Jacob Vaudrin exposits 1 Samuel 17 at Christ the Word Church.
[00:00:19] Good morning, beloved. Today we will be preaching out of the Old Testament. So to many, me included, this is going to be a little different. So I ask for a lot of grace here because there's a little bit of groundwork that has to be done when preaching out of the Old Testament and interpreting the Old Testament to feed God's people.
[00:00:44] So when preaching on it, there can be slight differences in the method of expositing the text and I hope to explain that in a way that is understandable and appropriate for a sermon on the Lord's Day.
[00:00:54] I don't want to preach a seminary lecture here and I certainly don't want to make you guys bored hearing the Word of God preached.
[00:01:04] This sermon title is Jesus Christ the Headcrusher. Now that sounds like an intense title but please bear with me.
[00:01:12] It is a beautiful, wonderful truth. So why am I preaching this subject? Well, for the glory of God first and foremost in feeding His people with His Word.
[00:01:24] Secondly, I must address that I was first excited by this topic from a song by an artist named Timothy Brindle.
[00:01:31] He's a pastor who wrote an album shortly after completing his Master of Divinity and then beginning his PhD program on Old Testament studies, which is evident throughout the entire album.
[00:01:41] But what text could I be preaching on with such an intense name as Jesus Christ the Headcrusher?
[00:01:46] Well, don't worry. I'm not about to exegete a song. The text for today is 1 Samuel chapter 17.
[00:01:54] The whole chapter 17. That is the story of David and Goliath. Wait, David? What about Jesus?
[00:02:04] Remember that thought as we continue along.
[00:02:07] We will go through Scripture as usual with a little twist of focusing on the meta-narrative of the Old Testament.
[00:02:14] That means the overall message and story of the Old Testament in the context of the entire Bible,
[00:02:19] rather than focusing on just the isolated and still inspired narrative of 1 Samuel.
[00:02:26] But there is still a bigger picture because we have the New Testament that has revealed Jesus Christ.
[00:02:31] So this sermon will be a wonderful exercise in proper hermeneutical analysis of the Old Testament and the typology which points to the New Testament.
[00:02:41] I'm going to say that again because I can talk fast sometimes.
[00:02:45] This sermon will be a wonderful exercise in proper hermeneutical analysis of the Old Testament and the typology which points to the New Testament.
[00:02:52] You don't need to memorize those words. I'll explain them a little better.
[00:02:54] These are two good theological words that can be defined in a simple way as interpretation of the Bible and the study of types and symbols or real life foreshadowing in the Bible respectively.
[00:03:06] These are very, very important tools to interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament.
[00:03:12] I think the Holy Spirit has been quickening my heart to study this subject for the last few months with the purpose of presenting it to you.
[00:03:20] Today is a wonderful opportunity to do so.
[00:03:24] Our text today, as I said, is 1 Samuel chapter 16 and 17.
[00:03:29] And there's a lot of text between the two, but we will only be covering a few verses in chapter 16.
[00:03:35] So, one final short preamble on the text and then we'll get into it.
[00:03:40] David and Goliath.
[00:03:41] I'm sure we've all are familiar with the Bible story.
[00:03:45] But you see, most Sunday school lessons are actually getting this wrong.
[00:03:49] What's the way that most teachers and preachers are applying it in this modern age?
[00:03:54] Well, they'll say something along the lines of,
[00:03:56] David is our example when he defeated Goliath.
[00:03:59] And if we trust in God, we can defeat all our giants.
[00:04:02] Like our fears or anxieties or maybe that big bill that just came out of nowhere.
[00:04:07] If you have faith in God, you can slay that giant.
[00:04:11] Which, that sounds good, definitely.
[00:04:14] It tickles the ears.
[00:04:15] Makes you think, wow, I'm like King David?
[00:04:19] Well, that makes me feel pretty good.
[00:04:21] I can do anything.
[00:04:22] But you see, while that does inspire you,
[00:04:26] that telling would be accepted in public schools where they teach
[00:04:30] it's nothing more than one of those religious parables to excite the heart.
[00:04:35] Or this way of reading the historical account would be called a nice little allegory
[00:04:39] by some Bible kicking college philosophy professor.
[00:04:42] And it would be a mend in a synagogue where you never hear the name of Jesus.
