“And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.” (Joshua 14:9-15 ESV)
Before we look at this scripture, let's go back in time a little ways. Let's go back to the story of the 12 spies that Moses sent to spy out the Promised Land. If you'll remember, 10 spies brought back a discouraging report. In that report, they said we can't possibly take the land because we saw there the children of Anak–Ahi’man, She’shai, and Tal’mai. They continued by saying, “we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” Two of the spies, though, Joshua and Caleb, brought back a positive report. Numbers 13:30 says, “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.’”
What a testimony of faith in God! You see, Anak and his children were literal giants. Eighteen times in the Word of God, Anak or his descendants are mentioned as giants. When the ten unfaithful spies saw them, they became afraid and said we can't possibly overtake them. But when Joshua and Caleb saw them, they didn't even flinch. As a matter of fact, they said, “we are well able to overcome them.” Because of Caleb's faith, the Lord made a promise to him in Numbers 14:24.”But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the promised land whereinto he went, and his seed shall possess it.”
That was when Caleb was 40 years old. Now it's 45 years later and Caleb is now 85. But just look at the statement he makes in verse 11. “I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in. He then continues in verse 12, “Now therefore give me this mountain whereof the Lord spake in that day.” What mountain was he talking about? The mountain where the city of Hebron was located. The same mountain where the sons of Anak the giant lived. Now look at his next words. “If so be the Lord will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the Lord said.” What a testimony of faith in his God. Here was an 85-year-old man who was saying, in essence, if God is on my side, bring on all the giants of the land, I'll take them all on!
In the Word of God, the word giant is mentioned 21 times. But there are 79 total references to giants all throughout God's Word. The Bible also mentions that there were three places that giants lived. The first place that the giants inhabited was Ammon. Now when we talk about Ammon, the Bible says that there in that region near Ammon were a group of men that were descendants from Rephaim. Rephaim were the seed of the giants. It is just a term to describe a race of giants. The word Rephaim is mentioned a total of eight times in our Bibles, but six out of those eight times, it is mentioned as the Valley of Rephaim, or the Valley of the Giants.
Giants not only were encamped at Hebron, but they were also near Jebus, or Jerusalem. Jebus was the old name for Jerusalem during David's time. At this time in Israel’s history, the Bible says that David was ruling in the city of Hebron. At this point, David was king only over Judah in which Hebron is located. After a period of seven years, the people came to David and anointed him as king over all of Israel. After they did, 2 Samuel 5:7 says, that “David took the stronghold of Zion.” Once David’s kingdom had now been consolidated, and he was ruling from Jerusalem, read what Joshua 15:8 says; “And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward.” [bold emphasis mine]
This passage of Scripture is telling us that on the north side of Jerusalem, there was a valley of the giants. We must ask ourselves, now, why the emphasis on this valley of giants being right beside the mountain where Jerusalem was located? And why the emphasis on there being a valley of giants beside the mountain Hebron was located on? It is because they, the giants, were trying to block access to God's holy mountains. They were trying to stop anyone from going up those mountains where the presence of God was. It was widely known, among both the Jewish people and the heathen nations around them, that the very presence of Yahweh dwelt on top of His holy mountain. Thus, it was always in the battle strategy of the enemies of God to block God’s people from being able to reach the mountain of God.
When David took the stronghold of Zion, which was Jebus, or Jerusalem, the Bible tells us in 2 Samuel 5:18 that “the Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.” It was there that they wanted to attack David and take the city of Zion from him and give it to the giants that were in the valley. But what did David do? He inquired of the Lord. So, the Lord told David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” Even when we go up against the enemy camped in the valley of the giants, God just says, “No problem, I'm bigger than any giant!”
Time after time, again in the Word, it mentions there being a valley of giants near God's holy mountains. The reason the giants stayed in those valleys was so anyone who wanted to get to God's presence had to go through them to get there. Do you understand that one of the enemies most used tactics is to put obstacles in your way to keep you from getting to God? Do you understand that the devil will put giants of pride, unbelief, tradition, and so on, in your way of getting to the mountain? Your enemy knows that when you get on that mountain where God is, that you'll never be the same again.
Your enemy knew that when Moses got on the mountain, that when Moses came down, he had the glory of the Lord on him. And your enemy knows that when you get on that mountain, you, your family, and your friends are going to be saved, filled with the Holy Ghost, empowered by the might of God. When you get on the mountain, the power of God is going to set you free. When you get on the mountain, you're going to be healed. I'm telling you, one trip to the mountain, one trip to where God's presence is, and you'll never be the same. You'll come off that mountain kicking giants. You'll come off that mountain, walking tall. Why? Because you've been with the giant killer, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what happened to King David. When he came off the mountain, he had become a giant killer. You see, many in the church only know about David killing Goliath, but according to 2 Samuel 21 and 1 Chronicles 20, there were four more relatives of Goliath that David and his men killed, Lahmi, Goliath’s brother, and three cousins, Ish-be-nob, Saph, and one we don't have his name, although we know that he had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Maybe that's the reason David picked up five stones from the brook before he went to fight Goliath–he was going to take all of them on.
David knew that as long as there were giants in the land that they would always pose a threat to people trying to get to God's mountain. David knew that those giants needed to be conquered and overtaken. And if you’ll read the Bible, you'll find out that David and his mighty men of war destroyed the race of giants from off the earth. You know why? Because he took over the valley! He took over the place where the giants had lived for hundreds of years. He took the valley back for God. And that is exactly what we have to do now. There have been giants blocking many of us from getting to God's mountain, but God is about to anoint some giant killers!
Remember Caleb? 45 years after God's promise to him, at the age of 85, Joshua 15:13-14 says, “And unto Caleb he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron. And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, She-shai, and Ahi-man, and Tal-mai, the children of Anak.” Caleb was promised Hebron on the mountain, and he got it. We have been promised victory over our giants, and there is no giant that can stop the army of God.