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The Bible is a multi-layered treasure storehouse from the Parshah (surface story) to the Sod (lowest layer.)  It is a wonderful book that is all about ONE person: our Lord Jesus.  From Genesis to Revelation, over and over in various offices, types, and shadows, there are stories and snapshots of Him, His Jewish brethren, and US, Church.  All these things act as visual aids to teach us more about Him.

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The Holy Spirit loves to tell us about Jesus in the stories themselves.  But He also loves to hide these beautiful pictures found in the meanings of the names of people and places, in numbers, and even individual Hebrew letters.  Many times, there is a story within a story within a story.

There four layers of study as identified by the rabbis.  If you’d like to learn more about them, you may follow the link below for a more in-depth discussion:

https://emmausroadministries.international/2016/06/26/eutychus-the-story-behind-the-words/)

On with our story!

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Bold Statement!

What a BOLD statement by young David, who was only 17 years old at the time. 😮  He was dwarfed by this giant of a man, the great champion of the Philistines.  But he didn’t stand there in defiance of him in his own strength.  No.  He stood before him in the name of the LORD of Hosts.  Big difference! 🙌🏻 His words, far from being like the bragging boast of this giant, were in fact a statement of great humility.

As you read above, even numbers have hidden meaning.  David was only 17 when he killed Goliath.  This story, you’ll notice, was recorded in the 17th chapter of the book of 1 Samuel.  The Holy Spirit placed it here long before there were chapter designations. 😮 This is no coincidence!

The number, “17,” in Bible numerics, means, “Victory.”  It also corresponds to the day that Jesus rose from the dead, triumphing over the death itself:  “The 17th day of the month of Nissan!” 🙌🏻💖

Anyone interested in more on the meaning of numbers in the Bible, which is NOT numerology by the way, may follow the link below:

https://emmausroadministries.interntional/2016/03/20/bible-numerics/

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What you see in the picture above is the valley of Elah as it exists in Israel today.  Azekah was a town on border between Israel and Philistia.  The meaning of “Ephes Dammim is particularly illuminating.

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The Hebrew word for blood is “Dam.”  In order to make a word plural in Hebrew, the letters “im” appear on the end which functions like our letter “s” in English.

“Dammim” is the plural of “dam,” and literally means, “Bloods.”  Words in Hebrew are pluralized when they want to either emphasize it or, in this case, portray a very violent death or a very bloody affair.  The account of this battle certainly qualifies as a very bloody affair.  Ephes Dammim literally means “the boundary of the bloods (plural.)”

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Is there anything more efficacious than the blood of our Lord Jesus?  NO!

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He whispers things like:  “Oh, wow! You really screwed up again!”  “You are totally out of control.”  “What a terrible parent you are.”   “Call yourself a Christian when you act like that?”

OR:

On and on he drones; negative, destructive, self-condemning thoughts.  It never ends.  Don’t listen to him.  HE IS LYING.

Here’s the key:  In order for him to win, you have to listen to, believe, and buy into his lies.

In order for his puny little plan to succeed, you have to stand up, come DOWN from your high place seated next to Jesus, and go DOWN into the valley; DOWN into defeat.  You do it.  You have to agree to it.  He doesn’t make you; he tries to convince you to come down.

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This is how you “fall” from grace. We “fall” because we come DOWN from our high place DOWN to the LOWER place; DOWN into the VALLEY of fear and defeat.  Are you sensing a pattern here?  🤨

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Secrets And Typologies In The Hebrew Language.

Elah, in Hebrew, means “Awesome, fearful One,” from the root word for fear.

Each army was on a mountain on either side of the valley of Elah. A champion from the Philistines went out from the camp…..the giant, GOLIATH…..whose name means “Stripped, exile.”  He is a “type” of THE enemy…..the devil…..whom Jesus stripped of power and exiled! 🙌🏻💖

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He was from the town of Gath which, in Hebrew, means “Winepress.”  It says of Jesus in Rev.19:15 that “Jesus Himself treads out the WINEPRESS of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” “Having stripped principalities and powers; He spoiled them!…….

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David’s name is also very telling:  It means, “Beloved.”  He is a picture of Jesus but also a picture of you and I.  We are beloved of our Father, too.

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