[00:04:48] Is this a religious parable or a quaint allegory as the secular teachers believe?
[00:04:53] Or is this text merely a historical account that teaches some good morals and tells us how great we can be
[00:04:58] with faith in God?
[00:04:59] As would be taught from the Tanakh, otherwise known as the Hebrew Bible by a rabbi.
[00:05:04] Who again, would never preach Jesus.
[00:05:07] Could it be both though?
[00:05:08] Is it a historical example God has given us that we are like David?
[00:05:12] To quote Matt Chandler in one of his most famous sermons,
[00:05:16] You're not David.
[00:05:24] So, excuse me, I lost my point here.
[00:05:28] So this sermon, much like the song that inspired me,
[00:05:31] I will show you it's actually about the Son of God.
[00:05:34] And it's a much better, more, it's much better than a moralistic application.
[00:05:39] So let's begin with the first few relevant verses in Samuel 16,
[00:05:43] where my point will begin to be made clear.
[00:05:46] In Samuel 16, verse 12.
[00:05:51] So Jesse sent for him.
[00:05:53] He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance.
[00:05:56] Then the Lord said, anoint him, for he is the one.
[00:05:59] So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers.
[00:06:03] And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward.
[00:06:07] Then Samuel went out to Ramah.
[00:06:10] Let's stop here and discuss the Hebrew in verse 12,
[00:06:14] because it will be very important later.
[00:06:16] This is another important tool of interpreting the Old Testament.
[00:06:19] We see the Hebrew word, mashah, in English, is the verb to anoint.
[00:06:24] That is attached here to David.
[00:06:26] The verb, mashah, is related to the noun, mashayah,
[00:06:30] which is translated to Messiah or anointed one in English from Hebrew.
[00:06:36] So we see here, David is anointed by God as king.
[00:06:39] In other words, David is the mashah, anointed king of Israel.
[00:06:43] He is now Israel's mashayah, or Messiah.
[00:06:47] Let's see what the Messiah does in the next chapter, 1 Samuel 17.
[00:06:52] Bear with me, it's a long one, but it's a classic story, a beautiful narrative.
[00:06:58] And I hope you'll see where I'm going with this.
[00:07:03] 1 Samuel 17, starting in verse 1.
[00:07:18] 1 Samuel 17,
[00:07:39] That's interesting.
[00:07:40] What do some of your Bibles say for that one?
[00:07:43] He weighed more than 125 pounds.
[00:07:46] There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders.
[00:07:51] His spear shaft was like a weaver's beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed 15 pounds.
[00:07:56] In addition, a shield bearer was walking in front of him.
[00:07:59] He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations,
[00:08:02] Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?
[00:08:05] He asked them.
[00:08:06] Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?
[00:08:09] Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.
[00:08:12] If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants.
[00:08:17] But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.
[00:08:22] Then the Philistines said,
[00:08:24] I defy the ranks of Israel today.
[00:08:27] Send me a man who can fight each other.
[00:08:29] So we can fight each other.
[00:08:30] When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine,
[00:08:33] they lost their courage and were terrified.
[00:08:36] Now David was the son of the Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse.
[00:08:43] Jesse had eight sons, and during Saul's reign was already an old man.
[00:08:47] Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war,
[00:08:49] and their names were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third.
[00:08:55] And David was the youngest.
[00:08:57] The three oldest had followed Saul, but David kept going back and forth,
[00:09:01] from Saul to tend to his father's flock in Bethlehem.
[00:09:05] Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.
[00:09:10] One day Jesse had told his son,
[00:09:12] David, take this half-brushel of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread
[00:09:17] for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
[00:09:19] Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander.
[00:09:22] Check on the well-being of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them.
[00:09:26] They are with Saul and all the men of the valley in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.
[00:09:32] So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it,
[00:09:36] loaded up and set out as Jesse charged him.
[00:09:39] He arrived at the perimeter of the camp, and as the army was marching out to its battle formation,
[00:09:45] shouting their battle cry.
[00:09:47] Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation, facing each other.
[00:09:51] David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line where he arrived.
[00:09:56] He asked his brothers how they were.
[00:09:59] While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath,
[00:10:02] the Philistine from Gath, came forward with the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words,
[00:10:07] which David heard.
[00:10:09] When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him, terrified.
