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Show - - - - The GRAPHIC BIBLE BIBLEBy By LEWIS $ BROWNE ROWNE ROWNEQ Q @ McClure yfcClure New6paper NeNSpaper Syndicate , . WNU Service Service1w -1w 1w - . I .AT AT . ' 5 I . . .4- .4 . .4i - i + N ' ( P - ? 0 0t 0Seicl t Seicl , tk St14 ; ore . . . - ciiINHCRf3Tp ciiINHCRf3Tp41c ciiINHCRf3Tpc . . c ' ' - -41c 41c - 41cabout about ' l60 fins ' ' : - ' v : r : . - .U- .U . .Ui - ' i Gip Gipt t 1 , , . ' oitt.5atx oitt5atx . i aer shcrt . . . . . . . : . . . : / : ea . . ? - N Na . fL . . ' a . . . . ; . . t td . : ' d t ti tr i r ' : r . t . eceu ( ; .s s . . &tomztes tomztes & . . , The Kingdom of SaulI SaulT Saul SaulDT T WAS the tbe menace of a united unitedPhl1lstla unitedPhilistia unitedPhlllstia I DT Phl1lstla Philistia that drove the Is IsraeUtes Israelites Israelltes raeUtes raelites to unite They couldnot couldnot could couldnot not help but realize that tbat soon soonthey soonthey soonthey they " would "ould ould be utterly destroyed If Ifthey ifthey ifthey they remained without a hend bead hendTherefore beadTherefore headTherefore Therefore they cilled C'llled Cllled tilled ' on a holy man mann'lmed mannamed manmmed n'lmed nlmed named ' Samuel , . who dwelt at Ram Ramah Ramah Ramah ah , , asking ashlng him to select a king hlng for forIcrael forIsrael forIsrael Icrael Israel ; Samuel , . guided'by guidedby gulded"by guldedby ' " Jeho.ab Jehoab Jehosah Jehovahchose . , . chose a stalwart . , , middle aged farm farmer farmer ! er named Saul . , , and events e\ents e ents esents \ soon soonproved soonproved soonproved , proved how \ wise Ise was the choiceAn choiceAn choice choiceAn An old enemy enemv enem } , , the Ammonites Ammoniteshad , . I had just made a raid on Jabcsh Jabesh In InGlIead inGilead InGilead GlIead Gilead , , demanding that its Inhabl Inhabi Inhabltants Inhabitants Inhabitants tants not only on1\ on1 onls on1pay \ pay ransom but 'llso llso ilso 'llsoallow ilsoallow ' ilsoallow allow their right e\ e e eves ecs \ cs to be gouged gougedout gougedout gougedout out . . . The Tbe men of Jabesh sent n a ndesperate adesperate ndesperate desperate plea for help to their theirkinsmen theirkinsmen hinsmen kinsmen across the Jord'lnnd Jordin Jord'ln Jordln Jordan ' , \nd nd and andSiul ' \ indSiul ndS'lul S'lul Slul Siul ' Immediately responded With Witha a dire tbl thieat threat eat of vengeance If they theyrefused theyrefused theyrefused refused . , , he summoned tlie the bla\es bla es biases blaesI biasesof biavesof \ I of all the Hebrew tribes to follow followhim followhim him to the relief of Jibesh J'lbesh Jlbesh Jabesh ' IIls His IIlssummons Hissummons Hissummons Hissummonsvis summons ' " \vis vis wis \ 'lS lS ' obeyed obeved . , , and , . with a ahorde ahorde ahorde horde at his heels , Siul S'lul Slul ' s\\ s swept scpt \ cpt do down downand downand " n nand and delivered deUvered JabeshIt Jabesh JabeshIt It was a great \ victory sictory Ictor } for Saul Sauland , . and andeIl \ well \\eIl eIl established his light right to the thekingship thekingship . kingship With one accord the el elders elders ! ders of Israel ns assembled assembled embled ! In n the hlI1s hills hlI1sat hillsat hillsat at an ancient sanctuary named GIl GIlgal Gilgal Gilgal gal , . and there formally formaIly crow CI downed 0\\ 0 0ned \ ned Saul SaultheIr Saultheir Saultheir theIr monarchThe monarchThe monarch monarchThe The war with the Philistines tben then tbentook thentook thentook took a new turn At Mickmash Michmash tilickmash tbe the tbetide thetide thetide tide was turned , . and the Hebrews Hebrewswon Hebrewswon Hebrewswon won their first great victory 0 os overthis ' er erthIs erthis thIs enemy . The Philistines Phlllstlnes were weredriven weredriven weredriven driven back to their coastal plain plainand , . and Saul was left fice flee free