Sermon Tone Analysis
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It’s Superbowl Sunday!
Average margin of victory in Superbowl = 14 points - the generally aren’t much of a contest
1984-1993 – From the time I was 9 to the time I was 18, for the most part, the Superbowl was really boring.
It was an absolute rout most years.
Average margin = 24 points!
1987 – Giants beat Broncos by 19 (7th largest margin of victory in that span)
1985 – 49ers beat Dolphins by 22
1984 – Raiders beat Washington by 29 points
1988 – Washington beat Broncos by 32
1993 – Cowboys beat the Bills by 35
1986 – Bears beat Patriots 46-10 – 36 point victory
1990 – 49ers beat Broncos by 45!
A 55-10 victory
I hope today’s game is better than these.
Because nobody wants a rout like that.
Unless, of course, it’s your team on the right side of the rout.
And I am not here this morning to encourage Eagles fans or Chiefs fans, I am here to encourage Jesus fans.
I want to talk about the fact that what we see in our passage today points us to Christ’s victory and the victory we have in Him.
And brothers and sisters, it’s an absolute rout!
Dave H. said to me "the battle itself is the smallest part of this passage" - (2 of 58 verses) - the battle itself wasn’t much of a contest.
Here is the whole battle:
Battle over!
Because this chapter isn’t about the battle, it’s about the victory.
And even more, about the victor.
And as we saw last week: this passage is not about you overcoming overwhelming odds.
It isn’t about us defeating our own giants in our lives.
This is not an underdog story, unless you understand the physical giant is the underdog to the spiritual giant.
This is about the battle between good and evil - between God’s people and the enemies of God.
And when it comes down to it - it isn’t much of a contest.
Because our God has all the power.
And the victory already belongs to Him because He’s already won.
And now, brothers and sisters - even now!
- in this life, in this world - God wants us to share in that victory.
And we will see that in this passage.
But understand that there is something so much greater than one single battle in view.
Look at how the writer of the book sets this scene up.
How the battle is described.
And how what happens after the battle is described.
And I want us to see how this battle evokes images that are used throughout the Bible to speak of key battles in the history of salvation.
This battle is a type of - it brings to mind and points to - four major battles in the Bible.
The first battle was in Eden.
Where in Adam, mankind battled against Satan and lost.
Where we got absolutely routed.
But thank God that He fights for us.
Thank God that He entered into the battle on our behalf.
Like David showed up and fought for the Israelites, our Lord took on flesh and entered into our fight to win for us.
Regardless of what David’s older brother thought, David did not come out of curiosity just to see the battle, he came to win the battle.
And that’s what Christ did.
He came and learned weakness.
He took on flesh and faced temptation.
But He didn't just come to see the battle, just understand our plight and our fight.
He came to win the fight!
And that’s the second battle.
The one that happened at Calvary.
And even though by all earthly standards it looked like our Shepherd and King was defeated, it was a decisive victory for our God.
A complete shutout.
Niners-Broncos got nothin’ on this!
And Christ defeated the enemy we could not.
And the final battle is yet to come.
It is the battle that Satan will presume to fight at Christ’s return, when the victory will be the final and eternal victory of our Lord when He returns in glory.
When Satan and his army draw up in line to fight against God and His people, and God’s plan of redemption comes to completion.
It’s gonna be a rout like no other.
But wait, didn’t I say there were four battles that are pictured here.
Yes, there are.
And we’re going to have to look at the rest of this chapter to see what that fourth battle is.
But first, let’s back up a bit.
We saw last week how much detail the writer gives of Goliath - of his size and the size and wight of his armor and his weapons.
We see his confidence - even arrogance - in his challenge to Israel.
And I mean, it’s easy to get a little arrogant when you lay down a challenge and the enemy is literally shaking in their armor.
But understand what is being pictured here.
This is a historical event and these were real people who actually did these things.
But they are all types of spiritual truth.
First, Goliath is a Satan figure.
The Philistines are the enemies of YHWH and His people - they are the powers of darkness.
Coat of mail (only place translated “mail” - always “scales” - literally coat of scales
It is the Hebrew word for the scales of animals: like fish, or some lizards…
…or a serpent.
Also note that Goliath is covered in bronze, from head to toe.
In the Bible, bronze is often used to describe the appearance of heavenly beings.
Like in Ezekiel’s vision in Babylon where he describes the four creatures he sees as sparkling like burnished bronze.
Or like when Daniel has a vision of an angel, and we read:
Daniel 10:6 (ESV)
His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze
But there’s more here.
The fact that Goliath was a giant from Gath is significant.
We saw this last week about the giant race of Anakim:
The Anakim, are who the spies of Israel saw and were afraid to go into the land.
As we read in the book of Numbers, the spies say:
So the Anakim are giants that descended from the Nephilim.
Who are the Nephilim?
The Nephilim were the result of fallen angels - spiritual powers of darkness - mating with humans.
The Nephilim were giants who were part human, part evil heavenly being.
And the Anakim descend from the Nephilim, the Anakim settled in the land of the Philistines, namely Ashdod, Gaza, and Gath, and Goliath is a giant from Gath.
In every way, Goliath is a picture of the spiritual powers of darkness.
And remember his challenge to Israel.
“Send a man who will represent you, and we will do battle.
And if he wins, we’ll serve you.
But if I win, you’ll serve me.”
This challenge is more than just about this physical battle.
This is the very challenge Satan threw down in Eden.
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