2 Samuel 21:15-22

If you would turn with me to the book of 2 Samuel, we are looking at chapter 21 tonight.

Starting in verse 15. Do you know the difference between an appendix and an epilogue in a book?

So an appendix is where an author will just jam all sorts of stuff that he didn't know where to

put in the rest of the book. Or that's where like all the charts and the graphs will go that are

sort of, you know, didn't quite fit in the other pages. That's an appendix. An epilogue,

an epilogue is a place for the author to take a step back, to assess all the ground that he or she

has covered, and then to draw the threads together and try to make a big point. Or to sort of drive

home what it is they're trying to say. And in many ways, as we kind of come to the end of our series

in the book of 1 and 2 Samuel, chapters 21 and 22 and 23 and 24, these last four chapters are really

2 Samuel 21 · chapter mention

that. They're an epilogue where the author, the compiler, the narrator is sort of drawing all his

threads together. So for the next few weeks, we're sort of marching through this epilogue,

taking stock of the book, and sort of learning from what these last few chapters have to teach us

today. So if you're looking in a pew Bible, that's page 274. And we are going to look at verses 15

through 22 of chapter 21. Let me read this for us if you're there. There was war again between the

Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the

Philistines. And David grew weary. And Ishbi-ben-ob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear

weighed 300 shekels of bronze, and he was armed with a new sword thought to kill David. But Abishai,

the son of Zeruiah, came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David's men swore

to him, you shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.

After this, there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibikai, the Hushethite,

struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. And there was again war with the

Philistines at Gob. And El-Hanan, the son of Jare-Oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath,

the Gittite, with a shaft of whose sphere was like a weaver's beam. And there was again war at Gath,

where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot,

24 in number. And he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan,

the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down. These four were descended from the giants in

Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. Let's pray together.

Lord, we pray for the light of your spirit to be shining in our hearts and upon your word

tonight that we might understand and apply rightly this text before us. We thank you that

you give us your word to do your work and your continuing work of presence in the world. Lord,

so thank you that we get to gather around it tonight. Lord, we ask that you would do your work

as you see fit. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay. Well, have you ever noticed that sometimes

great athletes make not so great coaches? Great players like Wayne Gretzky in hockey or Isaiah Thomas

and Magic Johnson in basketball. These guys all have sterling careers as players, right? They are all

stars, they're MVPs, they have lots of championships. But you know, each one of them has a not so bright

track record as a coach, as a leader of a team. I don't really follow hockey, but I saw this the

other day that Wayne Gretzky, when Wayne Gretzky, the so-called great one in hockey, left as the head

coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, they had failed to make the playoffs four seasons in a row. And when he

left, the team was just completely mired in bankruptcy and investors didn't want to touch it.

Uh, he kind of drove that place into the ground. Uh, even Michael Jordan, right? Arguably still the

best player in NBA history, hasn't had the greatest track record. Uh, now true, he's never actually sort

of taken on the role of a head coach per se. He's been more involved in sort of owning and managing and

sort of orchestrating things behind the scenes. But even so, his teams have also been pretty mediocre.

Um, and in, in 2012, his team went, uh, a whopping seven and 59. Seven, seven wins in the whole season.

Uh, that by the way, it was the worst record in NBA history. Uh, this year, the Charlotte Hornets are

just over 500. Uh, they might make the playoffs, so we'll see if they can turn it around. But, uh,

but great players rarely make great coaches. They can rarely reproduce in others the greatness that

they themselves embody and that comes so easily to them. Uh, now, as we come to these final chapters

of second Samuel, as I said, we've come to this sort of carefully crafted epilogue that draws

together some of the important threads of David's life and kingship. Um, and if you look, if you sort

of take a, just a span of the whole chunk, you see this sort of chiastic, this pattern that goes

basically David cleaning up, uh, Saul's mess. And then you've got this little episode about David's

mighty men. And then you have a song and then you have a song and then you've got an episode about

David's mighty men. And then you have David cleaning up a mess that actually he made. Uh,

so there's this beautiful sort of literary pattern that signals to us that this is kind of the grand

summary of the book. And here in this little section, you know, as you look back over David's

life, as we're sort of drawing these threads together, what's one of the themes that you see in

his life? Well, one of those themes is, is that David was a great warrior. He was a military hero.

