Dahveed 5: Yahweh's General

He was no longer in exile after Shaul’s death on Mt. Gilboa, but time would not slake his grief for Jonathan. Yet the Hassar’s death bought him time to fulfill his friend’s dream of defeating the Philistines, uniting the tribes, and controlling the trading crossroads of the world. Yahweh did not leave him to struggle toward these goals alone, though, and sent a host of unlikely characters to aid him.

There was an arrogant adon, a thieving scoundrel, a murderous nephew, a child prophet, a power-hungry priest, a shrewd Philistine seren, a selfless king, a merchant slave, and a network of lowly women, scribes, and Habiru. The evil one had his own allies and sought to thwart Yahweh’s plans at every turn, but the Lion of Judah was determined to follow Yahweh at any cost.

His loyalty was rewarded—first Judah and then Israel gave their hearts to him along with their thrones. Yahweh delivered the Philistines and the Moabites into his hands, and Jebus, the impregnable city every king in Canaan craved but dared not attack, was yielded to him by a man who had long known that Yahweh’s chosen one would someday rule an empire from within its gates.