Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "david"
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 1
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so some one spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so some one spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 2
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
We paused our last lesson by noting that we Christians often are spiritually immature in our understanding of the Bible. Allow me to give one more example of spiritually obtuse thinking vis-à-vis the Bible. In our Bible verses quoted at the commencement of this study, the Philistine “giant” Goliath daily challenged the Israelites to send out their champion warrior to fight him. Whoever won the fight would be accredited with winning the war for his people, and the other people would be their slaves.
Well, Goliath is a bit on the large size—oh, think head and shoulders above Shaquille O’Neal. All the Israelites cowered before his blustering. Israel needed a Michael Jordan to step forward, but instead they got timorous mice who hid in their holes.
One day while Goliath was fuming his morning rant, David ben Jesse brought some food from home to his three oldest brothers who were on the battlefield with the other Israelite soldiers. When he heard the blasphemy against the God of Israel spewing from Goliath’s lips, he looked around at the Israelite troops and was astonished. Not a soul would stand up and honor the name of God by defeating this giant moron, Goliath.
So David told King Saul, “Not to worry, O King. I’ll whop him for ya’.”
King Saul pointed out to David that Goliath had been trained from his “youth” to be a mighty soldier, an expert in the art of war. On the other hand David was simply a “youth”, so he wasn’t equipped to confront such a gigantic warrior. Then Saul added, “Thanks but no thanks, son. Take yourself home and leave the fighting to us men.” Like there were any “men” to be seen on the side of Israel that day!
Let’s cut to the chase. Saul’s word to describe David, i.e., a youth or a young man, has given rise to thinking in a vacuum. It is commonly assumed that David killed Goliath when he was only ten or twelve years old, maybe even younger! After all, he was a youth. The word and its connotation is imagined in terms of today’s imagery. But that is to take the word out of context. As Rule #1 for Bible study states, a text without a context is a pretext. So let’s consider the word within the context of those days, rather than in the context of today.
The Hebrew word is na‘ar. It means “a young man” or “a youth”. The wording is used of teenagers today. Sometimes we refer to our teenagers as “young adults”, which in today’s immature society is wishful thinking. Sorry, teenagers who read this. Don’t know you personally, but I do know our society.
Wow! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We must be having fun because we’re already out of time for today. See you tomorrow, same time, same channel.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We paused our last lesson by noting that we Christians often are spiritually immature in our understanding of the Bible. Allow me to give one more example of spiritually obtuse thinking vis-à-vis the Bible. In our Bible verses quoted at the commencement of this study, the Philistine “giant” Goliath daily challenged the Israelites to send out their champion warrior to fight him. Whoever won the fight would be accredited with winning the war for his people, and the other people would be their slaves.
Well, Goliath is a bit on the large size—oh, think head and shoulders above Shaquille O’Neal. All the Israelites cowered before his blustering. Israel needed a Michael Jordan to step forward, but instead they got timorous mice who hid in their holes.
One day while Goliath was fuming his morning rant, David ben Jesse brought some food from home to his three oldest brothers who were on the battlefield with the other Israelite soldiers. When he heard the blasphemy against the God of Israel spewing from Goliath’s lips, he looked around at the Israelite troops and was astonished. Not a soul would stand up and honor the name of God by defeating this giant moron, Goliath.
So David told King Saul, “Not to worry, O King. I’ll whop him for ya’.”
King Saul pointed out to David that Goliath had been trained from his “youth” to be a mighty soldier, an expert in the art of war. On the other hand David was simply a “youth”, so he wasn’t equipped to confront such a gigantic warrior. Then Saul added, “Thanks but no thanks, son. Take yourself home and leave the fighting to us men.” Like there were any “men” to be seen on the side of Israel that day!
Let’s cut to the chase. Saul’s word to describe David, i.e., a youth or a young man, has given rise to thinking in a vacuum. It is commonly assumed that David killed Goliath when he was only ten or twelve years old, maybe even younger! After all, he was a youth. The word and its connotation is imagined in terms of today’s imagery. But that is to take the word out of context. As Rule #1 for Bible study states, a text without a context is a pretext. So let’s consider the word within the context of those days, rather than in the context of today.
The Hebrew word is na‘ar. It means “a young man” or “a youth”. The wording is used of teenagers today. Sometimes we refer to our teenagers as “young adults”, which in today’s immature society is wishful thinking. Sorry, teenagers who read this. Don’t know you personally, but I do know our society.
