- [Narrator] Goliath.
Second Samuel 21:19.
The most well-known giant
in history is Goliath from the Bible.
He was a champion from the Philistine camp
who fought as an armored charioteer.
"A champion named Goliath who was from Gath,
came out of the Philistine camp.
His height was six cubits and a span."
First Samuel 17:4.
We don't know what that information means at face value
because we don't measure things in cubits or spans.
We measure them in feet and inches.
So let us put it in layman's terms.
Goliath was a massive man, standing at least nine feet,
nine inches tall, and when you consider the length
of his arms when he lifted them up over his head,
you can imagine what an imposing creature he must have been.
It wasn't just his size though.
"He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat
of scale armor of bronze weighing 5,000 shekels.
On his legs, he wore bronze greaves
and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.
His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod
and its iron point weighed 600 shekels.
His shield bearer went ahead of him."
First Samuel 17:5-7 NIV.
He was dressed in what we'd call a mail coat.
The Philistines warmed up
by donning a large canvas-like undergarment
with overlapping bronze ringlets.
From shoulder to knee,
this coat of mail shielded the wearer
from the enemy's weapons.
Body armor of this size and type weighed 5,000 shekels
of bronze, which equates to between 175 and 200 pounds
in modern terms.
The armor only included the coat of mail.
Goliath, on the other hand, wore a bronze helmet,
bronze leggings, greaves to protect his shins
and carried a bronze javelin
or spear slung between his shoulders.
The head of his spear alone weighed 600 shekels
of iron or about 20 to 25 pounds.
According to the written account,
he marched ahead of him with a shield carrier.
The Hebrew word used here refers
to the largest battle shield,
which is the size of an adult man.
It was unmistakably intended to protect his body
from incoming arrows.
So in addition to his body armor,
Goliath had this guy racing ahead of him,
wielding a man-sized shield for extra protection.
Allow your mind to picture
such an imposing sight for a moment.
Consider how terrifying it would've been to take
on a giant of this size who is protected by this much armor.
Without a doubt, the odds are stacked
against anyone foolish enough to confront him in battle.
Take note of what this gigantic warrior did.
"Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel,
'Why do you come out and line up for battle?
Am I not a Philistine and are you not the servants of Saul?
Choose a man and have him come down to me.
If he is able to fight and kill me,
we will become your subjects.
But if I overcome him and kill him,
you'll become our subjects and serve us.'"
Samuel 17:8 and 9.
Goliath proposed a popular strategy in eastern civilization,
namely representative combat or one-on-one conflict.
He'd represent the Philistine army
while Israel's choice would represent the Israelite army
and whoever lost, his entire army perished.
There's no reason to involve your entire army in this.
Just send a fighter and I'll fight him.
I am the victor.
I am the best.
Goliath did not issue this challenge once,
and then disappear.
No. This challenge lasted 40 days.
For 40 days,
the Philistine came forward every morning
and evening and took his stand.
First Samuel 17:16.
"He marched out there every morning and evening
for well over a month, flaunting his size and strength,
daring someone to challenge him.
Meanwhile, in the Judean mountains near Bethlehem,
a young boy named David was tending to his father's sheep."
He was much too young to join the army.
In reality, David was much likely unaware
of the conflict between the Israelites and the Philistines
at that time.
He might not have even heard of Goliath.
His only knowledge was that three of his older brothers
were serving in Saul's army.
On the other hand,
David's father was concerned about his three eldest sons.
Jesse was getting older
and would probably be unable to complete the journey
across the mountains on his own.
So he called his youngest and told him,
"David, I need you to run an errand for me.
Take now for your brothers in ephah of this roasted grain
and these 10 loafs and run to the camp to your brothers.
Bring also these 10 cuts of cheese
to the commander of their thousand and look into the welfare
of your brothers, and bring back news of them."
First Samuel 17:17 and 18.
"And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep
with a keeper and took and went as Jesse had commanded him.
