 |  | | Boastful Goliath about to be slain by YHWH's servant, David. | Among the remnant of the Canaanites was a remnant of the Rephaim giants, including possibly some Anakim and some Avvim. A remnant of these giants fled from the Israelite onslaught, some of whom sought refuge with the Philistines. The Philistines were a seafaring people who had migrated from the Mediterranean and settled on the southeast coast of the Mediterranean, stretching from southwest Palestine around the area of Gaza all the way to northeastern Egypt. During the time of David, ca. 1000 b.c., one Goliath of Gath, a giant, came against Israel at the head of an army of Philistines: 4And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. (1 Sam. 17:1-11) None of the Israelites had the courage to face Goliath, except one David, son of Jesse — a mere boy. Already had the Israelites forgotten to rely on YHWH's angels to fight for them, instead relying on sword and shield — the gifts of Azazel, the fallen angel — to help them fight their pointless wars for power and glory. Armed only with light weapons and faith in YHWH, the Israelites of Joshua's day had conquered not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit, letting go and letting God. But by the time of David, that apparently had been forgotten, and the Israelites had taken on the ways of the Canaanites. David, however, understood the way YHWH worked and, spurning sword and shield, took his simple goat hair sling, and slew empty Goliath, whom neither sword nor shield could protect from Michael's hand:  | | David slaying Goliath with a sling stone. Despite its relative simplicity, the sling was a deadly weapon, capable of sending stones hundreds of yards, and would have been particularly devastating at close range. | 38And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 39And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. 40And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. 41And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 42And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands. 48And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 1 Sam. 17:38-52  | | Despite the power of the sling at close range, David wisely decided to behead Goliath with his own sword to make sure, and to clearly prove to the Philistines that their arrogant champion was indeed dead.
| David had slain Goliath with the power of YHWH, who had guided the slingstone to its target with flawless precision. This unarmored, unskilled, 4-foot-tall boy of the Israelites had easily killed a ten-foot-tall giant master of the art of war, who had been outfitted with top-of-the-line weapons and armor. Moreover, in the eyes of the Philistines, the defeat of their champion by an Israelite meant that the God of Israel had defeated Ba'al, the god of the Philistines that day. Seeing this event as a clear sign from heaven that they too were meant to lose, they fled in terror, and were cut down by the Israelite armies all the way to Ekron. Thus the land had peace for many a year — but the giants were not gone yet. But neither Israel nor David had seen the last of the giants. In Goliath's hometown of Gath there lived others, at least four of whom were also warriors. They were the sons of Rapha [i.e., remnants of the Rephaim]. The scriptures identify one of these as Goliath's brother, and some scholars think all were his brothers. Their names, as we have them, were Lahmi, his brother, who was equally huge and bore a spear just as massive; Ishbi-benob, whose armor vied in weight with Goliath's; Sippai, whose enormous height and size were the wonder of all; and besides these, one, unnamed, who had six fingers and six toes on each hand and foot. These giants probably descended from either the Anakim or Rephaim who fled to the five Philistine cities in Joshua's day.53 Though Goliath had several brothers, these too were dispatched by David's own "Gibborim", his "mighty men" whom he named after the giants whom they slew out the land — much in the way today's sports teams name themselves after historical and mythical characters.
http://paranormal.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.mysteriousworld.com/Journal/2003/Spring/Giants/
http://www.direct.ca/trinity/goliath.html david and goliath
http://www.kingdavid8.com/Contradictions/Samuel/05KillGoliath.html DID DAVID KILL GOLIATH WITH A SLINGSHOT, OR A SWORD?
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