Bob Boyd<\/b><\/p>\n
After the discovery of gunpowder by the Chinese in the ninth century A.D., weapons of warfare have become so sophisticated there is fear today that someone might push the wrong button and precipitate a nuclear holocaust! What about weapons of warfare in days gone by?<\/p>\n
It is apparent that early man used clubs and stones. Flint axes, arrows and spears became common. In the Bronze Age, bronze spears were used. Pictured is a bronze spearhead, ca. 2000 B. C., found in an excavation at the Old Testament site of Dothan (Gn 37:17). Later, \u201csling stones\u201d became weapons of renown. They were made of stone or flint, so chiseled and shaped that they looked like stone balls. Several were found at Dothan. Each measured about two inches in diameter and weighed about three-quarters of a pound.a According to Judges 20:15\u201317, 700 men of Benjamin\u2019s tribe were skilled in the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 4:1 (Winter 1991) p. 30<\/p>\n
art of the use of sling stones. They could \u201csling stones at an hair breadth\u201d and not miss. This is what we would call \u201chitting the bull\u2019s eye!\u201d<\/p>\n
In modern warfare soldiers of the Army are called infantrymen, those of the navy are called sailors, and those of the Air Force are called pilots. In Old Testament days men who used bows and arrows were called bowmen (Jer 4:29); those who used spears were called spearmen (Psa 68:30); and those who used sling stones were called slingers (2 Kgs 25:3). Boys today make a \u201csling shot\u201d with a Y-branch from a small tree, using two pieces of rubber strap, one each fastened to the top parts of the Y, and a leather pouch to hold the stone. In olden days, two pieces of cord were used, about 2 feet long, tied to a leather or woven pouch to hold the sling stones. The slinger would hold the ends of the two cords, twirl it around his head several times, and at the right moment release one cord, sending the stone toward its mark (or an enemy). The victim, while falling to the ground, might say, \u201cWow, nothing like that ever entered my head before!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEngines of war\u201d became potent weapons (Ez 26:9). In the eighth century BC, King Uzziah made engines in Jerusalem, \u201cto be on the towers and upon the bulwarks to shoot arrows and great stones\u201d (2 Chr 26:15). Such engines housed a mechanical arm to hurl huge stone balls. Twisted rope or strands of leather were wound around levers to create tension. When released, the stones were hurled at their targets. Some \u201cengines\u201d were used as battering rams to penetrate city walls.<\/p>\n
Archaeological findings have done much to support the records of physical warfare mentioned in the Old Testament. The New Testament speaks of a spiritual warfare. The believer in Christ is in a constant battle \u201cagainst the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of darkness <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 4:1 (Winter 1991) p. 31<\/p>\n
FAR LEFT:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Soldiers with whole armor of Rome<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
MIDDLE:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Bronze spear point<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Flint ax<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Slingstones<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
RIGHT:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Slingers and bowmen<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places\u201d (Eph 2:2; 6:11b, 12).<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s God promised He would fight her battles and gave such encouragement as: \u201cHast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?. .. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might [and are weary], He giveth strength. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint\u201d (Is 40:28\u201330).<\/p>\n
With such encouragement as this in the believer\u2019s battles of life, in contrast to Roman soldiers being equipped for battle, he can take God\u2019s provision for his warfare\u2014 \u201cthe whole armor of God\u201d (Eph 6:13\u201318):<\/p>\n
1) His loins girt about with truth, to keep him on the move for God.<\/p>\n
2) Having on the breastplate of righteousness, to keep his heart right with God.<\/p>\n
3) His feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, \u201cgo ye\u201d and witness.<\/p>\n
4) Taking the shield of faith to ward off the fiery darts (attacks) of the wicked one.<\/p>\n
5) Putting on the helmet of salvation to protect his mind.<\/p>\n
6) Using the sword of the Spirit \u2014 relying upon God\u2019s word for victory (Mt 4:1\u201310).<\/p>\n
7) Praying always that he enter not into temptation (Mt 26:41).<\/p>\n
By submitting ourselves to God, putting on His whole armor, watching and praying that we enter not into temptation, we resist the devil and he will flee from us (Jas 4:7). We then become \u201cmore than a conqueror through Christ who loves us\u201d (Rom 8:37). By so doing, we become a \u201cslinger\u201d who always hits the target \u201cwithin a hair\u2019s breadth!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bob Boyd After the discovery of gunpowder by the Chinese in the ninth century A.D., weapons of warfare have become so sophisticated there is fear today that someone might push the wrong button and precipitate a nuclear holocaust! What about weapons of warfare in days gone by? It is apparent that early man used clubs … Continue reading “ARCHAEOLOGY
\nAND WEAPONS
\nOF WARFARE: SLING STONES AND ENGINES OF WAR”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}