Erasing Easter
Larry Lyles
1 Corinthians 15 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 25:58
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If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 2 Samuel 21.
One quick note: I’m going to editorialize a little in the reading of our text. When I read one of the descendants of Rapha, I’m going to add one of the descendants of the giants.
Our reading this morning deals with giants like Goliath. We’ll even meet, briefly, Goliath’s brother!
As you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word!
15 Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted.
16 And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.
17 But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.”
18 In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.
19 In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.
20 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha.
21 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him.
22 These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.
May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!
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Think about it. Each of these stories, if elaborated and extended, would occupy just as much interest as ‘David and Goliath’, if not more!
How much more interesting would it be to talk about Jonathan and the giant with twelve fingers and twelve toes? Polydactyly would add an extra dimension to the story.
“It’s a healthy baby boy. 12 fingers, and 12 toes. Full head of hair.”
I love the details the Bible gives and the details it leaves out. We don’t know any battle specifics, we don’t even know the guy’s name, but we know how many toes he has.
The verses we read are snapshots of several battles between the Philistines and Israel. Names, places, weapons, results. Oddly for 2 Samuel, there’s no narrative or plot here. Just Polaroids that capture a few details like, spearheads and phalanges.
But, with eyes to see and ears to hear, there is teaching here for us today. Giants are the important part of the story; they’re a mere detail, just some color.
This is about what God does for His people, how He preserves His people, honors His servants, keeps His promises, and silences His enemies.
First, we see:
God’s People Preserved
God’s People Preserved
This is the essential truth of the passage, particularly where David is concerned. In the first few verses (vv. 15-17), Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha or one of the descendants of the giants bursts onto the scene, announcing/thinking/intending to kill King David.
The descendants of Rapha refers to the Rephaim, the ancient, pre-Israelite inhabitants of the land of Canaan. We meet the Rephaim/Giants in Genesis and Deuteronomy, and Joshua deals with them upon entering the land.
Goliath was famously from Gath, in Philistia. He was a descendant of Rapha, one of the giants.
We’re dealing with giants here. No wonder David is exhausted. One of the giants, Ishbi-Benob, was after the king. This giant with giant-sized weaponry is up for the challenge.
Remember, David was a formidable opponent. David was a very skilled warrior; he had killed Goliath, something, I’m sure, no one on either side of the battle would forget. David had fought and prevailed over thousands of people.
You know the children’s song: “Saul has killed his thousands; David, his tens of thousands!” David, as a boy, had this to say about himself:
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
Lions, bears, giants—no big deal for David. But here, David is plum tuckered out.
Ishbi-Benob wants to take out the king; he’s a giant and David’s tired. Now’s his opportunity. But Abishai rushes to David’s assistance, struck the Philistine down and killed him.
I want to know how Abishai killed the giant, but the text doesn’t tell us. Because, however curious we might be, it’s not the point.
The point is, David is safe. The King lives. It seems we’re meant to see this as a close call. Abishai…came to David’s rescue. It was close. So close, David had to be rescued; so close, David’s men put a new rule in place:
“Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.”
They weren’t messing around with David; David didn’t get to come out and play 1-v-1 with the Philistines anymore.
If something were to happen to David, Israel would surely fall. He’s the lamp of Israel. His death would spell disaster. In one sense, David is Israel.
But, you see, God preserves His people. He does so here, as He has so many times before. As He will continue to do.
Think about all the “close calls” in the history of God’s people.
What if Abraham had sacrificed Isaac? The covenant line would have ended with him.
Or if Pharaoh's daughter hadn’t rescued the baby Moses from that basket floating in the Nile. Israel would never have escaped slavery in Egypt.
Here, if Ishbi-Benob had been successful in his attempt to kill David, Israel would have spiraled. It would have been disastrous.
And if that had happened to David, then what of David’s line? What of the One who would sit on David’s throne forever?
And what if Herod had his way, and the newborn King of the Jews was killed along with all the boys in Bethlehem, two years old and under?
God preserves His people. Always has. Always will. His people are safe and secure from all alarms. Kept in His care. Held by His Mighty right hand. God preserves His people.
That’s a significant teaching on its own, an important enough doctrine that we could stop there. But we’re not going to stop there.
First we see God’s people preserved.
Next,
God’s Servants Honored
God’s Servants Honored
This is clear to us throughout the text, if we’re thinking about it rightly. The author of 2 Samuel includes the names of David’s men who dispatched the various Philistines/ giants/ Rephaim: Abishai, Sibbekai, Elhanan, and Jonathan.
To refer to them as “God’s servants” isn’t a comment on their spiritual condition or anything of the sort. We don’t know any of that.
But there is general agreement that those who fought for the the covenant people under the covenant King of the Covenant God are, at least in that way, God’s servants.
Not only are each of the giant killers named, but we have in this short account their full names: Abishai son of Zeruiah, Sibbekai the Hushathite, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite, and Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother.
And rightly named and noticed they are! They should be. This is big stuff! Big enemies. Each instance, in each battle, these men performed heroic feats.
If these were more than brief snapshots, people would be referencing them in cheesy Christian movies alongside David and Goliath.
Each of these men, Abishai, Sibbekai, Elhanan, and Jonathan took extreme risk; they put their lives on the line. They sacrificed for God’s people, for God’s king, for the name of God Himself.
That’s commendable. Honorable.
And even though all praise belongs to God—100% of the praise belongs to Him—His servants deserve at least honorable mention.
This carries through to the New Testament. Paul expresses his thankfulness to dozens of people in his letters.
In Romans 16:3–4, Paul writes: “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.”
“Risked their lives” sounds pretty similar to what Abishai and Sibbekai did for David.
