Koinonia The call Of The Heart

I will be using a lot of symbolization in this exhortation of scripture. It is a way that God speaks to me and reveals many great mysteries that I would never have got to know from life. It all started when I first became a Christian an elderly gentlemen said these words to me "If you only discover one thing Kevin, about being a Christian then this is my advice; search the scriptures and look for Jesus, He is there in every word, line and passage". Hence that is why now I can say that every time I pick up my Bible, there comes over me an excitement that has lasted for the last 21 years. I pray that those words spoken to me will touch your heart, and will lay a key in front of you to start a grand adventure.
1 Samuel 17:1-10

“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.”" (1 Samuel 17:1-10, NKJV)

The scene is set, the lines are drawn for a battle, but should there have been a battleground. The answer to that question is an absolute no. But that fact stands and the past is gone. The time has come to fight, one army looking across to the other. The Philistines on one side interestingly the word Philistine means "Immigrants" and that was precisely what they were being. And on the other side the Israelites. The meaning of the word Israel is "God Prevails" The Philistines were beaten force not long ago, and even now as the names say they were already defeated. But they were looking at the circumstances instead of the facts. What it needed was a great man of faith. King Saul had been disobedient to God and because of that Samuel said these words;
But Samuel replied, "I will not return with you! Since you have rejected the LORD'S command, he has rejected you from being the king of Israel."
It was just like a bad dream for King Saul, a man who had been told that he no longer would be king. Yet there stood a great army in front of Him, under his command. Things looked so normal, and yet running to and fro amongst the Israelites army was a lad who only recently had been anointed, by Samuel to be king. But that was to be some time in the future. Saul was still in command and David was obedient to that fact, it was not his time to be King. But the anointing was so strong that he saw right through the situation and as we shall find out. He is to become the "The Giant Slayer". As we spend time studying this event in the Bible. I pray that the revelation will not only reveal to you great steps of faith, but will also encourage you to step out and put into action the things that God has revealed in your life. Maybe things that you know that he has said to you, but you have felt that you did not have enough faith to do.

So back to the passage that we are studying. David is about to rescue Israel from the hands of the Philistines. The Man of faith enters the scene, there in front of him was this scene;

1 Samuel 17:4-7

Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet and a coat of mail that weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leggings, and he slung a bronze javelin over his back. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds. An armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a huge shield.

Goliath stood there in front of the Philistine army, looking directly across to the Israelites. He was full of arrogance and he despised them so much, he could not understand that not long ago this army had defeated them. He wanted revenge and he was going to glory in it. Forty days he was shouting and taunting them. But they were afraid to challenge them. Why?

The Stature and armor reveal a lot about the situation. And I believe they also reveal to us today in situations that we still face. Let me explain; Goliath was a champion, he was the best warrior they had. So it only seemed logical that the Israelites should put up a worthy contender, someone of the same pedigree. A warrior was needed, a great warrior. How many times in your life have you seen this? The best sportsmen battle it out. One country against another, they step into the arena to compete. The problem for Israel they had taken there eyes of God and put them on man.

Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, "Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!"

I believe that we do exactly the same today, we look to mans ways of doing things and not God's. From this, I hope we will learn that God can and will supply an answer to all our problems. But we need to be obedient and take time to listen to Him. Back to Goliath Here is a breakdown of what I believe each part means

9- 10 ft tall - The situation looks bad.
Bronze helmet - Goliath's thoughts were to make them suffer.
Bronze coat - This shows that this was a heavy burden.
(125 pounds)
Leg protectors - He was sure he could win.
Spear - He was capable of doing real damage.
Weaver's rod - There was real substance in his claim.
Blade - He was determined to pierce through the
Israelite army.

In our lives we face the same issues, there are not warriors standing in front of us, but situations. They seem giants in their appearance. The situation looks bad, there seems to be no way out. But have we done the same as the Israelites. Have we ignored God in the situation?