[00:10:14] Previously, an Israelite man had declared,
[00:10:16] Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel.
[00:10:20] The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter.
[00:10:25] The king will also make the family of the man's father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.
[00:10:29] David spoke to the men who were standing with him.
[00:10:31] What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?
[00:10:37] Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
[00:10:41] The troops told him about the offer, concluding,
[00:10:44] That is what will be done for the man who kills him.
[00:10:47] David's oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men and he became angry with them.
[00:10:52] Why did you come with him? Why did you come down here? He asked.
[00:10:55] Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness?
[00:10:58] I know your arrogance and your evil heart. You came down to see the battle.
[00:11:02] What have I done now? protested David. It was just a question.
[00:11:06] Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked the offer.
[00:11:10] The people gave him the same answer as before.
[00:11:14] What David said was overheard and reported to Saul.
[00:11:17] So he had David brought to him.
[00:11:19] David said to Saul, Don't let anyone be discouraged by him.
[00:11:22] Your servant will go and fight this Philistine.
[00:11:25] But Saul replied, You can't go fight this Philistine.
[00:11:28] You're just a youth and he's been a warrior since he was young.
[00:11:32] David answered Saul, Your servant has been tending his father's sheep.
[00:11:36] Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,
[00:11:40] I went after it, struck it down and rescued the lamb from its mouth.
[00:11:44] If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down and kill it.
[00:11:48] Your servant has killed lions and bears.
[00:11:51] This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.
[00:11:57] Those few verses I just read right there.
[00:12:01] I hope they sound familiar.
[00:12:03] I hope that's an experience we've all had with Christ.
[00:12:06] Then David said, The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear
[00:12:10] will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.
[00:12:13] Saul said to David, Go, may the Lord be with you.
[00:12:15] Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David.
[00:12:18] He put on a bronze helmet on David's head and had him put on armor.
[00:12:23] David strapped his sword over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them.
[00:12:28] I can't walk in these, David said to Saul.
[00:12:31] I'm not used to them.
[00:12:32] So David took them off.
[00:12:33] Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi
[00:12:37] and put them in the pouch in his shepherd's bag.
[00:12:41] Then with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.
[00:12:45] The Philistine came closer and closer to David with the shield bearer in front of him.
[00:12:49] When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome.
[00:12:55] He said to David, Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?
[00:13:00] Then he cursed David by his gods.
[00:13:02] Come here, the Philistine called to David.
[00:13:04] I'll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts.
[00:13:08] David said to the Philistine, you come against me with a sword, spear and javelin,
[00:13:13] but I come against you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the ranks of Israel.
[00:13:19] You have defied him.
[00:13:20] Today, the Lord will hand you over to me.
[00:13:23] Today, I'll strike you down, remove your head and give the corpses of the Philistine camp
[00:13:28] to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth.
[00:13:30] Then all the world will know that Israel has a God.
[00:13:35] And this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves.
[00:13:40] For this battle is the Lord's.
[00:13:43] He will hand you over to us.
[00:13:45] When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.
[00:13:50] David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone and slung it and hit the Philistine on his forehead.
[00:13:56] The stone sank into his forehead and he fell face down to the ground.
[00:14:00] David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone.
[00:14:03] David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword.
[00:14:07] David ran and stood over him.
[00:14:09] He grabbed the Philistine's sword, pulled it from its sheath and used it to kill him.
[00:14:14] Then he cut off his head.
[00:14:16] When the Philistine saw their hero was dead, they fled.
[00:14:18] The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron.
[00:14:26] Philistines' bodies were strewn all along Sharam, the Sharam road to Gath and Ekron.
[00:14:33] When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.
[00:14:38] David took Goliath's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath's weapons in his own tent.
[00:14:44] When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner, the contender of the army,
[00:14:50] Whose son is this youth?
[00:14:52] Abner, your majesty, as surely as you live, I don't know.
[00:14:55] The king said, Find out whose son this young man is.
[00:14:58] When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine's head still in his hand.
[00:15:04] Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man?
[00:15:06] The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.
[00:15:09] David answered.
[00:15:12] Let's pray.
[00:15:14] Father God, we thank you for your wonderful, amazing word that you have given us, Lord.
[00:15:21] And we thank you for revealing your son Jesus Christ to us in the New Testament.
