You probably have heard of Goliath. Almost everyone has studied the account of Goliath challenging the army of Israel (1 Samuel 17). The Israelites were scared of him and no one would go out and fight him. Then David came upon the scene and killed Goliath. He killed him with a slingshot and small stone.
There are other giants who are killed by Israelites. Four are mentioned in 2 Samuel 21. The Philistines come up against the Israelites to war against them. In verse 16, we learn about Ishbibenob. His spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass. That is very heavy. He intended to kill David. But Abishai killed Ishbibenob instead.
In verse eighteen, we read about Saph. He also is a giant and he is killed in battle by Sibbechai. In verse nineteen, we read about another Goliath. His spear staff was like a weaver’s beam. Needless to say that was big and heavy. He was killed in battle by Elhanan.
Then we read about another giant in verses twenty and twenty-one. He is not named but we are told something very interesting about him. This giant had six fingers on each hand. He also had six toes on each foot. He evidently was very large. So large that he also must have challenged Israel like Goliath did when David was younger. But Jonathan killed this man.
In verse twenty-two, we are told that all four of these giant men were sons of the same man. It makes me wonder why the father did not try to stop some of his sons from fighting Israel. After the first two were killed, one would think that the father would start to understand that God was with the Israelites. One would think that he would not want his other sons to be killed. But some people just do not want to learn. Some people just refuse to acknowledge God as the One True God.
Don’t be like this man and his sons. Don’t try to fight against God. Don’t try to defy him or challenge him. Instead, study the Bible. Learn all you can about his Word. Then obey him. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
