Goliath Had Children

GOLIATH HAD CHILDREN!

(2nd Samuel 21:15-22)

I noticed it a few months ago.

Well, not exactly: I had always been aware of it, but I just never pondered over it till a few months ago.

We all have phones we use as tools of communication and business. And we all download apps in our phones to use for these functions.

Some apps we install permanently on our phones. Others we install, use for specific purposes and delete them.

A few months ago, I installed an app used to add texts to pictures. I needed to label a picture for a client. As soon as I was done, I deleted the app. And then I saw it again.

A message popped up on my phone, DO YOU WANT TO DELETE THE RESIDUAL FILES? I have seen this message a lot of times and I away clicked YES. Then I go through the process of deleting.

But this time, I got curious! Residual files are part of the app I installed, used and deleted. If I delete an app, why do I have these residuals? Why don’t they get deleted when I delete the app?

As a Christian, I have learned to take lessons from my daily experiences. I get such teachable moments often.

So, as I pondered on this, the Holy Spirit gave me an analogy: imagine you get a puppy for your kids. After a week, you realize the puppy is untrainable: it poos everywhere! It soils the settee, the bed, the kitchen, even the kids are fed up with it. So you decided to give it out and get another. Now, when you give out the puppy, you are “deleting the app”. But while it was in your house (while the app was in your phone), it had deposited some poo (residual files) all over the house. So, giving the dog out does not take away the poo: you have to take extra effort to clean out the poo.

Herein is the problem: if you decide NOT to clean up your house after giving out the puppy, your house WILL stink. The poo therein will not make your stay at home a pleasant and comfortable experience.

Now, in Scripture, we read the story of David and Goliath. There was a war between the Philistines and the Israelites. Goliath came up with a novel idea: rather than have two armies fight and lose men, why don’t only two people fight, one from each army and the loser serves the winner? Goliath was a giant, so he assumed his novel idea was in favour of his army.

But God had other ideas: David came in and defeated him, cutting off his head with his own sword.

Goliath was dead, the app has been deleted!

Yaaaay!

But here is the thing: GOLIATH HAD CHILDREN. There were residual files!

David killed Goliath and he rejoiced.

David killed Goliath and Israel celebrated!

David killed Goliath and the women composed songs!

They did not know Goliath had a wife who birthed children for him. They had no idea those preteen kids would one day become a problem for them in future.

When God gave instructions, “Go destroy the Amalekites, leave nobody alive: kill everybody, men women and children, even the goats, rams, chickens and cows”, it sounded like God was encouraging genocide. But God knew what He was doing: He was simply teaching us to delete the app and clean out all residual junk with it! If Israel had this understanding, they would have taken out Goliath’s children with him.

A baby giant would one day become a giant. One of such babies was Ishbibenob who almost killed David, almost revenging his father’s death (2nd Samuel 21:16-17). The ignored residual files they probably saw as no threat became a problem, decades later. The residual file you don’t delete today will become a virus tomorrow.

Bringing it home, a lot of Christians have apps installed in our bodies and minds: Goliaths of one addiction or the other: smoking, alcoholism, drugs, porn, sex, etc. A lot of Christians struggle with these vices, a lot for years and decades. Now when they get delivered and seemingly gain control over these vices, they do not delete the residual files. They kill Goliath but leave the children.

So the sex addict gets delivered, but still watches movies with X-Rated scenes.

The alcoholic gets delivered from alcoholism: he doesn’t get drunk anymore, he stops drinking whisky, scotch, schnapps and other hot drinks and switches to wines with “10% alcohol”. He will say, “It is mild alcohol, it won’t have any effect on me!” He doesn’t know the child of a giant WILL become a giant at some point.

When we face spiritual challenges and we overcome them, we must ALWAYS look out for the residual files: they are ALWAYS there. We MUST delete them also before they grow to become a (bigger) problem years down the line. Don’t ever see them as small, Don’t ever see them as no threat, tame or weak.

It is the little foxes that spoil the vines. (Songs of Solomon 2:15)

Be guided!

Shalom,

Haruna Daniels