Everyone knows the story of David. No one has heard it told this way before. Everyone also knows about Goliath. But how many know the story of the five other giants who were hunting David? Yes, this is actually in the Bible. And now it’s in this novel of the most famous giant-killer in history.
Character Images created by Cam Harless and Brian Godawa.
© Copyright 2023 Warrior Poet Publishing.
David
Son of Jesse from Bethlehem. David is impetuous, emotional and rash. But his passion also carries a heart for God and a desire for justice. He is a man of contradictions. He is passionate in his devotion to Yahweh but also easily led by his flesh. As the least of Jesse’s sons, he is haunted by his own sense of insignificance. Yet when he discovers his identity as God’s Chosen One to be the next king of Israel, he attempts to achieve both greatness and goodness, only to discover that the great are rarely the good and the good are rarely the great.
King Saul
The first king of Israel. Saul is rejected by God, goes mad with despair, and seeks out an Ob or necromancer to hear from the dead spirit of the mightiest king who walked the face of the earth. The only problem is that dead king has plans of his own, and the first of them is to possess King Saul.
Michal
Michal is David’s first wife, the daughter of Saul. They find a beautiful harmony in their passion for music. Unfortunately, King Saul causes tragic separation between them in order to keep David out of the family line of royalty. Their star-crossed love will never be the same.
Ahinoam
David’s second wife who becomes a competitor for David’s affections when Michal is not there. David never told them about each other and kept them separate. So when the wives discover they are victims of their husband’s selfish polygamy, they conspire to teach David an amusing lesson. What they don’t realize is they are only the first among many more in the future.
Abigail
David’s third wife. Married, she suffers abuse at the hands of her disgusting gluttonous husband Nabal. David is about to kill all the men in his household, until Abigail intervenes. You’ll cheer when you see how she escapes the clutches of Nabal and is empowered to find new love.
Jonathan
The son of Saul and heir to the throne of Israel. He quickly learns that David is anointed by Samuel for that honor. Jonathan responds with faith, sets aside his own ambition, and becomes David’s mentor and confidante. But is this faith genuine or is it a pretense for something else?
Samuel the Seer
The prophet judge of Israel. Samuel is old and grumpy with the deplorable behaviors of Israel and her king. He curses King Saul for his disobedience to God and anoints David as his successor. But Samuel also represents the old ways of God’s judges who are being replaced now by kings, starting with Saul. Samuel no longer fits in this world of flesh and longs to leave it. But God still has one more task for the old seer to do.
Benaiah
Captain of the bodyguard of David. Benaiah has a dark secret past as an outlaw in the Negeb desert, betrayed by love. He is the most loyal of men to David. But Benaiah is also one of the few who will challenge his king to be accountable for his questionable choices to his God. This gets Benaiah in trouble with those whose loyalty is more to David than to God.
Nathan the Prophet
One of the young students at Samuel’s School of Prophets. He survives the murderous attack of some giants upon his school, only to find his way to David as one of his most trusted truthtellers. The problem is, David is not going to like the truth he is going to be told from this man of God.
Lord Achish & Lady Bisha of Gath
The rulers of the Philistine city of Gath. Achish is a manipulative leader of the armed forces of the Philistines. He wants to destroy King Saul and rule Canaan. Which is why he willingly takes David, Saul’s arch enemy, into his protection, hoping to learn about Saul’s plans. Too bad David has plans of his own that do not include the good of Gath. Lady Bisha is a sex addict who seeks to bed David when he is in Gath and will turn wickedly malicious when rebuffed by the Israelite of God.
King Agag
An Amalekite giant king, cannibal and half-mad with the laugh of a hyena. King Saul had spared this man out of morbid curiosity after Yahweh had told him to slaughter all the Amalekites. So Agag became a curse to Israel, until Samuel the prophet cuts off this cancerous evil.
The Ob of Endor
A necromancer who raises Samuel the Seer from Hades to consult with King Saul. But she also raises someone else from that infernal land of the dead, a mighty king from the primeval ages, one that may not be done with his plan of world conquest.
