The story of David and Goliath — an entire army stood frozen with fear, until a shepherd boy with no armor and no sword stepped forward to face a giant.

This account is found in 1 Samuel 17, during the reign of King Saul.

The Story of David and Goliath

The Philistines and the armies of Israel faced each other across a valley. Out of the Philistine camp came a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. Morning and evening for forty days he came out and defied Israel, and King Saul and his soldiers were afraid.

David, the youngest son of Jesse, was sent by his father to bring food to his older brothers in the camp. When David arrived, he heard Goliath shouting his challenge and saw the men of Israel flee in terror. David asked why no one would answer this Philistine who defied the armies of the living God.

David was brought before Saul and offered to fight. Saul doubted him, for David was young and Goliath had been a man of war from his youth. But David told how he had killed a lion and a bear that attacked his flock, and said the LORD who delivered him from them would deliver him from the Philistine.

Saul dressed David in his own armor and a helmet of brass, but David could not move in it, for he had not proved it, and he put it off. Instead he took his staff, chose five smooth stones from the brook, and with his sling in his hand drew near to Goliath. The giant scorned the boy who came against him.

David answered that Goliath came with sword and spear, but David came in the name of the LORD of hosts. He ran toward Goliath, slung a stone, and struck him in the forehead, and the giant fell to the ground. David took Goliath’s own sword and cut off his head, and when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

What the Story of David and Goliath Teaches Us

The story shows that victory did not come from size or weapons, but from trust in God. David faced a stronger, better-armed enemy with only a sling, yet he prevailed because he came in the name of the LORD.

It also shows that courage can come from ordinary faithfulness. David had already trusted God while guarding his sheep, and that quiet faith prepared him to stand when others were afraid.

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The story of David and Jonathan — a king’s son gave up his claim to the throne to protect the very man who would take his place, and called him friend.

This account is found in 1 Samuel 18-20, after David defeated Goliath and came into King Saul’s service.

The Story of David and Jonathan

After David killed Goliath, he was brought before King Saul. Saul’s son Jonathan, the heir to the throne, felt his own soul knit to David’s. Jonathan loved David as himself, and the two made a covenant. Jonathan then stripped off his own robe and gave it to David, along with his garments, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

David went out and succeeded in everything Saul sent him to do, and the people praised him. Saul grew jealous and began to watch David with suspicion. His envy turned to hatred, and more than once Saul tried to strike David down with a spear.

At last Saul told Jonathan and all his servants that David should be killed. But Jonathan delighted in David and warned him, saying his father was seeking to take his life. Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul and, for a time, calmed the king’s anger.

When Saul’s rage returned, David and Jonathan agreed on a secret sign. Jonathan would go into the field and shoot arrows, and by his words about where the arrows fell, David would know whether it was safe to return. At the king’s feast Jonathan tested his father, and Saul raged, making it clear he meant to kill David.

Jonathan went out and shot the arrows as the signal of danger. Then he and David met one last time. David bowed himself to the ground three times, and the two friends kissed one another and wept. Jonathan sent David away in peace, and they held to the covenant they had sworn before the LORD.

What the Story of David and Jonathan Teaches Us

The friendship of David and Jonathan shows loyalty that costs something. Jonathan stood to inherit the throne, yet he protected the man God had chosen to receive it, putting love and faithfulness above his own advantage.

It also shows the difference between Saul and his son. Where Saul let jealousy grow into hatred, Jonathan chose to honor and defend his friend, even against his own father and his own crown.

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The story of the holy bread — a hungry man on the run came to a priest, and the only food in the house was the bread that had been set apart for God alone.

This account is found in 1 Samuel 21, while David was fleeing from King Saul.

The Story of the Holy Bread

David was running from Saul, who wanted to kill him. He came alone to the town of Nob, where Ahimelech the priest lived. Ahimelech was afraid when he saw David arrive with no men beside him, and he asked why David was traveling alone.

David told the priest that he was on an urgent errand and asked for food. He requested five loaves of bread, or whatever there was to give.

