Story of the Month

Eliab's Bad Day

told by Michael Forestieri

adapted from I Samuel 16 & 17 by Michael Forestieri, copyright 2003

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Watch to Michael Forestieri tell Eliab's Bad Day

(About 15-18 minutes)

Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse, was having a bad day.

To begin with, he and two of his brothers had been drafted into the service of King Saul. Normally, this would have been an honor, but there had been rumors and murmurings that the prophet Samuel had given Saul terrible news. Some even murmured that God had rejected him as the leader of the people of Israel.

The king, on shaky ground with God? This was not the kind of news you wanted to hear. Not when your number comes up to defend the land against an invading Philistine army. This was definitely turning out to be a bad day.

The Israelite army had made a short march to Sochoh and had set up camp nearby in the Valley of Elah. It was customary for two opposing forces to shout insults and battle cries at each other for a time before actually engaging in battle.

But for the last forty days, Eliab, his two brothers, and the army of Israel had endured a taunting like never before. The Philistines had a champion, a man, no, an ogre, nearly ten feet tall. His coat of mail alone weighed over 120 pounds, the head of his spear weighed 16 pounds. Being hit with that spear would be like getting hit with a bowling ball…a sharp one. He kept demanding a champion from the Israelite line to meet and settle this conflict one on one, winner take all.

The soldiers had looked to Saul for courage, only to see the sullen king sitting in his field throne nervously gripping the armrests.

Watching the king behave like this, Eliab winced; he knew the rumors of the king being rejected by God were true. His thoughts drifted back to a time not too long ago, when the prophet Samuel had visited him and his brothers at the home of Jesse, their father. Samuel had been ordered by the Lord to select a new king of Israel.

The aged prophet had looked up at Jesse’s firstborn with great admiration in his eyes. “Surely this is the anointed of the Lord!” But the Lord held a different opinion, “I do not look on the outside as man does, I have rejected this one, I have seen his heart.”

Of course, Eliab did not hear these words from the Lord to Samuel, but the change in the prophet expression from, “Ah,” to “Hmmm” was unmistakable. He had been rejected as king.

Eliab should have felt relieved as, one by one, all the sons of Jesse were passed over. Well, at least he wasn’t the only one who didn’t make the cut. That’s what he told himself until the prophet called for Jesse’s only remaining son, David to come in from the fields where he was watching the flocks.

The seer beamed as David stood before him, “Ah, yes! A man after God’s own heart.”

Eliab, along with his brothers, stood stunned as Samuel broke open the horn of oil and anointed their baby brother right before their eyes. As the oil saturated the young lad’s hair and ran down on his tunic, Eliab could not believe he was being passed up for David. After all, he the runt of the litter…and he still smelled like sheep!

Eliab came back out of his reverie and winced at the thought of David as king as his eyes refocused on the faded countenance of King Saul. This was definitely turning out to be a bad day.

“Well, if I have to be here, facing an ogre and the Philistine army…with a weak king, at least I don’t have to set eyes upon…DAVID!”

“Hi, guys! Father sends his blessings…how goes the war?”

To say that the boy received a cold shoulder reception would be an understatement.

Just then, a deep voice bellows up from the valley, the ogre has returned.

“Am I not a Philistine and you the servants of Saul. Come, send me a man to fight! If he can defeat me, we will be your servants. When I drive him into the ground, you will all become our servants, forever!”

David is nearly trampled by the soldiers running for their tents in fear. He begins to inquire about Goliath from tent to tent and finds out that Saul has place a bounty on the ogre’s head. Goliath’s killer will get:

“That’s all I needed to hear, if none of you will take action, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

He does not see Eliab standing behind him. Eliab rails on David, “Who do you think you are? I know the pride of your heart, you just wanted to come and see a fight. Who’s watching the sheep? Does father know you’re here?”

With a hurt look that could only come from years of being picked on by older brothers, David cries out, “Now, what have I done?”

David continues to confirm what he’s heard about the reward. This catches the attention of King Saul, “One of my men is asking about the reward? Yes! I knew the offer would bring out a champion for us. Who is it? Which one of my brave warriors will deliver us and take away this reproach and shame? Bring him before me. Who is he…my harpist?”

Saul looks upon David with disdain, “Who do you think you are? You are just a kid, Goliath has been fighting since he was your age. Why have you been mouthing off in front of my men, embarrassing us all? Who do you think you are?”

David does something unusual for someone his age. He stands before the king and answers, “My liege, with all due respect, I know who I am. Your servant has kept his father’s sheep for years. I have endured the cold of night and the heat of the day, foul weather and hunger, yet not one lamb that was place in my charge has ever been lost.”

“The Lord has delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear. He will deliver me from this Philistine who has no covenant relationship with the living God. With all due respect, my lord, I know exactly who I am because I know Who my God is!”

Sometime later, Eliab steps out of his tent chewing on a falafel and pita sandwich, he’s looking to find out why the Israelite camp is in such commotion. Soldiers are running to the ridge, shouting and pointing down the hill. Eliab squints to see some fool that’s rushed out of the Israelite camp and is running down toward the Philistine ogre. Suddenly, Eliab chokes on his falafel, “David! Oh, this is just great, my idiot brother is going to get himself killed and father will blame me for it. Go ahead, you moron. See if I care! Oh, can this day get any worse?”

David runs to a stream, chooses five smooth stones for his sling, one for Goliath and one for each of the ogre’s brothers. David is ready to rumble.

Goliath squints to see who is running toward him, “Good! So, you have finally sent…a boy…?”

He looks up at the Israelite army incredulously, “Is this who you send, a boy to do a man’s job? Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks? Come boy, I will be merciful and kill you quickly. I curse you by my gods and I will feed your carcass to the birds and the beasts. There will be nothing left of you but sun-bleached bones!”

But David doesn’t flinch, instead he turns the giants words back upon his own head, “You come at me with weapons of metal and wood. You curse my by your false gods of wood and stone, dead they are! But, I come at you in the name of the living God, the Most High, Who is Lord of the hosts of the armies of Israel! He will prove Himself to all who are here by delivering you into my hand. And by your own words, it will be your carcass that is eaten by the birds and the beasts this day!”

Eliab, the Israelites, and the Philistines stand in shock as, in moments, the ogre falls to his knees and then face down before David, the young boy’s sling stone buried deep in the giant’s forehead. The lad runs to his fallen foe and pulls his enemy’s sword out of its sheath, the giant hasn’t even had time to draw it. The blade sparkles in the sun, it’s new, never even been used. How fitting, David thinks, that’s its first use should be….(chop!)

David lifts up the gory visage by its hair. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead…they fled!

A cheer goes up from the Israelite army. They thunder down into the valley and up the far slope. They will pursue and slay their routed enemy unto the cities of Ekron and Gath.

Meanwhile, David is busy stripping Goliath’s armor off as spoils of war. King Saul leans over to the general by his side,“Who…who is he, anyway?”

Eliab is swept down into the valley along with the other soldiers. As he passes by David, they exchange a silent glance, and in that moment, Eliab’s mind is filled with three images in rapid succession:

Eliab breaks eye contact with David and continues with his fellow soldiers up the other side of the valley and after the routed Philistines. For the Israelites, this day will be forever known as a day of deliverance by the hand of the Lord.

But for Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse, it’s just been a very…bad…day.

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