Typology as prophecy-- David and Goliath

These are articles that go over the scope of typology and are helpful in laying some groundwork, although I do not agree with every single thing they say:

www.christiancourier.com/articles/126-study-of-biblical-types-a

www.blueletterbible.org/study/larkin/dt/28.cfm

What I can't seem to find is a comprehensive, or attempted comprehensive list of Bible types. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, and I doubt any one list will have them all-- in fact I have found several myself where I can not find any online example of anyone else finding them. Yet when I showed them to people, they agreed, they were clearly there.

Blow by blow: (As I'm able)


1 Samuel 17 (KJV)

1 Now the Philistines [This pagan nation was known for their idolatry, commerce, manufacturing, weaponry, metalurgy, and warrior culture. As such, they fit well with the end-times world of the gentiles.] gathered together their armies to battle, [as at Armageddon in the end times] and were gathered together at Shochoh, [Means "Branch" which is a word connected with David to refer to Jesus, a branch from the root of Jesse] which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah [means "a plowed field." This was also near the location of Joshua's fight with the Gibeonites, Joshua 10. This may symbolize the timing at the end of the Tribulation-- the fallow ground in the Israelites hearts will have been broken up.] , in Ephesdammim [Means "boundary of the blood drops." This name chills me to the bone-- when I think of the five-foot deep blood that will flow at Armageddon].

2 And Saul and the men of Israel [representing probably the remnant of Israel at the end of the Trib] were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah [oak or terbrinth tree, one of the strongest known trees around. A king of Judah had this name later. Consider Psalm 1.]., and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. Armageddon will also take place in a valley, though it is not this same valley.

4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, [Goliath means exile] of Gath, [Gath means winepress-- remember Jesus is said to be the one who treads out the winepress of the wrath of God] whose height was six cubits and a span [The number 6 symbolizes man, emptiness, falling short, demonic activity, Satan, the antichrist, and the end-time satanic system] Goliath was about ten feet tall, probably nearly twice as tall as David.

5 And 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.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

The description of Goliath's armor and body parts is interesting-- reminiscent of Nebuchadnezzar's image in Daniel 2. Note that the metal used is brass, which is not the same as any of the metals in Nebuchadnezzar's image. Perhaps this is due to brass being the metal depicting the Phillistines. I think it would be reasonable to suspect that if copper were ever tied in, it might depict Egypt, since Egypt was known for its early and avid use of copper. Regardless, I suspect that Goliath is tied to the picture of the Gentile world system, as depicted by the Daniel 2 image. As we go through the chapter, it will become more clear why I say so.

7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred [There's a multiple of six again-- remember there will one day be a 6 hundred, 3 score, and 6.] shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. His armor seemed impenetrable. "Who is like the beast?" One bearing a shield went before him-- possible reference to the False Prophet, though I'm not sure.

8 And 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. Satan's real fight is with God, with Christ. Satan always looks for a way to "clean house for a bargain," that is, a way to undo everything God has done. Here Goliath tries to take all of Israel captive by killing a single man. At the cross, Satan thought he would be successful at capturing the souls of all humanity by killing Christ.

9 If 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. Again at Armageddon, Satan will try to make the same coup de tete he attempted at the cross-- to eliminate Christ and win the whole field in a single blow.

10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. Christ is the perfect man, our champion to fight our cause against the ultimate adversary.

11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. "Who is like the beast?" Unbelieving Israel will cower and tremble before the antichrist and his armies.

12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite [That inhabitants of Bethlehem were called Ephrathites is incredible, because to say someone is an Ephrathite is to say they are descended from Ephraim (the highly, specially blessed son of Joseph). interestingly, Joseph's mother Rachel is buried at Bethlehem-Ephreta. This city is highly significant to prophecy. The name Ephreta being attached to Bethlehem ties in the lineage of Ephraim symbolically to David and thence to Christ-- showing that David and Christ are indeed king of all the 12 tribes. Later, Ephraim becomes the representative leader of the northern 10 tribes. GOD WILL RESTORE HIS 10 LOST TRIBES]. of Bethlehemjudah, [Bethlehem means "House of bread." This symbolizes Jesus, who would also be born there, being called the "bread of life."] whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse [It's interesting how the firstborn was so important to Bible culture, and yet so often God chose not to use the firstborn to accomplish his purposes. Judah, David's ancestor, had three older brothers who were skipped over when it came to passing on the family patriarchy. Others whom God used, though they were not the firstborn, included Isaac, Seth, Shem, Jacob, and Ephraim.] went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab [God is [my] father] the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, [My father is noble] and the third Shammah [Desolate, or appalled] .

