All language subtitles for David & Goliath The Valley of Elah.eng.eng

We are at the Valley of Elah,
where David slew Goliath.

(Sergio) This is so cool!

How many years, and we've never been here.

After so many years, we're finally here!

♪ (music) ♪

Archaeologists have identified
the valley and the mountains

upon which the Philistines
and the Israelites encamped.

We are where it's believed
the Israelites camped on this hill,

and across is where
the Philistines camped.

And David and Goliath would have
fought somewhere in the middle.

(Sergio) And they have excavated
in this area three ancient cities

that are mentioned
in this biblical account.

I mean, they've been
excavating this for years,

and they've found
so many cool things here

that it's gonna blow your mind away.

I mean, it made the world news
and blew everybody's mind.

So today, we're going to visit this valley

and envision how
the battle array looked like.

We're going to find the stream
where David could have picked

the five smooth stones.

Oh, that's perfect.
Look at that.

And we're going to try and answer
the questions that we always have.

So, you're staying right here,

and I'm gonna go down there
and be the Goliath.

We'll see if you can hear me.

How could the Israelites hear Goliath
if there is a valley in between them?

I'm way past the water.

There will be no Israelites here,
only the Philistines.

Let's see if she hears me.
I doubt it, but let's see.

(Rhoda) We're just trying to test,
when Goliath would come out and shout

and defy the God of Israel,

how did the people hear him?

Choose a man for yourself
and let him come down!

And how could David sling a stone
so accurately and deadly?

So, we've built this DIY slingshot.
It's very simple to build.

It's made out of duct tape
and just two strings,

so let's give it a try.

We've never used a slingshot before.

Whoa! Did you see that?

Look how far it went!

This was the coolest thing ever!

(Sergio) And on top of that all,

we're going to share
with you a hidden message

that was recently discovered
in the verses of this biblical account.

Goliath, he was wearing scales, right?

He's this big, giant guy with scales,

and everybody's fearing him,
just like a serpent.

- (Rhoda) It's amazing.
- (Sergio) It's amazing, isn't it?

- How the bible connects.
- Yeah.

(Rhoda) So join us as we go

on this incredible adventure.

♪ (music) ♪

So, we've been driving
for an hour and a half from Nazareth,

and we're gonna be entering
the Valley of Elah any moment now

from the Philistine side,
from the northwest side.

This is exactly the route
that the Philistines would have taken.

It's exciting.
We're gonna see it any moment now.

It should be right behind this corner.

♪ (music) ♪

Whoa! Look at that!

- Wow!
- (Rhoda) There it is!

Wow!

- (Sergio) This is the valley.
- (Rhoda) We're entering it.

We're entering it.

- We're entering it.
- (Sergio) This is so cool.

How many years,
and we've never been here?

After so many years, we're finally here.

Yep.

(Sergio) Look at it!
What a beautiful valley.

This is it.
This is the Valley of Elah.

(Rhoda) The Hebrew word "Elah"
means a terebinth tree,

so this valley is called
"the valley of the terebinth."

It is most likely named that way
after the large and shady terebinth trees

which can be seen growing
abundantly in this valley.

(Sergio) Look at this valley.

Aww, it's awesome!

It's so cool.

So, it all happened right here.

This is one of the most
historic battles in human history,

and you must have heard about it.

But, just in case you didn't,
and to refresh your memories,

here is a quick 60-second recap.

1 Samuel 17

(Rhoda) About 3,000 years ago,

the Philistines had gathered
together at the Valley of Elah

to war against Israel.

During the standoff, a giant
Philistine warrior named Goliath

called Israel to send
their best men to fight him

and to resolve the war
in a man-versus-man battle,

so the loser will serve the winner.

(Sergio) The Israelites were so terrified

that no one dared to stand up
against the nearly nine-foot-tall giant.

But after 40 days,

a young shepherd
from Bethlehem named David

came to the military camp
to bring food for his brothers.

And when he heard the Philistine's voice

and saw that there was no one
willing to fight him,

David volunteered to do it himself.

(Rhoda) So, he picked up
five smooth stones from the river,

went up to Goliath and said:

(Sergio) "You come to me with a sword,

but I come to you
in the name of the Lord of hosts."

