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© Copyright 2003 Richard S. Barnett  
 

OTHNEIL

The Force of God

Chapter Three

 

by Richard S. Barnett

 

CHAPTER THREE


You might think, my son, that after such a great victory we could easily conquer the rest of the land the Lord had given us.
Indeed, after the Lord fought for Israel at Aijalon, most of our people thought the war was over. They clamored to take their share of the spoils, go their own way, and take up their portion of the land. True, the defeat of the five kings had broken the power of the Highborn in the southern highlands. Never again would those evildoers be able to join together and gather a real army against us.
Our people had no idea of the extent of the land of Canaan. Caleb had scouted the land for Joshua many years earlier, and only he and Joshua could grasp the size of our task and the strength of our enemies. They saw the greatness of this land and they had a plan to win it all for Israel. The rest of us looked forward only as far as claiming our future patches of ground.
So you see, Ehud, my son, the people yearned to settle right away in the highlands without waiting for Joshua and Caleb to conquer the coastal cities before turning north to destroy the rulers of the north.
The three tribes who already had lands east of Jordan pleaded for permission to go back to their families and tend their fields and flocks. "The time for threshing the harvest is upon us, and our little ones need bread for the winter!" their leaders whined. "Yes, the season has come to gather our grapes and olives." Hearing them only made the other tribes think of themselves.
"We must all carry out the task the Lord has given us," Joshua told them. "Be very careful to keep the commandments of the Lord and don't desert your brothers. The Lord will then bless you and send you to your homes laden with the wealth of your enemies before the first rains come."
The three tribes gave in when Joshua allowed them to send their share of the plunder from our last battle to their families.
The men of Judah, however, still demanded their part of the highlands right away.
"The Lord gave Israel the whole land from the desert to the Great Sea, and from Egypt to the land of the two rivers," Joshua told them. "Everywhere that you set your feet, He has given to Israel. Only take heart and be strong, and do not give up and desert us."
"This land is great and wide, and we have enough," their leaders replied. "Why do we need more?"
"Would you desert your brothers who have fought with you?" Joshua argued. "Hear my words: if you desert your brothers in their time of need, the curse of Jericho will be upon you:
'At the cost of your firstborn sons will you lay your foundations;
At the cost of your youngest you will set up your gates!'"

