Goliath whom David had slain as a young lad was not the only giant from
the camp of the Philistines. Here in 2 Samuel 21:15-22, we read of four other
Philistine giants that were slain by David’s men. In the killing of these
remaining four giants, different heroes from David’s camp were highlighted in
the passage. In all, we note that David and his men had slain five giants. Some
said that these four remaining giants killed were the brothers of Goliath, the
one David killed early in his life. They concluded from the fact that David
took five stones when he went out to face Goliath. In that account, we were
told that he used only one of the five stones. These accounts of the slaying of
the remaining four giants were given to provide the basis for the song of
deliverance in chapter 22.
In
one of the battles, David went out to face the Philistines. He was
confronting Ishbi-benob, a giant who carried a spear weighing three
hundred shekels of bronze in weight and girded with a
new sword. He had the intention to kill David. Verse 15
tells us that in that battle David became weary. Had it not been for Abishai
his nephew who came to his aid, he would have been killed in that
confrontation. His men then insisted that the king should no longer go into battle
with them for fear that he might be killed, thus extinguishing “the
lamp of Israel.”
Verses
18-19 briefly describe two battles with the Philistines at Gob. In the first
battle, Sibbecai killed the giant named Saph also known as Sippai in 1 Chronicles 20:4. In the second battle at Gob, Elhanan killed another giant. He was identified
as Lahmi in 1 Chronicles 20:5. Lahmi was
the brother of Goliath, the Gittite. Then the final giant was an unnamed, one
with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He was threatening and
defying the people of Israel like the Goliath whom David had slain when he was
a lad. However, he was killed, and Jonathan,
David’s nephew was credited to have destroyed the last of the fearsome
giants.
Like
the giants that David and the people of Israel faced, we too will face our own
“giants” in life. They will come in the form of tough circumstances that will
come up against us time and again. How do we face each of them? Will we
overcome each one of them and become “giant slayers” by the help of
God? One thing we must never forget is that in every battle, no
matter how huge the giant may be, we have God with us. We need to learn not to
focus on the size of the “giant” we are confronting, but the size of the God we
worship and serve. Be sure that He is available to see us through each crisis
no matter how gigantic each one of them may seem. We need also to note that
like David, there are times we cannot fight the giants alone. We need the help
of fellow “giant slayers.” Since we are on the journey of life together, let
us avail ourselves to bear each other’s burden. Paul puts it so succinctly in
Galatian 6:1-2 saying, “Brethren, even
if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who
are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of
gentleness; each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be
tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfil the law of Christ.” Beloved in Christ, we are in the company
of “giants slayers”! Let us pick up our pebbles and live like one!
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