Wow! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We must be having fun because we’re already out of time for today. See you tomorrow, same time, same channel.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 3
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
Let’s continue right where we left off yesterday. We were talking about the word “youth”, as it was used to portray David when he fought Goliath. We need to understand it in the context of Old Testament Israel in the Promised Land under the Law of Moses, not in terms of today.
Back in Old Testament Israel the Law of Moses set the age of military service at “twenty years old and upward”. It was the age of accountability for Israelite males. Those younger were “youth” or “young men” (i.e., na‘ar). David was a na‘ar. Goliath began his military training when he was still a na‘ar. David was less than twenty years old when he killed Goliath. He was NOT a “little boy”. That is not the definition of na‘ar, dear friends.
David had seven brothers, and he was the youngest male sibling in the family. The words and depictions of David in the chapters preceding and following 1 Samuel 17, as well as in chapter 17 itself, do not lead us to envision a “boy”. We see a person who was old enough and strong enough to do manly things. Imagine a teenager, say 18 or 19 years old, who played offensive left tackle on the football team today.
David was no “giant” like Goliath, but he was a seasoned young man who fought lions and bears when those critters attacked his sheep. This was because David knew the Lord and daily spent time with Him. When he killed Goliath he was already playing the harp for King Saul. It was while playing the harp that David wrote his Psalms, many of which we have in the Bible. This demonstrates that David knew the Lord already at this time—knew the Lord not just as being saved but as demonstrating spiritual maturity to an extent. This takes a little age, a little seasoning from life’s experiences and learning, in order to learn how to depend on the Lord.
David said as much to King Saul, when he volunteered to fight Goliath. He said as much to Goliath when he charged at him with his sling and stones. “You, Goliath, have insulted the God of Israel, so He has given your life into my hands!” That’s basically what David said. Little boys don’t do that!
In terms of pure military abilities, and adding size and training to the equation, David was no match for Goliath. He knew that! He wasn’t depending on himself. He depended on the Lord to defeat the giant. David merely made himself available to the Lord and was happy to do so. That is what we need to learn from the David vs. Goliath saga, not that this kindergartner stomped on the head of the giant. For that story you should read Jack and the Beanstalk!
Let’s not be content to be spiritually obtuse with the Bible, dear friends. Let’s take it seriously and spend time daily with the Word of God and the Lord Jesus, so that He can teach us His Word and spiritually mature us. It’s much more delightful to be spiritual adults than spiritual delinquents. Baby twaddle is indecorous in adults. Let’s make Jesus proud of us, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Let’s continue right where we left off yesterday. We were talking about the word “youth”, as it was used to portray David when he fought Goliath. We need to understand it in the context of Old Testament Israel in the Promised Land under the Law of Moses, not in terms of today.
Back in Old Testament Israel the Law of Moses set the age of military service at “twenty years old and upward”. It was the age of accountability for Israelite males. Those younger were “youth” or “young men” (i.e., na‘ar). David was a na‘ar. Goliath began his military training when he was still a na‘ar. David was less than twenty years old when he killed Goliath. He was NOT a “little boy”. That is not the definition of na‘ar, dear friends.
David had seven brothers, and he was the youngest male sibling in the family. The words and depictions of David in the chapters preceding and following 1 Samuel 17, as well as in chapter 17 itself, do not lead us to envision a “boy”. We see a person who was old enough and strong enough to do manly things. Imagine a teenager, say 18 or 19 years old, who played offensive left tackle on the football team today.
David was no “giant” like Goliath, but he was a seasoned young man who fought lions and bears when those critters attacked his sheep. This was because David knew the Lord and daily spent time with Him. When he killed Goliath he was already playing the harp for King Saul. It was while playing the harp that David wrote his Psalms, many of which we have in the Bible. This demonstrates that David knew the Lord already at this time—knew the Lord not just as being saved but as demonstrating spiritual maturity to an extent. This takes a little age, a little seasoning from life’s experiences and learning, in order to learn how to depend on the Lord.
David said as much to King Saul, when he volunteered to fight Goliath. He said as much to Goliath when he charged at him with his sling and stones. “You, Goliath, have insulted the God of Israel, so He has given your life into my hands!” That’s basically what David said. Little boys don’t do that!
