1 Samuel 17 - Jonathan's Friendship with David | Bible Podcast, David Alley, Peace Christian Church

In this video listen to 1 Samuel Chapter 17, read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.

In 1 Samuel Chapter 17 David slays Goliath, in what is a rare example of representative fighting or one-on-one combat. One-on-one combat was a way of saving many lives, but also required a lot of bravery, even on the part of Goliath. One-to-one fighting was not common in the Middle East, and here Goliath actually educates the Israelite army about how it works.

In the process, which drags over forty days, the biblical number for testing, Goliath also insults the Israelites, presumably with many different insults that are not recorded. In the Jewish Targum it notes Goliath as claiming to be the one who killed Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, and being the one who captured the ark of the covenant.

That probably wasn’t true, but it didn’t mean Goliath wouldn’t have said things like that to get them worked up. Another giant also called Goliath is named in 2 Sam 21:19 - this isn’t the same person as there were multiple people called Goliath in ancient times. David is a symbol of Christ who defeated Satan and humiliated him. David’s five stones are a symbol of grace that we receive, and the victory of David seemed uncertain, but was absolutely certain, just as Christ’s victory was never in doubt.

There are many “David facts” that are not quite right, such as his age, the size of the armour and more. This video goes over some of the differences between reality and the Sunday school story versions of this story. Back in the book of Numbers, Israel was afraid to take the land because of the giants. And now we see the same thing present here. Only two people in Israel back then were filled with faith, Caleb and Joshua. And now, we will see there was only one, David.