Chapter 12
The Desert Tabernacle ~ continued from Chapter 11 | King of Sheep & Goats
“You were in Egypt all the time,” said Shimea.
“Yes, I told you,” David whispered as they came close to the small wooden gates of the war town of Gibeah.
“Drinking wine and eating good food while we drank brackish water,” Shimea laughed.
“And camel’s breath for dinner,” Yazan laughed.
Under cover of darkness Yazan, Shimea and David arrived in Gibeah just a few miles from the city of Jebus. The hilly town overlooked the high plains and rough lands that separated the two towns.
The night fires were lit and men moved supplies into a storehouse.
A long line of horses and donkeys were standing in the muddy streets while men offloaded grain and wheat sacks.
A guard called out from the lookout point.
“Speak thy name, boys,” he called out in the night air.
“Shimea, son of Jesse,” Shimea called out.
David hid his face as they walked near the gates.
“And my brothers for Saul’s army.”
The wooden gate opened slowly and the boys found them- selves in the small village that was now the center of Saul’s fighting army. He boasted 2,000 men, very few weapons and even fewer chariots.
The lit fires showed the etched determination on the faces of the farmers who had sharpened their threshing knives into weapons.
“Let’s find shelter tonight,” David whispered. “We will show ourselves tomorrow at daybreak.”
Yazan looked at his empty purse.
“We are not going to be sleeping with royalty tonight, my friends.”
“We are kings of the street crowned at the beggars’ banquet,” David laughed and slapped Yazan on the back.
“We shall find something,” Shimea said. “Tell me of Egypt, brother?”
“It’s all magic and medicine,” David said, “It’s like a mirage that brings you close but then disappears.”
“You read Mother’s letter?” Shimea asked his brother.
“Mother was always a visionary,” said David as he led the horses through the pathways.
An old man wearing an apron and gloves appeared.
“War is good business,” he said with a toothless grin. “I’ll take the horses out back.”
He led the horses away.
“No rooms at the inn but you can sleep in the barn.”
He looked at the three boys.
“Travelin’?”
“Too far,” David replied.
“Well, rest awhile.” He rubbed his chin. “We can find you some stew and bread.”
“We should walk the streets after,” David said as he walked into the barn and put down his saddlebags.
“Why?” Shimea unfolded a thin blanket and placed it in the hay.
“We ask questions, we see things,” said David.
Yazan yawned. “Yes, we should.”
“If we are true kings, we must see our people…. be among them and listen to them,” David laughed.
Shimea said, “Okay, king of the sheep and goats.”
They ate a hasty meal prepared by the stable hand’s wife and went out into the night.
“You, young soldier,” said David as he spotted a man carrying his pitchfork and a jug of water. “How goes the battle?”
The farmer looked at the three.
“Like my boot up your ass, my boy, cold and hard.”
The three walked on as Yazan pushed David off the narrow path.
“There is your answer, King David.”
David’s face turned red as he walked on along the muddy path.
“All in due time, my friends.”
The night air was cool and the wind from the north came in. Fires were burning at each corner of the village and men stood talking.
“Our pitchforks against their steel,” one farmer said.
David and Yazan moved closer to the fire and conversation.
“We can’t continue,” the other robed man said.
“We have to bring our farming tools to be sharpened. We are not slaves.”
“I say fight or be slaves to them.”
The men’s spirits rose with the night fires. They drank wine and passed it around to all.
“Here and now,” the man continued. He had a heavy beard and his rough, thin tunic hung over his broad shoulders.
“We stand and fight the Philistines.”
He placed his threading tool in the dirt for good measure.
“How against their swords?” David asked.
The man turned on the group.
“We ambush them, kill them and take their weapons,” he said.
“We need more like you,” David said. “Words are the sharpest of weapons.”
He smiled at the large man.
Continue reading… Chapter 12 | Men Fight
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