In terms of pure military abilities, and adding size and training to the equation, David was no match for Goliath. He knew that! He wasn’t depending on himself. He depended on the Lord to defeat the giant. David merely made himself available to the Lord and was happy to do so. That is what we need to learn from the David vs. Goliath saga, not that this kindergartner stomped on the head of the giant. For that story you should read Jack and the Beanstalk!
Let’s not be content to be spiritually obtuse with the Bible, dear friends. Let’s take it seriously and spend time daily with the Word of God and the Lord Jesus, so that He can teach us His Word and spiritually mature us. It’s much more delightful to be spiritual adults than spiritual delinquents. Baby twaddle is indecorous in adults. Let’s make Jesus proud of us, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 1
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so someone spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so someone spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 2
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
We paused our last lesson by noting that we Christians often are spiritually immature in our understanding of the Bible. Allow me to give one more example of spiritually obtuse thinking vis-à-vis the Bible. In our Bible verses quoted at the commencement of this study, the Philistine “giant” Goliath daily challenged the Israelites to send out their champion warrior to fight him. Whoever won the fight would be accredited with winning the war for his people, and the other people would be their slaves.
Well, Goliath is a bit on the large size—oh, think head and shoulders above Shaquille O’Neal. All the Israelites cowered before his blustering. Israel needed a Michael Jordan to step forward, but instead they got timorous mice who hid in their holes.
One day while Goliath was fuming his morning rant, David ben Jesse brought some food from home to his three oldest brothers who were on the battlefield with the other Israelite soldiers. When he heard the blasphemy against the God of Israel spewing from Goliath’s lips, he looked around at the Israelite troops and was astonished. Not a soul would stand up and honor the name of God by defeating this giant moron, Goliath.
So David told King Saul, “Not to worry, O King. I’ll whop him for ya’.”
King Saul pointed out to David that Goliath had been trained from his “youth” to be a mighty soldier, an expert in the art of war. On the other hand David was simply a “youth”, so he wasn’t equipped to confront such a gigantic warrior. Then Saul added, “Thanks but no thanks, son. Take yourself home and leave the fighting to us men.” Like there were any “men” to be seen on the side of Israel that day!
Let’s cut to the chase. Saul’s word to describe David, i.e., a youth or a young man, has given rise to thinking in a vacuum. It is commonly assumed that David killed Goliath when he was only ten or twelve years old, maybe even younger! After all, he was a youth. The word and its connotation is imagined in terms of today’s imagery. But that is to take the word out of context. As Rule #1 for Bible study states, a text without a context is a pretext. So let’s consider the word within the context of those days, rather than in the context of today.
The Hebrew word is na‘ar. It means “a young man” or “a youth”. The wording is used of teenagers today. Sometimes we refer to our teenagers as “young adults”, which in today’s immature society is wishful thinking. Sorry, teenagers who read this. Don’t know you personally, but I do know our society.
Wow! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We must be having fun because we’re already out of time for today. See you tomorrow, same time, same channel.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We paused our last lesson by noting that we Christians often are spiritually immature in our understanding of the Bible. Allow me to give one more example of spiritually obtuse thinking vis-à-vis the Bible. In our Bible verses quoted at the commencement of this study, the Philistine “giant” Goliath daily challenged the Israelites to send out their champion warrior to fight him. Whoever won the fight would be accredited with winning the war for his people, and the other people would be their slaves.
Well, Goliath is a bit on the large size—oh, think head and shoulders above Shaquille O’Neal. All the Israelites cowered before his blustering. Israel needed a Michael Jordan to step forward, but instead they got timorous mice who hid in their holes.
One day while Goliath was fuming his morning rant, David ben Jesse brought some food from home to his three oldest brothers who were on the battlefield with the other Israelite soldiers. When he heard the blasphemy against the God of Israel spewing from Goliath’s lips, he looked around at the Israelite troops and was astonished. Not a soul would stand up and honor the name of God by defeating this giant moron, Goliath.
So David told King Saul, “Not to worry, O King. I’ll whop him for ya’.”
King Saul pointed out to David that Goliath had been trained from his “youth” to be a mighty soldier, an expert in the art of war. On the other hand David was simply a “youth”, so he wasn’t equipped to confront such a gigantic warrior. Then Saul added, “Thanks but no thanks, son. Take yourself home and leave the fighting to us men.” Like there were any “men” to be seen on the side of Israel that day!
