AS WE SAW IT: Five Who Witnessed God's Hand

By George Carlton

These are inspiring stories told by five bystanders who witnessed God's will unfolding in historical milestones noted in the Bible. These individuals would have reacted to what they saw, especially if they had known of God's exacting predictions being fulfilled before their eyes. The lives of such unknown people would have been dramati

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carlton McNeel Publishing LLC
• Release date: Oct 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798985283815

George Carlton

George Carlton is retired from a career of banking operations and real estate marketing. He has been an active Bible teacher for almost forty years. George now lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, with his wife, Phyllis.

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Copyright 2021

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Carlton McNeel Publishing LLC

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ISBN: 9798985283808

ISBN: 9798985283815 (e-book)

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

TOLD BY A MAN OF JUDAH

TOLD BY AN IMMORTAL

TOLD BY A MACEDONIAN

TOLD BY A SHEPHERD

TOLD BY A CENTURION

INTRODUCTION

For me, reason is the natural organ of truth; but

imagination is the organ of meaning.

C. S. Lewis

As the Bible’s authors recorded their history and revealed God’s predictions throughout the passing of the ages, they provided the names and recorded the actions of countless men and women. Some of those people have become familiar to us. Others are completely unknown except for their names being preserved on one of the lists scattered throughout the book. Almost all would be stunned to see their names printed on the timeless pages of the greatest of all books.

In addition to these known or barely known people, many others would have seen the historic events depicted in scripture—and yet remain unmentioned anywhere—at least not on earth. Some of these obscure people could offer impressive testimonies about witnessing the obvious hand of God at work. We can only speculate about such people. They were the bystanders whose names we cannot know. Still, they might have told their own stories to someone, somewhere. They had much worth the telling.

Would the life of just one shepherd have been changed by what he experienced when choirs of angels announced Jesus’s birth? Surely, he would retell his story of that night of all nights, and would do so for decades to come. Or could someone familiar with earlier biblical prophecies have watched God’s vengeance displayed against the City of Tyre by Alexander the Great’s armies. Would he not have made the obvious connection between the details transpiring before his eyes and their perfect compliance with Ezekiel’s exacting predictions written a hundred and fifty years earlier? We may rationalize how someone might have done so, but we cannot know for sure.

After Esther saved her people from eradication by the tyrannical rules of Persia, she probably did not quietly lapse into anonymity. Other histories indicate that her influence (or someone else’s) continued until the Jewish nation was released from their bondage and sent home. Would unrecorded actions of the Queen mean nothing to someone who knew her? A warrior who participated in David’s bloody ascent to the throne of Israel might have been struck by God bringing it about through circumstances that David himself would never have permitted. But the actions of a brash young man set the stage for the kingdom to come. And what about the Roman centurion of the Legion who took Paul to Rome for trial—and endured shipwreck and hardship—plus a miraculous deliverance? Would such an experience have been forgotten?

God orchestrates his plans through circumstances confronting kings, empires, scriptural writers, or even witnesses we cannot verify. In fact, his message has been carried by unknown people throughout many centuries, across continents and oceans, to all people everywhere. This book depicts five fictitious witnesses who saw the hands of God working in their lives and the lives of others.

The historical events depicted in these five stories are true—and someone must have noticed. If so, they surely would have considered the significance of what they saw. Their experiences brought about something wonderful for them—or at least to some of them—whether we know their names or not.

TOLD BY A MAN OF JUDAH

This is the pool where the kingdom began. It was here where everything changed in one day. I come here often to ponder the evil of that day and to reflect on the suffering brought about by its tragedy. The pain and mourning did not end when the fighting did. Even now, years later, all wounds have not completely healed. So much needless heartache and killing, so much blood spilled, and all because of one young man.

I can understand how a bright lad like Asahel got caught up in the excitement. It is what young men do. Their impulses sometimes serve them well, but when things go wrong, they cause deep scars for themselves and others around them—and it seems like those scars last forever. When I think of how he reacted, giving no thought of anything except his overwhelming desire of the moment, I wonder how any of us survive long enough to attain manhood. Experience brings wisdom, but it seems to be very difficult to gain experience without the attendant suffering it sometimes creates.

Maybe even our mistakes play a part in God’s will. As I grow older, I believe he used the horror of this place to force everyone to adhere to the great plan he established so long ago. Without what happened here, I do not know how King David would have ultimately united our tribes into one kingdom. He wanted to establish a strong nation, but he never would have ordered the bloodletting needed to elevate him to his rightful position as our undisputed king. In fact, David openly resisted doing so, and he demanded that his people comply with his wishes.

