DESPERATE FOR A BREAKTHROUGH

The army of Israel and Judah was desperate for a breakthrough (1Samuel17). They were caught in a Vietnam/Iraq like-quagmire. For 40 days they had been down in the Valley of Elah facing the Philistines and for 40 days the armies had faced each other without a significant battle—it was a standoff!

Every day the Philistines and the army of Israel, under Saul, lined up on their respective sides of the valley and taunted each other. Every day the Philistines sent out their champion, Goliath, who verbally ridiculed and vulgarly insulted the Jews. And what a splendid champion the Philistines had! Standing over nine feet tall and dressed in gleaming brass armor, Goliath was terrifyingly magnificent, a battle-hardened killing machine. Every day he broke from the ranks of the Philistine army and walked alone into the combat zone. Just the sight of him was enough to frighten the average soldier who had to be thinking, “Who could ever fight this man? He’s bigger than life!”

Goliath didn’t just pose and show his size and weapons but he mocked the Jews and called them children and dogs! He took it one step further and taunted the Jews with, “Let’s make this mano a mano (one-on-one combat).” His challenge was, “Choose a champion from among you and the two of us will fight. If he wins, we will be your servants! If I win you, will be our servants and serve us!”

Try to imagine the despair that must have settled on the Jewish army as day after day they were insulted and taunted! No champion arose from their midst, not Saul or any of his personal guard; they were all intimidated by the overpowering spectacle of Goliath. His terrifying challenges and the awful majesty of his size and power rendered the Jews completely impotent!

I believe that in large measure, the church of today has been intimidated by a Goliath and rendered impotent. Some call it changing with the culture, and often change is good and must happen. But when change is not voluntary and involves the breakdown of biblical and moral standards, it stops being change for the better and becomes something quite different.

When a man intimidates a woman into having sex with him, we quickly call it what it is…rape. When the world intimidates the church and forces it to change according to its standards, it is not good; it is not for the best. When the church is intimidated into change in order to meet the acceptance of the culture, this change does not take us into a bright new future; instead, it takes us into captivity and servitude! The church is being assaulted by the world system and we are desperately trying to call it change and to put a positive spin on it!

The Jews were desperate for a breakthrough or they would lose it all. We are desperate for a breakthrough or we are going to lose it all. A breakthrough came for the Jews and I am fervently praying that one will come for us, too. However, I am not sure we are ready for the kind of breakthrough God provided.
Into this despair-riddled situation came an unlikely candidate for savior, a kid who looked after sheep! Yes, I admit it, shepherds were tough, resilient men but the enemy here was a life-long, bigger-than-life-itself, battle-hardened killing machine. And to this monster we are going to send a boy? An unlikely choice for a hero!

And then there was the matter of his weaponry. The boy didn’t use a sword or a spear; he didn’t even have one. Instead, he brought a sling! A sling? Talk about an unlikely weapon for a potential champion to fight with!

And then there were David’s tactics. First, he was totally unprepared for this conflict and he had no armor and no stones to use in his sling. He passed on wearing armor and simply picked up several stones as he went out to meet Goliath. And then he did the most unlikely thing. Instead of walking out like champions do, taunting their enemy, showing their weapons, flexing their muscles, and generally messing with the head of their enemy, he did exactly the opposite. He ran straight at Goliath—a very unlikely tactic!

I am sure there was bewilderment in the ranks of the Jewish soldiers as they watched this drama unfold. When they saw David prepare the sling and saw him “fire” at Goliath, I am sure they stood there in total disbelief at what they were seeing. For a moment after David “fired,” nothing visible happened and I am certain that many of the army of Saul were prepared for the terrible sight of one of their own being cruelly cut to pieces by an enraged enemy. But then one of the Jews noticed a spot appear in the middle of Goliath’s forehead and a trickle of blood began to run down and into his eyes. As they watched, the giant’s knees slowly began to buckle and the rest, as they say, is history.

An unlikely champion, with unlikely weapons and unlikely tactics brought about an unbelievable breakthrough. I am believing God for a champion or champions to arise in our generation. We are desperate for a breakthrough!

I don’t believe these champions are going to come from the ranks of the stars on TBN or Daystar or 100 Huntley Street or from among “celebrity Christians.” They are being prepared in their own remote field of training by the Lord out of the sight of the fools of Christendom. When they are ready, the Father will send them to take supplies (encouragement) to the brethren and the miracle will be on!