Let’s cut to the chase. Saul’s word to describe David, i.e., a youth or a young man, has given rise to thinking in a vacuum. It is commonly assumed that David killed Goliath when he was only ten or twelve years old, maybe even younger! After all, he was a youth. The word and its connotation is imagined in terms of today’s imagery. But that is to take the word out of context. As Rule #1 for Bible study states, a text without a context is a pretext. So let’s consider the word within the context of those days, rather than in the context of today.
The Hebrew word is na‘ar. It means “a young man” or “a youth”. The wording is used of teenagers today. Sometimes we refer to our teenagers as “young adults”, which in today’s immature society is wishful thinking. Sorry, teenagers who read this. Don’t know you personally, but I do know our society.
Wow! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We must be having fun because we’re already out of time for today. See you tomorrow, same time, same channel.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 3
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
Let’s continue right where we left off yesterday. We were talking about the word “youth”, as it was used to portray David when he fought Goliath. We need to understand it in the context of Old Testament Israel in the Promised Land under the Law of Moses, not in terms of today.
Back in Old Testament Israel the Law of Moses set the age of military service at “twenty years old and upward”. It was the age of accountability for Israelite males. Those younger were “youth” or “young men” (i.e., na‘ar). David was a na‘ar. Goliath began his military training when he was still a na‘ar. David was less than twenty years old when he killed Goliath. He was NOT a “little boy”. That is not the definition of na‘ar, dear friends.
David had seven brothers, and he was the youngest male sibling in the family. The words and depictions of David in the chapters preceding and following 1 Samuel 17, as well as in chapter 17 itself, do not lead us to envision a “boy”. We see a person who was old enough and strong enough to do manly things. Imagine a teenager, say 18 or 19 years old, who played offensive left tackle on the football team today.
David was no “giant” like Goliath, but he was a seasoned young man who fought lions and bears when those critters attacked his sheep. This was because David knew the Lord and daily spent time with Him. When he killed Goliath he was already playing the harp for King Saul. It was while playing the harp that David wrote his Psalms, many of which we have in the Bible. This demonstrates that David knew the Lord already at this time—knew the Lord not just as being saved but as demonstrating spiritual maturity to an extent. This takes a little age, a little seasoning from life’s experiences and learning, in order to learn how to depend on the Lord.
David said as much to King Saul, when he volunteered to fight Goliath. He said as much to Goliath when he charged at him with his sling and stones. “You, Goliath, have insulted the God of Israel, so He has given your life into my hands!” That’s basically what David said. Little boys don’t do that!
In terms of pure military abilities, and adding size and training to the equation, David was no match for Goliath. He knew that! He wasn’t depending on himself. He depended on the Lord to defeat the giant. David merely made himself available to the Lord and was happy to do so. That is what we need to learn from the David vs. Goliath saga, not that this kindergartner stomped on the head of the giant. For that story you should read Jack
and the Beanstalk!
Let’s not be content to be spiritually obtuse with the Bible, dear friends. Let’s take it seriously and spend time daily with the Word of God and the Lord Jesus, so that He can teach us His Word and spiritually mature us. It’s much more delightful to be spiritual adults than spiritual delinquents. Baby twaddle is indecorous in adults. Let’s make Jesus proud of us, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Let’s continue right where we left off yesterday. We were talking about the word “youth”, as it was used to portray David when he fought Goliath. We need to understand it in the context of Old Testament Israel in the Promised Land under the Law of Moses, not in terms of today.
Back in Old Testament Israel the Law of Moses set the age of military service at “twenty years old and upward”. It was the age of accountability for Israelite males. Those younger were “youth” or “young men” (i.e., na‘ar). David was a na‘ar. Goliath began his military training when he was still a na‘ar. David was less than twenty years old when he killed Goliath. He was NOT a “little boy”. That is not the definition of na‘ar, dear friends.
David had seven brothers, and he was the youngest male sibling in the family. The words and depictions of David in the chapters preceding and following 1 Samuel 17, as well as in chapter 17 itself, do not lead us to envision a “boy”. We see a person who was old enough and strong enough to do manly things. Imagine a teenager, say 18 or 19 years old, who played offensive left tackle on the football team today.
