I was reading about David and Goliath out loud to Jonathan in the car as we travelled the other day, and I read this…
“Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah.”
1 Samuel 17:1
I thought… I wonder what Ephes Dammim means. So I stopped and looked it up.
Ephes Dammim is a place in the Bible that means
“Border of Blood.”
Can I just say I almost shouted in the car?
(And could shout again right now if I’m being honest!)
The enemy camped at the “Border of Blood.”
In other words, the enemy camped at the BLOODLINE!
Goliath came out and yelled at the Israelites at the bloodline.
The enemy taunted the Children of God at the bloodline.
He tried to destroy them at the bloodline.
The Philistines thought they had it won because no one could defeat Goliath…at the bloodline.
BUT they did not cross over the bloodline!
The enemy could not come across the bloodline.
The enemy had to stop at the bloodline.
The thing is…
The enemy never has been able to and never will be able to cross the bloodline.
He might stand at the bloodline and taunt us.
He might try to make us doubt.
He may try to get In our head to make us feel uncertain.
He may try to put fear and anxiety in our lives, trying to convince us we will never overcome.
He might send his biggest giant to stand at the border of blood and threaten us.
But neither that “uncircumcised Philistine” nor the enemy of our soul can cross the bloodline.
The enemy has no authority when the blood has been applied!!!!
Just like the blood on the door at Passover protected the Israelites from the death angel, the blood of Jesus protects us from any weapon the enemy uses against us!
You might feel like the enemy is standing so close, screaming (or whispering) at you
That GOD isn’t going to use you
Or that HE will never heal you
Or that your children are never coming home
Or that the relationships can never be restored
Or that you will never be free from addiction
Or anxiety
Or depression
Or pain
Or financial struggles
Or hopelessness
But when you are a Child Of God, there is a bloodline around you that is impossible to pass!!
Not one weapon formed against you can prosper.
He can threaten… but he cannot cross over!
You pick up your stones, just like David did, run full force at him and shout,
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.”
1 Samuel 17:45-46
The enemy can never cross the bloodline!!!
And the whole world will know there is a GOD!!!
