2 Samuel 21:15-22

2 Samuel 21, beginning with verse 15. Moreover, the Philistines had yet war again with Israel. David went down and his servants with him and fought against the Philistines, and David waxed faint. And Ishby Binob, which was one of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed 300 shekels of brass and wax. He, being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. But Abishai, the son of Zariah, succored him, and smote the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swear unto 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 Seba, Sabachi, the Hush-Hathite, slew slooth, which was of the sons of the giant. There was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Al-Hannan, the son of Jarre, Abephalemite, slew the brother of Goliath, the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s bean. There was yet a battle in Gath where was a man of great statue that had on every hand six fingers and in every foot, six toes, 24 and 20 in number, and he also was born to the giant. 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. God blessed to us the reading of his holy and sacred word. This evening. In 1930s, there was a young boxer by the name of Joe Lewis who was trying to capture the heavyweight crown. And on June 20, 23rd, 1935, he was scheduled to fight Primo Cavera from Italy. He was known as the Ambling Alp. Crenera was a circus strong man, and he actually won the heavyweight championship a few years earlier. But he was six foot six inches tall. He was quite a man, huge man. He weighed 65 pounds more than Lewis and so. So the sports writers, seeing that this was a David versus Goliah situation, asked Lewis, how can you expect to prevail in this fight? And his answer was, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And, of course, he went out and defeated and knocked out Carnara and won the fight. Our text here provides a military. report. It alludes to some suspenseful and rather scary moments where it seemed like in these battles with David against the Philistines that even his life was in danger at one point. The passage records the fact that four fearsome giants fell before David and his men. They met the same fate as Carnara. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Only in this case, of course, it was a fatal fall. They would trouble the nation of Israel no more. It appears these incidents occurred during the latter part of David’s reign. After the episode that we studied previously in verses 1 to 14, where favor was restored to the nation after the Gibionite problem that we discussed and last week. This is an example of how God brings about the downfall of the enemies of the kingdom of God. What happened in David’s day is meant to encourage us when we are confronted by a formidable foe. And we see that God gives his people victory. Let me begin tonight by saying this. with the kingdom of God, much depends upon God preserving one person. You’ll notice in verses 15 to 17 here, you find Ishby Binob’s attack upon David fails. This evidently it was the last time that David went into battle. He’s getting older and evidently he was the last time that David went into battle. He was still engaging in battle in some capacity. And the Philistines, which were a perpetual enemy of the Israelites, once again, attacked the people of God. They were on the warpath. David and his men attacked them in their own land at Gob here. I’m not sure exactly where this place is. Most people believe it is located near Gath. Maybe one of the outlying villages. but in the neighborhood of Gap. David, as brave as ever, is out there in the battlefield, but he waxes faint. And the Philistine giant thought he could overpower him and kill him. And we see him attempting to do that. Now, he was formidably armed here. His spear, or at least his spearhead weighed seven or eight pounds. It was heavy. And he was girded with something. new. You’ll notice that the word sword is in the italics here. The King James adds the word sword. It could indeed be a new sword. It could be some type of armor. We’re just not told, we’re told exactly what it was, but something new that he had. And it gave him a little extra confidence with his size and with this new item, he thought he could wade through and get to David and kill him. him, break through the lines, and take advantage of David’s weakness and kill him. David was in grave danger. However, Abishai, one of David’s commanders, and certainly who’s been with him throughout much of his reign here, rushes to David’s rescued, tangles with Ish by Binob, and strikes him down. whether or not David had any hand in the actual finishing off of this giant, I’m not sure. Verse 22 indicates that they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants, so it’s possible that he let David finish him off. But either way, this giant is put to death. This was a close call, and David’s men said, you’re not going out anymore to battle. They made a new military policy. see, king stays home, he doesn’t go out and fight on the battlefield anymore. But what we see here is that the Lord preserved David at this time, through the skill and the courage here of Abishat. And so we see how that God preserved the key person in this situation. Now, you learn from this that God preserves his key servants. In God’s kingdom, there are many times when much depends on one particular individual. They seem to be essential to the cause of Jesus Christ at that time period. And their gifts, their learning, their leadership are vital for the overall state of the church. A certain light would have gone out for God’s kingdom if they had been put to death by the enemies of the people. of God. Think of the Reformation. And what a difference