14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. In this passage, Saul represents the leadership of the Israelites who do not know the Messiah in the end times. There may even be an individual man who is the leader, prime minister, etc. of Israel in that day, who "believes there is a God, but does not trust in Him, nor know the Messiah." We will see more about this later in the passage.

David is one of the most outstanding types of Christ. He also is Christ's most notable ancestor among the Israelite people. When Christ walked on earth, He was frequently called "Christ, the Son of David."

15 But David went and returned from Saul [This is important. Saul already knew David, because he had been brought in to play the harp for him. Later Saul seems to not recognize or remember who he is.] to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. David was a shepherd, like many of the great men of the Bible. Jesus, David's heir, later claimed to be "the Good Shepherd" who lays down His life for His sheep. This is just one of many ways that David portrays Christ ahead of time.

16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. Forty days symbolizes that this was a significant test for Israel. Whether there's an end-time parallel of forty days, I have not yet determined.

17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren; Here the father sends his son to the battle. Interestingly, the purpose is to take bread to his brethren. When Jesus comes at Armageddon, it will be to stay-- and part of His coming will be to bring aid to His "brethren" the Tribulational Israelites who have survived to the end. He is the bread of Heaven, coming down more than once. Jesus comes to rescue His brethren in that fateful day to come, and give them food both physical and spiritual.

18 And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. Jesse tells David to check in on his brethren and take their pledge. I believe this foreshadows Christ receiving the allegiance of the Israelite people when He returns, and they look upon Him, whom they have pierced.

19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; [Jesus comes to earth at His Father's command, not of His own timing or decision-- He obeys the will of the Father.] and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. Jesus and His army arrives at Armageddon just as the battle is about to be joined.

21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. Christ actually earns rewards for His deeds. He earned much through His death on the cross-- including a bride, the church. But hear me out-- like David, Christ, dare I say, has more than one bride-- the Church-- and Israel. David stood to gain a Benjamite wife-- a daughter of Rachel-- for his bride if he could kill Goliath. When Christ returns to end the Tribulation and begin His earthly reign, He will finally take Israel as a bride-- the bride symbolized by Rachel, whom Jacob loved first, but married second. Another day I hope to expound on the type of Jacob's two wives, and Christ's two wives. No, I do not endorse polygamy in our day. There are many things shown in type form that are not commendable for us to do.

26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. A man's foes shall be those of his own household. Just as Christ came to His own, and His own received Him not, and His very own brothers taunted and egged Him on, so David had the same problem. The Pharisees presumed to know Jesus's motivations, and accused Him of blasphemy and other wrongs, neither fully understanding His purposes, nor caring to investigate, but choosing to jump to self-serving conclusions.

29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? Christ shall take up every worthwhile cause-- He is innocent, and He is the One who can right every wrong.

30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Christ goes to war for us on every front-- Salvation, provision, deliverance, etc. No one need to fear what man can do to him when Christ has taken up his cause. Also notice the word servant, David is careful to be humble at the same time he is bold. Christ is the humble servant and the bold king at once.

33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war [The end-time antichrist will worship the "god of forces" which seems to indicate that warfare is his religion.] from his youth. Saul sees David in his human ability, and fails to recognize that God is with Him. So many failed to recognize Christ as anything more than a man when He came the first time. The Jews of today (most of them) do not recognize the deity of Christ, and therefore vastly underestimate Him.

34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: Animals are very symbolic in Scripture. The lion can be seen in a good light or a bad light, but the bear is always seen in a bad connotation in its raw form. Recognize that these animals are also mentioned together in Daniel 7 in a prophetic sense. If the bear represents Russia in Daniel 7, and there is the context of Gog's invasion, David slaying a bear with his "bare" hands can refer to God's outright destruction of Gog's armies shortly prior to Armageddon-- another possible evidence that Gog's episode is not the same as Armageddon. Also note that David delivered the lamb from the animals-- Christ delivers His sheep from their enemies.

35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. Nothing is too hard for God-- to the Lord it is always a matter of "should it be done" rather than "can it be done," and so it is for David.

37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

38 And 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.

39 And 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. The modern day Jews, and those in Jesus' first advent, have put many additional teachings and restrictions on their people than what the Scripture requires. David found the armor an encumberment-- Christ found the Pharisaical law an encumberance-- and I believe the Jews' rabbinical tradition of today is an encumbrance to them. David knew better than to go into battle with all that armor on, which he was unaccustomed to, and which, in fact, he did not need.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, David's staff is a symbol both for himself and for Christ. The rod, the scepter, the branch, it is all the same idea, the same symbol. The shepherd's staff and the king's sceptre are the same thing symbolically. and chose him five [5 is the number of grace, and, I believe, truth.]. smooth stones out of the brook, [These stones, let me point out, were CUT OUT WITHOUT HANDS.] 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.