Jesus says of His disciples: Luke 22:28 “You are those who have stood by me in my trials.”
There were several times people wanted to kill Jesus, and no doubt His disciples along with Him. Jesus’ disciples were with Him when the Jewish people picked up stones to throw at Him. Their lives were in near constant danger. But they stood by Jesus all along the way, and Jesus honors them for doing so.
This much is clear: there are people throughout history, some known, others mostly unknown, members of Christ’s Church who should be properly honored for their work, their tireless efforts for God’s people. There are people who have served in obscurity, in small places with little to no recognition.
And most of these people want no recognition. No kudos. No applause.
But all those who serve Christ’s people and Christ’s Church are worthy of honor.
God’s people preserved, God’s servants honored,
And,
God’s Promises Fulfilled
God’s Promises Fulfilled
Each of the battle snapshots, as we’ve seen and as I’ve said, features a descendant of Rapha. That is, a giant. They were known for their humongous size: Ishbi-Benob, Saph, the brother of Goliath, and the fella with all the toes and fingers.
Some think that the mention of these four giants among the Philistines means they are the last of their kind, and that the last of the giants are eliminated here by David’s men.
This could be. And if so, it’s one more confirmation of the LORD’s centuries-old promise. The promise He made to Abraham, here coming to pass.
18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”
There are the Raphaim, the Rephaites. And here in 2 Samuel God’s people, the descendants of Abraham, have triumphed over the descendants of Rapha.
The LORD said David would conquer the Philistines. And here we have another instance of David doing just that.
18 For the Lord promised David, ‘By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies.’
David’s men, by God’s power, have defeated the best the Philistines had to put forward.
No matter who the Philistines sent out to fight, no matter how Goliath the enemy, the LORD’s word is unchanged.
God’s promises prove true. The LORD’s word is true, and every bit of it will be fulfilled. Every syllable. Every letter. Every dot over every “i”, all of it.
Some of us need to be reminded of that assurance. We need the reminder and the reassurance that God’s promises are reliable.
Jesus has promised never to leave us or forsake us, to be with us to the end of the age.
Jesus has promised us a room in His Father’s house, and that He would, in the end, make His dwelling among us.
Jesus has promised us abundant life, here and now.
All of His promises are true. Every bit of God’s Word is trustworthy and will come to pass.
When nothing else is, God’s Word will be.
God’s people preserved, God’s servants honored, God’s promises fulfilled,
And,
God’s Enemies Silenced
God’s Enemies Silenced
I really, really want to know more about the giant with the extra toes and extra fingers. But that’s not the main thing about this section of 2 Samuel; not his extra digits, nor his extra size. He’s a huge man. But that’s not the main point the author is trying to make.
He was a big boy, but not that bright. In verse 21, we read these words: “he taunted Israel…”
You might think, “Big deal.”
But this taunt is mocking, deriding, defying. It’s something common among the giants. I guess, maybe, when you’re that big you can say and do what you want, like the biggest bully in school.
So he with all the toes and fingers taunts Israel. What do we expect? It’s warfare. It’s battle. Taunting seems like the least of our worries, especially when there are giant swords and spears in the mix.
This taunting of Israel hasn’t worked out too well for giants in the past.
Goliath repeatedly taunted Israel and Israel’s God (this same word—taunt,defy—is used all over the story of David and Goliath).
Goliath was a taunter, a mocker of Israel and Israel’s God. David wouldn’t have any of that. And we know what happened to Goliath.
He caught a stone right between the eyes and then David chopped off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword. “Take that. Let’s see you taunt God now.”
And then David carried the Philistine’s decapitated head to Jerusalem (but that’s not part of the story we tell the children in Sunday School).
To taunt Israel was to taunt Israel’s God. So this time, not David, but David’s nephew takes this giant out.
Those who trash talk the LORD and His people will be silenced.
Maybe not immediately. You might not get to carry the head of your enemy around like David did, sorry to say.
But the LORD will silence all His foes. Our enemies will not triumph over us indefinitely. You better believe that; that’s sometimes the only thing that will get you through.
This huge fella with extra toes and extra fingers teaches us a good lesson without even knowing he’s teaching us something.
In the end, we, as Christ’s people, know all our enemies will be silenced. Utterly and completely silenced.
The Resurrected Jesus will see to it.
24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Currently, God’s people face a relentless enemy who is ceaseless in his assault. As Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:8, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Our relentless enemy will not prevail, even though sometimes it feels like he’s winning.
Matthew Henry writes: “The enemies of God’s people are often very strong, very subtle, very sure of success. But, there is no strength, nor counsel, nor confidence against the LORD.”
The battle belongs to the LORD.
As we look at the victories of David and his men, we should think about Jesus who has given us victory over enemies greater than those defeated by David.
1 Corinthians 15:57 “thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
As servants of our Lord and King, Jesus, we are given victory over our enemies—all of whom are far bigger than these giants. Our enemies are Satan, sin, and death.
The good news is this:
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
God’s enemies will be silenced.
>The chapter concludes with this statement:
2 Samuel 21:22 “These four (giants) were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.”
The giants meet their end. So this can’t ultimately be about giants.
This is about the LORD God, the Mighty One, who preserves His people, no matter the threat.
This is about the LORD God, who honors His servants, those who serve Him and His people well.
This is about the LORD God, the Promise-Maker and Promise-Keeper.
This is about the LORD God, who will vanquish every foe, who has conquered sin and death by the death of His Son, Jesus.
Giants all come to nothing.
The LORD reigns forever and ever. And nothing will ever separate His people—those who belong to Jesus by faith—
Nothing and no one (no matter how big) will ever separate His people from Him.