it would have made if the Roman Catholic Church had put to death Luther, or put to death Kelvin, when they attempted to execute them. The truth is, a servant of God is immortal until they are finished with the task that God has given them. God is not going to let anything happen to. God’s providence carefully preserves you, so no harm comes to you. Think about it. In the past. Israel’s deliverer from Egypt, Moses. Was there any chance that Moses was going to die by the hand of Pharaoh, be cast into the Nile, or be put to death? Was there any chance that that was going to happen? No. God was going to preserve him. Was there any chance that the prophet Elijah would be snuffed out by Ahab or Jezebel who put a death warrant on his head? Was that ever going to happen? No? Because as long as he had work to do, God was going to preserve him. There was no chance of God’s chosen king, David, being put to death by Saul when he hunted him down or when his enemies tried to destroy. It wasn’t going to happen because God was going to preserve David and put him on the throne. And he would accomplish his purpose. There was no chance that God’s appointed missionary to the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul would be killed by robbers on the road or by shipwreck or by the idol worshippers or by any other means that the Jews concocted to try to put him to death before his time to die. He was going to accomplish the mission that God had sent him on and God preserved him throughout all those things that occurred in his life. Think about. about the key servant, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And when he came to this earth, could he be murdered by any of his enemies before he had completed his public ministry? How many times did they try to put him to death? His hour had not yet come and they couldn’t touch him. When John Bunyan was a young boy, there was a poisonous adder that rose up against them. He was foolish enough to grab snake in his hand and then pluck out its deadly fangs and without being harmed. Later when Bunyan was in military service, it was his turn to stand guard duty at the siege of Nottingham and someone else volunteered to take his place and hear that person was shot and killed later that day and he was spared. If Bunyan had died during either of those instances, think about the precious books that we would not have had, like Pilgrim’s Progress, or the Holy War, or the life and death of Mr. Badman, or a few sighs from Howe, or one of these other books that he wrote. God’s Providence spares those who will serve a vital role in advancing his kingdom until God’s time is ready for to take that person home. So often with the kingdom of God much depends on God preserving one person. And here, it was David that God is preserving. Notice something else here. That God honors the exploits of those serving his kingdom. In verses 17 to 21, we find the historic or heroic, if you want, exploits of those serving God’s king. And they’re all mentioned by name here. Bishai, Sebeki, Al-Hannon, Jonathan. We even get the full, you know, who their father was and so forth. They were the son of so-and-so-and-and. So they get full recognition here. Now, we do not stand before you and say, oh, I know what the spiritual condition of each one of these individuals actually is. I can’t tell you that. But because they fought for the Covenant people, because they were under Jehovah’s King when they were fighting, they were at least considered as God’s servants. It’s interesting that this military record mentioned. each by their full name. It gives them full credit here in this section of scripture. Now I have to stop for a moment here and look at verse 19. Normally I don’t do this, but I think this is important enough for us to pause for a moment and look at this verse. It says here, there was a battle in Gob with the Philistines where Al-Hannan, the son of Jarre, Oregon, a Bethlehemite slew the brother of Goliath, the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. You’ll notice that the word brother here is rightly supplied, but it’s placed in this text. It’s in italics, you’ll notice. Some translations improperly say Al-Hannon slew Goliath contradicting the account. of 1 Samuel chapter 17. In fact, just from quickly looking through what I could find today, the ASV, the NASV, the N-A-V, the N-I-V, the amplified, the ESV, all say that Al-Hannon killed Goliath. The problem I see here is that people begin to cast doubt on the Word of God when they come to this passage of Scripture. It’s interesting. I read a publication that was relating information about the winter of 1928 when the American standard version first came out. It changed this particular wording here and just said Al-Hannon killed Goliath. I think that was the the 1901 edition. But in 1928, there was an article entitled, Who Killed Goliath? And in the spring of 1929, there was another one that came out. The dispute about Goliath, and attention was called to the fact of this change. A special cablegram from some of the most learned and devoted scholars of the Church of England said in substance that this revised version was correct, that Al-Hannan, and not David killed Goliath, and that there are many other things in the Bible, which were the product of exaggeration, such as the story of Noah and the Ark, such as Jonah and the Whale, and of the Garden of Eden, and the longevity of Methuselah, and so forth and so on. And so there was an undermining of the Word of God. How do we know which is right and what is true? Well, what’s the best interpret? of scripture itself, right? Look with me in the book of First Chronicles, chapter 20, verse 5. We read here, and there was war again with the Philistines, and Al