Valley of Rephaim

But the Philistines weren't finished.

They returned and made another raid in the Valley of Rephaim.

Once again, David sought God's guidance.

Verse 14 says, "And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, 'You shall not go up after them.

They were known for their devastating strength and enormous stature, so much so that they were remembered as shadows of a pre-flood past.

Rephaites, a term often used as a variation of Rephaim, but also associated with specific groups inhabiting regions such as Bashan and the Valley of Rephaim.

Their warriors were legendary, and many believed they carried the echo of the giants destroyed by the judgment of the waters.

Anakim, the descendants of Anak, the race seen by Moses' spies.

Listen once again to verse number 22.

"Now the Philistines came up once again and spread themselves out in the Valley of Rephaim." The point is that the enemy is not gonna forever leave you alone.

Even with Jesus, when Yeshua's in the wilderness, he defeated the Devil after 40 days, and the scripture concludes by saying the Devil left him after the 40 days, after Yeshua defeated him, to look for a more opportune time.

In other words, the Devil couldn't defeat Jesus in the wilderness, and so eventually, he gave up and left to come back, the scripture says.

Then it ran up the valley of Ben-Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite city, that is, Jerusalem.

From there it climbed to the top of the hill west of the Hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.

From the hilltop, the boundary headed toward the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, came out of the towns of Mount Ephraim and went down toward Bela, that is, Kiriath-Jerim.

Then it turned westward from Bela to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jerim, that is, Kesalon, continued down to Beth Shemesh, and crossed to Temna.

And the Hinnom Valley is right beside Jerusalem.

It says that this was a Jebusite city.

And it was at the end of the Valley of Rephaim.

King James says the Valley of the Giants.

"And when David heard of it, he went down to the stronghold." He went down to a place and he sought God.

"Now the Philistines came and spread themselves out in the Valley of Rephaim." They were attacking David from many different angles.

"Then David inquired of the Lord, saying, 'Shall I go up against the Philistines? What shall I do?' And he said, 'Will you give them into my hand?' And the Lord said to David, 'Go up, and I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.'" Maybe there's something, beloved one, in your life that you're struggling with today.

Maybe it's your marriage.

And David is now saying, "We're, we're going to be the dominant political and military force of the Middle East." So he begins one military campaign after another.

He has defeated the Philistines twice at the Valley of Rephaim.

He finally defeats them pretty much, it's the end of the Philistines at Metheg-ammah.

At Zobah, he, he defeats the king of Zobah and extends Israel all the way to the Euphrates River.

David is now the king, and unified, and he's been anointed by all the tribes.

So immediately the Philistines say, "We have to attack him now while he's weak." And so they attack up through the Valley of Rephaim.

So the va- there are two valleys that lead from the West Coast, the Mediterranean coast, over toward Jerusalem.

One is the Valley of Rephaim.

One is the Valley of Aijalon or Ayalon.

If you remember the Valley of Aijalon, that's where Joshua got God to make the sun stand still.

Burn the idols of everybody that lived there ahead of you.

So the Philistines go back to Gath, and they say to themselves, "Okay, we got this guy figured out.