Joab's Dream part one | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Joab's Dream part one | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jason Sanders
08/09/06
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About thirty minutes into the two hour ride into Bethlehem, Joab is bored. This is nothing like the adventure he imagined himself having when his father offered to take him along on his trading trip. The donkey he is riding is in the middle of their train, lazily following the donkey in front of it. He tries to amuse himself by looking around at the scenery for awhile, but the unchanging Judean wilderness all looks the same, flat and brown. The waves of tall grass are only interrupted by small scrub trees. The hot wind off of the Salt Sea gently lifts his neck cloth and massages his neck with it’s fingers. All there is to see in front of him is another donkey’s rear end, and wool. The sway of the walking donkey gently lulls him to shut his eyes.
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The hot desert wind snapped his eyes open. “Sir, should I give the archers the signal?” The soldier looks at him expectantly. “They look like they are close enough now.” Joab wants to look around to see who he is talking to, but cannot move or speak. “Not yet! We need them closer.” The deep voice startled him when he realized that it was coming from his own mouth. Nodding his head, the soldier turns around and gazes toward the horizon. Joab takes the time to look around and try to figure out what is going on. The last thing he remembered was being on a donkey’s back in Judah. Now, here he was in a chariot in the middle of a sea of armored men. Glancing at the other soldier’s back, he is shocked by what he is shown by the polished bronze armor. A dark, powerful man stared back at him with eyes like black ice. Joab had never seen a cold, contained rage in a person before, and it made him shiver. Under the man’s bronze helmet he could see the shoulder-length salt and pepper hair. The man’s face was marked by a blade-like nose under which grew a beard to match his hair. The beard flowed off the man’s chin and reached the top of his armored chest. But even with the difference in age, Joab easily recognized himself. With that recognition came the knowledge of his current situation. He looked down in wonder at his knotted arms that were naked except for a few bracelets.
Gazing across the desert plain, He can see the reason for his rage. The opposing force was a formidable one. It was hard to guess how many men it contained, but Joab guessed around 100,000 infantry, backed with a least a thousand chariots. When they had marched within a hundred yards of the Israelite army, they stopped. At this distance he could clearly make out the details. They wore armor in the common style introduced by the Philistines. Their heads were covered with bronze helmets. Their torsos were protected by bronze breastplates, under which they wore a thigh length tunic. Bronze greaves were worn on the lower leg, with only the thigh exposed. But unlike the Philistines, the men of Edom wore trousers under their tunic, and had some other small changes to deal with the hot sun of the desert in which they called home. And every man in their infantry had a huge sword that Edom was famous for strapped onto his side. Behind the Edomite army, Joab could see the city that they were protecting. “Abishai, don’t fail me now,” he muttered under his breath. This could be a very close battle. The opposing army knew that there would be no quarter given, and would fight until the last man was dead. Which was his intention for them, so that fit very well with his plans. To be continued....
next week, The Battle!

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