Hanan, the son of Jair, slew Lami, the brother of Goliath, the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam. So here you have a very clear statement, no italics at all, stating that it was the brotherer, of Goliath here that is slain. Now, you might say, well, how come it’s not in the text? Well, what we’ll find in scripture, and this occasionally, it’s assumed rather than stating. And thus, sometimes you’ll find that there is something like this that might be omitted, and it might indicate saying of Goliath or something. when you’re, assumes that you know it’s the brother of Goliath that talking about. We find it in a New Testament frequently. If you want to look at a couple of occasions, look at Matthew chapter 1 and verse 6, if you were with me. And Jesse begat David the king, and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urius. Now, you notice that that had been the wife there is in italics. That’s been added. But if we thought about the one, you know, her of Urius, we would think, oh, it’s the wife of Uriahs. That’s what is left for your understanding. and it’s assumed that you will know that that’s what he’s speaking about. You find it, look at John 1925 also. Now, there stood by the cross of Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife, You notice it’s in Talix, the wife of Cleopis and Mary Magnelly. Mary of Cleopis. And it’s assumed that you know that this is the wife of Cleopis. We can see this several places where the word mother, the son, and even the word brother is found in this way. Look at Luke, if you would, chapter 6, verse 16. I won’t weary you with this. tonight looking through all these passages, but let’s look at this one with the word brother in it. Luke 616, when the disciples of Christ are mentioned, we read, and Judas, the brother, italicized here, and Judas of James, and Judas Ascariot, which was also the traitor. And you’ll notice that the brother here is supplied. Now, if you look at Jude and verse 1, when we read about this Jude, what do we read here? Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother James. So obviously, that’s exactly what the scripture is teaching. So when you come to a passage like this, we all, we have to be careful that we don’t. and say, oh, well, you see, you can’t be sure what the Bible’s actually saying, yes, you can be sure what the Bible’s actually said. And the scripture indicates to us what we need to know, or we should know from the fact that, you know, Goliath got killed very early on in David’s life, that here late in his life, it can’t be Goliath being killed again. It has to be some relative of his, in this case, a brother. I mention all that just for your benefit, and hopefully you will realize that the Word of God, don’t let it be undermined by people who would come to a passage like this and try to undermine it. Al-Hannon was one of David’s Mighty Men. He was a valiant commander. We’ll be seeing that, I think, in Chapter 23. In the section on the Mighty Man, he’s called the Son of David. Dodo. Here he’s called the son of Jare, which is a famous forefather. Remember the line of Judah went Judah, then Fares from Tamar. Then there’s Hezron, Siegub, and Jair. Seigab and Jair. Seagum married a woman from Manassas, so they had an attachment to that tribe. And so you have the Jair come out of that line there, and they rolled over some 60 cities in the Manassah area, and they were called the towns of Jair. Al-Honan’s brother, Elie Azar, was one of the three special mighty men. So both he and his brother were really warriors, if you would. So these brave men risked their lives to do these extraordinary deeds. And while all praise belongs to God, surely his… His instruments here are given honorable mention. God makes sure that he mentions them, even though we know ultimately everything depends upon God. But you find here the historic heroic exploits of those serving God’s king. Now, you learn from this that God gives honor to those who do exploits for his kingdom. the same principle actually operates in the New Testament. All you have to do is go to the end of some of Paul’s epistles, and you see a list of names of people who served in the kingdom, to help the kingdom of God or help Paul and his missionary work in some capacity or another. Little catalogs, if you would, of the heroes of the faith. Hebrews 11 gives us the ones that really stand up in the Old Testament. But in the epistles themselves, you’ve read about in Romans 16, for example, Phoebe, a succor or helper of many and of myself also. Priscilla and Aquila, who for my life laid down or risked their neck, he says, that I might be spared. Mary, who bestowed much labor on us, Persis, who labored much in the Lord, the house of Stephanus, who had dicted the house of Stephanus, who had dicted the themselves to the ministry of the word. They’re mentioned. We could go on and on. But God does mention people in the New Testament and gives them honor. Perhaps the most famous one of all of these is Mary. I want you to look with me at Matthew 26, if you would, in beginning with verse 6. Now, when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman, having an alabaster box of very precious ointment and poured it on his head as he sat at meat. And when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying to what purpose is this waste? This ointment might have been sold for much and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said under them, why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always. with you, but me, ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say in you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. Whenever you read the gospel of Matthew here, and I don’t care what language it’s