Previous Challenge Entry
Topic: Blessed (11/29/04)
|
TITLE: The Great King By Robin Wisch 12/04/04 |
  LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
SEND ARTICLE TO A FRIEND
|
“Traitor! Tonight you’ll feel the vengeance of Rehoboam,” whispered a harsh voice. Another voice added, “you destroyed the altar of Molech at Topheth today. The king wants your head!”
Gripping his dagger, the young soldier swiped the right cheek of one of his assailants. The victim let out a muffled squeal as blood spewed onto his comrades. Swiftly, the young warrior felt the whiff of a sword narrowly miss him. Deflecting another jabbing blade with his buckler, the blunt end of a sword then crushed his right cheek. Knees buckling, a left uppercut snapped his head back. Tipping like a Cedar of Lebanon, he saw a behemoth figure exploding from the darkness. Hitting the ground semi-conscious, the Bethlehemite briefly glimpsed bodies slamming against the wall in the flickering light. Then, everything went black.
Later That Night
“In a bit of a fix tonight, huh?” an ancient voice spoke from the campfire shadows. Momentarily, an immense figure stepped into view. Courageously, Elhannen approached the huge man.
“Must’ve made Rehoboam pretty angry,“ commented the old warrior.
“That blasphemer,” stormed young Elhannen, “sacrificing to Molech, stealing our land, our daughters…not if I can help it!”
“You have a familiar look. What’s your name?” questioned the old man.
“Elhannen of Judah,” responded the young warrior.
“Hmm,” mused the aged one. “I once knew someone by that name.”
“That was my grandfather’s name,” answered Elhannen. “He served in the great king’s army. He defended the Glory of Israel. So will I…against Rehoboam, that treacherous dog!” The old man stared silently into the campfire.
“I served with your grandfather,” stated the aged one breaking the silence.
“Impossible!” responded Elhannen, “that’d make you over a hundred years old.”
An eerie silence followed. Marveling that he was in the presence of a hero of Israel’s golden age, Elhannen said, “tell me about the great king and the mighty ones, old man? Tell me of their greatness and power. They’d never allow a king like Rehoboam to reign in Israel, would they?”
The old man chuckled. “Great…mighty…powerful,” the ancient one mused. “These are unfamiliar words, and especially to the great king…as you call him.”
Puzzled, Elhannen looked at him.
“You have much to learn about brokenness…and power,” stated the seasoned one.
Surprised, Elhannen asked, “what do you mean?”
Staring at the hot embers, he said, “Listen, we were 600 ‘no goods’ who followed a shepherd in the desert for 10 years!”
Flicking a twig into the fire, he went on, “we were a bunch of derelicts. That’s all we were. That is, until we met him. We came to him at Adullam where he was hiding from Saul. Only twenty years old and already Saul had tired to kill him with his spear…twice…without cause. What did the mighty David do? He ducked and ran! Yes, the true king of Israel hid in caves, fleeing for his life, all because a madman sought to kill him, unjustly. That madman, who was much like your king Rehoboam today, happened to be the King of Israel. No, King Saul was not the true king, but he was David’s king…for more than a decade. David was reviled, persecuted, betrayed, and his reputation was destroyed during those years…and this, knowing all along that he was God’s choice. Do you know what he thought of this kind of treatment?”
Speechless, Elhannen shook his head.
“He thought he was blessed of God,” stated the ancient one. “Persecuted and reviled unfairly and do you know what he did? NOTHING! We pressured him endlessly to take revenge, but still he did nothing. Yes, the great king was broken long before he ever took the Throne. And the rest of us; we were broken with him. We were a community of broken men who followed a feeble, harp player who doubted whether he really was the true king.
No, my king was not great. He was broken…and his God was great.”
Setting down his mug, the old warrior simply walked off into the night, leaving a zealous warrior by a campfire in the wilderness.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Matt. 5:11.