War Belongs to God(1 Samuel 17:47)

War Belongs to God(1 Samuel 17:47) 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. 48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.   Intro) Back ground of today’s sermon? Today’s text is about the young David defeats Goliath and Philistines. When the King David was young, Philistine army invaded Israel. There were numbers of battles and Israel lost many of them because Philistine had a strong champion Goliath. “ And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.” His height was about 3m. So, for Goliath, Israel soldiers looks like child. Even when Goliath making fun of Israel, they could not do anything except being frightened.     Then, a boy named David came to Israel army base to give some foods for his brothers. So let us read how the bible describes him. 12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren; 18 And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. Then David sees the Goliath who is making fun of God and Israel. He was upset, and then he asks other soldier about what is the reward for defeating him. Then he found out the reward is to become a King Saul’s son in law. His big brother told David “Stay quiet, you are just a shepherded.”  However, King Saul hears about this young boy name David. Saul was wondering who is this brave kid, then call David to see him. 32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. I think Saul’s mind was like “A drowning man will catch at a straw.” So, Saul even gave this boy his armor and sword. David refuses all of that equipment because it didn’t fit him. Then he went to small water stream and picks five smooth stones and put those in his pocket. Then David goes to Goliath only with five stones and a sling.   33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and theLord be with thee. 41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45 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. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. 48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. Ekron was a capital of Philistines, however Archeologist were suspicious about the existence about this city until 1994~6 which before excavation. They found 100 of olive pressure tools with many numbers of artifacts. This was a surprise for not only believers but also to non-believers.

Brothers and sisters.

We cannot say all battles are belong to God, but some of them are. In the history some of wars were started by greed. Some of big wars were just small battles at the beginning. However, God often involves Himself when it comes to war between Israel and other countries. Maybe, because they were the chosen people.

Few weeks ago, I preached about war between Israel and Syrian. Syrian could not attack the Dothan castle because army of God was protecting it.

We can say, “Yes because it’s an old story”, or “Yeah, it’s just another legend.” But it is not, it was happened again in recent history. It is the Six day War

In The Six Day War, Israel had no game, in quality and quantity way, this was a war that Israel cannot win. The opponents for Israel were the League of Arab States, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan. Their force was bigger than two times of Israel’s and had much better weapons. But somehow they lost against Israel within six days.

1. The Six Day War out break on June 5^th 1967. A day before, they changed their communication code. However Jordan didn’t change it somehow. So when the Jordan sends information about Israel air force’s attack plan on Egypt, they didn’t believe it because Jordan used old code. So, when Israel air force actually attacked, Egypt lost 204 brand new Mig 21 which was sitting on their base. Also there air force defense raider did not work at the time of attack somehow.  

  2. At the north end of Israel, there is a high land called Golan. The Golan Height was perfect place to set up the advanced base because the land was 1km high than Israel. However, they runway 7 hours after Syrian forward their army into Golan height. They still do not know the reason.

3. Also the Egyptian army abandons their weapons and supplies in their base located in Sinai Pen., without being attack. So, Israel platoon leader captured Egyptian base with 25 soldiers. Later Egyptian army said it was because the angels were stared at them.

 4. During the war, an Israel corporal who were ride in the same car with commander screamed, “Commander! Evade, I see some fire in front.” However, in commander’s eye there was nothing. Even though he could not see anything, he decided to listen to corporal and change the route. Every car but one follows commander’s car. The one car which did not changed route hit the mine. The route that they were heading was mine field.

5. Before The war, Jordan army was captured east side of Israel. Three days after the war began Jordan army abandon east side of Israel. Later, the reason of Jordan abandon east side of Israel is revealed, it was because they thought all other Arab countries seized by Israel.

7. During the war, a fall behind Israel solider was looking for his troops. However, he ended up with facing thousands of Egyptian soldiers. Suddenly, those Egyptians throw their weapons and surrendered to this solider. So, the solider took back thousands of hostages to his base. When they questioning Egyptian officer about why they surrendered to a soldier. The Egyptian officer said “We saw countless angels points their Gun behind the soldier. We were ready to fight against you, not the angels.”

God is alive! Angels exist! According to the bible Israel won’t fall until the war predicted in Ezekiel chapter 38 comes. Read it when you go back to your home. They also win that war too by help of God.

Con) nowadays, relationship between U.S and Israel is little bit uncomfortable. Bible said “If you don’t bless Israel, you will be cursed.” U.S should keep healthy relationship between Israel. Of course we should not listen to their unreasonable demands but it will be worth to help them, because God promised He will help those who help His people.

Jesus is lamb that God sent for us. He died instead of me. Because of my sin, he suffered on the cross. If you believe this Jesus, you will be blessed, you will be saved, and you will go to heaven and become children of God. Believe his promises, your faith will change. I hope you believe Jesus and enjoy the blessings that his promised.