Ghosts of the Shephelah, Book 3: Saul

Introduction

Avoiding the unpleasant stories in scripture is much like sticking one’s head in the sand. The bizarre stories in the Book of Judges are not foreign to the history of humanity. Students of scripture need to pay attention to the historical treatment of women in order to understand that systemic belief is passed down from one generation to the next by what we see, hear and read. Understanding and facing the reality of our human past is the first step in eradicating the evils that continue to be perpetrated upon women.

Chapter 1

Ehud

The Left-Handed Man

The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So it was, the protective hand of the LORD fell from Israel, and they were left to live with their choice of not serving the God of their fathers. Eglon, the king of Moab, swept through the land and gathered unto himself vassals he forced to fight against the children of Israel. The victories won by Israel’s forefathers Abraham and Joshua had been forgotten long ago by the Hebrews. However, those bitter memories were still fresh in the minds of the Canaanite people, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Amalekites. With the help of allies, Eglon took back Jericho, the city of palm trees, but did not rebuild the wall. Having restored a large estate home near Seirarth, King Eglon would arrive during harvest to personally oversee the tribute brought to him by humbled Israel. For eighteen-years the people cried unto the LORD to redeem them from their bondage. Pleading for the LORD to forgive their iniquity, they prayed for a deliverer as in days of old.

In a small settlement called Shakol (calf), not too distant from Jericho (its moon), a group of Benjamites had rousted the Canaanite inhabitants a hundred years earlier. After the great walls of Jericho had fallen, inhabitants from nearby villages fled. Hebrews, longing for a place of rest, moved into homes they had not built, harvested crops they had not planted. Over the next few years, Joshua’s (Yehovah is salvation) army continued to sweep over the land flowing with milk and honey and inhabiting now empty villages. Peaceful years passed, old customs crept back into the culture. Those in Jericho and the larger settlements resurrected ancient practices, repaired cut stone altars, refurbished broken bulls, and placed them on top raised platforms. Ba`al worshipers resurfaced, revived festive songs, erotic dances, and the old cult practices crept into the Hebrew culture once again. For some reason, the people were not happy with the lack of visual images. Not only did their God not have a name, but there was also no divine image or representation to point to, not even a cut stone altar. Over time, the Passover on the first night of the month of Abib of the spring full moon had vanished from memory. Only a few small settlements remembered to worship the LORD and only the LORD.

Scattered throughout the land, the remnant of tribes defeated by Joshua in 1406 BC began increasing in size. They also began training their young men in the art of war. One king was exceptionally cunning. His name was Eglon the Moabite. Sweeping up the coast, his forces overwhelmed the land of the Ammonites and forced their allegiance. Moabite troops defeated many coastal villages. Canaanite tribes soon found themselves swearing allegiance to the biggest, fattest, most grotesque king the land had ever known. In one well-orchestrated move, Moabites from the east, Ammonites from the west, and Canaanites from the north swept Jericho and subdued its inhabitants. After executing the Hebrew leaders, all the young men were blinded in one eye. The mark of a slave.

Forcing eight newly blinded young men to carry his cot to the altar dais, Eglon sat up and proclaimed, This day I have enacted vengeance upon the people who destroyed our cities, killed our forefathers, and stole our land. From this day forth, let it be known, all Hebrews are slaves and will serve their Moabite masters. Unbeknown to Eglon, the Ammonites and Canaanites did not like how the proclamation left them out. It drove home the fact that they were now subjugated to serve the grotesquely fat King Eglon.

My name is Ana, wife to a murdered Shlomit and mother to Bina, a daughter enslaved to King Eglon. So it is, I roam the lowland, between Beersheba and Megiddo over the slopes known as the shephelah. For centuries, my spirit has roamed the shephelah with my ghost sisters. This is my story.

Eglon easily subdued the village of Shakol. Only a few men died, and many of the able-bodied men fled, anticipating the customary blinding. Women, children, and the elderly were spared the indignity. Gera, my father, was not. Villagers were forced to watch the eye of their tribal leader put out. Soldiers remained in the village from one full moon to the next following the invasion. When it became apparent the threat of retaliation was nonexistent, the village was left in peace. One condition was placed on Shakol, as was on all the surrounding villages - tribute. The soil was good, the crops of wheat and olives plenteous. Further west, villages on the shephelah were known for lamb and wool, but for Shakol, its excellent quality olive oil was a desired commodity.