true, translated in, and he could translate it in all the languages of the world, Mary’s account here that what she did is always going to be remembered. It’s recorded here. There are many deeds of emperors and kings and great military men who, you know, their history is written in the dust. But here is one little humble woman here honoring Christ with regard to his burial, and it’s remembered forever. Remembered forever. It was done to honor Christ. And what’s done to honor Christ is not forgotten by Christ. The son of David. You know, the praises of men last only a few days. The praises of Christ last forever, a lifetime and beyond. So the path of lasting honor, then, is to live and to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly we can look at many of God’s servants, and perhaps we can’t match. some of the bravery that was shown in fighting these giants. But here’s what the scripture says in Hebrews 610. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward his name, and that you have ministered to the saints and to the minister. God says, I won’t forget about it. Why, remember to Jesus said, if we give a cup of cold water in his name, it will be remembered and rewarded. So when you, serve Christ, even those things that perhaps are done in secret, so will someday be shouted on the house stops, and you will be honored by the Lord for it. My third thought tonight is this. God sustains his kingdom by defeating the fearsome enemies of his people. We see this in verse 16, verse 18, verse 20, and verse 22, when we see each one of these giants falling before David’s men. You find God saving his people here from these fearsome enemies. God promised in 2 Samuel 318 by the hand of my servant, David, I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and he does. So God is fulfilling his promise. David and his men prevailed against these formidable individuals because God’s power rested upon them. and enabled them to do this. At least one of these giants is mentioned that like Goliath as defying the defying Israel. You get a picture here of perhaps the arrogance of these men. The idea that the world always thinks that size matters, that victory always goes to the strongest. And what we find in this text of scripture is, no, it does it. no it doesn’t didn’t they learn anything from Goliath’s death? Didn’t they figure it out that when God is on your side, even a young David could take out of Goliath. In the case of this last giant, Jonathan, one of the sons of David’s brother, does the honors. Mr. Six digits here gets taken out by him. and so all these giants perish. Man glories in strength, God shows the folly of that. And when God is with you, formidable foes are fallen. You learn here that God’s promised protection proves to be firm. No weapon formed against you. God’s people shall prevail. You know all the hafewful and puffing of your foes, all their threats, all their reproaches, all their mocking, all their defiance means nothing. It’s vain confidence is what we see. It’s true that sometimes you have to face giants. As you’re reading along in the Pilgrim’s Progress as Mr. Christian is making his way. He’s, he, enters a certain valley and he sees blood and bones and ashes and mangled bodies of men. Some pilgrims passing by that way had been killed by two giants who lived in a nearby cave. These giants came out and killed them. And Bunyan calls these two giants Pope and pagan. Their power, by their tyranny, by their savagen, they had cruelly put to death these travelers. Mr. Christian passed by safely because he said at this time they were getting older. They weren’t as fast as they used to be. And so he saw a decay in both the Roman Catholic Church and the paganism. So he thought that, so he put that in there in the storyline. However, in our day, it seems like these giants are getting some resurgence or some life again. The Roman Catholic Church still powerfully opposes Christ’s kingdom. Whenever they rise to power in any nation, particularly you’ll notice this in South America, but Spain and some other places where you talk to some missionaries that have, the opposition there, is quite strong. And paganism, if we could just mention the Islamic state today, and think about the danger that poses for even our modern world. As they go into many countries, and try to wipe out any sign of any Christian faith. So these two giants, Pope and pagan, would prevail much more, but the Lord won’t let them. The Lord prevents them from doing so. The Roman Catholic Church still hurls its anathemas against the child of God, and pagan still seeks to devire all who come within their reach. In our own country, We should realize that a hostile government is a giant that we face as the people of God. And we find that they seek to crush the true remnants of Christianity, it seems, in our own country, or at least there’s a lot more hostility today than it was when I was growing up toward the Christian faith. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the herity. of the servants of the Lord, Isaiah 57, or 5417. So I speak this to you tonight to encourage you. This is the witness that God has given us that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. Ultimately, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to put down every enemy of his kingdom. Crush everyone underfoot. Giants are not. will all fall and eventually God’s people would be freed at every one of them. And so we see this tonight as we look at this text of scripture. I’m reminded of that phrase from Joe Lewis, the bigger there are, the harder they fall. And the giants we oppose, we find opposing us today, it’ll be the same way. Christ is our king and he’s a giant slayer. Let us close with a word of prayer tonight.