(Rhoda) And with the sling
of the first stone,

he killed the giant warrior
and then cut off his head.

(Sergio) And just like that,
the young shepherd from Bethlehem

secured the victory for Israel.

(crowd cheering)

(Rhoda) However, the Philistines
did not keep their promise

to become the servants
of Israel if Goliath lost.

Instead, they fled,

and Israel chased them
from the gates of Shaaraim

all the way to Ekron.

(Sergio) So, to start our journey,
we're going to Khirbet Qeiyafa,

which is believed to be
the Shaaraim that is mentioned

in this biblical account.

So, we're looking for
the entrance to Khirbet Qeiyafa,

which would be a good place to start.

We'll get a good
bird's-eye view of the valley,

and that's the side that is
associated with Shaaraim

and could really be a good
starting point for us to explore

what is the actual place
where the battle happened.

And there it is, I think.
This is the entrance right here...

with a burned and exploded car.

The dirt roads this year
had been damaged by the heavy rains.

I don't know, can we drive this?

I don't know.

(Sergio) This looks...

So, it can be a great challenge
for a 4 x 2 car

to get up to the top of the hill
where Khirbet Qeiyafa is located.

I think we can definitely make it...

and it just looks bad from here.

But once I walk it, there's an actual path
and then it gets all smooth.

It's just this, probably,
where the water went.

I'm gonna give it a try.

♪ (music) ♪

Oh, it's very ditchy.

I think I'm gonna close my eyes.

(Sergio) All right.
Whoa, whoa.

- Whoa, whoa!
- Oh, babe.

- (Sergio) Okay, here we go.
- (Rhoda) Okay.

(Sergio) Even though we were
able to make it through the first ditch,

the road did not get
any easier on the way up.

However, with Rhoda's help,
we were able to pass the broken sections

and drive up as close as possible
to Khirbet Qeiyafa.

I guess that's it.
We can't go any further,

so we park right here,
and we walk it up.

I already see the ancient stones.

- Do you see the ancient stones? Yeah!
- (Rhoda) Yeah.

- Look at this. It's like a gate's there.
- Hey, that is the gate.

Yeah, and there's a wall right there!
That is so cool, right?

Let's go take a look at Shaaraim.

♪ (music) ♪

Look at the view over here.

It's like we're coming up.

There it is! There's the gate!
Looks, it's really a gate!

All we have to do is get up.

This is so cool!

This is the city gate.

This is the gate of the city.
That's where the elders would sit.

That's where they would dispute things,

where they would judge things.

It's so cool!

(Rhoda) Look. It looks like
these were stairs of some sort, right?

I mean, they're leveled--

There's 3,000-year-old chiseled steps
and we're walking on them,

the steps that led to the city gate.

Unbelievable.

♪ (music) ♪

(Rhoda) By the way,
you were reading yesterday,

and you did the research, most of it.

What are some of the things
that they found here?

It is so unbelievable, okay?

It's gonna blow your mind away.

I mean, they've been
excavating this for years,

and the stuff they found here
blew everybody's mind.

I mean, not just your
regular typical excavation stuff.

They found here an ostracon.

- What is an ostracon?
- They found an ostracon.

- Ostracon? Ostracon?
- What is an ostracon?

Ostracon?
I'm trying to remember what it was.

- Ostracon? Ostracon?
- What is an ostracon?

An ostracon is a piece of broken pottery

that has writing scratched into it.

In a way, they're like
our modern day sticky notes

but made of broken pottery.

Is that the thing
with the Hebrew language on it?

Yes! Yes!

- Oh, that is so cool!
- The oldest shard,

which was used like a paper note,
like a... memo.

In 2008, during
the excavations at this site,

led by Professor Yosef Garfinkel
and Saar Ganor,

an ostracon was found with an inscription

in what seemed to be
a form of ancient Hebrew.

After further examinations
by the University of Haifa,

an incredible discovery was made

that sent shock waves
across the world of archaeology.

The five lines of ancient script
on the ostracon

appeared to be
the oldest Hebrew script ever found.

