Seated beneath the great oak at Shechem, we enjoyed bread and olives in the
warmth of the morning sun after a chilly night of rain. We were waiting for the
gathering of the elders of Israel that Hudaba had promised. Pieces of bronze
armor swung from the branches of the oak and clanged as they bumped each other.
Hudaba welcomed us to the gathering.
"That's a splendid knife, my son" Hudaba told Gharaf.
"He took it off Cushan-rishathaim after the battle," I told Hudaba. "The wretch
tried to stab me when we found him, but Gharaf knocked it out of his hands. We
have brought you his armor."
"That armor is as good as new, Othniel. I don't see a single mark of battle on
it," Hudaba answered as he admired our trophies.
"There's not a dent or scratch on it, Hudaba, only mud and blood," I laughed. "Cushan-rishathaim
was too fat to fight or run. We found him mired to his hips in the marsh like a
boar wallowing in filth. His bodyguards and the slaves who carried his litter
had all run off and left him. His armor loaded him down so much he couldn’t
follow them through wet places."
"Didn't he have a helmet too?" Hudaba wondered.
"Oh, that was an unclean thing made of boar tusks, not bronze that you could
melt down for spears. We left it in the mud."
"Well, Othniel, I am glad to see that you have put away your mourning and
sackcloth and trimmed your beard for our assembly. People have journeyed here
from all over Israel to renew the covenant, just as you asked, and to give
thanks for our victory."
Though I had indeed put away my sackcloth, I could not so easily put aside my
grief for my son. "This is a day for all Israel to be glad and rejoice, Hudaba,
and far be it from me to cast a pall over it. My heart still weeps for Sheal, my
son. Losing him was like losing my wife Acsah again, and I grieve for my
brother."
"It's a hard thing to lose a son, and I mourn with you, but why must you grieve
for that worthless brother? His treachery could have killed you."
"Worse yet, Cushan-rishathaim could have won the battle, Hudaba. Nevertheless,
shouldn't I lament that Kenabi wasted his life?"
"Was he ever a true brother to you? Didn't you really lose him forty years ago?"
Hudaba pointed out. "Why shed tears for him now?"
"That's true, my friend, and yet I've always hoped that the Lord would show
Kenabi the evil of his ways."
"I'm sure He did, Othniel, but didn't you tell me that evil destroys its
servants?"
"So it does, good friend: how true," I agreed. "You know that the Kushu cut
Kenabi's throat themselves? Couldn't evil could destroy Israel in the same way?"
"Now, Othniel, you know that the Lord wouldn't let that happen to Israel. We of
the twelve tribes are His chosen ones."
"I know, Hudaba, that He did not give the land of the Amorites and the
Canaanites to Israel so that we should walk in their evil ways and serve their
false gods. As long as Amorites dwell in our land, as long as the Sea Peoples
hold sway over Beth Shan, as long as the Yevusites roost in Jerusalem, and as
long as the people of Naphtali worship in the house of Anath, evil can destroy
Israel."
"You must think that the house of Israel has fallen into a pitiful state,
Othniel. Have your losses clouded your mind? Don't you trust in the Lord? Surely
there's hope for us?"
"If there's any hope for your children and your children's children in Israel,
it must come from what you teach them about rooting out the evil ways of the
Canaanites and from what they learn from your example about walking faithfully
with the Lord.
"Seeing how Israel fought the Kushu gives me fresh hope. Didn't serving Israel
make your own son, Ebed, a better man?"
"Yes, praise the Lord, Othniel. He's many times the man he was when you first
met him. The Benjaminites have taught him so well that they want to keep him as
one of their own."
"You've seen hundreds like him grow in wisdom before your eyes, Hudaba. Yet they
still have much to learn about serving the Lord in faithfulness. Tell me, do you
remember when Joshua came here to renew the covenant?"
"Yes. My father, Haddar, brought me. I was Gharaf's age, and the early rains had
come to water the earth, just like today. I remember we had lots to eat and
drink, and Joshua gave us a long farewell speech. I don't remember a lot about
his speech except that everyone praised him wildly and we all shouted for joy."
