Good morning,
Who is this pagan Philistine anyway - - -(1 Sam. 17:26)
It seems strange that when God began to build a leadership team to carry out his earthly plan that he started with a vulnerable shepherd, Abel. What skills does a shepherd have that would make a leader of smelly sheep an ideal choice for leading confused people through time? Later, Abraham spent most of his life leading herds of four footed animals from one spot to another. It was this shepherd that God chose to be the forefather of the people who would become the owners of the land that we now call Israel.(Gen.15:18) God also chose Abraham to be an example to all of us of what it meant to live by faith in our Creator God. Later yet, God chose the shepherd Moses to lead his people out of their slavery in Egypt back to the land they had been promised about 500 years before. It wasn’t too many generations after that that God chose another shepherd, David, to lead God’s people out of their confusion and cowardice. David was just a shepherd when he took on Goliath, but he was an anointed shepherd with God’s authority. David made it quite clear that this giant had no authority to control the lives of God’s chosen people. David ended his conversation with Goliath by saying “And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” (1 Sam.17:47)
It was David who then pointed us to the next great shepherd in Psalm 23 when he declared that the Lord was his shepherd. Now we know that Shepherd as Jesus, the Son of God, because Jesus identified himself that way. (John 10:11,16) It was this Shepherd who gave his life to save all those who would be willing to come under his care and leadership.(John 3:16) Those of us who have come to faith in Jesus as our Savior now can claim the protection and direction that comes from our Eternal Shepherd who is working with a perfect eternal plan. I think that it is fascinating that Paul points us back to the faith fill shepherd, Abraham, when he writes, “And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” (Gal. 3:29) Through all of history, those who have lived by faith in the God of the Bible are being cared for by a loving, kind, understanding protecting Shepherd who knows his vulnerable sheep. Now God’s sheep are in great danger all over the earth. Some are in danger because they have a human connection through Abraham and some through Jesus, the head of his body, the Church. Either way, our God has promised us that this battle is his battle, not ours. We like David, can say in faith, “Who is this pagan enemy anyway. that is allowed to defy the armies of the living God. Our God Reigns! Our Good Shepherd will surely save us!
1 Samuel 17:26 David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
Roy Wisner
