These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men. – 1 Chronicles 20:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 23, 2016): 1 Chronicles 20

The 2016 political season in the United States is likely to be remembered as the year the change in the character of the Republican Party became official. The question that history will have to answer is whether that change is also permanent. Political pundits continually remind us that the Republicans are the party of Abraham Lincoln. Sometimes I think we might miss the importance of that statement. When Abraham Lincoln ran for the Republicans, the party was very young. And it was formed with one purpose in mind; the Republicans were the party that was going to take a stand for the equality of all men. In the 1860 Presidential Campaign, the radical thought of Lincoln’s campaign was that “the black man is my brother” – that Black and White were equal.

In 2016, there has been a radical shift in the character of the Republican Party. In 2016, the party became the one that was taking a stand against Muslims and against this idea of equality. In 2016, White Supremacists became vocally supportive of this party that had formerly been characterized by a radical equality among the races. The former character of the Party has been completely lost, at least among the rank and file of those who call themselves Republican.

For the Philistines, Rapha was a significant person in history. The argument has been made that Rapha was a brother or a son of Goliath, but it seems more likely, at least to me, that Rapha was a long dead ancestor of a group of people who had become known as the Giants of Philistia. So it is likely that Goliath himself was a Rephaite. The Rephaim were not just a race of giants, they were a race of fierce warriors. And when the Philistines went into battle, all of the warriors of Philistia called themselves the Rephaim, whether or not they were the descendants of Rapha. They desperately wanted to be known as having the essential warrior characteristics that were represented in that one name.

But the text here indicates that David and his warriors were not only able to defeat the Philistine armies that identified themselves as the Rephaim, but were able to kill the actual descendants of Rapha. Like Goliath before them, their stature and their reputation held no fear over David. He had trusted God in his battle against Goliath. The rest of the giant’s family could also easily be defeated by David’s God; just as their champion had been. While the cry of the Rephaim struck terror in the hearts of most, David was unaffected because he knew firsthand the power of the God of Israel.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 11