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Dreaming Dreams and Killing Giants

andre

Here’s my favorite Giant.  Wrestling’s own “Andre the Giant.”  Though I think his best role was in “The Princess Bride.”  We’ll let that be another posting.

 

Right now I am thinking about a biblical giant named Goliath. 

 

The story of David and Goliath is one of the more popular and well-known stories in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Many of us have heard it over and over again for many, many years.  Yet I wonder if our familiarity with the story has caused us to miss some of its meaning.

 Here’s a typical summary of the story.   

 

 The Philistine army and the Israelite army have gathered to do battle.  Suddenly a giant of a Philistine named Goliath enters the battlefield.  His footsteps echo through the hillside.  Arriving at center stage, Goliath begins to speak curses against Israel and God. 

 

 Seeing this man and hearing his words strikes fear into the hearts of the Israelites.  They were ALL scared to death–they all began to ran.  They were all scared to death except one–a young man (a boy really) named David.  David wasn’t scared.  He saw that big, bad, ugly, nasty giant, but he wasn’t scared.

 

 He said, “Who is that guy there who is saying all of those terrible things about God.  I’ll kill him!” 

 

 And so little David takes his sling, goes into the battlefield, and kills Goliath.

 

 That’s how the story goes, right?  Wrong!  That’s NOT how the story goes.

 

 That’s what we’ve heard in sermons.

 

 That’s what we’ve read in Sunday school quarterlies.

 

 That’s how the popular children’s books summarize the story.

 

 But that is really NOT the story–at least it is not the story the Bible tells.

 

First, let’s change the name of this story.  It is not “David and Goliath.”  The true story might better be called, “Dreaming Dreams and Killing Giants.”   

 

 Here’s how the story goes according to the Bible (Read it in I Samuel 17)

 

 You have TWO armies lined up against each other, the Israelites and the Philistines.

In the hills, overlooking the battlefield, the people from these two communities would gather to watch the battle.  

 

They were like spectators at a wrestling match. 

 

 In one corner are the people of Israel.

 

 In the other corner is the mighty Philistine army led into battle by a giant of a man name Goliath who came out threatening to kill all the Israelites and saying all those nasty things about God.

 

As Goliath spoke–the Bible says that all the people of Israel became scared and ran. This not only included the army–but also the PEOPLE whom stood watching the battlefield on the hillside. 

 

Where was David when Goliath spoke?  On the hillside!

 

 What did he do when Goliath spoke his threats?  

 

 He ran like heck–just like everyone else.  That’s actually what the story says. 

 

 They all (David too) ran!

 

 Later, back at camp, David overheard two soldiers talking.  One guard said to the other:  “Do you know what the King did?  He came up with this big incentive.  The King said:  ‘Anyone who kills Goliath gets to marry the Princess, he becomes a Prince, he lives in a palace, he becomes rich, he owns land, and he won’t have to pay any taxes.’”

 

Now David overheard this conversion and he walked over the soldiers and said, “Excuse me, fellows, I couldn’t help but overhearing your conversation.  Could you repeat what you were just saying?”

 

 The guard repeats:  “The king came up with this big incentive.  Anyone who kills Goliath gets to marry the Princess, becomes a Prince, lives in a palace, becomes rich, and he won’t have to pay any taxes.”

 

 David says, “Let me see if I’ve got this right. Anyone who kills Goliath gets to marry the Princess, becomes a Prince, live in the palace, get rich and he won’t have to pay any taxes.”

 

 That’s the moment, according to the scripture, when David looks around and says, “Where is that Goliath, I’ll kill him right now!” 

 

 Now what prompted this outburst of bravery?

 He’s what happened.  David STOPPED thinking about his fear and started thinking about his future.  He stopped focusing on fright and become, instead, focused on HIS DREAM.

 David WASN’T THINKING about Goliath–he was thinking about living in the palace.  He was thinking about living in the palace with tons of tax-free wealth.  He was thinking about being a Prince married to the Princess.

 

 Reading this for the first time has brought a new level of excitement to me about this story.  I realize that God has a dream – and ideal future – for my church (for my life, your life). 

 

 When I catch that vision (or better yet, when that vision captures me) – the fear and trepidation about facing giants is lessened.  The more I live in and out of the vision, the more passion and energy I have for facing and killing giants, so that my God-given dream can become reality.

 

  Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by: Box Brown publisher: First Second, published: 2014-05-06 ASIN: 1596438517 EAN: 9781596438514 sales rank: 44745 price: $7.85 (new), $7.99 (used)

Andre Roussimoff is known as both the lovable giant in The Princess Bride and a heroic pro-wrestling figure. He was a normal guy who’d been dealt an extraordinary hand in life. At his peak, he weighed 500 pounds and stood nearly seven and a half feet tall. But the huge stature that made his fame also signed his death warrant.
Box Brown brings his great talents as a cartoonist and biographer to this phenomenal new graphic novel. Drawing from historical records about Andre’s life as well as a wealth of anecdotes from his colleagues in the wrestling world, including Hulk Hogan, and his film co-stars (Billy Crystal, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, etc), Brown has created in Andre the Giant, the first substantive biography of one of the twentieth century’s most recognizable figures.


2 Responses to “Dreaming Dreams and Killing Giants”

  1. Maggie says:

    You know you are answer to prayer? My son Chris is 26 years old and was born deaf in his left ear and has minears syndrom in his right ear. Since September his right ear has been loosing hearing and today he is totally deaf. What makes this so hard he just started to learn sign language in December and is not that good at it yet and to sit in church has been quite a struggle that he no longer attends. People have taken dictation for him and I have been speaking with our Pastor about having his sermons transcribed and placed on the website for those who are deaf. I was reading your writing on Andre the Giant and realized my son could get the messages this way. I am going to give him your website so he can read.

    Thank you for sharing this. Keep it up.

    Keep Chris in prayer as he went this past Monday to have a cocklier implant put in his left ear. The doctors feel he will hear but he is going to have to be trained in using it once it is turned on June 30th. He will need to learn how to hear all over again.

    Be Blessed.

    Maggie

    • billnieporte says:

      Thanks so much for the kind words. Praying that Chris’ surgery will be successful and give him back the ability to hear

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