FIGHTING FEAR (GOLIATH) IN THE
LAST DAYS
03-22-20 This
message may be
viewed live streaming video at youtube.com and tabernacleofmoses.org
today
Sunday at 11:00 am, and repeated 24/7 thereafter. The video, audio, and
study
notes are archived.
God is Thought. The brightness of our revelations depends
upon the
correctness of our doctrines, our building blocks, our Godly Thoughts
laid one upon another, ascending into the mind of Christ.
(2 Cor 4:3,4) But
if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the
god of
this world [i.e., Satan] hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the
light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine [Gk:
beam forth; a ray of light: dawn] unto
them.
IN THEIR BLINDNESS, THEY WALKED INTO A TRAP
(1 Sam 17:1) Now the Philistines [Heb:
rolling, migratory] [unsaved
people] gathered together their
armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh [Heb: entwined, shut in (for formation,
protection, restraint: fenced, hedged],
which belongeth to Judah
[Heb: celebrated /// used, the
hand], and pitched between Shochoh
and Azekah [Heb: tilled (syn:
plowed, cultivated) /// fenced about],
in Ephesdammim [Heb: boundary
of blood drops /// cessation, an end (especially of the earth); no
further) &
blood (that which when shed causes death): guiltliness, innocent] [Heb:
end of
blood].
(1 Sam 17:2,3) And
Saul [Heb: asked] [i.e., the peoples’ king] and the men of Israel [Heb: he will
rule as God] were gathered together, and pitched by the
valley of Elah [Heb: a strong
tree] [1], and set the battle in
array [in battle formation] against
the Philistines. And the
Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side [of
the valley], and Israel
stood on a mountain on the other side [of the
valley]: and there was a
valley [a strong tree, the cross] between
them [2].
1.
Commentary:
“Elah” = a valley that includes all
the previous locations of the first verse through which the
river Elah flows. Symbolically, the strong tree is
a type and shadow of the cross, and the river Elah is
a type and shadow of
the Holy Spirit – into which the cross is embedded.
2.
Commentary:
Just as Pharaoh and his armies, overwhelmed
with evil intentions, blindly walked into the trap of the
Red Sea, so too did the Philistines,
overwhelmed with evil intentions, blindly walked into the trap of the valley of Elah.
FEAR
PERSONIFIED
(1 Sam 17:4-11)
And there went
out a champion [representing all
the unsaved Philistines; thus, what happens to him happens to all] out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath [1],
of Gath [2], whose height was six cubits and a span
[over 12 feet tall]. And he
had an helmet of brass [3] [Heb:
filthiness (sin)] upon his head, and
he was armed with a coat
[covering] of mail [Heb: scales
(like of a fish), joined plates of metal]; and the
weight of the coat was
five thousand shekels of brass [Heb:
filthiness (sin)]. And he had greaves
[Heb: shin pieces of armor] of brass
[Heb: filthiness (sin)] upon
his legs, and a target [Heb: a
small shield] of brass [Heb:
filthiness (sin)] between his shoulders. [1 Sam 17:7] And the staff of his spear
was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's
head weighed six hundred shekels [23
½ pounds] of iron: and one
[What did that one “man” symbolize? See v.40] bearing
a shield went before him. And he [Goliath] stood and cried
unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to
set your battle in array? am
not I a Philistine, and ye
servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down
to me.
If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be
your
servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then
shall ye
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
[4] and all Israel heard those
words of the Philistine, they were dismayed
[Heb: broken down by fear; beat down,
discouraged, scared, terrified], and
greatly afraid [Heb: terribly
fearful].
1.
Goliath
= Heb: exile /// to denude [Dict: to make naked]
(especially in a
disgraceful sense); to exile (captives usually being stripped); fig. to
reveal: shamefully uncover.
2.
Gath
= Heb: a Philistine city /// (in the
sense of treading out the grapes); a winepress.
3.
brass
= Heb: copper; fig. base (as compared
with gold or silver): brasen, filthiness.
4.
(1
Sam 10:23) And they ran and fetched
him [Saul] thence: and when he stood
among the people, he was higher
than any of the people from his
shoulders and upward.
(1 Sam 17:24) And
all the men of
Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore
afraid.
FIVE
SMOOTH STONES
(1 Sam 17:40,41)
And he [David = Heb: beloved] took his
staff in his hand, and
chose him five smooth stones [men
are symbolized as stones] out of the
brook [the water of the Holy
Spirit. What was the name of that stream again?], and
put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a
scrip [Heb: a traveling pouch];
and his sling was in his hand [power]: and he drew near to the
Philistine. And the Philistine came on
and drew near unto David; and the man
[See v.7] that bare the
shield went before him [i.e.,
in front of Goliath].
1.
(Eph
4:11,12) And he [the risen Jesus Christ]
gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;
and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of
Christ: [each office exercises the Word
of God]
THE
BATTLE IS BETWEEN FEAR
AND FAITH
(1 Sam 17:45-47)
Then said David
to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with
a
spear, and with a shield [proclaiming
Fear]: but I come to thee [proclaiming
Faith] in the name of the LORD of hosts, the
God of the armies of
Israel, whom thou hast defied
[Heb: exposed (as by stripping); defamed: blasphemed].
This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will
smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will
give the
carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls
of the
air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the
earth may
know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly [Heb: congregation] shall know that the
LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for
the battle is the LORD'S,
and he will give you into our hands [Heb: power].
(1 Sam 17:48-51)
And it came to
pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh
to meet
David, that David hasted [Heb:
to be liquid or flowed], and ran
toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in
his bag,
and took thence a stone, and slang it [David
exercised his spiritual power], and
smote the Philistine in his
forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead [the home of the Philistine’s evil thoughts];
and he fell upon his face [prostrate and defeated] to the earth. So David prevailed over the
Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the
Philistine, and
slew him; but there was no
sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the
Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath
thereof,
and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the
Philistines
saw their champion was dead, they fled.
BE NOT AFRAID
(Luke 12:4-9) And I say unto you my friends, Be
not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more
that
they can do [Goliath].
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him [Father
God], which after he hath killed
hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Are not
five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is
forgotten
before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear
not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say
unto you,
Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also
confess
before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be
denied
before the angels of God.
Amen