Fighters verses Flyers 1

Hello Everyone,

1 Samuel 17:11                                                                                 

“When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.”

In the animal kingdom, the fight-or-flight response involves stress. Animals are inclined to fight or flee dangers such as predators.

For humans, the response is based on an infinite number of factors, from fears to friends, from habits to hang-ups.

And as is true in the animal kingdom, sometimes fleeing isn’t so much an indication of weakness but of wit.

Sometimes we have to choose whether to stand up and fight an enemy or wisely flee a wicked temptation.

In the case of fatherhood, fight or flight is what you teach your kids, not what you do to them. There is no better (or worse) picture of this than is played out in the familiar story of David and Goliath.

Israel has occupied the Promised Land and Joshua has died, a new generation was born who did not know God or the mighty things He had done.

Judg. 2:10After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

A horrible cycle of disobedience began where Israel would rebel, be oppressed, cry out to God, and then be rescued by God through judges

Judges were men and women who were called to speak God’s truth and rescue God’s people.

The Book of Judges ends with the startling words that we mentioned last week: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever he wanted” Judg. 21:25.

It was moral anarchy and it led to a time of struggle. The Book of Ruth begins with famine and ends with the birth of several soon-to-be kings.

First Samuel ushered in the monarchy. The prophets and the priests protected the prescribed worship of God in days when God’s word and prophetic visions were scarce.

1 Samuel 3:1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.  

And in chapter 8, against the warnings of their faithful prophet Samuel, the people demanded a king.

To Samuel’s dismay, the Lord commanded him to give into their demands (1 Sam. 8:1-22).

There was no one more impressive or qualified than Saul, who became Israel’s first anointed king— and first rejected king because of disobedience to the Lord.

David was named Saul’s successor; however, before David could become king, Saul would have to step down, which was unlikely.

Not as unlikely as the future king being placed in the current king’s court as a soothing harp player, but that’s what happened (1 Sam. 16:14-23).

Greater Things Are Still To Come

Pastor Phil