Easy. Just one.
…Probably.
If everything goes according to plan.
But… whose plan?
And that’s where faith gets complicated.
David had absolute confidence that God would help him defeat Goliath, because the giant had “defied the armies of the living God” (1 Samuel 17:36). The victory was as good as won, because he was fighting this battle “in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (verse 46).
And yet he grabbed five stones.
Not one. Five.
Why?
Didn’t he have faith?
Of course he did. He was the kid getting ready to fight a giant while the trained soldiers were cowering back at camp. But faith is a multilayered thing.
David knew God would grant him the victory. But he didn’t know how many stones it would take to get there. And faith had to live in both of those worlds—trusting God unreservedly while not always knowing His plans.
Faith is stepping into the arena with a giant, trusting that God will help you fell him in a single throw.
Faith is also stepping into that arena with extra ammo, just in case God has a different series of events in mind.
Faith is knowing that God can do everything.
Faith is also knowing that God might ask you to do anything.
How many stones does it take to kill a giant?
Faith tells us one is enough.
But it also tells us to bring five, just in case.
Wait … wasn’t there 5 leaders of the Philistines, Goliath being just one of them? (i.e. 1 Samuel 6:16-18) I’m not sure if it was a ‘just in case the first few didn’t work’, but rather, in case God gave the whole Philistine nation into David’s hand … an even bigger indication of how much faith David had, just in case.
I’ve heard variations of that theory before, but the trouble is that there’s not really anything to support them besides the number five.
I don’t know of any evidence that Goliath was a Philistine lord. He was their champion in the battle but that’s not the same thing.
There’s a similar idea that Goliath had four brothers and David was ready to fight all those (based on 2 Sam 21/1 Chr 20), but those all appear to be much later in the story, there’s no indication David even knew they existed when he fought Goliath, and only one of them is clearly listed as Goliath’s brother.
To me, that’s really stretching the text. It’s an interesting theory, but there’s no evidence besides a number—doesn’t really hold up under scrutiny for me.
I believe he chose 5 stones as Goliath had 4 brothers. There was a possibility they would come after David in a revenge killing. Goliath’s brothers are listed in 2 Sam 21:15-22–David eventually killed them, too. Here is a sermon by my husband on the subject.
https://cogministries.org/message/five-giant-killers-september-14-2019/
What a helpful sermon! Please extend my appreciation to your husband. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you, Jeremy. You have put it so beautifully. It just shows how important preparation is WITH our faith in God. May God give us all the right vision and holy understanding and wisdom to know how to go forward every day, that His Will be done. Wishing you all a Holy and meaningful Sabbath.
Thank you for the insightful lesson on faith and preparedness.
I found this week’s Sabbath Thoughts to go well with the chapters we are reading in Read & Reflect. How prayer, preparation and faith all go together along with seeking God’s will in our lives individually and collectively as God’s Church.
About those five stones… Goliath had four brothers. David went prepared to put in a long day at the office, if needed. That’s faith in abundance.
I’m grateful to be seeing Sabbath Thoughts regularly again.. Welcome back! May God continue to bless and inspire your contributions to our collective growth.
Michael