The Philistines New Sword - 2 Samuel 21:15-17

By Dr. Bryan Gentry

2 Samuel 21:15-17, "Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.  And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel."

Intro - In 2 Samuel 21 we see that Israel is once again fighting the Philistines. That comes as no surprise because that battle is still being waged on two fronts.

THE PHYSICAL BATTLE

Israel is still fighting the Philistines, known as the Palestinians today. There is a spiritual hatred of the Jews in the hearts of the Palestinians. There will never be permanent peace between those two groups until the Prince of Peace comes and sets up His Millennial Kingdom. There will be one who comes with a peace plan. Israel will believe that he is their Messiah. The New Agers, Buddhists, Hindus, and Wiccans are looking for a special one to come. They call him: Maitreya, the World Teacher (aka The Christ).

Christians are looking for Jesus the Messiah to come again. Some of the cults will be deceived thinking the Antichrist is Jesus. Islam looking for their 12th Madi. Satan has manipulated many false religions into a position that prepares them to accept the Antichrist when he comes. The Scriptures call the Antichrist by other names such as:

1. The idol shepherd (Zechariah 11:17)
2. The man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
3. The son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
4. That wicked (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
5. The little horn (Daniel 7:8)
6. The prince that shall come (Daniel 9:26)

The Antichrist will fill all of these roles. An interbank telecommunications head stated to the UN a few years ago, “We do not want another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of the people and lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he God or devil, we will accept him."

Modern versions change "Our Father which art in Heaven" in Luke 11:2 to "Father" because their father is not in Heaven!

THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE

The second battle represented here is against the spiritual 'Philistines' and their 'new swords'. There are literally hundreds of different English translations of the Bible. Many people consider this totally confusing. These new swords, no matter how they are labeled, all come from the inferior 'Westcott-Hort Iron Manufacturing Plant'.

They do not use iron at the WHIMP plant. They never have. People don't know the difference between aluminum and iron if they never had iron. People don't know the difference between the NIV and a real Bible if they never had a real Bible.

In 2 Samuel 21:16 , Ishbibenob was one of Goliath's sons. He was going to use his new sword to kill David and avenge the death of his father. Abishai intercepted Ishbibenob. Here are some other things the Bible tells us that Abishai did.

1. Abishai snuck into Saul's camp with David – 1 Samuel 26:6
2. He asked David for permission to kill Saul – 1 Samuel 26:8
3. Abishai wanted to kill Shimei for cursing David & throwing stones at him– 2 Samuel 16:9
4. He was zealous about serving and protecting his king!

*Note: We are not to kill someone for attacking the man of God, but it ought to make us angry! Abishai used his real sword to protect his king. Imagine the look on Ishbibenob's face when the blade of his new sword broke. The new swords cannot withstand the tried-and-true metal of the real Sword (Ephesians 6:17). It was too late to go get another!

This is a picture of the attacks we see today with the new versions. They enemy wants to attack us with their new swords, but the new WHIMP swords cannot hold up under the real metal of the true KJV Word of God! That is why they are trying to trick Christians into using their new WHIMP swords. The WHIMP sword will not offend anyone. The metal is soft and pliable. It stretches to fit every desire. The blade is dull and it has no point! It is an offensive weapon that is not offensive to anyone except God! Even Satan is not offended with it. How could it offend him? He is the designer and production manager.

THE ENEMY'S DESIRE

The men of David were afraid to allow David to fight because they did not want the enemy to quench the 'light of Israel'. Ishbibenob means 'dweller in the land of Nob'. Nob simply means 'high place.' Ishbibenob really means 'one who dwells in a high place.' These modern day 'Ishbibenobs' dwell in a high place to think that their words are superior to the words of Almighty God. There will come a day when God will cut them down.

“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 14:11

“And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Matthew 21:44.

The real reason for the production of these new WHIMP swords is they want to quench the True Light of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. They want to replace our KJV Sword of the Spirit with a new sword. If God's people ever surrender their old KJV Sword, the Light will be quenched in the world.

"when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but . . . changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man." Romans 1:21-23

The new swords say Jesus fell from Heaven in Isaiah 14:12. They attack the Lord's virgin birth and His Deity! They are trying to quench the Light!

THE STRATEGY FOR VICTORY

The goal of the enemies is to quench the Light of the World! To win this battle God needs more Abishais that are zealous about standing up for Him! He wants men who will use the old tried and true Sword to defeat the His enemies! We need to take our Sword and show them what their sword is made of! God wants us to defend and protect the Light!

Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

ARE THERE ANY ABISHAIS LEFT?

WHICH SWORD ARE YOU USING?