Free Rising Darkness by D. Brian Shafer

they do with it?” asked Jarod. “Is that when they got a king?”
    “Jarod, you need to do a better job with your lessons,” said Eli. “You should know this! It was not until much later that Israel begged for a king. No, this was the time of the judges over Israel.”
    “Judges?” asked Jarod.
    “Yes,” said Eli. “Holy men and women appointed by God to lead the land in times of trouble. And in the times of the judges there was much trouble, I’m afraid.” Eli shook his head in shame. “Why we thought we needed a king—when we had as our ruler the King of the universe—will always baffle me!”
    “What sort of trouble?” asked Jarod.
    “The trouble brought on by sinful man,” Eli answered. He looked at the boys and continued. “It seems that during this time our fathers were in a place of constant sin and defeat. Some judge or other would then lead them out of their difficulty until they sinned again. Deborah, Jepthah—these were some of the great judges of the time.”
    “But why were the people getting in trouble?” asked Joshua. “Weren’t they happy to be in their new land?”
    Eli looked down at the little boy whose innocent question held so significant an answer. “Because the people of God tend to stray, Joshua. Sort of like these sheep. That is why we must watch over them, keep them, take care of them—just as the Lord is our great Shepherd.”
    “But why should we stray if the Lord takes care of us?”
    Several men averted their eyes from Eli, letting him know that he was entirely on his own in answering the boy’s question.
    “Because we humans are bent on idolatry,” Eli said resignedly. “Truly it was a dreadful shame to see the people of God move into their land only to lose it to new enemies because of their choice to fail. And fail they did.”
    He said this with a pause and a bit of melancholy. “Turning from the true and living God, the people corrupted themselves, preferring the sensual, earthy, bewitching gods of Canaan—the Baals.”
    He spat with contempt after saying the name of Baal.
    “And so, enemies like great storms would sweep in and defeat Israel—Moabites, Midianites, Amalekites and Philistines—and Israel would fall into dissolution and occupation.”
    “Like the Romans,” mused Jarod quietly.
    The eyes of the shepherds turned toward the boy and thoughts toward the Roman sentries in their town. Enemy occupation, it seemed, had become the rule rather than the exception. Many wondered if this boy might grow up in a free land, or if he too would spend his life under the heels of Rome.
    “Yes, Jarod,” said Eli. “Like the Romans. But in the days of the judges the Lord Most High, ever tender toward His people, would respond to the cries of Israel and send anointed men and women to disperse the enemy and establish the Lord’s authority once more. And He shall do so again one day!”
    “Who was the greatest judge of all?” asked Jarod.
    Eli thought about it for a moment.
    “I believe that the greatest judge of all was Samuel,” he said. “He was devoted to the Lord and a great example of how the Lord uses an ordinary man who is faithful to Him. Of course all the judges were ordinary men and women who were willing to be used by the Lord.”
    Eli leaned back on his blanket.
    “One of my favorite judges was a man who was quite afraid at first,” the old man said. “Did you know that the Lord is especially good at using men who feel they cannot do what He is calling them to do?”
    “Who was he?” asked the boys in unison.
    “Gideon. He didn’t want to lead the people and even tested the Lord’s decision. But the Angel of the Lord would not take no for an answer and used him mightily!”
    Jarod wrinkled his nose as Eli spoke to them about Gideon. Eli chuckled at the boy’s obvious consternation.
    “What’s the matter, Jarod?” Eli asked. “Gideon not hero enough for you?”
    “Well yes, sir,” said Jarod somberly, as if caught in his