But God knew David’s true heart; it was the soul of a poet and a musician, and certainly not one ruthless enough to do what ultimately had to be done. God chose this place to set into motion the events that brought about the unified Kingdom of David. If God uses kings to bring about his bidding, could he not use one rash young man? These thoughts bring me here time and time again.

It may sound strange to say this pool is where it started. Our people had a full thousand years of history before this battle took place. Centuries ago, on his deathbed, our father, Israel, promised his children we would eventually become the people who would inhabit this land forever. He also said our tribe, the Tribe of Judah, would be on the throne of our kingdom until the Man of Peace appears to reign over us. All of Judah’s people take pride in our heritage. David is indeed a descendant of Judah, and we are fully aware of his destiny. But is he the Man of Peace? I do not think so. It was not the spirit of peace that made this brook famous.

This place is named the Pool of Gibeon—but most now refer to it as the Place of Swords’ Edges. For those who remember what happened, it is an appropriate name. Despite the passing of the decades, even now my eyes seem to see the bloodstains of good men on the leaves and rocks along the banks of this quiet little stream and pool. For the men who fought here, those blotches will never be completely washed away by these slow-moving waters.

Until only a few years ago, we had no king, but the people clamored for a leader like the surrounding nations have. More specifically, they wanted Saul to be the anointed one. Our chief priest, Samuel, knew of the prophecy about our leaders rising from the Tribe of Judah, and he was reluctant to anoint Saul because he came from the Tribe of Benjamin. But stubborn people were not satisfied with anything less that having Saul as their king—so God allowed Samuel to anoint him. But during the anointing ceremony, Samuel pronounced him to be a prince of Israel, not a king. The people accepted that; they also knew of the prophecy, but they did not want for wait for its unfolding.

After Saul ascended to the throne, God commanded Samuel to find the true king. Samuel was led to David, a shepherd boy from the Tribe of Judah living in Bethlehem. The priest found the boy and anointed him as the future king of Israel. Some say the people chose Saul, but God chose David.

Even before he was a man, David drew national admiration when he went to the battleground where his older brothers were engaged in a war with the Philistines. Our soldiers were reluctant to engage the Philistine giant, Goliath. While the battle-hardened men of war would not stand up to such a deadly foe, David killed him quickly and efficiently with his sling. It was a victory that caused rejoicing all over the kingdom. Saul wanted to reward David for his spectacular performance, so he brought him into his palace to join his family and learn the arts of governing people.

Things soon changed. It may have been because Saul learned about David’s anointing by Samuel as the future king; certainly, all the people knew of it. For whatever reason, Saul began to fear David would attempt to seize the throne. He had to know of David’s growing popularity of the people.

As David matured into manhood, Saul changed into a man obsessed by fear of everything around him. He trusted no one, seeing rebellion and threats where none existed. Saul’s suspicious nature was predominantly focused on David; eventually it drove him to try to murder David on more than one occasion. After that, some of the people began to clamor for David to become their king. Saul’s rage grew to the point that David had to flee for his life. Eventually he came to live among his people here in Judah’s territory—and we accepted him as our king, regardless of who might sit on the Israel’s throne. David wanted nothing more. His respect for Saul overpowered him. Left to his own choices, he would have passed up the opportunity to replace Saul as the leader of all the Children of Israel.

Every person’s loyalty was strained until Saul killed himself on a battlefield rather than be captured by the invading Philistines. The pressure on David increased daily. Some of the Judeans, I among them, tried to persuade David to fight for control over both Israel and Judah, to establish his leadership over both. After all, he had already been anointed by Samuel for this, so why not allow the prophecies about Judah’s leadership to become a reality? David did not want that. He explained that some of Saul’s followers would only cause such a move to create more divisions, more bloodshed. He was probably right. It is also true that, despite Saul’s raging behavior, David had always loved him and his family. Above all, he wanted peace for them. I do know he suffered by the thought of our people standing divided as two kingdoms, but he nevertheless gave explicit orders that there should be no efforts to replace Saul’s son, Ish-Bosheth, as the king over Israel.

The division, unwanted but ever-present, was why the strife at this small brook had such a long-term effect. It was neither hatred nor jealousy that caused the evil to erupt in this pool. It was a battle that should not have happened. On that day and in this place, good men died, some for their loyalty to one king or the other, others for loyalty to a tribe. One, not even yet a man, died for no good reason at all. His story is the one I must tell. It is strange how the death of one young man should have had such a far-reaching effect. The struggle brought the needless deaths of far too many families, but the hatreds and divisions it spawned were difficult to reconcile.