to attend to tothe tothe tothe the other troublers He or organized organizeda anlzed anlzeda a standing army of which his own owntribe owntribe owntribe tribe . , , Benjimin llenj'lmln llenjlmln Benjamin ' . , , was the backbone ; andIth and wlth \\Ith Ith with ' \ this army he be waged un untiring untiring untiring tiring \ war \ ar on every eyery frontierNever frontierNever frontier frontierNever Never to his dlng dying d } ing day did Saul Saulsucceed Saulsucceed Saulsucceed succeed In ridding Israel of ot its en enemies enenvies encmlcs emies envies ; ; : but succeed succeell he did in at atleast atleast atleast least holding those tbose enemies at bay . * . * * . Saul Sauls s kingdom 1.lngdom 1lngdom . was no more than thana a narrow strip of hill bill country along alongthe alongthe alongthe the River IUver Jordan . . It had no fied fired fiedfrontiers firedfrontiers fixedfrontiers " , frontiers and \ was as nc\ nc never ncer neser \ er free from fromattach fromattach fromattack attach . As AB you can see by the map mapthe mapthe mapthe the little realm wis W'lS WlS was ' surrounded by bythe bythe bythe the Philistines Phlllstines , . CanaanitesPhoe Canaanltes Canaanites , -Phoe Phoe .Phoeniclans Phoeniclans . _ - Phoeniclnns Phoe Phoenlclans nlclans niclnns , Amorltes Amorites , . Moabites Moabltes . , Ldo Ldomites Ldomites Ldomites mites . , Ammonites , . and Amalehltes AmalehltesAnd Amalek AmalekltesAnd ites itesAnd And of ot all aU these tbese races only the thePhoenicians thePhoenicians thePhoenicians Phoenicians , . who , were . ere seafaring seafaringtraders seafaringtraders seafaringtraders traders , , did not seek seeh to 0\ 0 0errun oserrun oserrunSaul overrunSauls \ errun errunSaul Saul s territory . , . Ihe 'lbe lbe 'the the ' ' most Impreg Impregnable impregnable imprcgnable nable stronghold in the tbe land , . the thecity thecity thecity city later Jater called Jerusalem , was stillin still stillIn stillIn In tho the hands of ot the tbe Canaanltlsh Canaanitisli Canaanltlshtribe Canaanitislitribe Canaanltlshtribe tribe known hnown as the Jebusltesnut JebusitesBut Jcbusltes Jebusltes Jebusites JcbusltesBut But nut " what hat , was vas perhaps perbaps more men menacing menacing menacing acing to Israel was not the tbe bostlllly hostility bostllllyoutside hostilityoutside hostilityoutside outside the nation , . but the disscn dlssen disscnslon dlssension disscnslon slon sion within Saul . , though tbough an excellent excellent ex excellent cellent warrior , was svas a retched wretched wretchedstatesman \ wretchedstatesman retchedstatesman statesman He lIe was Jealous , . hot hottempered hottempered hottempered tempered . , , and at times quite madanything madanything mad madanything -anything anything - anything but the sort of ot man fit fitted fitted fitted ted to weld the Hebrew tribes into intoa a fast and solid unionAs unionAs union unionAs As a result hecry he \ very \cry cry sery soon ran into intodIfficulties intodifficulties intodifficulties dIfficulties He broke brol\e brol e \ \ with Ith the theprophet theprophet theprophet prophet Samuel , . and thus alienated alienatedan an Important clement element in the popu popu- populationthe popu- popu populationthe population - - lation-the lation the lation - the prophets In those tbose days daysthere da s sthere sthere there were to be found throughout throughoutIsrael throughoutIsrael throughoutIsrael Israel many bands of holy men who whowent whowent whowent went up and down the country countryshouting countryshouting countryshouting shouting excitedly e"tcltedly etcltedly " about the glories gloriesof gloriesof of Jehovah The Hebrew IIcurew Ilebresv f'lrmers flrmers farmers f'lrmersand farmersand firmersand ' I and shepherds sbepherds stood in great awe ot of otthese ofthese ofthese I these prophets , for they \ were \ ere sup