A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                       ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO PART IV

"I, Jesse, am an Israelite.... God has blessed me with many sons.... Some of my sons are in the army.... Our army is fighting our enemy, the Philistine army.... Our army has had battles with them in the past.... God has given us many times the victory over them.... However, I have heard that the Philistine army has a giant named Goliath in their midst... I am not sure if our army knows how to deal with a giant.... They have never before in the past have had to fight against a giant.... I am, therefore, quite concerned for the well being of my sons so I will ask my youngest son, David, to check on them.... I can send him because he is not in the army.... For David is not a soldier... He is a shepherd who takes care of my flock of sheep.".... please read the typed out attachment when Jesse asks his son David to visit his brothers who are part of the Israeli army....

   ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                 ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO PART IV

The Israeli army may well have forgotten that they are the army of God but God has not forgotten. And he knows something has to be done to remind His army who they really are so God goes to work. And as God so often does, He uses natural circumstances for He uses the concerns of a man named Jesse for his sons to fulfill His plans. Let's read I Samuel 17:17-19

Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."

Jesse decides to send his son David, who takes care of his flock of sheep, to the battle field to find out hos his brothers are doing. But God has in mind that David is going to need someone else besides his brothers.....

         A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

              ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO PART III

"We, the Israeli army, have been at war these last days.... We have had a season of peace.... However, our enemy, the Philistines attacked us once again.... We have had battles with them before.... God enabled us to win these battles.... However, this time they have brought with them a giant named Goliath.... They have never before brought a giant with them to challenge us.... Every morning he comes out of his tent and shouts at us.... He tells us we are the servants of king Saul.... Initially we did not believe him.... But we have begun to believe that he is right.... That we are nothing more than the servants of Saul... For we know we cannot win this battle.... We have good brave soldiers among us.... King Saul included.... But we know too that none of us can fight this giant Goliath.... We have all begun to feel terrified.... In fact, we have begun to feel we want to run away the moment he appears and gives his LOUD speech... Of course, his speech is so loud that we cannot outrun his voice.... We do not know what to do.... Even the king does not know what to do.".... Please read the typed out attachment when the Israeli army becomes very afraid of the words of the giant Goliath.....

ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

           ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO PART III

The Israeli army feels very defeated in their battle against their enemy, the Philistine army. The reason is that this army has brought with them a giant named Goliath. He is not only tall and strong, he is very loud. They have heard his shouts every morning since they have gathered for battle. His words has influenced them greatly as you can read in I Samuel 17:11

On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

Has the Israeli army forgotten that they are God's army? It certainly seems so....

               A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                        ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO PART II

"I, Goliath, the giant from Gath in Philistine, am in Israel with my army... We are waging war aginst the Israeli army.... And we believe we will win this war very soon.... In fact, we will will this war without there to be any need for bloodshed.... The reason I can say this with such confidence is because of my tactics.... Every morning I get up....I stretch myself to my full height of over nine feet....That already makes the Israeli army feel very threatened....I then speak up.... I am not only tall....I am very loud too... And every morning I give them the same message..... Every morning I tell them they are nothing more than the servants of Saul.... I know they are the servants of their God.... But I want them to forget that they are the servants of their God... I want them to believe my words that they are nothing more than the servants of their king Saul.... It seems they have begun to believe me.... I then tell them to come out and fight me, knowing that they will be too afraid to do so..... I am convinced there is not even one among them who will fight me.".... Please read the typed out attachment when the Israeli army responds in fear to the words of the Philistine giant named Goliath....

ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

              ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO PART II

The Philistine's choice of instrument in their war against Israel seems to have been a very good choice for all the giant Goliath needs to do is to stretch himself to his full height to make the Israeli army feel defeated. But it is not just his height that causes them to forget they are the army of their God; it is his voice as well as you can know from I Samuel 17:8-10

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the ranks of Israel. Give me a man and let us fight each other."

The Israeli army has heard the shouts of the Philistine giant Goliath every morning sine they have gathered for battle. Each morning the message has been the same; he calls them the servants of Saul and he challenges them to a battle. Perhaps the first few days they may have questioned his remark for they know they are not the servants of king Saul, they are the servants of their God. But then as time goes on doubt has begun to set in.They have begun to believe that he may be right after all and that they are just servants of king Saul for they know of no one among them who can fight this man; he is just too tall and too strong and too loud....

Hi,

This is my first attempt at blogging as a way of communicating with you. I decided I should like to once again share some of my favourite bible stories with you beginning with the story of David and Goliath. I hope you will enjoy reading my blogs. Please feel free to make a comment.

                      A PURPOSEFUL LIFE;OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                                 ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO PART I

          

"I, Goliath, am a Philistine from Gath... I am very proud of being a Philistine. Our enemy is the nation of Israel. Their army is a very special army because of the God they serve. Consequently we lost battles against them and stopped going to was against them. However, we decided to go to war against them once again and I was asked to join them for I am a giant.... I believe that just my height will cause the Israeli army to feel defeated.... After all, I am over nine feet tall.... Moreover, my outfit is very impressive... For the iron point of my spear shaft weighs six hundred shekels...I am confident that I can make the Israeli army run from me... Very soon we will have victory over them."... Please read the typed out attachment when the Philistines, one of the enemies of the nation of Israel, decide to use a giant named Goliath, as their instrument to attach the Israeli army....

                   ATTACHMENT OF ONE SLING SHOT WILL DO

                                                       PART I

The Philistines, one of Israel's enemies, decided to attack Israel once again, as you can read in I Samuel 17:1-7

"Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sucoh in Judah. They pitched tent at Ephes Dammin, between Sucoh and Azekah. Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Isrealites another, with the valley between them. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armour of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him."

The Philistines decided that, in order for them to win the war against the Israelites, they must devise a method by which the army of Israel would not remember they are the army of the God of Israel and would, therefore, not rely on the power of God to help them have the victory. And it seemed the Philistines found the perfect method, or instrument, to make the Israeli army forget they are God's army. That instrument is a giant named Goliath. And he truly is a giant of a man, for he is over nine feet tall.....