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Bible Stories You Should Know: David's Sling · Traveler’s Tales

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  We often picture Bible stories through the lens of children's Bible storybooks.
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  David and Goliath becomes a small boy, a giant, a rock, and a lucky throw.
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  But what if that picture is completely wrong?
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  What if standing in that valley was not a young kid with a toy,
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  but instead a trained marksman holding a battlefield weapon?
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  A shepherd who had spent years mastering a tool that ancient armies respected and feared?
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  We welcome you to another edition of Traveler's Tales.
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  I'm your host, Greg Delly.
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  We love sharing stories of faith from fellow travelers,
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  whether that's through hymn histories or the powerful stories of lives transformed by God.
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  But today, we're expanding the journey.
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  Because when you travel across the world, you discover something quickly.
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  Every place has its own culture, its own landscape, its own way of life.
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  And when we open our Bible, we are stepping into a world just like that,
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  a world of shepherds and soldiers, deserts and valleys, tools and traditions that shaped everyday life.
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  So today, we begin exploring Bible culture, customs, and geography
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  to better understand the stories we've loved our entire lives.
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  We're grateful for one of the friends of Enjoying the Journey, John Buckner,
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  for his insight after spending several years in Jerusalem completing a master's degree in classical Hebrew.
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  He has dedicated his life to the study of God's Word.
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  Today, we're traveling to the Valley of Elah.
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  The Scripture says,
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  And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it.
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  And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them.
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  And David put them off him.
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  And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook.
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  And he put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a scrimp.
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  And his sling was in his hand, and he drew nearer to the Philistine.
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  1 Samuel 17, verses 39 and 40.
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  In Bible times, slings were not toys.
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  They were weapons of war.
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  Ancient armies trained entire groups of soldiers as slingers.
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  The Bible tells us King Uzziah equipped his army with slings as part of their military arsenal.
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  In another battle, slingers helped destroy Moabite stronghold.
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  Modern testing of ancient-style slings reveals something incredible.
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  A trained slinger could be accurate up to about 400 yards.
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  The stones would often weigh close to a half pound,
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  and these stones could travel over 100 miles per hour.
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  That means a sling could outrange many archers and javelin throwers of the ancient world.
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  And in Israel, a rocky land, ammunition was everywhere.
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  Some slingers were legendary for accuracy.
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  Judges chapter 20 tells us about 700 left-handed warriors
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  who could hit a target at a hair breadth and not miss.
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  Think about that.
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  Every stone is different, different weight, shape, different balance.
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  But they trained until variability didn't matter.
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  Ancient generals like Hannibal and Julius Caesar prized slingers.
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  Historians recorded that some could strike enemies before they ever reached battle distance.
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  David was not improvising that day.
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  He was operating inside a real, known military system of his world.
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  Now think about the geography of the story.
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  David chose stones from a brook,
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  likely part of the seasonal stream running through the Valley of Elah.
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  River stones matter.
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  Not flat stones, not jagged stones.
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  Smooth stones. Dense stones.
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  Rounded stones that fly straight and true.
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  David likely examined each stone carefully.
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  This was not random. This was preparation.
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  Why five stones?
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  Some Bible students believe David chose five stones
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  because Goliath came from a family of giants,
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  and Scripture later records four more giants from the same lineage.
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  David wasn't assuming an easy victory.
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  He was preparing for a real fight.
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  But here is perhaps the most important part of the story.
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  The Bible says Goliath disdained David.
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  He saw a shepherd.
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  He saw a staff.
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  A sling.
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  A boy.
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  He did not see training.
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  He did not see experience.
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  He did not see courage.
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  And most importantly, he did not see the God of Israel.
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  To the ancient eye, a sling looked unimpressive.
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  Just rope and leather.
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  To the modern world, faith can look the same way.
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  Just a Bible.
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  Just a prayer.
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  Just church.
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  Just faith.
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  But heaven sees something different.
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  Power.
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  Authority.
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  Victory.
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  David didn't learn his sling on the day of battle.
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  No, he learned it in obscurity, in the desert,
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  watching sheep, fighting lions and bears,
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  when no one was watching and no one was applauding.
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  And when the day came, he didn't walk toward Goliath.
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  He ran.
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  Friend, if you want David-sized victories in your life,
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  you need David-sized preparation.
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  Learn your weapon, the Word of God.
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  Practice prayer daily.
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  Spend time with God when no one is watching.
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  Because battles don't create warriors, they reveal them.
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  And when your moment comes,
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  run in faith and confidence in God toward the giants.
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  The Bible reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10, verses 3 and 4,
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  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.
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  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
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  but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
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  Traveler's Tales is produced by Enjoying the Journey,
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  a ministry that seeks to preach the gospel,
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  teach the Word of God, and reach this generation for Christ.
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  Visit us at ETJ.Bible to learn more about the ministry of Scott Pauling
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  and also find a vast array of free resources
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  that will help you follow God's Word and find Christ's joy.