And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his wallet; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. … And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.
1Sa 17:40.49
David when fighting Goliath knew that the old way won’t do. Saul offered him the armor and the sword. But David gave it back. He could not move the old way. He might as well have told Saul that the armor did not work for Saul, why should it work for himself.
Instead David took 5 smooth stones from the river bed and put them into his wallet.
David is a picture for Jesus. He is the king of Israel God chose. He is a man after God’s heart – just like Jesus: This is my son whom I love. He is the forefather of Jesus. He had a covenant with God that one of his sons will sit on the throne forever.
Just like Abraham established the possibility of God giving his son for us, David paved the way for the rulership of Jesus.
But David portrays much more about Jesus. Nothing in the Old Testament has happened by happen-chance, and when God has a story recorded in such details, he wants to tell us something. Let’s look at the story with the glasses of the New Testament.
So David is a picture for Jesus. His mission at this day: to free Israel from the enemy. And to bring back manhood, faith, hope, and the knowledge of their God to Israel. To set them free to do their chores. What did he use for that? Five stones.
This reminds me of another scripture:
And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Eph 4:11-13
Five offices, five secret weapons, five stones – apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. Their work? To mature the body of Christ. To bring faith, hope, full manhood, and the knowledge of Christ to the body, so the body could do his ministry. Sound familiar.
Why were the stones smooth? They laid in the river. This reminds me of the river of Ezekiel. The stones came from that river. In the natural, stones have to be in the water for a long time to become smooth. They rub each other, moved by the water, and the water itself does the rest. And they have to be totally submersed to become all smooth. The stones had to be smooth for flying characteristics – to hit the target.
Such with the fivefold ministry. It takes time for them to become smooth and be useful. And they need each other. Only their different views and angles, their different character traits, their different callings and anointing allow the process of sanding, grinding, polishing to take place through the Spirit.
And it is not enough for them to just go into the river ankle, knee, or even hip deep. They need to let go, give up control, let the Lord be Lord. Fully submersed. That way the character can be smoothened and they can be ready for the task.
Then David took the stones because he wanted to use them. But first he put them into his shepherd’s bag. And within the bag he put them into his wallet.
A wallet is a place where precious things are kept until needed. Kept for the right time. Jesus both in history as well as in the personal live of his officers hides his secret weapons where he keeps his precious belongings. In history we are in the season of restoring the fivefold ministry since Later Rain. Personally, his fivefold ministers have been kept in churches or in the market place, hidden, not seen by both the enemy and the people of God. Ready to do his will, ready to go forward.
David taking five stones is not a picture of him being afraid to need more than one. It is a picture that all five are needed. All five giftings are necessary. And even during that time of concealment they keep on polishing each other.
And then David takes one stone for the task at hand. Which one? The apostle? The prophet? It does not matter. He takes one stone and sends him to fulfill the task.
There is no jealousy. Jesus decides, whom he will use today. Jesus gets his will. This is why it takes a while in the river. So there is no craving for recognition any longer in any of them. They esteem the other higher than themselves.
Let’s recap:
- Jesus prepares his officers in the river. That takes time.
- Both the water – that is the Spirit – and the other stones are essential in the preparation.
- When ready, Jesus takes his precious stones and hides them for perfect timing.
- Then Jesus uses whomever he wants however he wants to fulfill the task at hand.
I am a stone, are you? And if so, are you smooth? Send me a comment.