And he came to the trench as the host was going forth
to the fight and shouted for the battle."
1 Samuel 17:20.
"Then as he approaches the outskirts of the Israeli camp,
he notices the troops preparing
for battle and hears the war cry.
He simply wants to observe and see what happens.
Then David dashed to the front lines to greet his brothers,
leaving his luggage in the care of the baggage handler.
David left his things with the keeper of supplies,
ran to the battle lines
and asked his brothers how they were.
As he was talking with them,
Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath,
stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance
and David heard it first."
Samuel 17:22 and 23.
Consider the following scenario.
While standing there with his three brothers,
David hears a loud cry
from across the valley and instantly,
everyone in his immediate vicinity is sprinting to the back
and crawling inside their tents and all the men
of Israel when they saw the man fled from him
and were so afraid.
1 Samuel 17:24.
Keep in mind that David has never seen
or heard of this Gath giant's challenge.
As he looks across the battlefield, he sees a giant
of a man covered in armor, shouting threats in defiance
and cursing the God of Israel.
And David was enraged by this.
Remember, this is the 41st day
that the Israelites have faced Goliath
but this is the first time it has happened to David.
Then David spoke to the men
who were standing by him and saying,
"What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine
and takes away the reproach from Israel
for who is this uncircumcised Philistine
that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"
And the people answered him in accord with his word, saying,
"Thus, it will be done for the man who kills him."
First Samuel 17:26-27.
David then meets King Saul.
David said to Saul,
"Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine.
Your servant will go and fight him."
Saul replied, "You are not able to go out
against this Philistine and fight him.
You are only a young man
and he has been a warrior from his youth."
But David said to Saul,
"Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep.
When a lion or a bear came
and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it,
struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.
When it turned on me,
I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear.
This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them
because he has defied the armies of the living God.
The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion
and the paw of the bear will rescue me.
from the hand of this Philistine."
Saul said to David,
"Go, and the Lord will be with you."
Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic.
He put a coat of armor on him and bronze helmet on his hand.
David fastened on his sword over the tunic
and tried walking around because he was not used to them.
"I cannot go in these," he said to Saul,
"because I am not used to them."
So he took them off.
Then he took a staff in his hand,
chose five smooth stones from the stream,
put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag
and with his sling in his hand,
approached the Philistine.
First Samuel 17:32-40.
So here's David dressed in his most basic shepherd robes
and armed with his most basic shepherd weapons,
his sling and his staff and ready to fight.
Then there's the watershed moment.
Meanwhile, the Philistine with a shield bearer
in front of him kept coming closer to David.
He looked David over and saw
that he was a little more than a boy,
glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.
He said to David,
"Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?"
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
"Come here, he said, "and I'll give your flesh
to the birds and of the wild animals."
David said to the Philistine,
"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin
but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hands
and I will strike you down and cut off your head.
This very day, I will give the carcasses
of the Philistine army to the birds and of the wild animals
and the whole world will know
that there is a God in Israel."
first Samuel 17:41-46.
Consider the possibilities.
David remained unafraid in the face of this monstrous beast.
David's only weapons were a sling and a stone
against a giant clad in 200 pounds of armor.
One stone shot through the air with a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh
and that was the end of it.
Goliath was reduced to a size of a bag of rocks.
All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword
or spear that the Lord saves for the battle is the Lord's.
He will give all of you into our hands.
As the Philistine moved closer to attack him,
David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him,
reaching into his bag and taking out a stone.
He slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead.
The stone sank into his forehead
and he fell face down on the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling
and a stone.
Without a sword in his hand,
he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
David ran and stood over him.
He took hold of the Philistine sword
and drew it from the sheath.
After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead,
they turned and ran.
First Samuel 17:47-51.
The Philistines did not return after that.
When they realized their champion was no longer alive,
they split the scene.
Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward
with a shout and pursued the Philistines
to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron.
Their dead were strewn
along the Shaaraim Road to Gath and Ekron.