Um, one of the number one hits on Jerusalem pop radio in the 11th century BC went like this.

Saul has killed his thousands, but David, his 10,000s. That's what all the kids were bumping

on their stereo in downtown Jerusalem. That was the literally, that's the song that you, not literally,

that's the song they used to sing in the streets when the army would come home. Saul has killed his

thousands and David has killed his 10,000s. Um, and of course, as we look back over David's life as a

warrior, what is the one story that we all remember? What's the sort of, uh, just quintessential

moment in David's life as David and Goliath, right? That's the one David was Israel's great giant slayer.

Uh, now of course there had been other giant slayers actually before David in Israel's history.

Uh, Moses being the primary one, actually, uh, not only did God sort of take down Egypt

under Moses's kind of leadership, uh, but Moses in the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan in the

book of numbers as a sort of ending their time in the wilderness and coming to sort of on the brink

of the promised land, we're told that Israel, uh, that Moses led Israel to defeat Og, the king of

Bashan, who apparently slept in a 13 foot bed. So here was a giant that Moses took down.

But you know, it's really David, isn't it? Who sort of stands out as the great feller of giants.

Uh, and by the way, I should mention here sort of as a side note, when the old Testament talks about

giants, uh, don't think sort of Jack and the beanstalk giants, um, you know, 40 foot high,

mythological legendary creatures that don't really ever exist. Don't think about that. Think more like

Shaquille O'Neal. I'm going to use a lot of athletic metaphors tonight. Think Shaquille O'Neal. If Shaquille

O'Neal were to walk in here, now I'm six one. That's kind of average height for a guy. How tall is

Shaquille O'Neal? He's like 7 million something, right? I mean, he would dwarf me. We would literally

think that he was a giant. And if we lived in the ancient near East and we had to sort of do hand to

hand combat to see who got to live somewhere, we would be frightened of him. This is what the, this is really

what the Bible is talking about when they're talking about giants. They're talking about real

humans who were uncharacteristically big. In fact, the word giant in this text, uh, here in the Hebrew

text actually just translates a word wrath, uh, which is probably the name of a tribe or an ancestor

from which these guys all came from. They were probably part of a tribe that was just uncharacteristically

big. Uh, just last month, actually, CNN ran a story on, uh, Polynesian high school football

players. Uh, some people have called this the Polynesian pipeline because some of these kids

are just so big that they dominate high school football and many, many, many of them go to the

pros. So even though in the United States, there's only something like 300,000 Samoans and Tongas who

sort of make up these sort of Polynesian people groups, they're just an unstoppable force in high

school athletics. And of course, again, in the ancient near East, a whole group of guys like that would be

utterly terrifying. They would be a force to be reckoned with. So this is sort of giants that we're

talking about here. And again, David, Israel's great King was known as the one who could bring them down.

And so you would expect that as the compiler of the book of Samuel brings his story to a close in

this climactic epilogue, that we'd want to get one more really good gripping story of David's military

prowess, right? Or maybe he could give us sort of a highlight reel of some of David's greatest hits

to sort of just put the cherry on the top of the Sunday. But surprisingly, that's actually not what

we get. Instead, we get a story, not about some great victory that David had, but we get a story

about David's very last time on the battlefield. And we don't know exactly when this particular battle

came in David's life. It's probably sometime after David's major victories over the Philistines in

chapter five and chapter eight. You can go back and read those. But whether it happened, say, before or

after Absalom's rebellion, for instance, we don't quite know. We don't know sort of when chronologically

this happened. But the important thing to see is this, that in this last battle, it's not David

who hits the game winner, right? It's not David who makes the amazing play so that they can all go home

happy and glad and sing their songs of victory. We don't get a romping story about David's strength.