Dating to the 10th century BC,

this inscription is about
1,000 years older

than the Dead Sea Scrolls.

(Rhoda) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they could identify,
for sure, words on it,

which is like, one of them is "king."

One of them... I forgot what it was.

(Sergio) Unlike others,
the words in this ostracon

were not scratched into it.

Instead, someone used ink.

So after 3,000 years,

the words faded and posed
a challenge to decipher the text.

But eventually, the experts
at the University of Haifa

were able to do it.

Their findings confirmed

that the language
is indeed ancient Hebrew,

and that eight words out of this text
are exclusively biblical.

(Rhoda) There's a second gate.
There's a second gate.

There it is.

Look. And it has those chambers as well.

Besides the ostracon and a mountain
of other incredible findings,

the archaeologists were able
to uncover two city gates at this site,

a very unique and uncommon feature.

(Sergio) From what I read,

I understood that it's not common to have

two gates in a city in Judah
at the time of David.

So, when they excavated the site
and they found two gates...

that was a big deal.

It's like, what's going on here?

And it fits the narrative of the city
that is called Shaaraim,

which is "two gates,"
so that's pretty cool.

(Rhoda) In the account of the battle
between David and Goliath,

1 Samuel 17 mentions the city of Shaaraim.

Translated from Hebrew,
"Sha'arayim" means "two gates."

And since it is not common to have
two city gates in the 10th century BC,

historians believe this is
a descriptive name of a fortress

that had two gates that provided
easy access to both sides of the mountain.

This is just another cool evidence
to the account of David and Goliath,

that there is a place called Shaaraim,
it does have two gates,

and it's right by the Valley of Elah.

It's so cool.

Now that we have identified Shaaraim

and understand where
the Israelites have encamped,

we can peek over the valley

and look for the place
where the Philistines gathered

and where David and Goliath
might have fought.

(Rhoda) There it is!

(Sergio) It's so incredible.

What a view!

- Wow!
- We can see everything.

The whole Valley of Elah.

Okay, I've got goosebumps

just thinking what transpired here.

Can you imagine

thousands upon thousands
of Philistines right across there?

- (Rhoda) Yeah.
- (Sergio) I mean, chanting...

- (Sergio) Whoa. It's so cool!
- (Rhoda) Wow.

This is definitely a plausible location.
Everything just checks out.

Shaaraim.

You've got Socoh right there,
Azekah right there,

and the Philistines will be
right over those hills,

and the Israelites would be here.

Okay. We're so excited...

now we need to calm down
and make sense out of all of this.

Yeah.

(Sergio) To help us place the events
in their proper location,

we have called our friend
and pastor Charlie Garrett

from The Superior Word Church in Sarasota

who had been studying
this biblical account in detail

and examining each Hebrew word
for the past five weeks.

Do you think this would be
fitting the account?

Oh, why not?

I mean, you've got that big,
empty spot in the middle,

where a battle would take place,

hills on both sides
where they would be encamped,

so it perfectly fits the description.

(Sergio) This is incr--

I have goosebumps again just thinking
this is where it all took place.

Thank you so much for the help.

Love you guys!

- Love you. Bye.
- Love you too. Bye.

So, Charlie says this fits
the biblical narrative,

and he believes
that this could be the spot.

There is a nachal down there, a river,

and there is a ridge which would separate
the Philistines and the Israelites,

so we're gonna go down there and check

if this could be the spot
where they fought.

I'm excited. Let's go.

♪ (music) ♪

So, we went around the valley,

and now we are approaching
the dirt road that...

- ...will lead us to the stream, right?
- Yes.

Yes, that's what we saw right here.

- Ooh.
- Be careful.

Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh, wow.

Okay. This is it.

We're in the middle of the valley right.

We're actually crossing the valley.

(Rhoda) They could have been standing
right here for as much as we know it.

- There it is.
- (Sergio) There it is.

- Let's go and explore.
- Yep.

Ooh, it's hot!

(Sergio) Wow, this is so exciting.

Can you imagine this is where

David could have picked up his stone,

the five smooth stones?

(Rhoda) I see plenty
of smooth stones down there.

(Sergio) Yeah.
Wow! This is the river.