David was no “giant” like Goliath, but he was a seasoned young man who fought lions and bears when those critters attacked his sheep. This was because David knew the Lord and daily spent time with Him. When he killed Goliath he was already playing the harp for King Saul. It was while playing the harp that David wrote his Psalms, many of which we have in the Bible. This demonstrates that David knew the Lord already at this time—knew the Lord not just as being saved but as demonstrating spiritual maturity to an extent. This takes a little age, a little seasoning from life’s experiences and learning, in order to learn how to depend on the Lord.
David said as much to King Saul, when he volunteered to fight Goliath. He said as much to Goliath when he charged at him with his sling and stones. “You, Goliath, have insulted the God of Israel, so He has given your life into my hands!” That’s basically what David said. Little boys don’t do that!
In terms of pure military abilities, and adding size and training to the equation, David was no match for Goliath. He knew that! He wasn’t depending on himself. He depended on the Lord to defeat the giant. David merely made himself available to the Lord and was happy to do so. That is what we need to learn from the David vs. Goliath saga, not that this kindergartner stomped on the head of the giant. For that story you should read Jack
and the Beanstalk!
Let’s not be content to be spiritually obtuse with the Bible, dear friends. Let’s take it seriously and spend time daily with the Word of God and the Lord Jesus, so that He can teach us His Word and spiritually mature us. It’s much more delightful to be spiritual adults than spiritual delinquents. Baby twaddle is indecorous in adults. Let’s make Jesus proud of us, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 1
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so someone spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I recall this silly story about a children’s Sunday School class. The teacher, Ms. Joy, habitually asked her kids a question and waited to see who would volunteer an answer. One time she asked them, “Okay, children. Who can tell me what has a long, bushy tail, jumps through trees, and eats nuts?”
Then she paused and awaited a response. Unlike normally, however, her kids remained totally silent. So she prodded them a bit, “Now don’t be bashful. I know you know the answer, so someone spit it out!”
Well, her students persisted with their vow of silence to the point it was becoming embarrassing. So Ms. Joy pleaded, “Please, someone answer the question!”
From the back of the room little Johnnie B. Goode raised his hand, and was Ms. Joy relieved. “Okay, Johnnie. What is the answer?”
To which Johnnie responded, “Well, it sounds like a squirrel to me. But since we’re in Sunday School class, I guess it’s got to be Jesus.”
Yes, I know…silly billy stuff. Nonetheless, there is a goodly amount of reality to it. We Christians today don’t value the Bible like our ancestors did in days of old. We’re distracted with TV and movies and computer games, with running from store to store and restaurant to restaurant, with hanging out and having a grand old time. Affluence does not foster spiritual maturity, you see: it stifles it!
We are so busy with ourselves, that we prefer to save time by reading a digest of the Bible in other people’s booklets about the Bible. What we should be doing is spending daily time alone with the Lord Jesus and allowing Him to teach us His Word.
Alas, but you get what you pay for. Little Bible in, little Bible out. Oodles of sawdust and ashes in, oodles of sawdust and ashes out. When it comes to knowing God and eternity, man’s words about the Bible are just that, sawdust and ashes. God gives us spiritual teachers to aid us in learning how to read the Bible and hear God’s voice for ourselves, not to replace our quiet time alone with our blessed Savior.
Sometimes we can be a pigheaded bunch! No matter how many times in the Bible the Lord demonstrates the perils of drifting away from His Word, the tendency is to think this applies only to other people. Consequently there is the danger of becoming spiritual simpletons. We know the answer to Ms. Joy’s question is a squirrel, you see; but we assume it’s wrong because in church everything has to be Jesus. Fact of the matter is, in real life everything is about Jesus, but everything is not Jesus…like a squirrel, for instance.
Oh, dear. We are out of time for today. Let’s ponder what we’ve learned today and return tomorrow to continue our study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 2
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
We paused our last lesson by noting that we Christians often are spiritually immature in our understanding of the Bible. Allow me to give one more example of spiritually obtuse thinking vis-à-vis the Bible. In our Bible verses quoted at the commencement of this study, the Philistine “giant” Goliath daily challenged the Israelites to send out their champion warrior to fight him. Whoever won the fight would be accredited with winning the war for his people, and the other people would be the slaves of the victor.
Well, Goliath was a bit on the large size—oh, think head and shoulders above Shaquille O’Neal. All the Israelites cowered before his blustering. Israel needed a Michael Jordan to step forward, but instead they got timorous mice who hid in their holes.