Instead, we get a story where David grows weary. And David, the great rescuer of Israel, needs himself

to be rescued. Isn't that interesting? And it's not David, but it's Abishai, one of David's men, who brings down

the giant. And in verse 17, afterwards, all the soldiers are thinking, whoa, that was a close one. In fact, that was

too close. And they all make a pact that David, from that point forward, is never ever going to go out with them

again into battle. Because he is too important to the life of the people and the life of the nation

to make that mistake again. And so from this point forward, David stays home.

But then, in the following verses, verses 18 through 21, the narrator sort of shows us an important point.

And it's actually a point, it's a truth, that will extend all the way into the New Testament

and comes down right to the church today, to you and me.

You see, if we were to read just verses 15 through 17, we might think that Abishai got lucky, right?

That, you know, we might think that the army of Israel, and David too, for that matter, just dodged a

huge bullet on this one. Abishai got lucky, he brought down the giant in just the nick of time,

and they can all go home and sort of retrench their strategy.

But lest we think, lest we think that this was just a fluke, just a sort of lucky shot

that saved their skin, the narrator goes on to give us, not one, not two, but three more accounts

where David's men bring down giants.

The narrator, drawing together the threads of his story, is saying, yes, in David's reign,

the giants fell, and his men participated in the felling.

This is the point I think the narrator wants us to see.

That the victory of the king is advanced through the people of the king.

That the great triumph of David is extended then, out and through his very people.

Unlike the great athletes who make not-so-great coaches, who can't lead other people to greatness,

around David, cropped up, grew a whole host of men who participated in his victory and took it forward.

Sibakai takes down a giant warrior named Saf.

El Hanan defeats another Goliath.

Which, if you look at the parallel text in 1 Chronicles 20, chapter 20, verse 5,

we learn that this is actually the brother of the Goliath that David slew back in 1 Samuel 17.

And lastly, Jonathan, not David's friend Jonathan here, but David's nephew,

ends up defeating a man with 24 fingers and toes.

Which, by the way, actually, is actually kind of a well-documented condition

called polydactyly or hyperdactyly.

I didn't know that until I started learning about this passage.

But according to the Children's Hospital in Boston,

one out of every thousand births experiences some form of being born with multiple digits.

Some stats actually say one in five hundred.

So it's actually pretty common.

CBS News actually ran a story not long ago about a man from Cuba named Hernandez Garrido

who had, you should look it up on the internet because the pictures are stunning.

He has, I kid you not, unless this was a total hoax website, which I don't think it was,

twelve perfectly looking fingers and toes.

Unbelievable.

Anyway.

But, back to the story.

Like Goliath, back in 1 Samuel 17,

this giant here, whoever he may be, with his 24 fingers and toes,

also taunts Israel.

And like Goliath, those taunts are silenced.

And he comes down.

Again, not at the hand of David,

but at the hand of one of David's men.

And again, the point seems to be that the victory of the king

is advanced through the people of the king.

But note how the passage ends in verse 22.

The narrator says,

they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Now that's interesting, you think.

David's hand had nothing to do with these giants falling.

But I think the point there is that there is a sense in which

this is still rightly understood as David's victory.

The glory for this moment in Israel's history is still creditable to David.

As the king, he's the one under whose command and presence

God does these amazing things.

And because these men are connected to David

by their bonds of allegiance and loyalty,

they participate in his triumph and they take it forward.

And as I mentioned just a moment ago,

this pattern isn't just a feature of David's reign some 3,000 years ago.

But in fact, this pattern extends right into the New Testament

and onward into the church today.

What do I mean by that?

What I mean is that when God took action

in the book of Samuel here that we've been studying,

when God, you remember how the book of Samuel starts?

It starts with the people in massive spiritual decline.

Probably one of the darkest moments in Israel's history.

That's when the sort of pages of Samuel start.