(Rhoda) Look how green it is,
probably because there's water underneath.

(Sergio) This is awesome.

It's the beginning of August,
and it's still green here.

It means water runs here

throughout the spring and wintertime,

and it's enough to sustain this vegetation
throughout the summer.

- That's pretty cool.
- (Rhoda) Yeah.

(Sergio) All right.
So, let's go into the stream

and check out if we can find
some smooth rocks.

- (Rhoda) Yeah.
- (Sergio) Wow!

(Rhoda) Do you think this is where David

would have stooped down

and picked up a few stones?

This has got to be.
I mean, look at them.

- (Rhoda) Yeah, right?
- (Sergio) There are so many!

This is where the water runs, right here.

And you can see that some of the Earth
is still more brown, more moist.

And there's still vegetation growing here,
which means this is exactly

where the water runs
in the wintertime, in the springtime,

which is most likely the time
when they actually attacked

or when they went to battle.

(Rhoda) In 2 Samuel Chapter 11,

the Bible mentions that it was
"the spring of the year"

when kings would go out to battle.

Considering Israel's climate,
this makes perfect sense.

The summer can get extremely hot,

autumn is the time to collect the harvest
and prepare provisions for the winter,

and the winter can get very rainy
and relatively cold

making springtime to be
the best option for war.

(Sergio) So, it's very likely
that when the Philistines came here,

it was during springtime
and the water would still be here.

And it could be pretty bad
because the majority of the stream

comes here after winter,
and there's plenty of water here

which would make it so much
more difficult to cross, to attack,

to engage in war in this particular area.

(Rhoda) But in this particular valley,

springtime might not
have been the best idea

because the river
would have been full of water

making this area very muddy
and hard to cross.

This would put the army
who dared to attack first

at a great disadvantage.

And this makes the biblical account
so much more understandable.

Think about it.

If this is the river
and there was water here,

the first military,
the first army to attack

would be at a disadvantage.

They would have to cross the river.

And by the time they crossed the river,

they would have to climb and attack.

The Israelites would be
on the mountain right there,

and the archers would be
right there at the top shooting at you.

You're at a disadvantage.

So, the first army to attack
is at a disadvantage.

(Rhoda) Mm-hmm.

(Sergio) This explains why neither army
attacked each other for 40 days

and instead chose a one-on-one fight
to resolve the war.

So, you've got
the Philistines on the one side,

the Israelites on
the other side of the mountain,

and neither wants to attack,

so going man-versus-man
made a lot of sense.

Mm-hmm.

(Sergio) And now that we have
answered our first question...

next, we are going to pick up
a few smooth stones from the riverbed

and check if David's slingshot
was a worthy weapon of war.

♪ (drumming) ♪

So, we've built this DIY slingshot.

It's very simple to build.

It's made out of duct tape
and just two strings.

One string has a thing for your finger
and the other one you just release.

So let's give it a try.

We've never used
a slingshot before, and...

it's gonna be a great test.

I'm gonna launch it over there.

If I can at least
get the direction right...

that's a success.

That works.

(Sergio exclaiming)

- Where is it?
- (Rhoda) It's there.

- Where?
- (Rhoda) There. It landed.

I have no idea when I released it.

(Rhoda) It just went up
and went into like a "U" over there.

Oh my gosh.
That looked so scary.

I had no idea it was gonna land on me.
All right. One more.

♪ (drumming) ♪

Whoa! Did you see that?

Look how far it went, and so straight!

(Rhoda) Do you think
you would have killed a giant?

Well, very possibly.
Like a giant sheep.

(sheep bleating)

This thing goes on top,
and then you swing it

and release it when it's above your head.

- Okay.
- (Sergio) All right. Give it a try.

You nailed it on the first attempt.
That's insane.

♪ (music) ♪

- Go!
- (Rhoda) That was good.

(Sergio) If I can replicate that,
it means I'm getting more accurate.

- Let's try it.
- (Rhoda) Okay.

A deadly blow. Whoa!

(Rhoda) No, you...

- (Sergio) All right, one more time.
Are you ready?

- (Rhoda) Ready.
- (Sergio) Here we go.

