Long Story Short. Episode 5. Nation.

15th March

God created the world and blessed it, commanding human beings to be fruitful and multiply. This they did, but they abandoned God in the process. So far the Bible’s story has been one of calling humanity back. First through one man, Abraham, and then through his descendants, God has been rebuilding a people who will model true humanity.

Rescuing them from slavery, God has led them through the desert to a promised land of their own.

We are here, on the edge of the river Jordan. A nation of escapee slaves, a generation of desert wanderers, here on the edge of all they have been promised; invited to step forward.

We are here, poised to inherit the earth.

By this time Moses had died, and his assistant Joshua took his place. It fell to him to lead the people across the river and into the land.

Crossing the Jordan

When the people set out to cross the Jordan, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now it was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water began piling up at a town upstream… The water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the river bed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the city of Jericho.

Joshua 4:14-16

Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, “I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”

This Israel did, parading around the city in silence for six days.

On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the town!

When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it.

Joshua 6:1-5, 15-17, 20

Conquest

The Lord was with Joshua, and his name became famous throughout the land.

Joshua conquered the entire region —the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills… Joshua killed all the kings of those territories, waging war for a long time to accomplish this. No one in this region made peace with the Israelites except the Hivites of Gibeon. All the others were defeated.

After all the land was divided among the tribes, the Israelites gave a special piece of land to Joshua as his inheritance.

The years passed, and the Lord had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies.

Joshua 6:27, 11:16, 19:49, 23:1

When Joshua died, there were still pockets of land that had not been conquered, but God had promised to drive the enemies away and give the land to Israel. Israel was not to associate with the tribes of Canaan, to inter-marry with them, or to worship their gods.

Betrayal

After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.

They abandoned the Lord to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth. This made the Lord burn with anger against Israel, so he handed them over to raiders who stole their possessions. He turned them over to their enemies all around, and they were no longer able to resist them.

Then the Lord raised up judges to rescue the Israelites from their attackers.

Whenever the Lord raised up a judge over Israel, he was with that judge and rescued the people from their enemies throughout the judge’s lifetime. For the Lord took pity on his people, who were burdened by oppression and suffering. But when the judge died, the people returned to their corrupt ways, behaving worse than those who had lived before them. They went after other gods, serving and worshiping them.

In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.
Judges 2:10, 13-14, 16, 18-19, 21:25

How quickly promises are broken, and high ideals brought down, that hard-won freedom so carelessly used.

But we are here, so blessed and so ungrateful; busy with our own lives, so loved and so forgetful.

We are here, our weakness betraying our best intentions.

Israel asks for a King

Joshua was the first of the judges, a series of men and women who led Israel in battle and called them back to God. Samuel was the last of them.

As Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel… But they were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Finally, the leaders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king like all the other nations have.”

Samuel was very upset with their request and went to the LORD for advice. “Do as they say,” the LORD replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about how a king will treat them.”

So Samuel passed on the LORD’s warning to the people … But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will govern us and lead us into battle.”

So Samuel told the LORD what the people had said, and the LORD replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.”

1 Samuel 8:1, 3-10,19-22

Israel’s king

Kish was a rich, influential man from the tribe of Benjamin…His son Saul was the most handsome man in Israel – head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the land.

Samuel called the tribal leaders together before the LORD, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the LORD, and the family of the Matrites was chosen. And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them. But when they looked for him, he had disappeared! So they asked the LORD, “Where is he?”

And the LORD replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.” So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.

Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the LORD has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is his equal!” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

1 Samuel 9:1-2,10:20-24

Now when Saul had secured his grasp on Israel’s throne, he fought against his enemies in every direction… And wherever he turned, he was victorious.

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years.

1 Samuel 14:47, 13:1

God’s law commanded the king to read from the books of the law every day, and included these instructions:
The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself… The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will lead him away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate vast amounts of silver and gold for himself.
Deuteronomy 17:16-17

God gave Saul many victories over his enemies, but Saul did not obey God’s commands. Again and again he disobeyed God, and eventually Samuel came to tell him that God was going to choose someone else to be king.

God chooses a new king

After this God told Samuel to anoint a new king. Samuel went to the house of a man named Jesse, as God had chosen one of Jesse’s sons.

When the sons arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the LORD‘s anointed!” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions”

Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said “This is not the one the Lord has chosen.” Next Jesse summoned Shammah, but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.”

In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep.”

“Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.” So Jesse sent for him. He was ruddy and handsome, with pleasant eyes. And the LORD said, “This is the one; anoint him.”

1 Samuel 16:6-12

So God chose David to be king after Saul, but Saul remained as king for many years. David continued to live at home as a shepherd.

Goliath

Soon after this was a war with the Philistines, and the Philistine army marched into Israel. Saul countered by gathering his troops near the valley of Elah. So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.

Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall!

Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelites, “Do you need a whole army to settle this? Choose someone to fight for you, and I will represent the Philistines. We will settle this dispute in single combat! If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!” When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.

17:2-4,8-11

David was at home looking after the sheep while his brothers were with the army, but he heard Goliath’s challenge when visiting the camp. He persuaded Saul to let to fight Goliath.

David picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across to fight Goliath.

“Am I a dog,” Goliath roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.

David shouted in reply, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD Almighty—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone will know that the LORD does not need weapons to rescue his people. It is his battle, not ours. The LORD will give you to us!”

As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it from his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face downward to the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine giant with only a stone and sling. And since he had no sword, he ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill the giant and cut off his head.

1 Samuel 17: 40, 43-51

King David

The wars in the land continued, and David became a famous warrior. King Saul became jealous of David’s success and tried to kill him, but God protected him. Eventually Saul died in a battle with the Philistines.

Then all Israel went to David at Hebron and told him, “We are all members of your family. For a long time, even while Saul was our king, you were the one who really led Israel. And the LORD your God has told you, “You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be their leader.””

They anointed him king of Israel, just as the LORD had promised through Samuel.

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in all.

2 Samuel 5:1-4

Saul had never succeeded in making the land safe for the Israelites, so the task fell to David.

David then led his troops to Jerusalem to fight against the Jebusites. “You’ll never get in here,” the Jebusites taunted. “Even the blind and lame could keep you out!” For the Jebusites thought they were safe. But David captured the fortress of Zion, now called the city of David.

2 Samuel 5:6-7

The promise to Abraham has been fulfilled, and his descendants are as numerous as the sand on the seashore. The promise to Moses is delivered, the people safe in a land of their own.

Living in peace, ruled by a wise king, surrounding nations look to Israel and recognise God.

And we are here, a light to the nations, a city on a hill.