In The Valley Of Elah

The Philistines had invaded Israel, as they seemed prone to do every now and then. They were a godless sort, and took that lifestyle to an extreme level almost unseen before that time in the Bible. The story is recorded in I Samuel 17, and you are probably familiar with it. They gathered their armies together at Shochoh, which is near the valley of Elah.

What happened at that point, it appears to me, is that a lot of taunting was going on and the Philistines had every reason to be confident – they had a secret weapon. His name was Goliath and he was from a city called Gath. There are various translations, but it appears that most agree he was over nine feet tall! A true giant among men, and he loved to use foul language as he taunted the Israeli army, cursing them and their God from across the valley floor. With that much size, his voice probably boomed across the valley, and no one dared to answer him from the children of Israel.

The ultimate insult was that the Philistines proposed that Israel send out one man to challenge Goliath, man-to-man, and the winner would decide the outcome without a battle having to take place between the two armies. If you read the story, there were no takers as it states that when Goliath would come out in the mornings, the Israeli army fled from before him and they were also sore afraid! This obviously went on for several days.

Enter David, a young shepherd boy, probably in his early teens. He visits the camp to deliver a ‘care package’ to his brothers from his father, and arrives just in time to hear Goliath make his latest attempt at provocation. David hears it and asks ‘who is this Philistine that dares to defy the armies of God’. His brothers begin to scold him, because he has pointed out the obvious and they are sore afraid, of course. He answers them back with another question; ‘is there not a cause?’ Then David, empowered by God, goes out and takes on the giant with a sling-shot and a stone, after first begging off from having to use the King’s armor. Goliath taunts him as well, but it is a fatal mistake. David kills him after first telling him exactly what he is going to do, and Israel, emboldened by the sight of the dead giant, attacks and wins a great battle.

What a story!

Currently the church is under attack and the giant is just as big these days. God has been removed from schools and public places, to a point that even prayers have been outlawed at high-school football games. A fight continues to remove any mention of God from the Pledge of Allegiance. We have been told emphatically that ‘we are no longer a Christian nation’ by our leaders and if you dare stand up and disagree, you are called a ‘right-wing fanatic’ and are quickly shushed if not totally dismissed by society in general. Our children are taught a theory of how we evolved in school and a faith-based opposition to the matter is anathema to mention in those same classrooms. The Bible gets a new translation every day it seems, and is gradually being filtered to leave out all the things that condemn us. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; I could throw in abortion, a growing opposition to home-schooling, and many other topics, but you already know these things.

Instead of standing up and fighting, the church has rolled over and played dead. There is too much at stake – we need our 401k retirement funds, our new vehicles and houses, our kids have ball games, and besides that - we just might miss an episode of American Idol on TV. So we pass around chain emails for an x-amount of signatures that somehow will magically be forwarded to the President, the Congress, or in some cases, the Supreme Court. We might even write an email to our congressman. (an actual letter is just too much of a hassle)

But we’re supposed to be nice and turn the other cheek, right? That is the Christian way, huh?

We need another David to arrive on the scene and remind us that yes, there is a cause. But he better get here soon, or that cause will be long forgotten – swept under the rug by Christians like you and I that have become so comfortable in our lives that we fail to notice what is going on around us. We need to get back to church, not just on Sunday mornings, but back on Sunday nights and even (gasp) Wednesday nights. Once we are in church, we need to listen, and meditate on the Word of God, demanding that our pastors preach 'thus saith the Lord' or find another occupation. We need to pray. Really. No more rehearsed or memorized prayers, but something that comes from the heart as the Holy Spirit directs us. We need to gut-check our salvation, to 'work out our own salvation with fear and trembling', for that is how the Apostle Paul put it in Phillippians 2:12.

Finally, “If My people, which are called by My name (Christian = Christ-like) shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14

It's the way things are done in the Valley of Elah.