphate which are almost twice as dense as typical rocks from your local brook. Yep! These stones are as effective, as heavy, and potentially as deadly an ammunition for ancient stone slingers as you could find. They deliver a force comparable to a .45 caliber handgun even though they don’t pierce the air at the same speed as a bullet! A skilled stone slinger can launch these stones to as high as 100 MPH! In those days, a sling with a normal stone was capable of killing an animal or human, but a sling with a barium sulphate stone in it was more deadly than anything Goliath carried in his hands! The archeological dig area of Khirbet Qeiyafa, which I mentioned last week, has shown evidence of ancient sling warfare consistent with the Iron Age period of this biblical account. It appears that other Israelite soldiers might have followed David’s lead in sling warfare.

Now let’s look at what these 5 stones mean. Why five stones? When I prayed to YHVH for help to understand these stones, He answered me. I have never been satisfied with the typical 5 books of Torah and 4 brothers of Goliath explanations. I have always thought there was something deeper there and I really wanted to get to it. YHVH told me to “look for the fives”. He wanted me to see how “five” is used in scripture and what the fives pertain to.

I did. Here’s what I found. The number 5 appears 346 times in scripture in various ways, and often as part of another number like 25 or 65 or 500, and the number “5” appears in the accounts of Israel as the tabernacle’s 5 sets of curtains, boards, bars, pillars and sockets and as 5 men from Dan who went to spy out Laish and as the 5 kings of the Amorites in Joshua 10:5, and the 5 lords of the philistines in Judges 3:3. But these do not satisfy the criteria of deeper spiritual meaning of David’s particular stones. But I understood those stones as soon as I read about the 5 talents in Yeshua’s Parable of the Talents.

Matthew 25:14  “For it is like a man, going into another country, who called his own servants, and entrusted his goods to them.
Matthew 25:15  To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.
Matthew 25:16  Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
Matthew 25:17  In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two.
Matthew 25:18  But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
Matthew 25:19  “Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reconciled accounts with them.
Matthew 25:20  He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.’
Matthew 25:21  “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Matthew 25:22  “He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.’
Matthew 25:23  “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Matthew 25:24  “He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter.
Matthew 25:25  I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’
Matthew 25:26  “But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter.
Matthew 25:27  You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest.
Matthew 25:28  Take away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents.
Matthew 25:29  For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away.
Matthew 25:30  Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

David’s 5 stones were YHVH equipping His saint! The 5 stones and 2 and 1 talents tell us about YHVH equipping us for spiritual battles which will be fought in the physical realm in preparation for the coming of YHVH’s Kingdom to the earth. He provides each of us with just the right amount of stones, the right amount of talents, with which we must fight our foreordained battles.

YHVH provided David with 5 talents, 5 pieces of equipment – stones – to begin preparing YHVH’s Kingdom. In the same way, YHVH gives each of us the right number of stones/talents we will need to do our part in preparing for Yeshua’s Kingdom. David was preparing for Yeshua’s first arrival. For the last 2,000 years, believers have been preparing for His second arrival.

YHVH knows how many stones/talents we will need. Maybe we only need 2 talents or 1 talent. On the surface, the way the world looks at this, it appears that YHVH is more arbitrarily generous with the one He gives 5 stones/talents to over those who receive 2 or 1 stone/talent. That’s not it at all. He provides us with exactly what we need. Why? So no one can brag about being more important to His Kingdom. YHVH provides us with the courage, the training and the equipment! We are just His rightly strengthened, trained and equipped vessels through which He can bring His Kingdom to the earth so we can then have one more benefit – eternal life! And all of it without any of us having bragging rights because we only used what He gave us. It was YHVH who got us to His Kingdom all along, not ourselves! This is why know with confidence:

1 Corinthians 10:13  No temptation [problem] has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 

David’s Kingdom was only the one step in the process of returning YHVH’s Kingdom to the earth. This is why YHVH created His nation of Israel. Through Biblical Israel, He will bring His Kingdom to the earth after removing Satan’s Kingdom from it! David’s job was to prepare for our God, Yeshua, to come as a man, die on the cross, resurrect and ascend back to his throne. YHVH equipped David for that starting with removing Goliath!

Each and every believer has played, or is playing, a role in the next stage of our God and King returning to rule and reign from Jerusalem. Each of us receives just the right amount of stones/talents for facing our and the Kingdom’s enemies. David took those 5 stones/talents and 1-brought down Goliath, 2-reunited the Kingdom under YHVH instead of the world as personified by Saul, 3-put the nations around Israel under YHVH’s feet, 4-brought Jerusalem to the forefront of world history to become Yeshua’s eternal capital and 5-became the ancestor of Yeshua.

How’s that for simple stones? When I understood that David’s 5 stones were his 5 talents, and that YHVH gives us all stones/talents, I was blown away!

We dealt with textual variants and learned not to be afraid of them. In fact, variants help us even if whole sections of text are inserted because we get a better, stronger understanding of our history. We learned about one of David’s most important prophecies and how YHVH used David’s 5 stones for more than just killing Goliath. Those stones have something to do with each of our destinies. May we bring back double of what YHVH gives us so we can be called “good and faithful servants”!

Praise YHVH and all glory to Him!