A Destiny Fulfilled - J C Laird (summer reading list .txt) 📗

heave of his bronze tipped spear might draw blood from the nearest ranks of the Semites. He was sure the arrows from his bow would have—

His reverie came to a halt as his attention latched onto a brown, tunic clad figure that had detached itself from the distant group before him, and was now approaching. Malek watched with interest as the figure neared. He tensed with anticipation. A young Semite boy stopped thirty paces from him.

“Where is your people’s chosen champion?” Malek roared. “Abner agreed to my challenge on behalf of your King Saul. I have been awaiting your warrior’s arrival. Is your king bringing dishonor to your people, your army, and your gods, by breaking our agreement? Or is your champion but a mangy cur slinking away in fear? By so doing much blood will spill upon this valley, most of it belonging to your soldiers. The god Dagon will avenge this cowardice, he will— “

“I am your challenger, Goliath,” interrupted the youth facing him. “My name is David, son of Jesse. I am but a shepherd, but this day I will slay you with the help of God, and the Hebrew nation will rejoice.”

Malek gaped at the boy, stunned, not only by this utterance, but by his use of the name Goliath. He had not heard it used since his mother had called him that when he was very young. She had told him stories of the man who had fathered him, a giant from the lands of the Anakim, far to the south by the sea. He hated the name Goliath, for it represented the man who had abandoned him and his mother. She said the Anakim had been defeated and slain by the Hebrew Semite, Joshua. They were no more, except for a few scattered decedents such as Malek. She had always used the word Goliath and giant as if they were the same.

The boy was still speaking. “… don’t be so surprised, Goliath, or should I say Malek of Gath. We are related, you know. Your mother, Orpah, was the sister-in-law of Ruth, my great grandmother. But today I will slay you and deliver your lands into the hands of the Israelites.”

Malek continued to stare, wide eyed. The boy’s age could not have spanned more than sixteen seasons. He wore a loose brown tunic, had no shield or spear, and the sword strapped to his waist was too big for him, the scabbard almost dragging the ground. In one hand he carried a simple sling, in the other what he assumed were pebbles. He looked to be a little over three cubits tall, more than a full cubit less than Malek. His head was on a line somewhere between Malek’s waist and his chest. “I will not fight a boy,” Malek said. “Is there no other Semite, Hebrew or otherwise, who will face me?”

The boy ignored him. “Goliath, son of the prostitute Orpah, this day I will deliver your head to Jerusalem, all the Philistine people will scatter like the leaves of autumn, their tribes disappearing from history, and all of Canaan I will deliver unto Israel as ordained in our covenant with God.”

Malek swallowed his rising bile, unclenching his teeth enough to speak. “And who is this God who would send a boy to be slaughtered?” he growled. “Certainly not Dagon, he— “

Again the boy interrupted him. “He is Yahweh, the God of Abraham, the one and only true God. You have blasphemed him for weeks with your challenges. I will be the deliverer of his punishments. It is my destiny to be the instrument causing the defeat of your people. And therefore your destiny is to die today and open the door, the way, for the downfall of the Philistine tribes. Your people will be no more, vanishing from history, as have your ancestors, the Anakim. And Israel will flourish as ordained by God.”

Malek threw back his head and roared—a cry heard throughout the valley. The enormity and injustice of the boy’s words almost choked him. He screamed again at the cloudless sky, his roars echoed by the rumblings of the armies to either side. He heard Kabeer, standing next to the chariot and nearer than the rest, yelling something at him…

Malek looked down in time to see the shepherd boy running at him, his long sling a whirling blur in the air above his head. He tried to raise the heavy shield which had dipped low in his anguish, but was much too slow. The smooth pebble was launched and on its way before he could bring it to bear.

Straight and true the stone flew, striking him in the forehead between the eyes. The only thing that saved Malek from the blow was his helmet, and the brass piece extending down from his forehead covering his nose. The pebble caromed off the bronze surface, but the force of the hit stunned him. He lost the grip on his spear, his hand coming to his head as if it could ease the pain. He staggered back several steps, half turning away.

The second rock also struck his helmet, this time just above his left temple, again ricocheting off the metal. Malek’s eyes blurred and his knees almost buckled, but somehow he remained upright. Disorientated, he staggered several more steps, his back now to the young shepherd, the Philistine army blurred before his eyes in the distance. Malek shook his head, trying to refocus. He could make out Kabeer, slack jawed, wide-eyed, his face etched with disbelief.

The third rock slammed into the back of Malek’s right knee, covered by neither armor nor leather. The pain was immediate, and again excruciating, followed rapidly by numbness in his lower leg. He faltered another step before his leg gave way and he toppled over backward, his bruised head striking the ground with a thud. Dazed, instinct took over as he fumbled with his scabbard in a feeble attempt to free his sword.

His tearing eyes flicked up as a shadow was cast over him. It was the young shepherd boy, with his sword drawn. Malek stopped his groping. “Where did you get that sword, boy?” he asked, trying to steady his voice.

“It belongs to Saul, my King. He gave it to me to use when nobody else volunteered to fight you. And now, Goliath of Anakim, Malek of Gath, and the son of the whore Orpah, I will use it to seal your fate. Your destiny will be fulfilled. Through you Philistia will disappear and Israel will flourish.” David raised the gleaming sword high above his head.

As the blade cleaved the air and arced downward, Goliath finally understood the purpose of his life….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Publication Date: 06-25-2018

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