Ahimelech answered that he had no common bread on hand. The only bread there was the hallowed bread, the shewbread that had been set before the LORD and then taken away to be replaced with fresh loaves.

The priest gave David the hallowed bread, since there was no other bread to be found. David also asked for a weapon, because he had left in such haste that he carried no sword. Ahimelech told him that the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom David had killed in the valley of Elah, was kept there wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. David took it, saying there was none like it.

One of Saul’s servants was at Nob that day, a man named Doeg the Edomite, who was the chief of Saul’s herdsmen. He saw what the priest did for David, and later he would report it to Saul.

What the Story of the Holy Bread Teaches Us

The story shows mercy meeting real human need. The bread had been set apart for holy use, yet the priest gave it to a hungry man rather than let him go without.

Jesus later pointed back to this very event. When his disciples were accused of breaking the Sabbath by plucking grain, he reminded his critics how David ate the shewbread, showing that God cares about mercy and human need, not only strict rules.

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The story of David sparing Saul — a hunted man finds the king who wants him dead alone and defenseless, and chooses mercy over revenge.

This account is found in 1 Samuel 24, during the years Saul pursued David through the wilderness.

The Story of David Spares Saul

Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to hunt for David among the rocks of the wild goats. David and his men were hiding in the wilderness near En-gedi, always on the move to stay ahead of the king.

Saul came to a cave by the road and went inside alone to rest. He did not know that David and his men were hidden in the very back of that same cave, watching him in the dark.

David’s men whispered that this was the day the LORD had promised to deliver his enemy into his hand. David crept forward quietly and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe, but he would not raise his hand against the king.

Afterward David’s heart troubled him even for cutting the robe. He told his men that the LORD forbid he should harm his master, the LORD’s anointed. He held his men back and let Saul leave the cave unharmed.

David went out and called after Saul, bowing low. He held up the piece of the robe as proof that he could have killed the king but had spared him. Saul wept aloud and admitted that David was more righteous than he was.

What the Story of David Spares Saul Teaches Us

The story shows a man who trusted God to defend him instead of taking revenge into his own hands. David had every chance and every excuse to kill Saul, yet he refused because he honored the office God had given the king.

It also shows the power of restraint. By sparing Saul and speaking honestly, David let his enemy see the truth for himself, and even Saul had to admit that David had returned good for evil.

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The story of Moses striking the rock — a single moment of anger at a dry desert rock cost Moses the one thing he had led the people toward for forty years.

This account is found in Numbers 20, late in Israel’s long journey through the wilderness.

The Story of Moses Strikes the Rock

The people had no water, and once again they complained bitterly against Moses, wishing they had never left Egypt. It was the same argument Moses had heard for decades.

God told Moses exactly what to do. He was to take his staff, gather the people, and speak to the rock in front of them. Water would pour out for everyone to drink.

But Moses was worn down and angry. Standing before the crowd, he scolded them, calling them rebels, and then struck the rock twice with his staff instead of speaking to it.

Water still gushed out, more than enough for all the people and their animals. God was merciful to the thirsty crowd even in Moses’ anger.

Yet God told Moses and Aaron that because they had not trusted him and honored him in front of the people, they would not lead Israel into the promised land. Moses would see it, but never set foot in it.

What the Story of Moses Strikes the Rock Teaches Us

Moses had been faithful for a lifetime, but in this moment he acted out of anger and took the spotlight instead of pointing the people to God. The story is honest about how even a great leader can stumble.

It is a sobering account, but not a cruel one. God still gave the people water, and still loved Moses to the end of his life. It shows that trusting God and honoring him in front of others matters, especially for those who lead.

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The story of the walls of Jericho — Israel took a fortified city not by attacking it, but by marching around it and shouting.

This account is found in Joshua 6, as Israel finally entered the promised land under a new leader.

The Story of the Walls of Jericho

After Moses died, Joshua led Israel across the Jordan River into the promised land. The first city in their path was Jericho, protected by tall, thick walls, its gates shut tight.