Gera was a man whose demeanor naturally commanded respect. The people were grateful he stayed with them at great personal cost. Only months before, his young wife Aviva (springtime) had died bearing his only child, Ehud (I will give thanks). Saddened by Gera’s loss, Khaya (mahogany) was happy to volunteer as a wet nurse for Ehud along with her newborn son Zuph (honeycomb). Khaya was from the land of Cush and had escaped Egyptian slavery by fleeing north into the hill country of Ephraim. Here she met Leib (lion), who was so taken by her beauty and good nature that he married her after one full moon and declared her a free woman. Sadly, Leib’s desire for his freedom led to his death at the hands of the Moabites. His death left Khaya a pregnant widow. Gera declared that she was now one with his tribe and that Leib’s home was her home. Grateful for the love and acceptance, Khaya volunteered to feed and tend the newborn infant Ehud for Gera until he could manage the child on his own. Concerned for the young mother of one, Gera asked how she could feed two healthy babies at the same time, only to receive the humorously embarrassing reply, I have two?

Time passed, the babies weaned, Ehud began following his father to help wherever possible. From time to time, Gera would lead the younger village children into the forest in search of the perfect limbs from which to make sturdy walking staffs which he sold in the market. While the children searched for staff material, Ehud would wonder why his father went about collecting long thin shafts. They were too light for the making of good strong walking staffs.

The children learned to strip the bark and place each staff so that it dried straight. Later, they learned how to carve detail into each staff to give it that personal touch. This touch enabled the adults to barter for other valuable goods in the marketplace. Whenever Eglon’s soldiers marched through the village, all was peaceful, the way it should be. During these work sessions, Gera noticed that Ehud was doing the carving with his left hand. Horrified, Gera attempted to train Ehud to use his right hand as left-handed men were considered sinister. Over time, Ehud became proficient with both hands but always fell back to his left whenever excited.

The village had not changed much over the years. Homes spaced a reasonable distance apart had low walls enclosing a courtyard. Most homes had a rooftop deck, often used to dine or relax on hot summer evenings. Central to the homes was the community well, which had never run dry. Having washed and hung her son’s robe out to dry, Khaya stood watching, who she now considered her two boys, Zuph and Ehud, play sword fighting with Yosef and Avi. Twelve years had passed since she last suckled the boys and had always watched with pride as the boys had grown and were now on the verge of becoming healthy, handsome young men. The clashing of wooden swords had become common place in the village, as was their shouting and laughing. The boys were a continual reminder to the villagers that there was only one blight infecting their peaceful existence - the grotesquely large Eglon.

Ehud had developed a little taller, broader than the other boys he now fended of, with wooden swords clashing. His skill and agility made blocks and thrusts seem effortless. Oft times, the sword fighting foray ended in a heap of boys rolling in the dirt laughing. Today, however, Avi, Zuph, and Yosep were determined to defeat their friend. Ehud used the well to his advantage. Spinning and jumping from the rim, he flew over his opponents and rolled to his feet.

While sharpening a bronze spear tip, Gera enjoyed the shouts of laughter ringing through his home. Gera’s responsibility was to prepare fire-hardened shafts with bronze tips to be stockpiled for future use. Something in the boys' laughter caused Gera to pause and reflect upon his undying faith that God would redeem Israel one day. He remembered the words passed down from Moshe’s sister Miryam, "But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer. Later, Gera removed a number of the stones along the base of the courtyard wall and deposited the finished spears. After covering the stash, he stood to watch the boys for a moment. His pride-filled smile turned to a frown. The boys, outmaneuvered, regrouped as Ehud charged, sword at high guard. As he crashed his friends into the well, Gera’s yelled, Ehud," causing the boys to freeze. Ehud stood with his eyes fixed on his left hand. The stick sword fell.