[00:15:27] Lord, help us to see him here now and to see your gospel preached to us in your inspired word as you declared it in the story of David and Goliath.
[00:15:36] Father, help me as I desperately attempt to preach your gospel.
[00:15:40] Holy Spirit, let it be efficacious in the hearts of your people so that we may love you more and seek you out more, not only in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament for our lives.
[00:15:51] In Jesus name.
[00:15:54] Well, that was a long read.
[00:15:57] So I ask for some of your forgiveness.
[00:16:00] But like Pastor Nate said in a sermon recently, it's good to read these big blocks of scripture sometimes because that gives us the full context.
[00:16:07] So let's begin breaking it down and building my case for this biblical hermeneutic.
[00:16:11] You may have thought to yourself earlier when I mentioned that we're not David.
[00:16:15] Well, if we aren't David, then where are we in this story?
[00:16:19] Well, we are actually in the story.
[00:16:22] It's not that we aren't in this story.
[00:16:24] At least the type for us is not in this story, is in the story.
[00:16:28] We see ourselves in verse 11.
[00:16:31] When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
[00:16:38] And verse 24.
[00:16:39] When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him, terrified.
[00:16:45] Now, beloved, I say this to you with much love.
[00:16:48] Surely were those fearful Israelites on the sidelines who by Goliath would be easily defeated, killed and destroyed.
[00:16:57] In our case, I don't mean literally Goliath here, but using a Christian understanding of the Old Testament, Goliath points ahead to another.
[00:17:05] He is typologically or foreshadowing the devil and sin and death.
[00:17:12] So like Israel, we are afraid and weak because though we trust in God, sin, death and Satan is stronger than us.
[00:17:19] It's not.
[00:17:20] Is it is that not evident in our lives?
[00:17:22] Whether it is habitual sins that we struggle with or sickness or death of ourselves or a loved one.
[00:17:29] We see it all over the place throughout the entire world.
[00:17:32] We cannot defeat the devil.
[00:17:35] I have brought this up in every sermon so far because it is a constant lesson that we need to learn, that I need to remind myself of as well.
[00:17:44] We are utterly helpless and incapable of defeating the enemy.
[00:17:51] Or rather, we cannot defeat the enemy alone with our own strength, just like Israel.
[00:17:57] We are the Israelites afraid and significantly weaker than the strong man Goliath and are in need of a hero.
[00:18:04] A chosen one, a Mashiach, if you will.
[00:18:08] Let's look at verse 12 to see Israel's Messiah.
[00:18:12] Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah named Jesse, who had eight sons.
[00:18:17] In the days of Saul, the man was already old and advanced in years.
[00:18:21] The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to battle and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
[00:18:31] David was the youngest.
[00:18:33] The three eldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
[00:18:40] For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand morning and evening.
[00:18:45] Once again, we are introduced to David the Mashiach, who we see here in verse 12 is from Bethlehem.
[00:18:52] He is also a shepherd, as we see, and he is anointed to be king.
[00:18:57] He is Yahweh's chosen one from the town of Bethlehem.
[00:19:00] The Spirit of God has been poured out on him, and thus he is empowered to represent Israel against Goliath.
[00:19:06] The shepherd of his father's sheep, he will represent his people.
[00:19:09] So his victory is their victory if he defeats Goliath, who would be Israel's death.
[00:19:14] Let me say that again.
[00:19:16] His victory is their victory if he defeats Goliath, who would be their death.
[00:19:21] Remember, Goliath said in verse 9,
[00:19:23] If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants.
[00:19:27] I hope these points are reminding you of someone, perhaps another.
[00:19:31] Messiah, the Messiah.
[00:19:33] These are the points of the meta-narrative or bigger picture that I spoke about.
[00:19:37] David's whole life is a pattern, is a type or a pattern and a pedigree of Christ who is to come.
[00:19:43] We touched upon this in my sermon on Hebrews chapter 2.
[00:19:47] Remember, Jesus is the greater Adam and the greater son of David from the town of Bethlehem.
[00:19:52] Jesus is our representative and our promised king who will sit on David's throne forever.
[00:19:58] We also see where Jesus is anointed.
[00:20:01] I'll read from Matthew chapter 3 verse 16.
[00:20:05] And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water and behold,
[00:20:09] the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.
[00:20:15] And behold, a voice from heaven said,
[00:20:17] This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.