supI supposed supposed supposed ! posed to possess all sort of ot magIc magIcpowers magicpowers magicpowers I I powers . , . Nor was Samuel the only Impor Important importaut Important I i Impori tant taut person ) ' erson whom Saul S.lul Slul . antagonized In addition there was tlie tile the gallant gallantwarrior gallantwarrior gallantwarrior warrior , Das David Da\ld Da ld DavidPhilistia \ id idPhilistia Philistia Phllistia , the the EnemyTIIE EnemyT EnemyHE Enemy EnemyHHE T HHE TIIE HE various tribes of Israel were wereruled wereruled wereruled ruled by chleftilns chieft'llns chieftllns chieftains ' who were werec'liled werecalled werecilled c'liled cliled called ' 'judges judges 'judgesto ' to " toThese These chieftains chieftainsdid chieftainsdid chieftainsdid did not inherit their ofhce ot11ce office , but won wonIt wonit wonIt It largely through military mllltary prowess prowessWhen prowessWhen prowessWhen When a tribe had to go to war It Itmade Itmade itmade made its ablest warrior the tbe leader leaderand , . and usually retained him as the thecivil thecivil thecivil civil ruler after the wir W'lr Wlr ' was endedSome endedSome ended endedSome Some of the tbe judges were anything anythingbut anythingbut anythingbut but true men of ot Jehovih Jehov\h Jehov h Jehov'rh Jehovrh ' ' \ , , . and their theirInl1uence theirinfluence theirInfluence Inl1uence influence on the people was often oftennot oftennot oftennot not altogether righteous Mattel Mattels Matters Mattelstherefore Matterstherefore stherefore therefore went from bad to worse in inIsrael inIsrael InIsrael Israel Each tribe fought for Itself Itselfand . , , and there \ was as no trace of unity unityamong unityamong unityamong among them Only tlie the even eyen greater greaterlack greaterlack greaterlack lack of unity among the tbe natyes natives natyesmnde nativesmade nativesmade ! mnde made It possible po.slble poslble . for the ne\\comers ne comers newcomers necomersto newcomersto newcomersto \ to retain their tlheIr hold on the MilsBut hillsBut hills Mils hillsBut But soon the Hebrews were werebrought \ werebrought ere erebrought brought face to fice f'lce flce face ' with more re- re redoubtable redoubtable re redoubtable - - doubtable enemies than the natl\ natl natle natise natlCanaanites natiseCanaanites nativeCanaanltes \ e Canaanites Just as the Hebrews Hebrewsthemseh Hebrewsthemselses Hebrewsthemselves themseh themselses es had invaded Canaan a agener'lUon ageneration agenentlon gener'lUon generlUon generation ' or two earlier earher , so now nowother nowother nowother other deseit desert desel t tribes sought to Invade lavade Invadethe lavadethe Invadethe the lind hnd land Among them there came camethe camethe camethe the Moabites Moabltes , . who wbo swept up alongthe along alongthe alongthe the : East Inst Jordan lands and terror terrorIzed terrorized terrorized Ized over OHr oser all Isiael ISlael Israel Only after 18 18ye.lrs 18years 18years ye.lrs yelrs years . were they drl driven ven bac back bash by byIhud byEhud byEhud Ihud Ehud : , . judge of ot the tribe ot of otBenjamm ofBenjamin ofBenjamin ofBenjaminIhe Benjamm Benjamin Benjamin7.he ' Ihe 1he 7.he 7he . Ammonites Ammomtes , . too , , came raiding raidingfrom raidingfrom raidingfrom from the east , and the Amalehltes Amalek.ltes Amalekltes Amalehltesand Amalek.ltesand Amalekltesand . and the Midlanltes Midlanites But these In Incessant incessant incessant cessant Invasions proved a blessIng blessingin In disguise , . for they gradually drove drovethe drovethe drovethe the Hebrew tribes to uniteJudges uniteJudges unite uniteJudges Judges 6-8 6 8 0.8 08 - - . tells a significant story story.The storyThe . . The Midianltes Mldlanltes Midlanites , . who for centurIes centurIeshad centurieshad centurieshad had roamed In the tbe desert far to the thesoutheast thesoutheast