(Rhoda) Wow!
That was your best.

(Sergio) It's the same
direction every time,

and it goes directly
to that can of Sprite.

(Rhoda) That was pretty close to you.

(Sergio) Hey.
Your stone looks like a heart.

(Rhoda) With love.

(Sergio) Okay, so what
I've learned from this is that

10 throws and I'm able to aim
always in the right direction

and to release it at the right time.

It's not bad for somebody
who has never done it before.

Imagine I had a whole day,

if I would be shepherding sheep
all day like David did,

and what else do I have to do
but to try and aim with a slingshot

and practice and improve my aim?

It's totally plausible.
This is incredible.

I'd never assumed that I would
be able to do it after only 10 tries.

(Rhoda) Good job, babe.

(Sergio) Now that we've tried it,

this sling has certainly
proved to be a real weapon.

And David wasn't the only one
who knew how to use it.

As the Bible mentions,
a group of Israelite men

who could sling a stone
at a hair and not miss.

So, now that we have confirmed
the deadliness of this weapon,

our last goal for the day
is to do the Goliath voice test.

♪ (music) ♪

So, I always wondered:

How could Goliath's voice be carried,

and how could the Israelites hear him
if there is a valley in between them?

And that's exactly what
we're gonna test right now.

So, Rhoda's gonna go up to the mountain,

and I'm gonna be Goliath
screaming from across the river.

- (Sergio) Okay. It is.
- (Rhoda) This is so steep.

- (Sergio) Okay. All right.
- (Rhoda) Ooh.

And we're gonna see if Rhoda
will be able to hear me or not.

I'm really looking forward to it.
Are you excited?

(crickets chirping)

There we go. Come on.
All right. We made it.

So, you're gonna stay right here.
You represent the Israelites.

And, I'm gonna go down there
and be Goliath,

and see if you can hear me.

That's gonna be good.

- Be careful. Be careful.
- (Sergio) Yeah.

(Rhoda) Easy, easy, easy.

All right. I just need to keep going.

I'm just gonna
cross the river right here,

and I'm almost there.

Okay.

So, now let's see if Rhoda can hear me.

Let's see if David can hear me.
Let's see if the Israelites can hear me.

Hello!

(insects chirping)

(echoing) Hello!

(Rhoda) I hear you.

(echoing) I hear you.

I hear you too!

(Rhoda) I hear you perfectly.

(Sergio) Insane. I'm gonna
go farther. Let's check.

(Rhoda) He's going further now.

I'm going even farther
because she can still hear me.

Okay. Can you hear me?

(echoing) Okay. Can you hear me?

(Rhoda) I hear you.

(echoing) I hear you.

That is so cool!

"Choose a man for yourself,

and let him come down and fight me."

(Rhoda) That is pretty cool.

I hear him even though
he is much further now.

(Sergio) "Let him come down and fight me!"

(Rhoda) That's how much I can hear him.

Okay. She could still hear me,

and I did not even
raise my voice that much.

Let's go even farther.

I mean, I'm in the middle
of the valley now.

“Why have you come out against us?

Am I not a Philistine..."

- (Rhoda) That is incredible.
- (Sergio) ...and are you not

the servants of Saul?"

Okay. I'm just gonna
cross the field, literally.

This is insane.
I'm just gonna cross the field.

(Rhoda) Okay.

It would be impossible
to hear him from there.

(winded) All right.
This is the last test.

I'm almost half way across the field.

Let's give this a try.

"Choose for yourselves a man.

Let him come down and fight me!"

(echoing) "Choose for yourselves a man.

(Rhoda) Oh my goodness.
"Choose for yourselves a man."

(echoing) ...and fight me!"

I hear you!

That is incredible, really.

Absolutely unbelievable.
I have goosebumps!

This is so incredible
that he is so far down there...

I am all the way across the field,
and she can hear me!

...but I hear him
and there's that echo effect.

This is insane!
I can hear her!

That means they could even
reply to Goliath.

They could hear David and Saul fight.
Wow!

Where is your champion?

If I can hear you, then you can hear me!

Be careful.

I heard everything.

