Giant Faith
Published by Shell Isenhoff at Smashwords
Copyright 2012 Shell Isenhoff
Cover image by Todd Huffman
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1. Giant Faith
The loud blast of a battle horn reverberated in the sharp morning air. Startled into full consciousness, Eliab jumped from his bed and quickly donned his armor. Sword slapping against his thigh, he ran from his tent and joined the throng of men gathering below.
The call to form battle lines had become a morning ritual. A month and a half before, a massive force of invading Philistines had assembled on a hill overlooking the Valley of Elah and prepared for war. The valley provided passage from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the high hill country of the Israelite nation. Its loss would be disastrous, therefore, the call to arms had gone out, and the Israelite army had amassed on the opposite hill facing the enemy.
From his high position, Eliab could see excitement whipping through the enemy like wildfire. The frenzied lines spewed forth a giant of a man, a Philistine war champion, clad in burnished bronze armor. Eliab quaked as he watched the champion stride into the valley arena.
“Cowards and fools! Will today be the day you meet my challenge? Choose someone to fight against me. If your man defeats me, then we will become your servants. But if I win, you will serve us. Send someone!”
Eliab felt a familiar weakness creeping into his knees as the giant, Goliath, strode back and forth before them. For forty days the scene had replayed, yet each time the man’s proportions amazed him anew. His height measured nearly ten feet, and he was built like a boulder. Israel had nobody to match his size or strength. Even King Saul, who stood head and shoulders above his countrymen, despaired at meeting the Philistine hero in battle.
The sun gleamed off Goliath’s fine bronze shield and his armor and the javelin strapped to his back. The Philistines were fitted with strong, modern weapons that the ragtag Israelites couldn’t possibly hope to match.
Goliath mocked them afresh. “Why do you stand there like statues? Have you no one to meet with me? Is there not even one Israelite who dares to stand against me and my powerful gods? Has your God abandoned you? Is he so weak that you tremble?”
Eliab’s thoughts turned to his father. Faith, prayer and worship defined Jesse, and his religion translated into his everyday activities. It was not at all uncommon to find him kneeling in some field with face turned toward heaven and hands clasped earnestly before him. But much of his father’s faith had been lost on Eliab. Religion was for old men, not strong, young ones with a lot of living still before them.
Yet it was Israel’s finest young men who now stood face to face with the enemy. King Saul had demonstrated his own lack of faith by refusing to meet the champion in battle, and the army had become uncertain and demoralized. There was nobody who would rise to the Philistine’s challenge. Therefore, the stalemate continued as the armies lingered on the hillsides, the Israelites cowering in fear, and the Philistines feverish with certain victory.
Suddenly, Eliab wished his father was there.
Just then he spotted a familiar figure picking his way up the hill below. It wasn’t his father. Instead Eliab recognized his youngest brother delivering a package from home, and his eyes narrowed in anger. David had chosen a fine time to join them.
Bitter memories transported him back to the humiliation he had suffered before all of Bethlehem, before all of Israel, because of David. Not long ago, the prophet Samuel, Israel’s greatest holy man, had traveled to Eliab’s home town to sacrifice to the Lord. All the elders of Bethlehem had been invited, but only Jesse was instructed to bring his sons. Eliab remembered how excited he had been to attend the great event at his father’s side. Then Samuel delivered an astonishing announcement: God had rejected Saul as king, and he, Samuel, had been sent to choose the new king from among Jesse’s sons.
Of course Eliab would be chosen. He was his father’s oldest son, tall, strong and handsome. By all rights, the honor would be his. He nearly burst with pride when the prophet called him forward, with all the town elders looking on in silent approval.
Samuel stood silent, and the moment grew thick with anticipation. Then came the ultimate rejection. “The Lord has not chosen this one.”
It took a moment for the holy man’s words to sink in. Rejected? This could not be! His face had flushed a deep scarlet as he heard the elders’ astonished gasps. Surely there had been some mistake! He returned to his seat in angry confusion, half expecting to be recalled, watching in disbelief as his younger brother, Abinadab, was summoned.
But Samuel rejected Abinadab, then Shammah, then four more brothers in quick succession, and Eliab convinced himself the great man had indeed made a mistake. There were no other brothers to choose from, except little David, who was so insignificant his father had not even brought him along. Now Samuel would realize his error and call Eliab back to the front.