God gave Joshua an unusual battle plan. The army was not to attack. Instead, once a day for six days, they would march quietly around the city one time, with priests carrying the ark and blowing trumpets.

For six days they did exactly that, circling Jericho in silence except for the trumpets, then returning to camp. To anyone watching from the walls, it must have looked strange and harmless.

On the seventh day they marched around the city seven times. Then the priests blew a long trumpet blast, Joshua told the people to shout, and the whole army gave a great shout together.

At that moment the walls of Jericho fell down flat. The people climbed straight into the city, and Jericho was taken — not by a battering ram, but by trust and obedience.

Only one household was spared. Rahab, who had hidden Israel’s two spies, was brought out safely with her family, just as the spies had promised her (Joshua 6:22-25).

Where Is Jericho?

Jericho sits in the Jordan Valley, a few miles west of the Jordan River and a few miles north of the Dead Sea, and about 17 miles east-northeast of Jerusalem. It lies roughly 850 feet below sea level, which makes it the lowest city on earth, and settlement there goes back more than 10,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world (though there were long stretches when the old site stood empty).

The Bible calls it “the city of palm trees” (Deuteronomy 34:3), because springs made it green in the middle of the desert. The mound where the ancient city stood is called Tell es-Sultan. The modern town of Jericho stands right beside it, in the West Bank.

What Have Archaeologists Found at Jericho?

Jericho has been dug up again and again for over a century, and scholars still disagree about what the remains show.

• 1930s: John Garstang found fallen walls and a burned city, and dated its destruction to around 1400 BC, close to the date many Bible readers give for Joshua.
• 1950s: Kathleen Kenyon dated that destruction to around 1550 BC instead. Many scholars took this to mean there was no walled city left for Joshua to conquer.
• 1990: Bryant Wood re-examined the pottery from the earlier digs and argued for a date near 1400 BC again. His date is a minority view: most archaeologists follow Kenyon, and radiocarbon tests on charred grain from the site also point to the earlier date.

The digs also found a thick layer of burned debris and jars still full of grain. Grain left behind suggests the city fell quickly rather than after a long starving siege. Joshua 6:24 says “they burnt the city with fire,” though archaeologists cannot say for certain that this burned layer is the one Joshua describes.

What the Story of the Walls of Jericho Teaches Us

The plan made no military sense. Marching and shouting do not knock down city walls. The victory was meant to show that the land was being given by God, not seized by Israel’s strength.

The hardest part may have been the waiting: six quiet days of doing something that looked pointless before anything happened. The story rewards patient obedience, even when the outcome is not yet in sight.

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The story of Gideon — God took a large army, cut it down to just three hundred men, and used them to defeat a vast enemy overnight.

This account is found in Judges 7, during a time when Israel was suffering under the raids of the Midianites.

The Story of Gideon’s 300

The Midianites had been crushing Israel for years, so many that their camels and tents filled the valley. God called a cautious man named Gideon to lead Israel against them.

Gideon gathered an army of thirty-two thousand men. But God said they were too many. If Israel won with such a force, they would boast that they had saved themselves.

So God shrank the army. First the fearful were sent home, leaving ten thousand. Then, by watching how the men drank at the water, God narrowed it further, until only three hundred remained.

That night Gideon gave each man a trumpet and a torch hidden inside a clay jar. They surrounded the huge enemy camp in the dark and waited.

At Gideon’s signal they smashed the jars, blew the trumpets, and shouted, “The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.” The noise and sudden light threw the enemy into panic, and in the confusion Midian was defeated.

What the Story of Gideon’s 300 Teaches Us

God deliberately made the odds worse, not better. He wanted it to be clear that the victory came from him, so that no one could take the credit for a battle they could not have won on their own.

Gideon started out timid and unsure, testing God more than once before he acted. The story shows that God often works through people who feel too weak or too afraid, using their small obedience in big ways.

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The story of Samson — the strongest man in the Bible was brought down not by an army, but by a secret he should have kept.