thesoutheast southeast of ot Canaan , . had come uP upand , . and were spreading terror along all allthe allthe allthe the frontiers of Isiael ISlael Israel For seven sevenyears sevenyears sevenyears years they raided and plundered al almost almost almost most without hindrance But finally finallythere finallythere finallythere there arose a Hebrew farmer named namedGideon namedGideon namedGideon Gideon wlio who , with 300 fighting menpicked men menplched menpicked plched picked not alone from trom his own trIbe tribeManassch , Munasseh Manasseh , . but also from trom Asher Asber , . Zeb Zebulun Zebulun Zebulun ulun , . and Niphtall N'lphtall Nlphtall Niphtali ' . , , made a sudden suddenattach suddenattack suddenattack attach attack on the tbe Invaders Imaders insaders and drove drovethem drovethem drovethem them back across the ravine ra\Ine ra Ine raslne \ of the theJordan theJordan theJordan Jordan * * * But the tribes from the desert desertwere desertwere desertwere were as nothing compared with an- an anotber another an another - other otber Invading host , the Phi11stlnes Philistines Phi11stlnesThese PhilistinesThese PhilistinesThese These Philistines were not orl original originally originally Inal Inaly ly } y a Semitic Sem1t1e folL folh folk from trom Arabia They Theyc Theycame Theycame c came me , . it seems , . from Crete . , , or the thenOl thenorthern thenoithern nOl northern thern coast of ot the Mediterrane Mediterrane- Mediterranean - an , . and they may have reached reachedCanaan reachedCanaan reachedCanaan Canaan first as piratesAlready piratesAlready pirates piratesAlready Already In the time of or Joshua Josbua the thePhilistines thePhilistines tliePhilistines Philistines on the coast had grown grownso grownso grownso so numerous that they were "ere ere " begin begin- beginnln beginning beginning - nln ning . ; to spread up into the ' very 'Very hIlls hillswhich hillswhich which \ hlch the Hebrews were trying to toconquer toconquer toconquer conquer . , It was Inevitable , . thcre there thcrefore therefore therefore fore , . that tbat the two peoples shouldclash shouldclashAt should shouldclash shouldclash clash clashAt At first l1rst the Philistines Phlllstines were easllv eas- eas easIlv eas-llv eas llv - - - Ilv llv the victors , . for they were better betterarmed betterarmed betterarmed armed than tlie the Hebrews Hebrev . s , . and far farbetter farbetter farbetter better organised organlled organized The kings of or their theirthe theirfive the \ e chief city states in PhlllstIa- PhlllstIa Phllistla- Phllistla PhllistlaGaza PhlllstIaGnza Philistia PhilistiaGaza - Gaza Gnza , . Askelon Ashelon , . Ashdod A.shdod . , Gath Gath Galls , , and andDkronwere andEkronwere andEkron Dkron-were Dkron were Ekron-were Ekron - were close allies . . The He Hebrews Hebrews Hebrews brews , who possessed only tlie the most mostprlmltlye mostprimitive mostprimitive prlmltlye primitive weapons and were total total- totally totally - . ] ly y disorganized , had little chance chanceagainst chanceagainst chanceagainst against them . Under the leadershipof leadershipat leadership at of a strong man like 11ho Samson , . they theywere theywere theywere were able j fo < o wage guerilla warfare warfareag warfareagainst warfareagilnst ag against J.lnst Jlnst < . the Philistines PhWstines ; : but when It Itcame itcame Itcame came to n a pitched battle baltIe , . they were wereutterly wereutterly wereutterly utterly lost . At Aphek the Hebrews IIebrews went do\\n do n down donto downto downto \ to a crushing defeat , . and the Ark Arkot Arkof Arkof ot of .1 1 . Jehovah ehoah Tehosah eho\ eho \ ah , . which had led them tbem all allthrough allthrough allthrough through the tbe wllderne wilderness , . was "as as " cap cap- captured captured captured . - - tured bi by b } the Philistines PhlllsUnes . . |