While we wait for word on the Lion of War series release schedule, I have another novel coming out this year named “The Boundary of Blood.”
I love the single-verse story of Shamgar in Judges 3:31 and wanted to give a fictional account of how it might have unfolded. Several of years ago I wrote and directed a short film about Shamgar, and this is the full-length version of that narrative.
It’s about a desperate man with a troubled past being used by God even though he is unworthy—something I think we can all resonate with.
Thank you so much for your support, I pray it becomes a blessing to you.
PROLOGUE
In honor of the tenth year of the reign of Solomon son of David, king in Jerusalem, servant of the Most High God.
Hear, oh Israel, Yahweh is God. Yahweh is One.
I, Jehoshaphat, historian of the court, have been commissioned to record the chronicles of the warriors of Israel for you, great king.
They were the men of renown who fought to give our people this land.
They journeyed with Moses, conquered with Joshua, judged the tribes, and obeyed Yahweh our God.
Your father has already shed the blood necessary to establish your throne, and, praise to God, you will never need to join soldiers on campaign in foreign lands.
While we are grateful for the prosperity you have brought us, I confess it brings me regrets.
You will never know what it is like sitting near a campfire the night before a desperate battle. The camaraderie. The tales being spun of laughter and bravery. The quiet fear.
Yahweh is closest in those moments.
This is my effort to tell you their stories, and perhaps in the telling of them, it will be as though you are there next to the flames, smelling the good smell of woodsmoke, listening to the roaring laughs and wondering whether you will earn your seat at tomorrow night’s fire.
During this age of prosperity in our kingdom, established by the sword of your father and cultivated by your own tireless efforts, it is easy to forget what our forefathers suffered.
It was not long ago that Philistine kings ruled our lands from their cities on the coast. The tribes of our father Jacob suffered many centuries under the Philistine yoke.
The Philistines were not a conqueror like Egypt, bringing with them the order and protection they enjoyed in their own lands. Philistines oppressed us and stole crops so our people starved, but they did not stay, and whenever they left our hills after plundering and raping each spring, no one could travel freely on the roads for fear of bandits.
As this tale begins, the Israelites are leaderless. They have not been allowed to possess weapons by their Philistine overlords. Iron forging is not permitted, and the men of Israel must beg for repairs from Philistine ironsmiths on the plains.
Whenever the Philistines invade, they come through a narrow pass in the mountains near Socoh and Azekah, at the top of the Elah valley.
It is a place where many of our sons have been cut down, because it is the last place invaders can be stopped.
Your father David knew it well and killed Philistines there himself, centuries after the events I will describe to you.
It is a place where, even to this day, mothers and wives shiver at the name.
Here, mothers become childless. Here, wives become widows.
It is called the Boundary of Blood.
CHAPTER 1
In our land, storms come from the west.
They build over the Great Sea, cross the cedar- dense forests of Lebanon, and roll across the plains of Philistia, gaining power as they climb into the hill country.
Rain can last for days. Every stream becomes a torrent. Every slope a cascade of rushing water, destroying crops and washing away roads.
In winter, snow gathers quickly and heavily in the mountains. Animals freeze to death, as do unfortunate travelers caught unaware. Those who dwell here can only hide and wait for it to end.