Joshua and Caleb held our army together with promises and threats. We marched down onto the coastal plain and swept through the cities of the Canaanites from Hebron to Gezer before marching north. When Joshua paused at our Gilgal camp, to unload our spoils, Caleb sent for Gera and me.
"Choose a few men and follow me. We need to scout the country ahead,” he told us. "Always remember that others can lay traps too, my sons."
We left that afternoon and moved under cover of darkness. The kings of the north were watching and preparing for war, and we needed to be careful. Word of Israel's might had gone before us, and we saw Canaanite folk everywhere hastening to gather their harvests of olives and grapes before we could burn their fields and vineyards. They looked like good harvests to me, and I helped myself to a pomegranate whenever I could. The further north we scouted, the better watered we found the land.
Caleb didn't let the richness of the land dazzle him.
"See how they carry their weapons to their work in the fields!" he scoffed while we watched from our cover in the hillside furze. "We'll soon make them afraid of their own shadows."
We noted that every village had its lookouts and watchers, and we also saw small companies of Highborn soldiers from time to time. Caleb warned us that they would be searching for spies like us.
"Don't we know him, Othniel?" Gera asked me in the afternoon of our second day. He pointed to a figure that stood head and shoulders above the rest of his troop.
"Yes, that's the brute who got away from us at the cave of Makkedah," I told Caleb. "Let's watch where that one goes, sir; he's no common soldier. A fellow like him could rank high in the armies of this land."
Caleb agreed, and we followed the troop.
"They're marching north," Caleb told us. "They must be going to Chatsor, the greatest city in the north."
The late afternoon made it easy to stay hidden in the shadows of thickets and trees. We followed the enemy troop across the fields of the valley we now call Jezreel. They went as far as a village tucked in a fold of the rolling land near the foot of Mount Tabor, Teacher's Hill, and stopped there for the night, although they had enough daylight to go further. We heard shouting, crying, and the barking of dogs when we slipped closer to the village.
"They're helping themselves to wine, women, and food--anything they fancy," Caleb growled. "That's how the Highborn always treat the common folk of the land. Canaanites are no more than dogs in their eyes."
"Will these dogs turn on their masters?" I wondered.
"They might if we show them how," Caleb answered, "but they could as easily turn on us. We'll let those fellows get sodden with wine before we attack."
We closed in on the village from downwind when night fell, taking care to watch for guards and dogs. We surprised and killed one guard, freed two captives we found bound to a tree, and slipped away before anyone heard us.
The pair, a Canaanite man and woman, told us that they were among hundreds who had fled their huts in the hills to the north, where the kings of the Canaanites had massed their armies. No matter where the common people went, the Highborn would beat and rob them.
"Their tale makes sense," Caleb decided. "Those hills guard the way to Chatsor and the north. We must go and tell Joshua."
We took the two Canaanites back to our army, and their story stirred up a huge uproar. The news that all the Canaanite kings had united their armies to fight against us struck terror into half the men of Israel. As usual, the men of Judah and the tribes with lands east of the Jordan made the most noise.
"How shall we ever stand against their chariots of iron?" they wailed.
In fact, only the rims of their chariot wheels were iron, which held them together far better than rawhide, but to hear those weaklings whimper anyone would think the Canaanites had chariots of solid iron. Joshua and Caleb knew better than to let such fears sway them.
"Fear not, my brothers," Joshua told them, "but be bold! Fear not those who set themselves against Israel; their pride will bring them low. Though they soar like eagles in their chariots, the Lord will cast them down."
"Our enemies already hold the high ground," they complained. "We'll walk into their arms like lambs going to slaughter."
"That's what they hope," Joshua laughed. "Let them think that we are lambs if they wish. We shall come upon them from behind and cut them off from Chatsor."
Caleb added, "We shall catch our enemies in their own trap!"
The constant struggle to keep the army together seemed like the most difficult part of the whole war. Joshua and Caleb had no rest from arguing with one faint-hearted soul or another who just wouldn't understand that Israel needed every man to drive out all the Canaanites. Otherwise the Highborn would enslave us all and make our lives worse than they had ever been in Egypt.
Joshua and Caleb marched us north in broad daylight without trying to stay out of sight of enemy scouts. We crossed the valley of Jezreel and followed the trail to the plains on the west shore of Chinnereth. The two Canaanites we had freed led us into the hills where our enemies waited by the waters of Merom. The trail followed a stream that flowed south through a narrow gorge from the thickly wooded hills. The Canaanites told us that the waters of Merom, a spring-fed pool, lay at the head of the stream.
"So they think to trap us in this valley, do they?" Joshua laughed. "Now listen: we will form two companies. I'll lead the first company into this valley so that our enemies will think we're walking into their trap. Caleb will lead the second company around to the east and attack them from behind. My company will wait for Caleb to attack, and then we shall block all the paths out of the hills.
"We shall teach them that their chariots are a vain hope. The Lord tells me: 'Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain. You must hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.'"
Gera and I followed Caleb, taking the Canaanite man to show us the best way, while Joshua kept Haddar's men. We had a long way to march through the wooded hills of that country, but we had the smoke of thousands of enemy campfires to guide us. As the next day dawned, we reached our place on the hills overlooking the campfires in the narrow gorges below.
The Canaanites had awakened but they hadn't harnessed their horses to their chariots. Our bowmen opened the attack with a rain of fire arrows that set the camps and chariots ablaze. The horses broke loose and ran wild through the smoke and flames, neighing and kicking in their terror. Panic broke out when we swarmed into the midst of the Canaanites, and they fled from us on foot, stumbling blindly into the traps that Joshua had set for them. Even more kings fell before us that day than at the battle of Aijalon.
We marched into Chatsor the next day and found the city empty because their king had left it undefended. We took everything we could carry, burned the city to the ground, and sacked the other northern cities whose kings had dared to raise their hands against us.
Laden with plunder, we marched back to the Tent of Meeting at Gilgal for Joshua's blessing and dismissal. He allotted the shares of land to the tribes as Moses had promised, and he sent the men of the three eastern tribes back to their homes with our thanks, his blessing, and a wealth of plunder. The other tribes spread out to claim the lands they had won.

 


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