One day while Goliath was fuming his morning rant, David ben Jesse brought some food from home to his three oldest brothers who were on the battlefield with the other Israelite soldiers. When he heard the blasphemy against the God of Israel spewing from Goliath’s lips, he looked around at the Israelite troops and was astonished. Not a soul would stand up and honor the name of God by defeating this giant moron, Goliath.
So David told King Saul, “Not to worry, O King. I’ll whup him for ya’.”
King Saul pointed out to David that Goliath had been trained from his “youth” to be a mighty soldier, an expert in the art of war. On the other hand David was simply a “youth”, so he wasn’t equipped to confront such a gigantic warrior. Then Saul added, “Thanks but no thanks, son. Take yourself home and leave the fighting to us men.” Like there were any “men” to be seen on the side of Israel that day!
Let’s cut to the chase. Saul’s word to describe David, i.e., a youth or a young man, has given rise to thinking in a vacuum. It is commonly assumed that David killed Goliath when he was only ten or twelve years old, maybe even younger! After all, he was a youth. The word and its connotation is imagined in terms of today’s imagery. But that is to take the word out of context. As Rule #1 for Bible study states, A text without a context is a pretext. So let’s consider the word within the context of those days, rather than in the context of today.
The Hebrew word is na‘ar. It means “a young man” or “a youth”. The wording is used of teenagers today. Sometimes we refer to our teenagers as “young adults”, which in today’s immature society is wishful thinking. Sorry, teenagers who read this. Don’t know you personally, but I do know our society.
Wow! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We must be having fun because we’re already out of time for today. See you tomorrow, same time, same channel.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We paused our last lesson by noting that we Christians often are spiritually immature in our understanding of the Bible. Allow me to give one more example of spiritually obtuse thinking vis-à-vis the Bible. In our Bible verses quoted at the commencement of this study, the Philistine “giant” Goliath daily challenged the Israelites to send out their champion warrior to fight him. Whoever won the fight would be accredited with winning the war for his people, and the other people would be the slaves of the victor.
Well, Goliath was a bit on the large size—oh, think head and shoulders above Shaquille O’Neal. All the Israelites cowered before his blustering. Israel needed a Michael Jordan to step forward, but instead they got timorous mice who hid in their holes.
One day while Goliath was fuming his morning rant, David ben Jesse brought some food from home to his three oldest brothers who were on the battlefield with the other Israelite soldiers. When he heard the blasphemy against the God of Israel spewing from Goliath’s lips, he looked around at the Israelite troops and was astonished. Not a soul would stand up and honor the name of God by defeating this giant moron, Goliath.
So David told King Saul, “Not to worry, O King. I’ll whup him for ya’.”
King Saul pointed out to David that Goliath had been trained from his “youth” to be a mighty soldier, an expert in the art of war. On the other hand David was simply a “youth”, so he wasn’t equipped to confront such a gigantic warrior. Then Saul added, “Thanks but no thanks, son. Take yourself home and leave the fighting to us men.” Like there were any “men” to be seen on the side of Israel that day!
Let’s cut to the chase. Saul’s word to describe David, i.e., a youth or a young man, has given rise to thinking in a vacuum. It is commonly assumed that David killed Goliath when he was only ten or twelve years old, maybe even younger! After all, he was a youth. The word and its connotation is imagined in terms of today’s imagery. But that is to take the word out of context. As Rule #1 for Bible study states, A text without a context is a pretext. So let’s consider the word within the context of those days, rather than in the context of today.
The Hebrew word is na‘ar. It means “a young man” or “a youth”. The wording is used of teenagers today. Sometimes we refer to our teenagers as “young adults”, which in today’s immature society is wishful thinking. Sorry, teenagers who read this. Don’t know you personally, but I do know our society.
Wow! Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We must be having fun because we’re already out of time for today. See you tomorrow, same time, same channel.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Gigantic Exaggerations – Part 3
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” [1 Samuel 17:32-33]
Let’s continue right where we left off yesterday. We were talking about the word “youth”, as it was used to portray David when he fought Goliath. We need to understand it in the context of Old Testament Israel in the Promised Land under the Law of Moses, not in terms of today.
Back in Old Testament Israel the Law of Moses set the age of military service at “twenty years old and upward”. It was the age of accountability for Israelite males. Those younger were “youth” or “young men” (i.e., na‘ar). David was a na‘ar. Goliath began his military training when he was still a na‘ar. David was less than twenty years old when he killed Goliath. He was NOT a “little boy”. That is not the definition of na‘ar, dear friends.