[00:20:22] The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism and the Father announced his anointing
[00:20:26] or the Meshaw of his descendant of David, Jesus Christ, thereafter.
[00:20:32] Just like Samuel the prophet who speaks for God, anointing David and declaring him king.
[00:20:38] He then departed to the wilderness to battle with Satan as our anointed shepherd king.
[00:20:43] But I don't want to get the types mixed up, so I'll leave this point here.
[00:20:46] We see this later in David's life when he wanders into the wilderness as a suffering king running from Saul.
[00:20:53] However, that wasn't when Jesus crushed the head of Satan.
[00:20:58] Let's go back to David and Goliath because I hope you are seeing the point that David points to Jesus.
[00:21:03] This is what hermeneutics is. This is proper interpretation of the Old Testament.
[00:21:09] To bring us back, I'll quote the chorus of Timothy Brindle's song where he asks a relevant question.
[00:21:15] And this goes to you.
[00:21:16] Is David and Goliath about facing your giants or about the son of David who was slaying the tyrant?
[00:21:21] Over Satan he triumphed when he suffered and bled.
[00:21:24] Our representative king was crushing his head.
[00:21:27] We can see Jesus in the story so far, but where is Satan?
[00:21:31] What's with this talk about head crushing? I hear some people asking.
[00:21:35] Whom?
[00:21:35] Well, then let's turn our eyes back on Goliath.
[00:21:38] We'll get to these points.
[00:21:39] Let's turn our eyes back on Goliath, whom 1 Samuel 17 5 is describing as a serpent.
[00:21:45] Verse 4.
[00:21:46] And then came out of the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
[00:21:53] He had a helmet of bronze on his head and he was armed with a coat of mail.
[00:21:56] And the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze.
[00:22:00] And he had bronze armor on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
[00:22:05] The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam.
[00:22:08] And the spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron.
[00:22:11] And his shield bearer went before him.
[00:22:14] Wait, where is the serpent here?
[00:22:17] I said he's being described as a serpent, right?
[00:22:20] He just sounds like a giant warrior wearing armor.
[00:22:23] Well, let's take a closer look at the Hebrew.
[00:22:25] Because though they are great in our look into the scripture,
[00:22:29] here our English Bibles get a little bit unclear by translating his armor as a coat of mail.
[00:22:36] But the Hebrew clearly says that he's clothed in scales.
[00:22:40] This sounds a little weird, right?
[00:22:42] Why scales?
[00:22:44] Why would the Hebrew say that he's clothed in scales?
[00:22:46] But my job as pastor and elder is to bring the meaning out of scripture.
[00:22:51] So I hope you'll appreciate this quick lesson in the original language's role in interpreting and interpretation and sermon writing.
[00:22:57] Because see, the word scales or caskissim here, when describing his coat of mail, is only found a few other places in the Hebrew scripture.
[00:23:08] It's used to describe the scales of fish in the dietary laws.
[00:23:11] And I hope this will stretch your mind because this kind of language is also used of Pharaoh,
[00:23:17] who was called the dragon in Ezekiel 29.
[00:23:21] Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams,
[00:23:26] that says, my Nile is my own.
[00:23:28] I made it for myself.
[00:23:29] I will put hooks in your jaws and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.
[00:23:34] And I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales.
[00:23:41] The point here is that this is that the point here is this.
[00:23:45] The enemies of God are usually described by the Holy Scriptures as serpentine or having scales or as a dragon.
[00:23:53] And we see in Ezekiel 29, the same Greek word, dracon, that's used here in the Septuagint,
[00:24:01] is used 12 times in Revelation for the text for Satan.
[00:24:05] Thus, Goliath is described as Satan in the original language.
[00:24:08] See how the text comes alive when we study the original words that it was written with?
[00:24:14] Now let's listen to the rest of David.
[00:24:16] Verse 36, he's comparing this giant to be just as a struck down bear or a lion.
[00:24:22] David answered Saul, your servant has been tending his father's sheep.
[00:24:26] Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it,
[00:24:31] struck it down and rescued the lamb from its mouth.
[00:24:34] If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down and kill it.
[00:24:38] Your servant has killed lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them,
[00:24:44] for he has defied the armies of the living God.
[00:24:46] Then David said, the Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear
[00:24:51] will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.
