Whose Son was David

I love the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. I’ll bet there’s not a children’s Bible story book that doesn’t include this amazing true snippet from David’s life. But has anyone besides me ever puzzled over the last four verses of this chapter? It’s the part where Saul becomes obsessed to find out whose son David is. He asks three times in four verses whose son David is. This wouldn’t be so odd, except if you read the end of the previous chapter, Saul was totally aware of whose son David was. Here, look.

After looking at these two passages next to each other, I can conclude one of two things. A) Saul had advanced dementia, or B) God thinks it’s really important that we all grasp whose son David is. If you can think of another reason, please share.

Jesse is the obvious answer to whose son David is. But was Jesse a remarkable character in the Bible? Look him up. His first claim to fame was that his son was David. Jesse is mentioned 47 times in the Bible, and 17 of those times puts David and Jesse in the same verse. Without being too wordy, I’m going to point out a few verses that add weight to whose son David is. All the while, let’s remember that David is a type of Christ (mentioned in my last 2 blogs).

• The prophet Isaiah said in Isa 11:1: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: Jesse is the stem. David was a proxy for Jesus (Capital “B: Branch). This is Christ’s first coming.
• The prophet Isaiah continued in Isa 11:10: And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. This is Christ’s second coming. We know because of the reference to “that day,” which always refers to Christ’s second coming plus the reference to “his rest,” which refers to the Millennial rest. At Christ’s second coming He sets up the Millennial kingdom/rest.

If you can call a father’s children his branches, we will call Jesse the root stock, and king David is a branch from him. But so is king Jesus. Just a few years removed.

When Saul asked three times in four verses whose son this valiant David was, his curious thoughts and words were recorded to help us pay attention to this very detail. Later in Biblical time, we can all connect the dots.

Oh, by the way. Does it matter to us Gentiles that David (as a type of Jesus) was king of the Jews? Is this all for naught to us today living in a different dispensation and not part of Israel? This one is for us courtesy of the Apostle Paul: (Rom 15:12) And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. Ah. The Branch from Jesse wasn’t just for the Jews.

Jesus is King in our lives spiritually, and one day He will be our literal King. With Him reigning, our vexed souls will be at rest. Right now, we may feel that life as we’ve always known it is swirling down the drain. But when He finally appears, His righteous, just, pure, steady hand of control will be that much more glorious. And that’s by design.

As a proxy for Jesus Christ, David slayed that dastardly Goliath. Can we say that the spirit of Goliath lives today, and we are staring him in the face? It will take our real King to slay him. And let all the world ask… whose son is that?

Tell me what you think.

Jody

There's More to David and Goliath

Who doesn’t love the story of David and Goliath? When you read it, it’s like watching a movie in your mind. The underdog kid takes a stone in his slingshot and conks the nasty giant on the head and he falls over dead. Applause!

This movie reel that we are watching in our mind that happens in 1 Sam 17… I want to pause it on one frame. Before that frame, I want to highlight what has led up to this spot in the story. … Young David has already been anointed to be the next king by Samuel, unbeknownst to God-rejected current king Saul (1 Sam 16:1-2). David has become Saul’s music therapist by others’ persuasion (1 Sam. 16:14-23). David’s father Jesse has commissioned David to go feed bread to his brothers on the battle line (1 Sam 17:17). In this process, David hears Goliath’s challenge of 40 days for someone of Israel to step up and fight him like a man (1 Sam 17:16, 23). David’s brothers have rejected him being there (1 Sam 17:28-29). Perhaps because of his music-therapist connection with Saul, David gets an audience with Saul where this young whipper snapper presents himself as the one to take on Goliath (1 Sam 17:31-32).

Before I push “play” on our movie reel, I must stall briefly to lift our eyes out of the historical account to what’s going on prophetically. If you read my last post, you see that David was a type of Christ—seen from the verse where God tells us he has “provided me a king among his (Jesse’s) sons.” (1 Sam 16:1 confirmed in Isa. 11:1)

Okay. Back to our movie. Take a handful of popcorn. Here we go.

These two verses  begin the identity of David not only as a conquering king after God’s own heart (before he was installed as king), but also as a prophet. Here are some points to ponder:

• When you read the continuing story of David killing Goliath, don’t miss the fact that he acted kingly in this famous moment before he was king, just as Jesus accomplished his greatest salvation feats before being installed as king (which is yet to happen!)
• Notice also that the testimony David was driving at in the verses above was that “there is a God in Israel.” This story prophetically is about a king in Israel. This will be the case in the Millennium after Jesus has returned as King.
• But the biggest point I want you to see is how that David launched his identity as a prophet in these verses. BTW, was he actually a prophet as well as king? Yeppers. See Acts 2:30 and additionally, consider the “Messianic Psalms.” All those are prophetic and written by David. So yes, he was also a prophet.

Now let’s read the verses again, and this time, ask yourself, “how did David know that? Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. (1 Sam 17:45-46)

He knew how this story was going to end because the Spirit of the Lord was with him. He was future king, yes, but he was also a prophet. You read those two verses a third time and you get a glimpse into how God worked with prophets to record the scriptures. What the prophets recorded in the Bible didn’t come from their imagination or their gifted writing abilities. They were dropped in their pens/head/mouths just as the words David said in our verses were dropped into his mouth (2 Pet 1:20-21). What he told Goliath in that prophetic moment was God-breathed into David’s mouth. And then it was lived out. He took off Goliath’s head “this day.”

Just as a closing thought. That “feeding dead bodies to the fowls of the air.” In our story, Goliath had just told David he was going to kill him and give his flesh to the fowls of the air. Um. It didn’t happen like that. Instead, David turned that on Goliath and told him. No, he was going to give the carcases of the host of the Philistines to the fowls of the air. This also points to the future, Look at Rev. 19:17-18. Those fowls of the air will be the clean-up crew after the Battle of Armageddon. For David historically, it happened “this day.” Prophetically, it will happen “that day,” and that’s a whole different study!

There is certainly more to this whole story than the fascinating historical event that it was! It speaks of the future.

Tell me what you think.

Jody