The Place Of The Skull

1 Samuel 17:51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his (Goliath's) sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it......"
.......57 "Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul (in Jerusalem) with the head of the Philistine in his hand." 

Our Father's heart is full of His Son, Jesus!  What He accomplished long ago on a hill called Mr. Calvary are spoken of over and over again throughout the Bible.  This portion of scripture has beautiful pictures of His Beloved Son and His finished work of redemption. 

According to the first three verses of this chapter, this historic battle took place "between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim," on either side of the "Valley of of Elah."  Israel drew up in battle array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

Sochoh, in Hebrew, means “thorns; ” Azekah--strength of walls."  Sounds like they were between a rock and a hard place.

Ephes Damim literally means "boundary of the bloods," and Elah means “fear,” in Hebrew.

The Holy Spirit is painting pictures for us again. When we get into a "thorny" situation" with our back against the wall down in the valley of fear, we need a Savior. We need Jesus!

Ad you know, Goliath had been hurling insults against God and heaping verbal abuse on the armies of Israel for 39 days straight. He not only boasted against their God; he called Him out!

David, whose name means "beloved," killed him with a stone, one of the five he had found in the stream that is there to this day.  Five is the number of grace!  (Wow!  He found grace!)  He put one of them into his shepherd's sling, let it fly and felled the giant in one shot.  A great victory was won for Israel that day!

You see as long as we don't give heed to the taunts and lies of our enemy--our Goliaths--and remain seated in heavenly place next to Jesus, we will not be drawn down into the valley of elah: fear."

Goliath is a picture of satan--our accuser--who CANNOT cross the boundary of the blood (of Jesus).  His name in Hebrew means "stripped, exile." He was wearing a helmet and armor all made of bronze.  Bronze in the Bible means "judgment." He was a picture of judgment from head to toe, you might say.

He was also from the city of Gath, which means "winepress," in Hebrew.  In Rev.19:15 it says that "Jesus Himself treads out the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God....Having stripped principalities and powers; He spoiled them." 

That's our Jesus, the GREATER DAVID, defeating our Goliath, the devil, taking away our reproach.  We are no longer strangers and exiles subject to God's wrath.  We are heirs of the promises of God and beloved sons and daughters!

 

That's what David, a picture of Jesus, did; he "spoiled principalities and powers" by defeating them (Goliath and Co.) in the Name and the power of the LORD of Hosts, making Goliath a "stripped exile," and carried out judgment on him.

At the end of the chapter David carried Goliath's head all the way to Jerusalem.  It was buried outside the city walls in a place which came to be known as "the place of the skull where, 4,000 years later Jesus, the GREATER David, our giant killer, The Savior of the entire world, would die on a cross, thoroughly routing the greatest of all enemies; the serpent.

His cross would be erected directly over the place where Goliath's head was buried.  Our Jesus, THE GREATER DAVID {BELOVED}, CRUSHED ONCE AND FOR ALL the devil's head on that hill long ago known as:

 The place of the Skull.