A Spiritual Battle to Fight

Preaching Through the Bible  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  44:20
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A Geek Moment
Giant! What comes to your mind?
Rephaim! What came to the ancient Israelites mind?
Isaiah 26:14 ESV
14 They are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise; to that end you have visited them with destruction and wiped out all remembrance of them.
Here Rephaim is translated as shades.
Here Rephaim is translated as dead.
Proverbs 9:17–18 ESV
17 “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” 18 But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Here it is translated as the dead in Sheol.
We see that usage of this Hebrew word carries more meaning then giant.
How does this information tie into our passage?
Genesis 6:1–4 ESV
1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
Numbers 13:33 ESV
33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
Deuteronomy 2:10–11 ESV
10 (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.

Consequently there is a dark, sinister element to the Israelite conception of the Rephaim as inhabitants of the underworld.

The single form of Rephaim appears four times in 2 Samuel 21:15-22.
How does this effect our understanding of this passage?
Now when you see the word giant in Scripture, what comes to Mind?
2 Samuel 21:15–17 ESV
15 There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16 And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
We are in a spiritual battle! We must not fight alone.
2 Corinthians 10:3–6 ESV
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
Paul is not doing it alone neither should we.
2 Samuel 21:18–21 ESV
18 After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. 19 And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 20 And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. 21 And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down.
2 Samuel 21:22 ESV
22 These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
Israel sees physical battles with spiritual consequences. These are a battles between Yahweh and the Philistine’s god’s who had made giants of spiritual descent to fight against Israel.
Ephesians 6:10–12 ESV
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
We are in a spiritual battle! We need to find our strength in God standing together in God’s armor.
Ephesians 6:13 ESV
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
We need all of it to stand. When we leave peaces of God’s armour off we are vulnerable to attack.
Ephesians 6:14–18 ESV
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Truth - we must stand on it.
Righteousness - We must live in it.
Good News - We must proclaim it.
Faith - We must believe truth and stand with fellow believers.
Salvation - We must live with the hope of Salvation.
Word of God - We must know it and weld it as the Spirit leads.
Prayer- We must cover all with the counter attack of prayer.
These are the things every believer needs to be about every day for we are in a spiritual battle.
We are in a spiritual battle! Are you ready for war?
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