"That's the whole trouble with Israel, my friend. Everyone can tell long tales
about our battles for this land, but nobody remembers why we fought them. Now do
you see why every generation should come here to renew the covenant for itself?"
"Are you saying that everyone should live by his own covenant?"
"Yes, Hudaba. That's the danger for those who keep the covenant of their fathers
without seeking the Lord for themselves. When their children come to see that
they have no covenant of their own, they'll think they have no need of a
covenant of any kind. They will forsake both the covenant and the Lord."
"I suppose that will mean the end of the covenant, Othniel?"
"That would be the end of Israel, my friend; we would be like sheep scattered
upon the mountains. The sheep of Israel do have a shepherd, even if they don't
want him or see him, and a shepherd does gather his sheep."
"Didn't I just say that Israel is His chosen people? I don't understand you,
Othniel? First you say the Lord will let evil destroy us and then you say He
won't."
"Hudaba, I mean that the Lord raises His hand against evil, wherever it is.
Nevertheless, He will always help Israel to fight evil and to renew the covenant
with Him."
"What do you advise to help Israel remember the covenant, Othniel?"
"What would I do? I've done what every man should do: teach my sons that the
Lord is our God, and that it is worthwhile to seek and to serve him."
Hudaba frowned and turned to Gharaf. "Does that make sense to you, Gharaf? How
do you feel about the covenant? Will you serve the Lord because your father did,
or because you know that it's the right thing to do?"
Gharaf answered without a pause, "If my father served the Lord, he never spoke
of it. As for me, I will serve the Lord because of what I've seen and heard
among you."
I patted the youth on the back and Hudaba smiled kindly at him. "Praise the
Lord," he said. "Now what will you do after the assembly, Gharaf? Will you go
back to your own people or stay with us for a while?"
"Sir," Gharaf said, "I'm not ready to go back to the land of Dan. The Kushu
killed everyone and left me nothing. May I go with Othniel? I want to learn from
him what I can do to restore my father's house."
"The Lord provides!" I laughed. "Yes, I still need an armor bearer, my son.
After this assembly, I must go with Gera and Ehud to Jerusalem. Our enemy Shikha,
the Lord of Lightning, has troubled Israel too long and our God has numbered his
days."
"Praise the Lord," Hudaba agreed. "Yes, Othniel, as long as the Highborn and
their likes dwell in our land, we dare not take our ease in the tents of
prosperity. It'll do all of our youth good to learn to take a stand against
evil. Now that they have seen what you can do, you'll find them eager to follow
you to Jerusalem.
"See now, the people have come. Shall we renew the covenant?"
*
You went to Jerusalem with us, Ehud, and you saw how Shikha outwitted me and
his troops surprised us. We've worn out the tricks and tactics we used forty
years ago, and they won't deceive an enemy like Shikha today. The time has come
for a new leader with fresh ideas, and you have the cunning to recognize the
evil in the mind of a man like Shikha and make a fool of him.
Now tell me, my son, won't you take up my spear, if I didn't lose it in that
fight? Will you take my place and lead Israel? In peace or in war, will you
teach them to serve the Lord and to renew the covenant?
The Lord may grant us peace for a season, Ehud, but our enemies will not cease
their plots against us. If the Moabites are not your next foes, it'll be the
Amalekites, the Midianites, or the Sea People.
Will you do this, Ehud, for the sake of His people? Do this, Ehud, and the might
of the Lord will be with you. Death awaits me today, Ehud, but without shadows.
It comes with the wine-rich taste of the pomegranate and the fragrance of
grapevines in bloom, and I shall sleep in peace with those who have gone before
me.
I see them waiting for me. Don't you see them, Ehud? There's your father with
Joshua and Caleb. Now I see my sons Khermesh and Sheal. Ah, there's Acsah, the
wife of my youth, my darling Acsah!