It was the will of God that David, a devout man who fervently desired peace and reconciliation, should occupy the throne over all the nation. Despite his desire for peace, David’s ascension to the throne was founded upon the blood spilled here as well as in the battle’s nasty aftermath. It is puzzling to me how strife and turmoil seems to have brought about God’s foretold plan for David—as well as that of all of us. That is something that I ponder each day. Can something good come from the evil acts of men? I think perhaps it can.

After Saul’s death, Abner, the leader of Saul’s army, took it upon himself to install Ish-Bosheth, Saul’s first son, as the new king of Israel. Ish-Bosheth was not strong enough for the task, but Abner was a hot-tempered man and intensely loyal to Saul’s throne to the exclusion of any other concern. He wanted to continue the fight against David to preserve the kingdom built by Saul. It was a losing cause. Without God’s anointing by the chief priest, no one would ever be a successful king over the entire nation. Nevertheless, Abner and others wanted Ish-Bosheth to rise and defeat David’s Kingdom of Judah, to unite all the people under one throne—the throne of Israel, not of Judah.

By the time the two army units met here, most people were relieved to realize they were witnessing the end of the bitter civil war. Ish-Bosheth was not strong enough to rule his divided kingdom. The people had watched David beat back the Philistines and thus consolidate his authority as King of Judah. Everyone wanted him as their king. But after David blunted most of the Philistine insurgencies, his continuing love of Saul’s family caused him to stop fighting against Ish-Bosheth’s forces. He specifically commanded his followers to take extra precautions to protect Ish-Bosheth or any other member of Saul’s household from harm. David was still willing to let the Children of Israel stand divided rather than create more bloodshed.

Because of the mutual reluctance of Ish-Bosheth and David to continue hostilities among the people, the nation enjoyed over seven years of restless peace among the tribes. But even peace must have clear relationships, and boundaries must be mutually understood by the two forces. One small issue was the need to determine which kingdom had rights to the water at the Pool of Gibeon. Both kingdoms agreed to construct some workable terms, and what better place to do it than to meet there? Abner and his band of Israel’s men came to represent Ish-Bosheth. To meet them, David sent Joab and a smaller force of men— including me. Abner had about three times as many men as Joab, but we had little concern about that. Abner and Joab had known each other for many years. Neither group was expecting a fight, but in a region still occasionally affected by roaming bands of Philistines willing to attack any of us, both groups were heavily armed.

The two forces camped within hailing distance of each other with the pool between them. Men of each side met and exchanged news of family and friends while the meetings began among the leaders. For most of us, it was a great opportunity to renew old ties and to forget past hurts.

For the rest of his life, Joab will always regret allowing his young brother, Asahel, to be at the meeting. Asahel was no child, of course. He was in his sixteenth year, and a stalwart lad he was. He was not old enough to be one of Joab’s soldiers, but he was learning the arts of war as young men always do. He was already viewed as one of Judah’s most promising young men. He had been present when Joab fought with the Philistines, and because he had been near the battlefield, he was already called one of David’s thirty stalwart men. Still, Asahel had not himself been personally engaged in extensive fighting, but that was of no concern on the fateful day at the pool. He had come with our group, but he was unarmed. Why should he not, if things are peaceful?

Asahel was loved in his city as few young men are. Even beyond the city walls, he was known everywhere in Judah and Israel for his prowess in athletic contests. I think he may have been the most famous runner in the entire region. He had been proclaimed by everyone as handsome and gifted. With his quick wit and ready smile, he was truly endowed with grace and beauty, blessed as so very few young people are. When Asahel ran in a race or contest, he was a joyous inspiration for the cheering throng of onlookers. When he walked in the town or through the marketplace, he caught the eye of everyone. As he passed by, young girls whispered and giggled among themselves, filled with delicious fantasies. Many mothers would have been delighted to have him cast an eye upon their daughter. If there ever was a lad full of promise, it was Asahel. A boy of God’s grace, people called him.

Most of the soldiers welcomed Asahel’s presence on that day. Young men are always welcome among confident adults. Every man knows he has an obligation to be a part of the education and maturing of the next generation, and this was a good day for such learning to take place. No danger was expected, but the preparations and precautions would be important for young men to observe. It should have been a great day for Asahel. It did not turn out to be so.

Maybe the peace talks would have been peaceful and fruitful had Abner not been there. Some other leader would have been better suited for the task. But blind loyalty to a cause often results in a man overlooking what is apparent to others, and Abner certainly was loyal to his king. He had been a part of Saul’s kingdom for many years, and I suspect he still saw David’s activity as an insurrection against the true kingdom. Abner was from the Tribe of Benjamin as