(i) David Versus Goliath The Classical Story
David Versus Goliath Mystic Symbolism discusses the spiritual battle within and the triumph of spirit over matter as it battles the Ego.
In the classical story of David and Goliath ,the Philistine army had gathered for war against Israel. The two armies faced each other, camped for battle on opposite sides of a steep valley. A Philistine giant measuring over nine feet tall and wearing full armour came out each day for forty days, mocking and challenging the Israelites to fight. His name was Goliath. Saul, the King of Israel, and the whole army were terrified of Goliath.
One day David, the youngest son of Jesse, was sent to the battle lines by his father to bring back news of his brothers. David was probably just a young teenager at the time. While there, David heard Goliath shouting his daily defiance and he saw the great fear stirred within the men of Israel. David responded, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?”
So David volunteered to fight Goliath. It took some persuasion, but King Saul finally agreed to let David fight against the giant. Dressed in his simple tunic, carrying his shepherd’s staff, slingshot and a pouch full of stones, David approached Goliath. The giant cursed at him, hurling threats and insults.
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied … today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air … and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel … it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
As Goliath moved in for the kill, David reached into his bag and slung one of his stones at Goliath’s head. Finding a hole in the armour, the stone sank into the giant’s forehead and he fell face down on the ground. David then took Goliath’s sword, killed him and then cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. So the Israelites pursued, chasing and killing them and plundering their camp.
(ii) David Versus Goliath Mystic Symbolism
From the get go one of the most important themes of the David and Goliath story comes from the following passage of the Bible:
Matthew 18: 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
What this is saying is that in order to enter heaven we must become like a child without the dogma and prejudices we collect about the reality of life we have as an adult. We must let go of all the conditioning and bias of our parents and peers and become open like a child.
1st Samuel 17 : 1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.
2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, 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.
This is the exact same scenario as the Hindu Epic’ The Bagavad Gita’ where the armies gather at the start with the armies of Pandu on one side representing spirit battling the sons of the blind king (representing the lower mind).
This story is allegorical.
David = the small child within us. It’s the little child that comes to life when we meditate with the third eye. Goliath is the beast that is responsible for all the mess we have ever made in our life. David is the child that is going to destroy the beast(Goliath) that is within us.
We can look at the construction of Goliath numerologically. Beginning with Adam which is a play on the word Atom, all life was generated by splitting the atom (or taking a rib out of Adam). The value of the letters in the word Adam adds up to 9 as the Hebrew alphabet assigns numbers to letters.
Adam = the centre of life/of all things = 9. The sign of the beast was 666 & 6+6+6 =18 1&8 = 9. The beast being the lower part of the mind (we have higher and lower mind).
In the book of revelation 144,000 were saved (1+4+4=9). All this is talking about consciousness not about people.
John 21:11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
1 + 5 + 3 = 9. Fish = wisdom/understanding. So in order to obtain wisdom we need to activate the pineal gland and the right hemisphere of the brain through meditation. That is where the 9 consciousness (Adam) is found, or the centre of all things.
1st Samuel 17: 4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
A cubit is 18 inches. 6 x 18 = 108 inches. 1+8 = 9. A span is 9 inches. So Goliath is 108+9 = 117 inches (1+1+7=9). This equates to roughly 9 feet.
So this is cosmic code talking about consciousness.
Goliath is the one inside of us that puts us in fear and guilt and he has to be felled. Goliath is the lower mind.
19. Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
The valley is opposite to the elevation of the mountain tops & means that we are down in our life; we have not a position of elevation. Our battles are always in the valleys, never on the mountain tops. Our consciousness is at a low point.
Saul + men of Israel = the good intentions of the religious but unable to solve the problem.
Philistines = strangers. The strange thoughts we have that don’t help us. Wikipedia defines Philistines as “the manners, habits, and character, or mode of thinking of a philistine”; the social attitude of anti-intellectualism that undervalues and despises art, beauty, spirituality.
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; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.
Early in the morning = light. The child rises up into higher consciousness within us when there is light. The child cannot lift itself in the dark times of the soul as we are too weighed down with negativity, grief, fear etc. So by meditation we have the chance to put all of this down and let the inner light of spirit shine through.
Left the sheep with the keeper = sheep are thoughts (counting sheep to get to sleep). The shepherds were the first ones to see Jesus as they were watching the sheep, keeping watch within themselves (their thoughts = meditating). They had inner discipline over their thoughts. So the phrase “shepherds watch their flocks by night” relates to people who meditated and had discipline over their thoughts.
So David leaving the sheep behind = he takes no thought.
Amos 5: 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
When we meditate we are not searching for an outer light, but an inner light within the darkness of meditation. There is a spiritual light and sound which can be perceived in meditation.
20. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
When we meditate in a darkened room if we are still enough we can see the light of God inside. This is what is meant by the day of the Lord being in darkness.
So if we go into the darkness of meditation, the light will come and the child will rise within us to slay the beast Goliath.
1st Samuel 17: 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.
The threat that looms large in our life is on the scene. What is it that stands between us and what we want to accomplish? In meditation we have to face our fears.
24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
The religious people fled. Many religious people do not meditate as they fear it is the process of opening up the mind to the devil. By allowing the child to rise inside us we are no longer afraid of religious dogma and our own fears. The mind never wants to meditate as it never knows the stillness of spirit. The spirit of stillness kills the active mind.
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.
Saul = leader of the religious.
Fathers daughter = spirit. If you slay your fears your house will be free as you will be able to contact spirit to liberate you.
Isaiah 45 : 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
Darkness = meditation.
Hidden riches = secrets unveiled in meditation.
Revelation 21: 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Ist Samuel 17: 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?
Uncircumcised philistine = one who still has desires of the mind and the lower senses. They are standing in the way of your freedom.
Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Circumcision is symbolic for the cutting away the desires of the lower flesh. It was supposed to be SYMBOLIC and not to be taken literally as verse 29 states that it must be of the heart, of spirit.#
Jeremiah 6: 10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Uncircumcised ear = one who is caught up in desire. It cannot hear the word of God. They are listening to everything in the world and not spirit inside themselves.
1st Samuel 17 :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.
Eliab, the elder brother is similar to Cain, in the Cain and Abel story. The flesh always gets in the way of spirit in order to preserve itself. So when the mind gets in the way of us wanting to be still and meditate, Cain has killed Abel. These things are all allegorical. Cain means ‘tiller of the soil’ i.e. what you dig up out of your own head. Abel = keeper of the sheep, or that which keeps the thoughts.
This story also happens in Luke 15. The flesh or desires of the lower always come against the spirit.
29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
When we miss our meditation or means of contacting spirit, the child within us makes us aware of what our true purpose should be. All we have to do is be still and the child within us will contact spirit.
30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manne
r: 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.
The little child in us will fight the thoughts inside us which trick us into believing we are nothing but flesh. It will do the work for us if we sit and meditate.
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 from his youth.
Saul = traditions, religions etc. Saying meditation will not be able to win this battle. We must go to church, read the bible, read books, doing religious actions. Being like a child will not win this battle we need people of ‘authority’ to go to battle, not a child.
Isaiah 11: 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
The Lamb = Christ, The Wolf =our, emotions, leopard = rampaging thoughts. The little child leads them all despite their strength.
Isaiah 9: 6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
So everything must submit to the child.
1st Samuel 17: 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:
Kept my father’s sheep = tuned into the thoughts of God.
Lion & Bear = lower nature that comes in the way of spirit.
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.
The hair which grows out of the top of the head is divine and that which grows out of the lower i.e. his beard represents our lower nature.
Bear = passions of lower nature, the lion = ravages of the thoughts.
38. And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
Religions give us formal teachings, Bibles, ceremonies, traditions. They hold us down with their organisations and traditions. None of this has any effect on the beast of Goliath.They are all outer garments.
1st John 2: 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
and ye need not that any man teach you = we should not be concerned with external teachings as only the spirit within can teach us.
1st Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1st Samuel 17:39 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.
He did not want to use traditions& dogma to get in touch with God so he gave them all back. It is inside of us to fight that battle of our life.
40 And 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.
Psalm 23: 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 smooth stones are the 5 senses we have to control and it is significant he had to be in control of all 5. From this we may deduce that if one area of our lives are out of control than that will be enough for it to be a hindrance to our meditation.
When Lucifer became Satan there were the 5 I Wills:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
In Christian tradition, the Five Holy Wounds or Five Sacred Wounds are the five piercing wounds Jesus suffered during the Crucifixion.
nailing to cross through right hand
nailing to cross through left hand
nailing to cross through right foot
nailing to cross through left foot
Piercing of side by Holy Lance of Longinus
So this is all talking about the same thing. Jesus was undergoing crucifixion of the senses and going beyond the limitations of the flesh.
Going back to David, again this relates to the child within us which opens up in meditation overcoming the 5 senses to ascend to the Father.
1st Samuel 17: 41 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, and of a fair countenance.
The Carnal mind knows nothing about the child, the two are opposite. One is open the Father, the other is not.
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.
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
The Lords work is not done through the mind and the senses, these are not physical battles. One cannot go to war in the world in God’s name. The battle is within. Neither will religious dogma and ceremonies work. One must only awaken the child within.
1st Samuel 17: 48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
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.
Stone that David slung = pineal gland of the brain which results in the awakening of the third eye. When the pineal gland is undeveloped it becomes sandy, this is what Jesus referred to when he said if you build your house on sand, when the storm comes it will blow the house away. By this he is meaning that if we are not in touch with the father and have not meditated for the divine contact then we have built our life (house) on sand. We must therefore build our life on stone through meditation (the pituitary becomes stony when activated through meditation).
Goliath hit in forehead = symbolic for the seat of consciousness which when knotted to the mind it is the thing that stops us knowing our true nature and our identity lies fully with the 5 senses.
What this translates to on a personal level is that through meditation the beast of Goliath is removed within us by meditating and activating the third eye, thus taking our consciousness away from the mind and up towards to be as a child for this to happen and we cannot identify with our senses (thoughts & feelings) in meditation if this is to be achieved.
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.
Philistines = thoughts as mentioned earlier.
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.
Cutting off the head = separation from thought is complete. His life is changed as he no longer identifies with the mind and the senses. This is an inner process. It is similar in Islam and has nothing to do with physically cutting off heads, something which has been perverted by some followers of both Christianity and Islam through the ages where there have been beheadings in the name of Christ or Allah.
Note in verse 50 it says the beast was slain with no sword in the hand of David. It is the inner sword of spirit which comes and separates from the mind if the inner child within is not burdened down by the senses and the demands of life.
(iii) David and Goliath A Summary
The story of David and Goliath has nothing to do with two people it has to do with you alone, slaying the beast within you by raising your consciousness which is knotted with the mind(Goliath) at the point between the eyebrows , so we think we are the 5 senses and are slaves to them. By releasing ourselves from the conditioning of society, religion, our pre conceptions etc(Saul), we can release the child within (David) so that the third eye becomes the seat of the soul through meditation and our consciousness identifies with our spiritual nature and the beast within (Goliath) is forever slayed.
(iv) Recommended Links
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Thank-you for your wisdom, this has opened my mind and improved my ability to see.
This has been a spiritually guided point at the end of a Sabbath Meditation process. My third eye had been opened. Profound. Deepest thanks.