Ittai the Gittite and Ummi
Ittai is a childhood friend of Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. Ittai has Nephilim blood, but he is not a giant in height. He is rejected by Lahmi and the Sons of Rapha. He suffers in despair of his cursed identity — until he hears about the messiah king of Israel and the hope of redemption. Because of his tortured soul, he struggles with his love for the beautiful Ummi of Gath, a woman who refuses to walk away from this man of goodness, loyalty, and faith.
Abishai and Joab
These are a pair of brothers that do everything together, from fighting to visiting prostitutes. But they also compete in everything. They become among the highest of the leaders of David’s Gibborim or Mighty Men. But they are haunted by their own secret of betrayal that drives them on for greater loyalty from guilt. They are the most dangerous of David’s men because they do not question their leader, they simply destroy all opposition to him.
David’s Mighty Men
Called “Gibborim” or Mighty Men, these four hundred anointed warriors of Israel defended David against his enemies, killing the five Sons of Rapha giants who hunted David. These three were his chiefs over their forces: Jashobeam, who killed 300 men at one time with a spear, Eleazar and Shammah who held ground against entire battalions of Philistines.
Lion Men of Moab
Also called “Ariels,” these special warriors will become both a blessing and a curse to David, as they fight Rephaim with the rightful king of Israel. But not all are loyal. Some even have nefarious plans of regicide. Depicted above is Ezer the Chief of the Lion Men of Moab.
Goliath
The Rephaim giant of infamy. The Champion of Philistia and scourge of Israel. We all know the story of his fatal confrontation with little David of Israel. But what some may not know is that Goliath was not alone. He had a brother and four other giants of a warrior cult who are now hunting King David for revenge: The Sons of Rapha.
Sons of Rapha
The Yalid ha Rapha, or Sons of Rapha is an elite warrior cult of giants created by Goliath at the behest of the gods. Their purpose is to hunt down the messiah king of Israel and kill him to crush the Seed of Abraham.
No surprise what happens to Goliath. But his brother Lahmi seeks revenge on David and will not stop until he slaughters all of David’s family — every last one of them.
Ishbi ben Ob is the son of an Ob, a necromancer who talks to the dead.
Argaz, is a 15 foot Rephaim giant who was burned beyond human recognition when he was younger, who is now a secret hidden weapon.
Runihura is an Egyptian giant who is a master of the javelin, and
Saph is an expert swordsman with the scimitar, the chosen signature blade of the Sons of Rapha.They are all Rephaim giants and they will not stop until David is assassinated.
Dagon
Chief god of the Philistines. He is the god of storm and grain. Because the Philistines are the strongest enemy of Israel, he remains the big boss of the territory. Too bad he is unaware of the plans of Ba’alzebul and Asherah. Will he discover them before it is too late? Or will he achieve his plan of capturing the source of victory and power of the Israelites, the ark of the covenant?
Asherah
Lady Asherah of the Sea. The goddess of Tyre. When she rescues Ba’al from the sea and nurtures him back to health, the two of them conspire together to take back the land of Canaan from Dagon, chief god of the Philistines. She even has an ally in Michal, daughter of King Saul, and first wife of King David.
Ba’al/Ba’alzebul
God of Storm. Freed from bondage under the earth through a volcanic explosion, Ba’al is back. But this time, he is burned beyond recognition, until he is nurtured back to health by Asherah. He has since lost control of Canaan to Dagon, and is given a new name, Ba’alzebul, which means Ba’al is Prince – under the kingship of Dagon. Unfortunately, for Dagon, Ba’alzebul is regaining his former strength, and he has plans to take back his reign as Ba’al Most High of the pantheon of Canaanite gods. He is going to do it with the help of his consort in crime, Asherah.
Resheph and Qeteb
Resheph is the god of plague whose arrows are his curses. Qeteb is Resheph’s companion deity of destruction, a god of pestilence. Together, these two can decimate entire populations. And they have their eyes squarely on Israel.
Molech
God of the underworld. Molech loves little children, dead or alive, for his evil twisted lusts. He creates a place of child sacrifice right in the Valley of Hinnom outside the walls of Jerusalem that will haunt the nation of Israel for generations to come. And he is helping Ba’alzebul and Asherah in their nefarious plans to take over.
The Archangels
They’re back. They’re always back, ready to protect God’s people. This time, the archangels have an ambush planned for the Valley of the Rephaim. But they don’t realize that the gods have an ambush plan of their own, focused on Mikael.