David and Goliath
October 21, 1995
Dear Family:
This morning Mexico experienced another giant earthquake. It seems the past year has been somewhat unusual with numerous hurricanes, typhoons, and floods. Seems as though everything is gigantic these days. Giant national debt, giant budget deficit, giant trial of O.J. and giant explosion in Oklahoma. I am reminded of the giant story of the Bible. We normally think of David and Goliath when thinking of the giant story. We also typically think of it as one of the children's stories of the Bible, but not so. It's just that at that time, a child was the only one who had enough faith in God to go do a man's job. We think of the story being the introduction of David onto the scene but the story began long before David's time. The Scofield Reference Bible indicates that David and Goliath met in 1063 B.C. but the story began in 1490 B.C., 427 years earlier. You will recall God had delivered the children of Israel from the hands of the Egyptians and had instructed Moses to lead them to the Promised Land. Somewhere along the journey after the parting of the Red Sea and many other miracles, the Children of Israel began to complain to Moses. So, God decided to test the Children of Israel to see their character.
NUMBERS 13:1 - 14:9 v:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, v:2 Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. v:3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. v:4 And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. :5 Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. v:6 Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. v:7 Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. v:8 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. v:9 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. v:10 Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. v:11 Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. v:12 Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. v:13 Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. v:14 Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. v:15 Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. v:16 These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. v:17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: v:18 And see the land, what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; v:19 And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; v:20 And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes. v:23 And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. v:24 The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. v:25 And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. v:26 And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. v:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. v:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. v:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. v:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. v:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. v:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. v:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
NUMBERS 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 14:7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
The land was indeed more than the Children could imagine. It truly flowed with milk and honey. I can't imagine grape clusters so great that they had to be carried on staffs between two men. Notice that the spies sent by the children brought back evidence of how wonderful the land was. I suppose they were afraid the others would not believe them. I think this says something about the mind-set and attitude of the Children of Israel. Doubting skeptics. I remember the story of Samuel Clements when he was preparing to launch the maiden voyage of his steamboat. Someone standing on the dock said, "it will never work." As the boat steamed away from the dock and started across the river, that same skeptic said, "they'll never stop the darn thing." Some people are just that way. Always wanting to burst your bubble. Never seeing the glass half full, only half empty. Never seeing the beauty of the rainbow, only the thunder and lightning of the storm. Never venturing out into the early morning darkness to see a beautiful sunrise. Only seeing the early morning as the darkest hours of another uneventful day. This doubt that the Children of Israel displayed angered God, which should tell us something about His attitude toward negative thinking. So now he sets forth the punishment:
NUMBERS 14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it. 14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. 14:30 Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
Notice what God said in 14:24, "But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him,"… Caleb was not negative, he was positive and he followed God fully. Someone once said if you want to get good advice seek out those who have been where you want to go, done what you want to do, and accomplished what you want to accomplish. Their advice is from experience whereas all others are theory and opinion untested and unproved. Therefore, if one would seek advice he would do well to seek it from Godly men, and not from ungodly men of the world.
But how can we know who is a godly man? The Lord knows those that are his, by name, but we must know them by their character. There are four great tests of character:
(1) The home test. How a man treats those with whom he lives.
(2) The business test. How a man conducts himself toward his customers and employees.
(3) The social test. How a man acts toward those who do not enjoy the same social advantages he does.
(4) The success test. How a man behaves when favoring circumstances bring him wealth, power, position and honor.
Thank heaven, there are honest men! Men who believe in honesty for the sake of honesty. John Bright said of William E. Gladstone that he had "Persuaded the House of Commons to do many things for no other reason than that they were just and right," and Sidney Smith said concerning the historian, Lord Macaulay, "I believe Macaulay to be absolutely incorruptible. You might lay before Him ribbons, stars, garters, titles, wealth and position without temptation." We ought to thank destiny for these great historical illustrations. "Blessed are the pure in heart," said Jesus.
It is one thing to have a positive mental attitude, but something else when it does not have the proper direction. Remember what God said, "he followed me fully." When we choose to follow God in faith and confidence, we know in our heart that God knows where He is taking us. When we trust God, we are immediately relieved of all stress and strife in our lives. That is a book all to itself.
So here we are 400 + years later and the giants are still in the Promised Land. Why? God had promised to defeat the giants! Why are they still there? We all have our giants just like the Children of Israel. Like them, we put off overcoming and defeating these giants. God has said I will give you victory over your giant, but we just don't have the courage to trust Him in faith and face the giant in battle. And that is why the giants are still in the land. God had said that all creation would see the Children of Israel defeat the inhabitants of the promised land and would know that their God was the only true God. God was going to use the defeat of the giants to bring glory to himself, but no one had the courage to be used of Him to do it.
God has always used men to perform miracles. He heals with doctors, he moves mountains with engineers, and he goes to the moon with astronauts. He can certainly use me to overcome my giants. Not only does he want to use me to defeat my giants but to defeat giants in other places. God is always looking for someone to fill the gap, step up to the plate and slay the giant.
What would have happened if all the spies, not just Joshua and Caleb, had given an honest report at the very beginning to the Children of Israel? Number one, an entire generation would not have died in the wilderness prematurely. We know they died prematurely because Joshua and Caleb lived many years after entering the land. The sins of a man can sometimes affect an entire generation. God expects a father to be a living example of the teachings he is passing on to his children. Train up a child in the way he should go and he will never depart from it. Isn't that something we have read somewhere or heard before? Sure it is and it is still true. The values we teach our children multiply generation after generation. We can see that on the news every night.
We, like the children of Israel, are about to lose an entire generation because God is not taught in the home anymore. What would happen if fathers began to teach their children about God and the values He demands? What would happen to the giants of drugs, sexual abuse, and violence in our land? What would happen to the giants of heart disease, cancer and aids? What would happen to homelessness, poverty and hunger?
On every occasion when Christ was confronted by people who had disease, were blind or lame, had an evil sprit or were even dead, Christ cast out the demons, healed the sick, fed the thousands, and raised the dead. So, can our people and our nation be healed? You bet we can! But only when God through Christ is permitted to carry on His work through Christians who are willing to let Him use their minds and bodies to do so.
1CHRONICLES 29:11 Thine, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. v:12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. v:13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
Love ya,
Dad, Dad2, Chuck & Mr. T
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