Deep Dive Bible Study

As far back as the beginning of time and within every major culture of the ancient world, the astonishingly consistent story is told of “gods” who descended from heaven and materialized in bodies of flesh. These early records of civilization tell of an era when powerful beings known to the Hebrews as “Watchers” and in the book of Genesis as the b’nai ha Elohim (“sons of God”) mingled themselves with humans, giving birth to part-celestial, part-terrrestrial demigods known as Nephilim. Early Church Fathers testify that the Greek myths that once dominated early Greek literature, were in fact, the corrupted stories of the fallen angels and their hybrid offspring, the giants. Fast forward to today and we see much of the same stories embodied in the narratives of the well beloved Marvel and DC Comics.

Goliath from Gath, standing nearly ten feet in stature, was a formidable foe striking fear into the camp of Israel, testing them morning and night for forty days. Fear paralyzed Israel as this “serpent seed” taunted, teased, and boasted in defiance – ridiculing the God of Israel and His armies. David, the shepherd boy from Bethlehem Ephrathah, anointed of God to be the future King of Israel, was indignant at the taunts of the uncircumcised Philistine (1 Sam.17:26). Struck with righteous ire, David would seek to find favor in Saul’s eyes to battle this Philistine warrior who threatened all of Israel with enslavement should he become the victor. With only a shepherd’s staff and sling, David approached this intimidating beast of a man proclaiming a triumphant victory in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, with whom the giant had defied and mocked for forty days and nights.

Choosing five smooth stones from the Brook of Elah, one for Goliath and four more for his oversized brothers: Lahmi, Saph, Ishbi-benob, and another whose name is unrecorded, David was now prepared to do battle. David understood that in order to achieve full victory, Israel must cast out all the giants from the land. It’s not enough to deal with just one stronghold (or sin), the warrior must be prepared to go the distance to eradicate evil at it’s root. It must be an all or nothing campaign.

In faith, David, declared the victory was God’s alone. David knew God’s promise and trusted God to be faithful in the fulfillment of that promise. Like David, we don’t always understand God’s plan, but we can trust His Word. And unlike the experienced warriors who were sidelined by their fear, David, with the courage of a lion, stares down this menacing giant and reaches into his bag removing the stone, placing it in his sling. Over confidence and zealousness can be dangerous qualities in a person when these are misplaced, but not so with David. David had just been anointed by the Prophet Samuel as the future King of Israel and the scriptures attests that “…the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward (1 Sam. 16:23). David did not walk in arrogant pride boasting in his strength, David walked in the promises of God, boasting in the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 4:6 comes to mind, it says, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

With faith over fear, David (a type of Christ) approaches the giant when Goliath (a type of Satan) starts taunting the shepherd saying, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods” (1 Sam. 17:43). The irony of this statement with which Goliath utters appears to be self fulfilling in that like a wild dog, Goliath is a threat to the flock of Israel and he must be chased away or killed by the Shepherd for the preservation of the sheep and the future “seed of the woman” prophesied by Yeshua Himself in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15).

This was more than a battle of might and power, this was a cosmic war of epic proportions brought down to terra firma and made manifest in the flesh of men. David was on a mission and it would not be fought with the weapons of carnal warfare leading him to prevail over this giant, it would be the Spirit of the Living God. David, like the pre-incarnate Christ, prophesied to this serpent king, “This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you…” (1 Sam. 17:46). “And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground” (1 Sam. 17:49).

After David prevailed over Israel’s Archnemesis killing him, the scriptures say that, “David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of it’s sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled” (1 Sam. 17:51). An interesting observation, the scripture in 1 Samuel 17:50,51 clearly state the Philistine is killed twice and then his head is removed. Is this in error or is this purposeful in emphasizing a deeper or more complex understanding? I believe the later, as we see time and time again in the Bible the Holy Spirit leading us to greener fields of understanding, taking us deeper within the layers or PaRDeS (P’shat, Remez, D’rash, Sod) of scripture. What might have otherwise been overlooked at first glance or misconstrued as awkward wording is pointing us to a mystery. If you doubt this, Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” In instances like this, one needs to pause and mine the word of God, there is treasure to be found here for the fastidious student of scripture.

Within the construct of this passage of 1 Samuel 17:50,51; I believe the allusion made of killing this giant twice is significant for us to conclude that there are two deaths: there is a physical death for all flesh and there is a second spiritual death for all who reject God. First, this is no ordinary battle, it is Spiritual. This is a historical event that echoes the past while promising a future in Messiah who will fulfill that which we see in type and shadow through the life of David pointing us to the greater David: the “Good Shepherd” and the “King of Kings.” I digress, we can chase that rabbit another day.

So David, took the head of the giant to the city of Jerusalem and buried it. He would have had to bury it outside the walls of the city as it was deemed unclean. Many scholars believe it was buried somewhere on the ridge of Mount Moriah, most likely Golgotha, “The place of the skull,” hence the name.

The ancients had purpose in giving names, names were given to define or to epitomize personal experiences and historical significance. Golgotha would be no exception to this. In all likely hood, contrary to popular opinion, Golgotha was not named after a hill that resembled a skull but most likely was named for the burial site for the “trophy head” of Goliath. Who’s head? Goliath from Gath, transliterated to Gol-Gath-a, meaning place of the skull. See Matthew 27:33.

One might ask themselves, why take the head of the giant 17 miles to Jerusalem to bury it? The Bible does not really specify as to why. But understanding the importance of shadows and types in scripture, I can only surmise that it somehow fit into the greater picture to be revealed in Christ. It was Yeshua’s crucifixion that fulfilled the first prophecy given in the Torah, Genesis 3:15, the protoevangelium. On that day, when “The Son of Man” was lifted up, it was He who was prophesied, “The Greater David” crushing the head of the serpent as His heel was being bruised. Yeshua , our “Conquering King,” who has defeated Satan declaring “it is finished,” shedding His blood on the cross at Golgotha and redeeming all whom the Father has entrusted.