Tuesday, March 23, 2010

David & Goliath: A Battle With Death (part 1)

Goliath stood and called to Israel’s troops, “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man so he may come down to me!” – 1 Samuel 17:8 (NET)

“There is no need for the entirety of our armies to go to war,” says Goliath. Continuing, he said, “All that is necessary if for one man from each side, representative of our respective peoples, to do battle. The peoples of the winning side will be served by the peoples of the losing side.” Though David would here take up the challenge and face Goliath in battle, there would come a time at which another man, the Son of David, would go forth in battle as a representative of His people. Yes, Jesus would willingly engage in a battle against the curse of death, and of course, He would emerge victorious. The people for which He stood as representative would be victorious, while death and the grave would be defeated. The story of David and Goliath---the story of a faithful Israelite doing battle against the enemy of God’s covenant people---is but a foreshadowing of the great and decisive battle that would be waged and won by the faithful Israelite to come, stripping the power of death from off of the chosen people of the covenant God. No, His people would not be ruled by death. They would not be participants in the dissemination of corruption. They would not serve death.

Just as Goliath stepped forward to the battle line saying, “I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight each other” (17:10), so too did death, when confronted with the claims of Israel, and God’s purpose to use this people (beginning with Abraham) to bless all the world, to deal with the problem of evil, to set His world to rights, and to ultimately be the people through which God would send His promised deliverer into His fallen creation. In response to Goliath, just two verses later, David is introduced into this story. Immediately, we know that David is the one that is going to respond on behalf of God’s people. As David is going to stand against Israel’s enemy, Goliath, so too will Jesus stand against mankind’s mortal foe.

Corruption and death seemed to defy all of God’s plans and purposes for His creation, as Goliath did Israel. Just as Goliath was the Philistine champion, death had reigned undefeated from the fall of man until the moment that Jesus stepped forth from His tomb. Goliath was supremely confident in his ability to withstand any challenge, and death was not the least bit lacking in confidence. With boldness, Goliath said, “Give me a man so we can fight each other,” though the first one that answered the challenge would prove the foolishness of this challenge. Unchallenged and undefeated, with foolish and unsuspecting boldness, death presumptuously shook its fist at God and exclaimed, “Give me a man so we can fight each other.” God’s answer to this was Jesus; and yes, a bloody and decisive battle would be waged.

David was not a part of the army. He was a shepherd. His father sent him to find out how his brothers were doing, as they had followed King Saul into a confrontation with the Philistines. When David went to the Israelite camp, he did so in order to bring gifts to his brothers. He came bearing gifts. A shepherd, sent to his brothers, bringing gifts---truly, a picture of our Lord. When David reaches the place of the army’s encampment, “he ran to the battlefront” and “asked his brothers how they were doing” (17:22b). While there, he hears the defying speech of Goliath, and witnesses the retreat and fear of his countrymen. This has been going on for forty days. King Saul is desperate to deal with this problem, but there is no one from all of Israel that is willing to represent the people. Enticements are offered. “The king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel” (17:25b). David was unafraid. Jesus was unafraid. Because he emerged victorious in his battle against Goliath, David ultimately earned a bride for himself, eventually marrying a daughter of the king. Jesus, who would also emerge victorious from His pitched battle with death, also earned a bride.

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