But when God took action through the historical events

recorded in this book to renew his people

and to raise up a king that would rescue them from their enemies,

we see here that those who are connected to the king

are swept up into that kingdom advancing work.

And in the New Testament,

when God took action to renew his people once and for all,

and when the king came who would truly rescue us from our enemies,

not just our political enemies,

not physical giants,

but friends, our real enemies,

the enemies of sin and death and condemnation.

When that king came,

when God did that through Jesus Christ,

what we see in the pages of the New Testament, friends,

is that those who are connected to the king

in loyalty of heart and allegiance,

in other words,

by faith,

they too are swept up into that kingdom work.

Where do we see that?

Well, we see it during the life of Jesus himself.

In Luke chapter 10,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Jesus, on the way to Jerusalem,

sends out the 72,

just like he had sent out the 12 before them,

telling them to preach in his name

and to do powerful works in his name.

There was Jesus sort of extending

his kingdom movement through his followers.

And so that's what they do.

In John's gospel, chapter 14, verse 12,

Jesus tells the disciples that

after he ascends to the Father,

after the definitive victory is won

through his death and resurrection,

that they will do even greater works

than they had experienced

during his earthly ministry.

And after his resurrection,

he tells them,

go, make disciples of all nations.

And right before his ascension,

go be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

My spirit's going to come upon you

and you'll go.

In other words,

this once for all victory of the king,

sins forgiven,

death conquered,

the new creation begun,

the victory of King Jesus

now advances

through the people of the king.

So we see it during Jesus' own lifetime

and we see it in the life

of the apostles themselves.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5,

the passage we start our service with,

that we are ambassadors of Christ,

he says.

We've received reconciliation.

God made him who knew no sin

to be sin for us

so that in him we might become

the righteousness of God.

And now,

knowing that,

we go to others

with the message of reconciliation.

Be reconciled to God.

Paul ends that passage.

For we are ambassadors,

friends,

participants in the king's victory,

agents of its advance.

But you know,

for my money,

one of the most profound statements

of this reality in the New Testament

is found in Acts chapter 13.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

In Acts 13,

Paul and Barnabas

are in the city of Pisidian Antioch,

a little city

sort of in south central Turkey.

And they've proclaimed the gospel

in the synagogue of that city.

They've proclaimed the good news

that Jesus is God's long-awaited Messiah

who fulfills Israel's story.

Jesus is the true offspring of David

who frees us

from the condemnation of the law.

Jesus is the one

who's born,

sins,

curse in our place

and has liberated us.

And then in verse 47

of that chapter,

Paul and Barnabas say

that they're taking this good news

not just to the Jews,

but they're taking it

to the Gentiles as well.

And then,

they quote

Isaiah 49,

Isaiah 49:6

verse 6,

which says this,

I have made you a light

for the Gentiles

that you may bring salvation

to the ends of the earth.

Paul and Barnabas say

this is what we're doing.

God has made us a light

for the Gentiles

that we may bring salvation

to the ends of the earth.

Now,

here's the amazing thing.

If you go back

to Isaiah 49

and read that verse

in context,

who is Isaiah talking about?

Well,

Isaiah 49

is one of the servant songs

of Isaiah.

And the servant songs

in Isaiah,

which we know

in the light

of the New Testament,

are about the coming Messiah.

They're about Jesus.

Jesus is a servant

of the Lord

who's doing all,

who sort of brings

all this great thing

to completion.

Jesus is the one

through his own person

and work

will restore

the people of God

and be a light

to the nations,

which is what Isaiah 49,

Isaiah 49:6

verse 6,

is all about.

He's the one

who's going to bring

the Gentiles

into the family of God.

God.

But,

Paul and Barnabas

in Acts chapter 13

Acts 13 · chapter mention

understand

what Jesus taught

in his earthly ministry

and what the Old Testament

kingdom pattern

showed all along

that this great victory

that the king had won

was now being advanced

through his people.

