1 Samuel 17:1–11

Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.

And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Goliath’s defiant challenge is not normally how armies fight. “Champion warfare” is a common theme in fiction in everything from the Iliad to episodes of Star Trek. But it’s virtually unheard of in the real world.

The problem is that the battle between the champions doesn’t resolve the issue. The armies end up fighting anyway, instead of honoring the champion warfare “contract.” That’s what will ultimately happen here too.

Not surprisingly, the Philistines are afraid to go to war with Israel.

We can’t be sure exactly how tall Goliath is, but he’s clearly larger than anyone else of that time. His coat of mail works out to be well over a hundred pounds—and that’s not counting the rest of his armor.

He’s an imposing sight. You could hit him with almost anything you’ve got, and he’d just laugh at you (or so everyone thought).

But Saul and all Israel shouldn’t be afraid of this guy. When the twelve spies scouted out the promised land back in Numbers 13, they thought everyone was this big. Except for Joshua and Caleb, they were all terrified of them.

Their fear was a lack of faith then, and it’s a lack of faith now.

 So, the whole place is just crawling with faithless cowards. Goliath is the only one who isn’t afraid.

So, “the fields are ripe” for David to come strolling into the picture.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.