Hebrew Life and Times Part 7

For example, there were the Amalekites on the southern border, who were robber-nomads, just like the Midianites on the east. There were the people of Ammon, a town east of the Jordan. From these and other petty enemies the Hebrews suffered much, and the Philistines did nothing to help them. All they cared about was the tribute. "O for a leader like Deborah and Gideon!" the Hebrews once again began to cry.

=The messengers with the raw meat.=--One day messengers came hurrying through the towns and villages of central Canaan bearing sacks or baskets of raw beef chopped into small squares. To the leading men of each village, they handed a piece of the b.l.o.o.d.y flesh with this message: "This piece of ox flesh is from Saul, the son of Kish, of Gibeah in Benjamin. As this flesh is cut into small pieces so will the flesh of the men of your village be chopped up if you do not come at once, armed for battle, to help our brothers in Jabesh in Gilead east of the Jordan, which is besieged by the Ammonites." "Who is Saul?"

many asked, and few could answer. Some perhaps were able to explain that he was a brave and able young farmer, a friend of a prophet named Samuel, in the tribe of Benjamin. But it was the raw meat that persuaded them to obey the summons. Here is a real leader, they said, a man who means what he says. And two or three nights later an army of Hebrews, with Saul in the lead, came das.h.i.+ng in among the tents of the Ammonites who were besieging Jabesh and put them to flight. The Gileadites were saved; and for years to come they remembered Saul with grat.i.tude.

THE KINGDOM OF SAUL

Shortly after this victory there was a great gathering of the Hebrews of Benjamin and some of the neighboring tribes and Saul was elected as king. Would he also become a tyrant? Would he make their children slaves and take the best of their flocks and herds and wheat and oil, leaving them in poverty while he lived in luxury? There were many who thought so. The prophet Samuel, himself Saul's friend, warned them of the danger although he helped to make Saul king. But the danger from the Philistines was so great and they had suffered so much from their enemies on account of their lack of unity that they were willing to take the risk of organizing themselves as a kingdom under Saul.

=The first victories over the Philistines.=--Soon there came a summons to battle. The first encounter turned out well for the Hebrews. One of Saul's sons named Jonathan was especially brave and skillful as a leader, and was much loved by the people. Other victories followed.

More and more clans and tribes flocked to Saul's standard. A young man from Judah, named David, became famous as a captain and was made the chief commander of Saul's armies. The Philistines were not driven out from their forts, but they were held in check and the sky seemed brighter. There was a chance now for victory and peace. Everyone was hopeful for better things. When the soldiers came back from fighting the Philistines, the women would go to meet them with songs and dances. One of their songs ran like this:

="Saul has slain his thousands And David his ten thousands."=

=Saul's jealousy.=--When Saul heard of this couplet he was jealous.

"They gave more glory to David than to me," he thought. "One of these days, they will make him king in my place." His son Jonathan did not share his fears. He loved and trusted David. But from that time forward Saul hated David, and finally drove him out as a fugitive.

Instead of fighting the Philistines he spent all his strength chasing David from town to town and from cave to cave. Of course the Philistines took advantage of this quarrel between the two ablest men among their foes and came back with a strong counter attack. Saul's own life was forfeited and that of Jonathan also in a disastrous defeat. The Philistines were masters once more. Saul's kingdom also had proved for the most part a failure.

STUDY TOPICS

1. Locate on the map the Midianites and the Philistines.

2. Why would it have been a calamity for the world if the Philistines had conquered the Hebrews?

3. Study carefully the parable of Jotham (Judges 9. 8-15). In the light of this shrewd ill.u.s.tration, why is it hard to get _good_ men to run for political office, even to-day?

4. If we should undertake to have an _entirely different kind_ of mayors, aldermen, governors, Presidents and so on, perhaps really good men would accept these offices. What kind?

CHAPTER XIII

THE NATION UNDER DAVID AND SOLOMON

After Saul's death his son Ishbaal fled across the Jordan where the Philistines were not yet in control, and was accepted as king by the East Jordan tribes. More and more, however, the hearts of all the Hebrews turned toward the young David, who, under the Philistines, to whom he paid tribute, now became king over the tribe of Judah in the south.

DAVID AS A LEADER

David was a born leader. Physically he was an athlete. With his sling he could throw stones straight, as Goliath, the Philistine giant, discovered to his sorrow. He had the gift of winning friends, even among those who might naturally have been his enemies, for example Jonathan and Michal, son and daughter of Saul, and Achish, the Philistine king. His followers with few exceptions were deeply devoted to him, risking their lives, sometimes, to gratify his slightest wish.

He was wise in his dealings with men, knowing when to be stern and when to be lenient.

=The nation united under David.=--For a few years there was more or less of war between the followers of David and the followers of Ishbaal. David did not like this war. He had no heart for fighting his own kinsmen, the people of the north. His method was to win them over without conquest. His chief difficulty in this was to restrain his own followers. Fighting always leads to more fighting. A bitter personal feud flamed up between Joab, David's chief general, and Abner, who was the real power in the other kingdom. David did not dare to punish Joab, yet he plainly showed his displeasure. When finally Ishbaal himself was murdered in his sleep, David put the a.s.sa.s.sins to death.