Paul knew that

because he was united

to Jesus by faith,

because he had received

the blessings

of the gospel

that now he had

a role to play

and that he would be

a means

whereby King Jesus

extended his victory

and light to the nations.

Paul understood himself

as so united

to Christ

and to his kingdom

and to his message

and to his mission

that he could say,

we're going as that light

in the name of Jesus.

And friends,

of course today,

God's kingdom

does not advance

through swords

but through words.

It's through the proclamation

of the gospel.

The New Testament

is so clear about this

that it's the word of God

that is the real

and lasting

and true sword

of the spirit,

Paul will say

in Ephesians 6.

You see,

Israel's battles

all along

were types,

they were pictures,

they were foreshadows

of an even more

greater kingdom advance,

the kingdom advance

that we live in today.

Not about defeating

political enemies

or material means

but about the spiritual

kingdom of God

advancing and changing

hearts and communities.

So when Paul tells

the church in Ephesus

to take up

the armor of God,

he's not telling them

to take up metal

and steel

and guns

and sword,

he's telling them

to gird themselves

with hope

and with love

and with justice

and with truth.

And he's telling them

to pray

and he's telling them

to proclaim

and he's telling them

to pour themselves out

in self-giving love.

And that these,

from the world's perspective,

very paradoxical,

but these are the means

whereby God's kingdom

really advances

in hearts

and in communities.

And you know,

the kingdom advance

today won't necessarily

mean material prosperity

or physical health.

Again,

Paul in Romans 14, 17

says,

the kingdom of God

isn't a matter

of eating and drinking

but of righteousness

and peace

and joy

in the Holy Spirit.

That's how you know

the kingdom is taking

roots in people's hearts,

not because they're

being materially blessed,

but because there's

an overflow

of righteousness

that leads to peace,

that leads to joy,

which you better believe

if those three things

are working in the human heart,

that person is going to care

about suffering

and injustice in the world

and they're going to work

really hard to alleviate it.

And yet,

how do we know

that the kingdom's

going forth

when those three things

are just richly dwelling

in our midst?

And like David's mighty men

here in chapter 21,

any advance

that we get

to participate in

is ultimately

the Lord's victory still.

Just like David's men

got to share

in the glory

of seeing God

grant them victory

over tremendous foes,

and yet at the end

of the day,

it was still in a sense

on account of David

that they fell

and then everybody

could say they fell

by the hand of David

and by the hand

of his servants.

Friends, even more so

for us today.

Jesus is allowing us

to share

in his glorious

kingdom advance

and at the end of the day,

all praise belongs

to him.

But,

united to him,

we too experience

the joy and glory

of being participants

in his kingdom.

So we don't get

to pat ourselves

on the back

or feel so great

about ourselves

that we're doing

such great kingdom work.

It's God's work.

Jesus is advancing

his kingdom

through his spirit

and yet we get

the joy

of being swept

up in that.

But note another

difference

between our situation

now under Christ

and the situation

then under David.

David's men

in our passage

acknowledge

and knew

that David

was,

as they say here,

the lamp

of Israel.

He was the one,

in other words,

through whom

God was beginning

to dispel

the darkness

and beginning

to renew

the people.

And this idea

of the lamp

of Israel

was actually

an image

that was kind

of borrowed

from the lampstand,

a lot of commentators

say,

in the tabernacle.

If you went

into the first section

of the tabernacle,

what would you find there?

Well,

there was a bread

where they laid,

there was a table

where they laid out

some bread

and there was

an altar of incense.

But then right here

on your left,

I think your left,

would be a lampstand

with seven lights

on it,

perpetually shining

in the tabernacle.

Here was a lampstand

symbolic of God's

perpetual light

shining forth,

his warmth,

his grace,

his truth.

And each one

of those seven lights,

what does the number

seven make you think of?

Of course,

it makes you think

of the opening

of the Bible,

doesn't it?

those seven

sort of primordial

creation days.

And here was a light

right in the middle

of the people of God,

seven lights

saying,

one day,

I'm going to renew

this creation

from the inside out

and I'm going to make

all things new.

