Two Stories

I haven't updated this in a couple of weeks. I've been trying to wait until I found out some specifics for next month, but that hasn't happened yet. So I figured I would write about two stories from the Bible that have made me think a lot when I last read through them. They're both from the Old Testament with one being one of the most famous stories from the Bible and the other being one that I think I was never told. They both have a current theme though - which is the glory of God to be known amongst all peoples.

The first story is the story of David and Goliath. Reading it this time through, I didn't see it so much as a fight between David and Goliath, or even Israel and the Philistines, but rather a fight between the God of the Israelites and the gods of the Philistines. We see that Goliath challenges the Israelites and they react in fear. They've forgotten two important words of encouragement that were given to them before entering the promised land. The first, found in Deuteronomy 7:1-2, is that God would give victory to the Israelites in the promised land so that they might inhabit the land. The second, found in Deuteronomy 31:6, is to "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." They were to be strong and courageous because God would give them the victory. But, how do we find the Israelites in 1 Samuel 17 when Goliath steps forward to "defy the ranks of Israel?" "Dismayed and greatly afraid." In steps David. David seems to remember when the rest of Israel forgets. He makes it known that Goliath is not simply defying Israel, but "the armies of the living God." He puts God back into the equation where He belongs. Knowing that it is the Lord who delivers, he says, "The Lord... will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." It's always about God. It's not about David and his own strength, it's about the God of Israel, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Creation. Then comes my favorite part. It's the answer to the question, "Why?" Why is God going to deliver David from Goliath and Israel from the Philistines? David says that it is so "that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." Love it. God was not just interested in the Israelites for the sake of the Israelites. He was using them that His glory and power and truth may be known throughout the whole earth!

The next story is one that I don't believe I was ever told. It's found in 1 Kings 18 & 19. It involves the death of 185,000 soldiers, so I really don't know why I was never told about this story as a Junior High boy! Before getting started we need to know that Assyria is a very powerful nation, has just taken over the northern kingdom, Israel, and they are knocking on the door of Judah seeking to take it over as well. Hezekiah, one of the most God-fearing kings that Judah had, is the current king of Judah. The story starts with the leader of the Assyrian army, who is speaking on behalf of the king of Assyria, threatening the Israelites, or rather, the God of the Israelites. After mocking the Israelite army for being small (18:23), he then boasts that no one - not even God - can save the Israelites when the Assyrians attack them (18:29-30, 33-35). Hezekiah is scared knowing that the Assyrians are a strong force. So how does he react? He doesn't run away, or try to fight in desperation. Rather, he turns to God. The prophet Isaiah encouraged Hezekiah that God would defeat the Assyrian army. Then the king of Assyria sent messengers once again to Israel saying: "Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?" This Assyrian king is belittling Israel's God to the false gods of the other nations they had conquered. He says that Israel's God will not be able to deliver them. So Hezekiah prays. Just like David, Hezekiah has confidence in God and knows that God will fulfill the promises He made to deliver the Israelites. So just what exactly does he pray? "So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone." Here we see it again. Why would God provide victory for the Israelites? That ALL the kingdoms of the earth may know that the God of Israel is the only God! So did God deliver? Of course, in a miraculous way! The Bible tells us in 2 Kings 19:35 that the angel of the Lord (who some believe to be a preincarnate Christ) went out that night and struck down 185,000 of the Assyrians! That's a LOT of people! Needless to say the Assyrians ran away. And why? That ALL the kingdoms of the earth may know!

I love these two stories. Maybe it's just because I am now a missionary, but every time I open up my Bible I see that God's purpose from Creation to Revelation is that ALL peoples would know Him and worship Him as the only true God. Pray that God would use me to make His glory known amongst the Ribeirinhos of the Amazon Basin. Pray that I, like David and Hezekiah, would be faithful and obedient to God that He might use me for His purposes.