David had seven brothers, and he was the youngest male sibling in the family. The words and depictions of David in the chapters preceding and following 1 Samuel 17, as well as in chapter 17 itself, do not lead us to envision a “boy”. We see a person who was old enough and strong enough to do manly things. Imagine a teenager, say 18 or 19 years old, who played offensive left tackle on the football team today.
David was no “giant” like Goliath, but he was a seasoned young man who fought lions and bears when those critters attacked his sheep. This was because David knew the Lord and daily spent time with Him. When he killed Goliath he was already playing the harp for King Saul. It was while playing the harp that David wrote his Psalms, many of which we have in the Bible. This demonstrates that David knew the Lord already at this time—knew the Lord not just as being saved but as demonstrating spiritual maturity to an extent. This takes a little age, a little seasoning from life’s experiences and learning, in order to learn how to depend on the Lord.
David said as much to King Saul, when he volunteered to fight Goliath. He said as much to Goliath when he charged at him with his sling and stones. “You, Goliath, have insulted the God of Israel, so He has given your life into my hands!” That’s basically what David said. Little boys don’t do that!
In terms of pure military abilities, and adding size and training to the equation, David was no match for Goliath. He knew that! He wasn’t depending on himself. He depended on the Lord to defeat the giant. David merely made himself available to the Lord and was happy to do so. That is what we need to learn from the David vs. Goliath saga, not that this kindergartner stomped on the head of the giant. For that story you should read Jack
and the Beanstalk!
Let’s not be content to be spiritually obtuse with the Bible, dear friends. Let’s take it seriously and spend time daily with the Word of God and the Lord Jesus, so that He can teach us His Word and spiritually mature us. It’s much more delightful to be spiritual adults than spiritual delinquents. Baby twaddle is indecorous in adults. Let’s make Jesus proud of us, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Let’s continue right where we left off yesterday. We were talking about the word “youth”, as it was used to portray David when he fought Goliath. We need to understand it in the context of Old Testament Israel in the Promised Land under the Law of Moses, not in terms of today.
Back in Old Testament Israel the Law of Moses set the age of military service at “twenty years old and upward”. It was the age of accountability for Israelite males. Those younger were “youth” or “young men” (i.e., na‘ar). David was a na‘ar. Goliath began his military training when he was still a na‘ar. David was less than twenty years old when he killed Goliath. He was NOT a “little boy”. That is not the definition of na‘ar, dear friends.
David had seven brothers, and he was the youngest male sibling in the family. The words and depictions of David in the chapters preceding and following 1 Samuel 17, as well as in chapter 17 itself, do not lead us to envision a “boy”. We see a person who was old enough and strong enough to do manly things. Imagine a teenager, say 18 or 19 years old, who played offensive left tackle on the football team today.
David was no “giant” like Goliath, but he was a seasoned young man who fought lions and bears when those critters attacked his sheep. This was because David knew the Lord and daily spent time with Him. When he killed Goliath he was already playing the harp for King Saul. It was while playing the harp that David wrote his Psalms, many of which we have in the Bible. This demonstrates that David knew the Lord already at this time—knew the Lord not just as being saved but as demonstrating spiritual maturity to an extent. This takes a little age, a little seasoning from life’s experiences and learning, in order to learn how to depend on the Lord.
David said as much to King Saul, when he volunteered to fight Goliath. He said as much to Goliath when he charged at him with his sling and stones. “You, Goliath, have insulted the God of Israel, so He has given your life into my hands!” That’s basically what David said. Little boys don’t do that!
In terms of pure military abilities, and adding size and training to the equation, David was no match for Goliath. He knew that! He wasn’t depending on himself. He depended on the Lord to defeat the giant. David merely made himself available to the Lord and was happy to do so. That is what we need to learn from the David vs. Goliath saga, not that this kindergartner stomped on the head of the giant. For that story you should read Jack
and the Beanstalk!
Let’s not be content to be spiritually obtuse with the Bible, dear friends. Let’s take it seriously and spend time daily with the Word of God and the Lord Jesus, so that He can teach us His Word and spiritually mature us. It’s much more delightful to be spiritual adults than spiritual delinquents. Baby twaddle is indecorous in adults. Let’s make Jesus proud of us, shall we?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