When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines,
they plundered their camp.
First Samuel 17:52-53.
Then David brought the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem.
David took the Philistine's head
and brought it to Jerusalem.
He put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
First Samuel 17:54.
Biblical story of David and Goliath
is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible.
It is a lesson in bravery, faith
and overcoming the seemingly impossible.
Was Goliath a Nephilim?
Some scholars believe that Goliath, the Gittite,
a Gath resident, belonged to a race known as the Nephilim.
Other experts argue that Goliath was a Rephaite
because the Nephilim were destroyed in the great flood
during Noah's time.
Only Noah's family survived.
Nearly 20 times in the Bible,
the Nephites are mentioned.
Deuteronomy 2:11 and Deuteronomy 20:22,
Joshua 12:4.
Deuteronomy 3:11-13.
"For only Og, King of Bashan,
remained of the remnant of giants.
Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron;
is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon?
Nine cubits was the length thereof,
and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer,
which is by the river Arnon,
and half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof,
gave I unto the Reubenites
and to the Gadites and the rest of Gilead,
and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og.
Gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh.
All the region of Argob,
with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants."
Some scholars believed the Philistines descended
from the Anakim.
Goliath's champion status is enhanced by the fact
that Gath was an ancient Anakim stronghold.
Some scientists believe Goliath
has an identifiable family tree,
implying autosomal dominant inheritance,
which causes familial acromegaly or giantism.
In biblical times,
Goliath was a colossal figure.
The relations of Goliath.
There are also other giants mentioned
in Second Samuel 21:15-22 and First Chronicles 20:4-8,
who were related to Goliath in the Bible.
Second Samuel 21:15-22.
"Moreover, the Philistines had yet war again with Israel,
and David went down, and his servants with him and fought
against the Philistines and David waxed faint.
And Ishbibenob, which was one of the sons of the giant,
the weight of whose spear weighed 300 shekels
of brass in weight,
he being girded with a new sword,
thought to have slain David.
But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah succoured him,
and smoked the Philistine and killed him.
Than the men of David sware onto him, saying,
'Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle
that thou quench not the light of Israel.'
And it came to pass after this
that there was again a battle
with the Philistines at Gob:
then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph,
which was of the sons of the giant.
And there was again a battle in Gob
with the Philistines where E;hanan the son of Jaareoregim,
a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath, the Gittite,
the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
And there was yet a battle in Gath,
where was a man of great stature,
that had on every hand, six fingers,
and on every foot, six toes, 4 and 20 in number;
and he also was born to the giant.
And when he defied Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimea,
the brother of David slew him.
These four were born to the giant in Gath,
and fell by the hand of David,
and by the hand of his servants."
First Chronicles 20:4-8.
"And it came to pass after this,
that there arose a war at Gezer with the Philistines:
at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai
that was of the children of the giant:
and they were subdued.
And there was a war again with the Philistines;
and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi,
the brother of Goliath the Gittite,
whose spear-staff was like a weaver's beam.
And yet again, there was war at Gath,
where a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes
were 4 and 20, 6 on each hand and 6 on each foot:
and he also was the son of the giant.
But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea,
David's brother, slew him.
These were born under the giant in Gath,
and they fell by the hand of David,
and by the hand of his servants."
These were Ishbibenob,
whose bronze spearhead weighed 300 shekels
or 3.42 kilograms or 7.5 pounds.
Saf, Lahmi brother of Goliath who had a spear
with a shaft like a weaver's rod and an unnamed warrior,
a huge man with six fingers on each hand
and six toes on each foot, 24 in all.
The story of Goliath in the Bible attests
to God's mighty power and great strength over his enemies,
even in the face of overwhelming odds.
The story of Goliath in the Bible teaches us
that even if we are currently battling big enemies,
and giant problems
that our threatening our peace and livelihood,
our Almighty Creator will protect
and deliver us from all the challenges of this life.