41 And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, [This word ruddy means red, and is of the same rootword as Adam. Christ is intrinsically the Son of Man-- that is, the Son of Adam. He represents all of mankind.] and of a fair countenance. For some unexplainable reason, Satan and the antichrist actually seem to think they have a chance to destroy Christ when they see Him descending to slaughter them at Armageddon. How can these intelligent beings be so mad as to not clearly see they are no match for the Creator of the universe? As Goliath disdained David, so Satan disdains Christ.

43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? [Goliath was not impressed with David's shepherd's staff as a weapon. Perhaps the end-time antichrist will be astonished to see Christ and His saints barreling down at him from Heaven as sword-armed cavalry-- fully disrepspecting the hidden weapons-- David's hidden sling and stones, Christ's hidden powers. Both Goliath and the antichrist are evidently mistaken as to their adversary's capabilities.] And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Probably the antichrist will curse Christ by his gods as well-- he worships the god of forces-- his cursing may be in the form of artillery, anti-aircraft guns, surface-to-air-missiles, and who knows what other methods. Just as Goliath's cursing was of no avail, the antichrist will be able to do no harm to Christ and His army.

44 And 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. In fact Christ will do the opposite-- He will give His enemies' flesh to the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field-- a feast such as never was before.

45 Then 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. David invokes the name of the One who will one day come to destroy the beast of the end. David shows that in his case, spiritual weapons are the only ones that count-- physical weapons are easily overcome by God. And so it will be at Armageddon.

46 This 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. And when Christ returns, that God will be VISIBLE in Israel.

47 And 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. There is no contest, this fight is already predetermined to be won by God.

48 And 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. Christ will aggressively come down and destroy His enemies.

49 And 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.

Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about his image being toppled by a stone cut out without hands striking its feet. For some reason here, Goliath is hit in the head, not the feet, but the result is the same, he falls and is destroyed. The stone appears to come out of nowhere and hit him unexpectedly in his weakest spot. So the image of Daniel 2 was hit in its weakest spot, its feet of mixed iron and clay.

50 So 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.

51 Therefore 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.

52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.

55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, [means "Father of enlightening." Abner could not--or preferred not to-- enlighten Saul as to who David was.] the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. Strangely ironic statement, "As thy soul liveth." Based on Saul's life, we are left to highly doubt that Saul's soul liveth today. And yet, Abner should have also known who David was, even as Saul should have. Perhaps Abner spoke a prophetic truth he little understood.

Strangely Saul seems to get amnesia and forget who David is, even though he knew him earlier. Perhaps it is because he never imagined the tender harpist could do such a thing as killing a warrior giant. Symbolically, though, I think this represents the fact that to this day, most of the Israelite people do not recognize Christ as the Messiah.

56 And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is. This is fascinating-- the word translated "stripling" is Saul making a (probably) intentional ironic play on words. The word means boy, or lad, but in the connotation of being the unusual male version of a female word for damsel. This word for damsel or maiden comes from a root word meaning "to keep hiddden," or "a secret." He was not calling David a girl, or girly, but the normal word for boy sounded very like the word translated here as "stripling." If Saul had used the normal word for boy, it would have sounded very similar, but with different vowels. By using the pronunciation he did, Saul was not merely referring to David as a boy, but as a surprise-- a hidden secret that had been exposed. A modern English equivalent might be "Who is this wonder-boy?"  The prophetic implication to me is, Jesus Christ is currently hidden and secret to the modern-day Jews-- they do not recognize Him as the Messiah. When He suddenly arrives on the scene, they will be amazed and won't have seen it coming, although they should have-- they were introduced to Him earlier. Also-- notice Saul says to enquire WHOSE SON the stripling is-- this means, I think, the Israelites will be looking to confirm that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God.

57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

58 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.  At that time, there will be no more secrets, no more surprises. It will be up to the people of that coming day to recognize their new king, or not. Samuel had already anointed David king some time before this.

Thanks, Gary. I've found that every part of the Bible points to Christ in one way or another, every portion directs us to God in more ways than one, and the holy text is so interlaced with God's truth that we will never in this lifetime exhaust its contents. Two years ago I cried out to God and asked Him to help me love Him as I ought, and to help me love His Word. He answered my prayer and has shown me many amazing things like this, that were hidden there all along.