[00:24:53] Note, isn't this just how Jesus Christ so greatly cares for us, his sheep?
[00:25:00] As he said in John, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[00:25:07] Just another way that David is similar to Christ.
[00:25:10] In these verses, Goliath is described as a serpent and now an animal.
[00:25:14] Interestingly enough, in verse 43, he says to David,
[00:25:18] Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?
[00:25:21] Then he cursed David by his gods.
[00:25:23] Well, the answer is yes, you are Goliath, because this Gentile army is so sinfully flawed
[00:25:29] that right now they more resemble a dog than the image of God that we are all made in.
[00:25:34] But as we learn in Psalm 8, which also points to Christ,
[00:25:37] the beasts are those that God has given to have dominion over.
[00:25:41] And wouldn't you know it?
[00:25:42] Psalm 8 was written by Daniel and points ahead to Christ, the son of man.
[00:25:47] Then we read Goliath cursed David by his gods.
[00:25:51] Who are these false gods?
[00:25:53] Well, we read of a statue of Dagon beheaded in front of the Ark of the Covenant
[00:25:57] that when they stole the Ark of the Covenant.
[00:26:01] Previously in 1 Samuel 5, verse 4.
[00:26:04] And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold,
[00:26:08] Dagon was fallen face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord.
[00:26:11] And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold.
[00:26:16] Only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
[00:26:19] So Goliath will take after his fish god because he's about to be beheaded like this statue of Dagon
[00:26:24] by the chosen one of Bethlehem.
[00:26:27] I hope it's clear now just who the serpentine Goliath points to
[00:26:30] and what God made him out to be for attacking his people.
[00:26:35] We continue in verse 49.
[00:26:39] David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone and slung it,
[00:26:42] and hit the Philistine on his forehead.
[00:26:45] The stone sank into his forehead and he fell face down into the ground.
[00:26:51] So to quote Tim here once more,
[00:27:02] Well, okay, now I have to stop here.
[00:27:05] Why is head crushing coming up so often in this sermon?
[00:27:09] Why is the sermon called Head Crusher?
[00:27:12] I think I hear some people asking and possibly getting a little concerned here.
[00:27:16] Well, the crushing of the serpent Goliath should be ringing some bells
[00:27:20] because where else do we see a serpent's head getting crushed?
[00:27:24] In Genesis 3.15, this promise is made,
[00:27:28] The offspring of the woman will crush the serpent's head.
[00:27:32] This is the first announcement of the gospel at the beginning of humanity.
[00:27:36] God made a covenant promise to crush the head of the serpent,
[00:27:39] destroying his works and saving his people.
[00:27:43] This promise was made in Genesis 3.15
[00:27:45] and we're hearing it right now in the story of David and Goliath,
[00:27:49] which is going to point ahead to Jesus Christ.
[00:27:52] So behold, in David and Goliath, this promise is unfolding right in front of us.
[00:27:56] David, the shepherd king, Israel's Messiah,
[00:27:58] crushed the head of the serpentine Goliath
[00:28:00] and on behalf of his people, saving them from certain doom.
[00:28:04] Now let's see how Jesus fulfilled this.
[00:28:07] A vivid illustration of how Jesus began to defeat the devil
[00:28:10] is at the wilderness temptation.
[00:28:11] Remember we brought that up earlier?
[00:28:13] Where he overthrew the works and temptations of Satan,
[00:28:16] which is the whole sermon in itself.
[00:28:18] So I'll sum it up with one verse for the sake of time.
[00:28:21] The son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.
[00:28:23] 1 John 3.8
[00:28:25] The son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.
[00:28:30] Like sins enslavement and attacks of accusation and power over death,
[00:28:35] these are the acts of Satan,
[00:28:36] which were slain at that wilderness temptation when Jesus resisted him.
[00:28:40] And then on our behalf, Christ was bruised and crushed,
[00:28:45] taking the wrath that was for us to save his sheep.
[00:28:48] And according to the promise of Genesis 3.15,
[00:28:50] it was there the head of the serpent was crushed.
[00:28:54] Once again, as Timothy Brindle put it,
[00:28:56] his coming back is the decapitation.
[00:28:58] From the dead he rose for the sheep.
[00:29:01] He's the psalm 8, Daniel 7, son of man ruling over the beasts.