This account is found in the book of Judges, reaching its turning point in Judges 16.

The Story of Samson

Samson was set apart to God from birth, and the sign of that promise was his uncut hair. As long as he kept it, he had astonishing strength and fought off Israel’s enemies, the Philistines, single-handedly.

The Philistines could not defeat him by force, so they looked for another way. A woman named Delilah, whom Samson loved, was paid to discover the secret of his strength.

Again and again she asked him, and again and again he put her off with false answers. But she kept pressing, day after day, until at last he told her the truth: his strength was tied to his uncut hair.

While Samson slept, his hair was shaved off. When the Philistines came, his strength was gone, and this time he could not fight them off. They captured him, blinded him, and set him to grinding grain in prison.

But in prison his hair slowly began to grow back. At a great feast, the Philistines brought Samson out to mock him. He asked God for strength one last time, pushed against the pillars of the crowded temple, and brought the whole building down.

What the Story of Samson Teaches Us

Samson’s gift was real, but he treated it carelessly, giving away what had been set apart. His story is a hard look at how great strength can be wasted through poor choices.

Yet even at the very end, when he had lost everything, Samson turned back to God and was heard. The story holds together both a warning about wasted gifts and a note of hope that it is not too late to call on God.

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The story of Ruth — a foreign widow with nothing to gain chose loyalty over comfort, and became the great-grandmother of Israel’s greatest king.

This account is the whole book of Ruth, set during the time of the judges.

The Story of Ruth and Boaz

A famine drove an Israelite family from Bethlehem into the land of Moab. There the father and both sons died, leaving three widows: Naomi and her two foreign daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah.

Naomi decided to return home to Bethlehem and told the younger women to stay in Moab. Orpah stayed, but Ruth refused to leave, saying, “Whither thou goest, I will go; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”

The two women arrived in Bethlehem poor and hungry. To find food, Ruth went to glean, picking up leftover grain in the fields, and she happened to work in a field belonging to a good man named Boaz.

Boaz noticed Ruth and had heard how kindly she had treated Naomi. He protected her, made sure she had plenty to gather, and blessed her for taking refuge under the God of Israel.

As a close relative, Boaz was able to marry Ruth and care for both women. Ruth had a son named Obed, and Naomi’s empty life was filled again. Obed became the grandfather of King David.

What the Story of Ruth and Boaz Teaches Us

Ruth had every reason to walk away. She was young, foreign, and free to start over, yet she bound herself to a grieving woman and an unfamiliar God. Her quiet loyalty is the heart of the story.

The book also shows how God works through ordinary kindness and everyday choices. A widow gleaning grain and a landowner treating a stranger well became part of the family line that led to King David, and beyond.

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The story of the golden calf — while Moses was still on the mountain, the people he had just led to freedom made a golden idol and called it their god.

This account is found in Exodus 32, only weeks after Israel had promised to follow God alone.

The Story of the Golden Calf

Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to meet with God, and he was gone a long time. Down below, the people grew restless and afraid that he would never come back.

They came to Aaron and asked him to make them a god they could see and follow. Aaron collected their gold jewelry, melted it down, and shaped it into a calf.

The people bowed to the golden calf and held a loud festival, saying this was the god that had brought them out of Egypt. They had forgotten the God who had actually done it.

On the mountain, God told Moses what was happening. Moses hurried down carrying the two stone tablets. When he saw the calf and the wild celebration, his anger burned, and he threw the tablets down and broke them.

Moses ground the calf to powder and called the people back to God, asking, “Who is on the LORD’s side?” It was a hard day, but it became a turning point that led the people back toward the God who had freed them.

What the Story of the Golden Calf Teaches Us

The people did not set out to reject God. They simply grew impatient and wanted something they could see right away, and that impatience led them into a mistake they later regretted.

The broken tablets are a striking picture of a broken promise. Yet the story does not end there. God did not walk away, and Moses stood in the gap for the people, pointing them back to the God who kept his word even when they had not kept theirs.

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