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By this policy he pleased the people, both in the north and in the south. And after seven years of division the leading men of all the tribes came to David at Hebron, in Judah his headquarters, and made him king over the entire Hebrew nation, north, east, and south.

=David's victories.=--Soon after this David declared his independence of the Philistines. War broke out and for a time it went against the Hebrews. But in the end they were able to rally their resources under their new leader, and inflicted two crus.h.i.+ng defeats on their old enemies, which made them instead of the Philistines once and for all the masters of Canaan.

From the Philistines David turned against the other petty enemies who had so often taken advantage of the weakness of the Hebrews. Already, while a va.s.sal of the Philistines, he had thoroughly punished the Amalekites, in the deserts of the south; and now he gave the Ammonites and Moabites and other enemies on the east a taste of Hebrew warfare.

Before many years pa.s.sed they had all learned their lesson, and there was peace in Canaan.

PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION

During all those years when the Hebrews were fighting for existence life in their little villages and towns had been anything but pleasant. Not only was there constant danger from human enemies and from famine, there was also a lack of the comforts and pleasures of civilized life. There were no books to read, no musical instruments to play on, and few opportunities for any kind of recreation. They had only coa.r.s.e, rough clothing to wear, and coa.r.s.e, ugly furniture for their homes.

=The development of commerce.=--Now that peace and security had been achieved, David did much to make the daily lives of all his people happier. One way was through commerce. The great merchants of those days were the Phoenicians, the people of Tyre and Sidon, whose daring sailors steered their s.h.i.+ps into every harbor on the Mediterranean Sea and even out upon the stormy Atlantic and up to the tin mines of Britain.

Very wisely David made a treaty of friends.h.i.+p with Hiram, king of Tyre, and as a result Phoenician artists and artisans came down to Jerusalem and helped to beautify the city. Phoenician wares also began to be peddled in all the towns of Canaan: fine linen fabrics, such as the Hebrews did not know how to weave; beautiful jars and cups, such as Hebrew potters had not learned to fas.h.i.+on; jewels of silver and gold and precious stones, over which Hebrew maidens hovered with longing eyes. Soon one could see that the homes in these little towns of Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim were cleaner and better furnished, and the people were more neatly dressed. Commerce of the right kind is always a blessing.

=Education.=--Better than fine clothes and jewels and furniture are the things that feed the mind. David himself was a skillful harpist, and no doubt this helped to make harp-playing popular. On one occasion the ark of Jehovah, the sacred chest which had been carried in the desert, was brought up to Jerusalem. It was accompanied by a chorus of singers and a band of instrumental players, "with harps and lyres and cymbals." In the wors.h.i.+p of the temple at Jerusalem music from this time on had an important place. And all up and down the land here and there, one could hear in humble homes the tinkle of harp strings; and boys and girls who liked music could learn to play.

If not in David's time, then very soon after, the first Hebrew history books were written. These contained stories which had been handed down from generation to generation; stories about the beginnings of things; stories about Abraham and Moses and other early heroes.

There were, of course, only a few copies of written rolls of stories, as compared with the millions of volumes which are constantly being turned out to-day by our great printing presses. But these few were much read, and those who read committed many of the stories to memory so that they could repeat them again and again in their home circles.

In this way life grew more rich in pleasure and interest for many a Hebrew youth and maiden.

DAVID'S SUCCESSOR, SOLOMON

After David's death his son Solomon was made King. He also encouraged commerce, both by land and by sea. His s.h.i.+ps sailed down the Red Sea to India, and back, and over the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. They brought back, according to the author of First Kings, "gold and silver, ivory, and apes and peac.o.c.ks."

=Solomon's folly.=--Alas for the happiness of the people, Solomon was a different kind of a man from his father. Like so many other sons of good kings he was spoiled by too much luxury and too little discipline. He had the reputation of being very wise, but in reality he was very foolish. His chief ambition was to have splendid palaces, and to make a great display of riches, like the kings of Egypt and Babylonia.

In order to build these fine buildings and have great numbers of servants it was necessary to extort the money from his people by heavy taxes. They were also compelled to labor without pay in his quarries and elsewhere. So with all the increased wealth in the land and with all the seeming progress in civilization, the common people were really wretched--almost worse off than in the old days of disunion and confusion and fear.

=The disruption of the kingdom.=--As a result of this cruelty and oppression, the northern tribes, after Solomon's death, rebelled against his son Rehoboam, who seemed likely to become even more of an oppressor than his father. The tribe of Judah in the south remained faithful to the family of David. So the nation was split in two parts, which were never reunited.

If only all kings could be like David! He indeed was far from perfect; he was guilty of some very wicked crimes. But on the whole he came nearer than most kings to the best ideals of the Hebrews for their rulers: a man "from among thy brethren: ... neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold, ... that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, ... and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand nor to the left."

STUDY TOPICS

1. Look up Joab in a good Bible dictionary, and see how much David owed to this extraordinary man for his success.

2. Read 2 Samuel 23. 13-17, as a good example of the devotion and loyalty David was able to awaken in his followers.

3. With which did David do the more for the happiness of his people, with the sword, or with his harp?

4. Why did Solomon grow up with selfish and extravagant habits and ideals? Read 2 Samuel 11, 12 for an explanation.