And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.  I Samuel 17:10 . . . learning from the men, women and children of Bible times             Goliath, the Philistine                                                                           This is a true story!   At the time of King Saul the Philistines (a powerful sea people that settled in the coastal strip of southwest Palestine) were warring with the Israelites   One of the Philistines was a very BIG soldier named Goliath   He challenged the armies of Israel to send a soldier out to fight him.  No one would volunteer for this job.  So forty days passed with Goliath making fun of Israel and its God. Now Jesse sent David to check on his brothers.  When David got to the Israelite camp, he was surprised and disappointed to see that no one was willing to fight Goliath.  David said, "I will fight him." King Saul told David that he was too young and inexperienced; but David insisted, so King Saul put his own armor on David so he would be safe. David did not want his armor because he was not used to it.   He knew that God would keep him safe as he eliminated one "enemy of God". Goliath laughed at David and said, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks", because he expected a big man to fight him. But David said, "You come at me with a sword; but I come to you in the name of the Lord.  The battle is the Lord's and He will deliver you into our hands. " Then David took one of the five smooth stones that he had gathered and put it in his sling and he slang the stone and it hit Goliath in the forehead and he fell to the ground.  Then David took Goliath's own sword and cut off Goliath's head.  Then the Philistine army turned and ran away. The Israelite army was victorious that day because of David's faith in God.   I Samuel, chapter 21 tells the story of David fleeing King Saul for fear of being killed.  He came to Nob to Ahimelech the priest and David asked for a sword or a weapon to take with him.  The priest told him that the only weapon there was the sword that belonged to Goliath.  It was wrapped in a cloth and stored away.  David took the sword with him. Read the rest of chapter 21 to see what a good acting job David did to get away from Achish, King of Gath.   Goliath, the giant, slain by David   There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant.  II Samuel 21:20 (For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits and its width four cubits by ordinary cubit.)  Deut. 3:11 If a cubit is 18" then his bed was 13 1/2 feet long and 6 feet wide Moses said in Deuteronomy that the Israelites captured 60 cities from King Og!  Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David. II Samuel 21:16 With a name like that you had to be tough! The best I can figure that spear was about the weight of ten mini-golf clubs put together.       Concentration - three puzzles type in your answer using lower case; (it has to match exactly) then click the 'check answer' button         Copyright © 2006, 2007, Woodruff & Woodruff