I often think of David taking down Goliath of Gath (1 Samuel 17) when I recount in my mind taking down R.G.
The Giant Goliath roared at the Israelites for forty days, shaming then to find a "champion" to challenge them:
"And he stood and
cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set
your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to
Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me." (1 Samuel 17: 8)
When David the beloved future king, type and shadow of our Beloved Savior, arrived, instead of fear he voiced outrage:
"And David spake to
the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth
this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is
this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17: 26)
The issue is not fear, but reproach, or shame, the sense of "ill-ease", as if we have done something wrong that we must also pay for or do something about.
Of course, what can one do if one has done nothing wrong in the first place?
Giants in the Bible usually speak of "reproach" or "shame". They are big on the outside, but on the inside, they are fearful and timid, always looking for ways to intimidate others.
The giants of Canaan were afraid of the Israelites. Rahab the harlot shared with the two spies whom Joshua sent in to spy out Jericho:
"And before they were
laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;
"And she said unto the
men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is
fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you." (Joshua 2: 8-9)
The giants of the Promised Land were giants: "Canaanites", and Canaan was the son of Ham, one of the three sons who survived the flood with Noah.
When Noan made wine, got drink, and feel asleep naked in his tent, his son Ham reported the shame to his two brothers, Shem and Japheth.
This is what they did:
"And Shem and Japheth
took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward,
and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward,
and they saw not their father's nakedness." (Genesis 9: 23)
Whereas Adam and Eve hid because of their shame, Noah did not know until after, yet before that his two more honorable sons covered his nakedness, a type of the same covering that Jesus made for us, wiping away our sins:
"And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall
cover the multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4: 8)
Peter knew about the Love of God that covers, as the same Lord whom he had denied would not only restore him, but would empower him to lead the Gospel mission for Jerusalem and throughout the world.
This was and has always been the greater conflict in people, the one which takes away their power to stand up to abuse — not fear, but shame, as if they must do something in order to correct the problem.
Yet in Christ, we are more than conquerors (Romans 8; 37), and therefore to step forth from a posture of "shame" or "wrong" makes no sense.
This was the problem for me at Hawthorne, so overdone with the mixed-message of the Gospel still suffused with the law, when the law has been fulfilled, and I am called to rest in God's grace.
It's not about proving myself, but rather about knowing who I am in my Beloved Jesus Christ, that there is no reproach in me, nor in men.
The battle is not with the people in front of us:
"For though we
walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
"(For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;)
"Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of
God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
'And having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10: 2-6)
The reproach of not being supported, of not being able to keep my job, of losing face in front of students, — these lies generate the fear. When those sources of reproach were "poached", when I knew that I was accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1: 6), the truth set me free to put aside the lies of the Enemy, and to prosper in my thinking.
A prosperous man on the inside is a danger to those who think that they can prey on the "weak":
"And he said
unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me.
"Therefore I
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in
distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)
God's grace gives us the gumption to speak out when needed!
This grace was flowing in me the more I looked at Him and less at myself.
So, R. G. didn't know what hit him that day, because that day he was attempting to reproach a child of God, one who both knew and believed it!
"Poor Mr. S., we got you fired!"
For the past few months, I had had "practice", when in truth I had become more uninhibited when it came to disrespect, since I was no longer in bondage to trying to keep a job.
He made the false move of messing with me, and I let him have it!
"How dare you talk to me like that!"
When R. G. swung his head, I pictured the stone from David's slingshot lodging into the intimidating head of Goliath of Gath, and much like the giant, R. G. fell back into his seat, and never got back up again for the rest of the period. He endure his own reproach that day.
These and other moments I revisit, just as David did:
"And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he
put his armour in his tent." (1 Samuel 17: 54)
David would reign in Jerusalem for thirty-three years, following seven ruling in exile in Hebron.
A greater King, Jesus Christ, would be crucified at Golgotha:
"And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a
skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:" (John 19: 17)
Jewish commentaries suggest that Golgotha is a derivative of "Goliath" and also suggest that the head of Goliath was buried under the same mountain where Jesus was crucified.
The greatest enemy lies in our mind, and the greatest attack is reproach, the "little giants" of reproach which attempt to hold us back.
Jesus died once and for all to end our shame, our condemnation, our sin, and to give us His righteousness, that through Him we might reign in life (Romans 5: 17)
Because I reign in Christ the king, I would not suffer R. G.'s shame. And he never forgot it.
The next period, another student walked into the room, and he attempted to provoke me. I refused to take the bait. Yet as I began going over my lesson, this student reproached me even further, and so I sent him outside:
"How dare you treat me like that!" I roared. "You will not treat me with disrespect!"
The student went from snide smiles to whining and crying:
"Would you please stop yelling at me! Please stop yelling at me!"
I shook him up, enough that he sat down and said not another word.
"We Got You Fired" — Now I am fired up with the Holy Spirit, and Christ lives in me unhindered!
"And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose." (Romans 8: 28)