- (winded) That was so cool.
- It is incredible, isn't it?

I had goosebumps because
I didn't believe it was gonna work out.

And the Israelites...
this is the cliff line.

They would be standing here,
and they would hear everything.

Everything.

Think of the spectacle.

These hills are full with Israelites.

All over, the military, Saul's military.

The army in camps, many camps.

David crosses.

The guy crosses this creek

and onto the fields in the valley
to face Goliath.

These incredible results are not
something we expected to see

when we first set out on this journey.

This was the coolest thing ever!

You being down there and hearing you.
This was awesome.

(Sergio) Every detail
in the story of David and Goliath

is proving to be possible,

but these events are much more
than just about their battle.

The account of David and Goliath
has an incredible picture.

- Yeah.
- It is so cool.

If we look at the outline of the story,

an unbelievable picture starts to form.

Goliath threatens
the freedom of the Israelites

and no one is found worthy to fight him...

except David, a shepherd
who comes down from Bethlehem

to feed his brothers,
but his brothers ridiculed him.

But despite the disbelief and rejection,

David kills the giant
and provides freedom to Israel.

And here's the incredible part.

Goliath's name means
the "Exposer" and the "Exiler."

He is the picture of Satan
who exposes our weaknesses

that lead us to sin and exile us
from the presence of God.

And just like with Goliath,

there was no one found
who could set us free from Satan...

until a Savior was born in Bethlehem

who came down to His own people,

but they despised and rejected Him.

Yet, regardless of
the disbelief and rejection,

He faced death and defeated it

providing freedom from sin
for all who believe.

There is a series of sermons
that Charlie Garrett

has been working on for five weeks.

It is absolutely incredible.

I was reading them
from cover to cover without stop,

all five in a row.

I just couldn't stop.
It's all about Jesus.

The whole story of David and Goliath,

everything that happened here
was all about Jesus,

and it's incredible.

Every word in Hebrew
and every detail in this chapter

paints an incredible picture
of the redemptive story of our Lord.

There's just so many details
that all point to Christ.

Like Goliath, he was
wearing scales, right?

He's this big, giant guy with scales,
and everybody's fearing him.

Well, scales, it's like a serpent.

In the Genesis account,
right, the serpent--

- Or a dragon in the relations.
- The dragon in the relations, yes!

Isn't it incredible?

And he is like the Satan
everybody's afraid of,

and there's nobody who would
come out against him,

and yet one man was found,
David, who prefigures Christ.

And there is just so much more.

If you're interested to find out more
of these incredible details,

such as why David picked up five stones,

and why, after cutting off Goliath's head,
he took it to Jerusalem,

then we highly recommend watching
the five sermons on David and Goliath

by Pastor Charlie Garrett
from The Superior Word Church.

Well, you've got to watch it.

Check out the link below
to start the sermons and watch them.

It will be worth your time,
we promise you.

♪ (music) ♪

This is just so incredible.

I mean, did you expect seeing
all this when we got here?

No, this is just amazing
and confirming everything.

- Everything. Yeah.
- It has been just a real treat.

When we first set out on this journey,

we did not know what to expect.

But now that we are here, we can see it.

We can see how the Israelites
camped at Shaaraim.

We can almost hear the voice of Goliath
traveling through the valley

casting fear in the hearts
of the mightiest men of Israel.

And we can almost see David
picking up stones from the river

and approach the enemy.

(Sergio) So, the next time
we read this account in the Bible,

we can imagine it in full color

and better understand how God,
working through David,

brought about
one of the greatest deliverances

in the history of Israel.

(loud thud)
(sword drawn)

A deliverance that had a significance
greater than any has ever imagined.

That not only brought about
the salvation to Israel,

but it gave hope and anticipation

to the One of whom
the prophets have spoken about.

The One who will come to redeem Israel...

The Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has done marvelous things.

His right hand and His holy arm
have gained Him the victory.

So, we hope that you guys
enjoyed this episode

and that it's a blessing to you.

And until next time, God bless you all.

God bless.

He has remembered His mercy
and His faithfulness to the house of Israel...

All the ends of the Earth
have seen the salvation of our God.

Psalm 98:1-3