And it's going to happen

through the shining

of my light.

And David,

in his own way,

was the way

in which that light

was beginning

to be incarnated

in the world.

And yet,

as we see here,

it was a fragile light,

wasn't it?

David's old

in our passage.

He's getting tired.

And the men,

in some sense,

are worried

that the light's

going to be snuffed out.

And of course,

by God's grace,

God allows it

to endure.

God had made

a covenant promise

with David

that his offspring

would sit on the throne

forever.

And the greater David,

Jesus Christ,

would come and say,

not just I'm the lamp

of Israel, right?

But Jesus would come

and say,

I'm the light

of the whole world.

And as the prologue

to John's gospel says,

the light shines

in the darkness

and the darkness

has not overcome it.

That the light

of the resurrected Jesus,

the light not just

of Israel,

but through Israel,

through the whole world,

will never grow dim

and never be snuffed out.

And you know

how the end of the Bible,

you know how the Bible ends?

There's the new heavens

and the new earth

recreated in beauty

and glory.

And what's in the middle

of the new heavens

and the new earth?

Not a temple,

not a lamp stand.

Jesus Christ himself

giving light

to everyone.

And friends,

that fact

that Jesus is

the perpetual

new creation

light of the world

should give us

the greatest confidence

and the greatest courage

to be participants

in the victory

that Jesus has won

through his own death

and resurrection.

And it should give us

great confidence

and great courage

to extend that work

into the world.

And at the same time,

it gives us

great humility,

doesn't it?

Because it's his work.

It's his Christ.

It's his light.

It's not ours.

It's his.

Let me close then

with three really

brief applications.

First,

as we look at ourselves,

friend,

realize that

if you are in Christ,

you have a role

to play

in his kingdom.

Cling tightly

to him

in allegiance,

and begin to pray

that he would show you

where you belong

in his kingdom advance.

Second,

as we look at the church,

as you look around,

what do you see?

Do you see

sort of a ragtag assembly,

kind of a motley crew

as you look at the church,

not just here at Trinity,

but sort of citywide,

worldwide?

Or do you see the church

as it really is

in God's sight?

As the assembly

of mighty men

and women

through whom

the victory of the king

is being made known

in the world.

The church

is not perfect.

I grant you that.

I'm in it.

Therefore,

it is not perfect.

Just like David's men

of old

weren't perfect,

here's Abishai

of Zeruiah

once again.

Do you remember him?

I think I've had to preach

on all the passages

about him.

But,

Jesus loves the church,

friends.

And as someone once said,

I think commenting

on the book of Acts,

the church is God's plan A

for the world.

And he doesn't have

a plan B.

Thankfully,

God is faithful

to his plan.

And he won't let it fail.

Third,

as we look out

at the world.

Friends,

it was not a fluke

that David's men

brought down giants.

They were united

to God's anointed king.

And friends,

the world

is no match

for God's redemptive

love in Christ.

Paul once described

the gospel

as the power

of God

for salvation

to all who believe.

Friends,

don't fear.

The gospel

was power then

and it is still

so today.

Even if things

look dark,

even if

many so-called

giants gather

on the horizon,

whatever they may be,

the victory

of the king

will ultimately

prevail.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we are humbled

by the fact

that you would

take us,

sinners as we are,

bring us

into your kingdom

through the price

of your own blood.

Make us your sons

and your daughters

and give us a mission.

Lord,

help us

to live this out

in a way

that's in line

with the truth

of your gospel,

with boldness

and humility,

with truth

and gentleness,

with love

and justice.

Lord,

make us a people

whose words

and actions

are fitting

to the nature

of your kingdom,

Jesus,

and your death

and resurrection.

O Lord,

would you lead us

in our day

to take great risks

for the advance

of your kingdom

and to trust,

Lord,

that you

are king

and you are in control

and you are the light

of the world

and one day

that light

will cover

all things

and make all things

new.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.