[00:29:05] These are all the prophecies pointing ahead to Christ coming and saving us.
[00:29:10] Let's continue on to the final verses of the chapter in verse 51.
[00:29:16] David ran and stood over him.
[00:29:18] He grabbed the Philistine sword, pulled it from the sheath and used it to kill him.
[00:29:22] Then he cut off his head.
[00:29:23] When the Philistine saw that their hero was dead, they fled.
[00:29:27] The head crusher goes for the giant's weapon to behead him with his own sword.
[00:29:31] The cross, just as for Jesus, the cross was Satan's sword,
[00:29:35] but God turned it back on him and rose from the dead in victory.
[00:29:40] We were under the oppression of the giant and were powerless against him.
[00:29:44] But King Jesus crushed his head and the giant fell to his face, defeated and decapitated.
[00:29:49] The strong man has been bound by an even stronger man now.
[00:29:53] So we can live in freedom from death and go out and spread this message
[00:29:57] with confidence and strength from our Lord.
[00:30:00] Because when David disarmed him and he killed him, he was followed by the rest of the army of Israel.
[00:30:05] The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Akron.
[00:30:13] That is our mission to go and preach the gospel to all the corners of the earth, to all people.
[00:30:18] Because Jesus has already killed the enemy.
[00:30:22] He has already slain the giant and we can go fearless of death.
[00:30:27] Finally, I'll close by asking you this once more.
[00:30:30] Are you David? Do you think you can crush the head of the giant?
[00:30:35] How he would have wiped out all of the army of Israel unless God sent the Messiah David to his people.
[00:30:43] Much like Christ saved us from sin, death and Satan.
[00:30:49] And if you're still not convinced by this interpretation or hermeneutics or typology,
[00:30:55] well, I hope these words should settle it.
[00:30:58] The words of Jesus in Luke 24 verses 44 through 47.
[00:31:03] Then he said to them,
[00:31:05] These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
[00:31:08] that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
[00:31:14] Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.
[00:31:16] And he said to them,
[00:31:18] Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
[00:31:22] and that the repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.
[00:31:31] So that word thus it is written is pointing, is referring back to,
[00:31:36] these are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you.
[00:31:39] Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
[00:31:45] And I should have put this verse here, but Jesus also chewed out the Pharisees for saying,
[00:31:53] Oh foolish ones, do you not understand?
[00:31:55] Moses wrote of me.
[00:31:57] You see, we can find Jesus throughout the entire Old Testament.
[00:32:04] Beloved Christians, or actually beloved, if any of you here today haven't looked to Christ as your savior,
[00:32:11] I plead with you now.
[00:32:13] The enemy, the one who hates you will accompany you in hell if you die in your sins,
[00:32:17] unless you trust in Jesus who slayed him and crushed his head.
[00:32:22] Look to the greatness of this free salvation.
[00:32:24] Stop fighting your own battle, for your sins are too great for you to kill by works alone.
[00:32:31] Find peace and freedom in the Lord Jesus Christ, who defeated death by dying for your sin and resurrecting from the dead.
[00:32:39] As Hebrews says,
[00:32:55] Now, beloved Christians, my brothers and sisters in Christ,
[00:32:59] I implore you to study to find Christ in the Old Testament as we found him in David and Goliath this morning.
[00:33:06] And finally, I'll end with this.
[00:33:08] My final message.
[00:33:11] I think Romans 16, 20 is just beautiful in this instance.
[00:33:18] Verse 20.
[00:33:19] The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
[00:33:22] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
[00:33:26] How great is our God.
[00:33:28] Father God, I pray that you would now illuminate the scriptures to your people here.
[00:33:34] That you would implore us, that you would excite us to seek you out in the Old Testament.
[00:33:38] Lord, help me to not be afraid to go into the Old Testament,
[00:33:42] to read the beautiful words that you have given us, Lord.
[00:33:45] And help all the people here see that as well.
[00:33:49] Lord, I pray that you would renew us for this week to come.
[00:33:53] And that you would give us grace enough to survive through the week.
[00:33:57] You crushed the head of Satan, our greatest enemy.
[00:34:00] And now you reign as king.
[00:34:02] And you have saved us, Lord.
[00:34:05] You rose from the dead victorious, purchasing us forevermore.
[00:34:12] Amen.