“…What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine?” (I Sam. 17:26)
Who are the Philistines and from whom did they originate? The Philistines were descended from Casluhim, one of the 7 sons of Ham’s second son, Mitzraim. (Gen. 10:6-14)(1 Chron. 1:12)
Philistines were always joined with the enemies of Israel. They were an idolatrous people. They practiced witchcraft and idol worship. (Isa. 2:6) (I Sam. 5:2)
In many of our lives, in one form or another, we have experienced a Goliath situation. I’m writing today to encourage us to NOT fear what we see in the natural. Our greatest example of this is David, who despite apparently overwhelming odds against him, stood alone against an uncircumcised Philistine. Saul and all of Israel were afraid, but David who had previously been anointed King by Samuel was not. (I Sam.17:11) The Spirit of the LORD came upon him from that day forward. (I Sam. 16:13) After David was privately anointed King, the anointing departed from Saul. From that time on, an evil spirit troubled Saul. (I Sam. 17:14)
We see that this Philistine, Goliath, drew near to David, pronouncing curses over him and all of Israel. (1 Sam. 17:42)
The enemy operates by taunting us. Often, he works through other people and situations attempting to bring destruction. This taunting creates distraction that can bring fear, if even for a moment we forget that we have been anointed by the Spirit of the LORD. The enemy works through other people and situations to bring the fear of destruction.
Interestingly, the meaning of “Goliath” in the Hebrew language is “exile.” “Exile” means to strip something of its covering. The stripping away of the enemy’s camouflage brings revelation knowledge.
May we please be encouraged today. The Spirit of the LORD is getting ready to strip from our understanding what has been deceitfully covered. We must make the decision to rise up…right now! David made a decision to fearlessly defy an enemy of God. His decision on THAT one day molded his future. Our faith is going to decide when this happens for us, and our attitude will schedule it.
A Testimony Of God Revealing The Hidden
Weeks ago, I was sitting quietly before the LORD seeking His face. After a while, the Spirit of the LORD spoke to my spirit. He said, “Purge your emails.” In one of my older email accounts, I had over 101,000 messages. Most of these were from political sites to which I never subscribed. Previously, I had discarded thousands of emails bringing my total down to 59,000. It took me many hours of erasing. In my obedience to start deleting old mail, when I got down to 49,000 messages, I discovered an email from a minister who had reached out to me a year and 9 months earlier. I had never seen that email. His questions were time sensitive. I imagined how my lack of response might have made him feel, possibly rejected and hurt. He may even have felt like cursing me for my rudeness and not knowing that I was innocent. The LORD uncovered something for me that was hidden. The next day, I wrote an apology letter explaining the situation. The result was a very godly exchange of understanding and a cleansing from any lies the enemy may have planted to precipitate a word curse against me.
I am writing today to encourage us all that any Goliath in our lives is going to be stripped of his power, if we take appropriate action. Our response will affect our future, our destiny.
Our response needs to be: seek Him, hear Him, do exactly as He directs, and persist through any frustrating delays or apparent contradictions alone the way. It’s The Lord who promises the victory!
Blessings,
P/Karen
