I sometimes read and enjoy well-written thriller stories, but have to admit some of the best stories are in the Bible. They contain everything, danger, plots, counter plots, romance and Godly twists Things don’t always turn out well but they always play out according to God’s plans.
One of the most thrilling stories is in 1 Samuel 30. The enemy on this occasion were the Amalekites This ruthless army had burnt to the ground the town of Ziklag. While the men were fighting with David’s army, they had captured women, sons and daughter as well as the cattle. By the time David arrived on the scene it was a smoldering ruin. David had a vested interest because two of his wives, Ahinoam and Abigail had also been captured.
Then comes the pivot of the whole story. David asked God what he should do. God’s instructions were to chase after the marauders. In this fast moving story David with 600 men set off to recapture people and goods. The pace was so rapid that 200 of the men were too exhausted to continue and remained by a brook to recover. In the next twist the avenging party met up with an Egyptian slave who had been abandoned when he had become ill. This abandonment was a great mistake on the part of the Amalekites. After having been fed and revived the slave told David where the Amalekites had gone.
The pursuers caught up with the enemy, overcame them and returned with all the captives and spoil. Then came another twist in the story. David gave the 200 exhausted warriors the same share of the spoil as the 600 which didn’t go down too well. This is only one of the many stories in the Bible which all point to the sovereignty of God.