Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. – 1 Samuel 17:24

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 3, 2019): 1 Samuel 17

In 1996, Wes Craven directed the first version of the slasher movie “Scream.” Scream uses black comedy, whodunit themes, and slasher violence to satirize the horror movie genre. Essentially, the movie intends to scare you to death, all the while making fun of movies that are intended to scare you to death. It was an interesting combination. And all done with young girls screaming as they ran away from a bad guy named “Ghostface.” (And to be honest, anyone who sees someone wearing the “Ghostface” costume while holding a blood-stained knife is enough to scare any of us. Okay, a guy holding a blood-stained knife would probably be enough.)

I can’t help it, but whenever I read the story of Goliath taunting Israel, the image that comes to mind is of teenage girls running away from a villain like “Ghostface.” Exaggerated. Maybe, but then there is that phrase that the army of Israel “fled from him in great fear.” There is no doubt that Goliath was large. But more importantly, Goliath had gotten into the heads of the Israelite army, much like any of the antagonists in any of the slasher movies were in the heads of the young girls they were terrorizing. The problem with the story of the war between Israel and the Philistines is that neither side seems all that eager to engage each other. As the story is told, Israel lines up preparing for battle their hill. The Philistines occupied the opposite ridge. But the armies do not engage each other. Instead, Goliath steps forward and says “I will take on any challenger that Israel will put up against me.” And then Israel runs. But even as Israel runs, the Philistines refuse to advance. The question that bothers me is why? If the opposing army is fleeing in fear, that would normally be the time to advance. But it doesn’t happen. Why?

The most likely answer is that the Philistines were not all that sure that they could defeat Israel in a traditional battle. Maybe their experience with the Ark of the Covenant gave them a greater fear of God then even Israel possessed. Maybe it was something else, but they did not press the attack, even when they seemed to have the advantage. Instead, they were comfortable letting their nine-foot-tall champion speak for them, and scare the army of Israel like the bad guy in the slasher movie scares the pretty girls. Goliath had taken up residence in the minds of the Israelite army. And all he had to do to get them to run was to stand up on his hill and roar.

And sometimes that is all that our enemies need to do to us. They stand up and yell at us and watch us go running. We forget that the God of Ark of the Covenant is our God as well. And our giant is always bigger than any Goliath that they might find to come out and yell at us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 18