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A King David Novel (Book Five of the Davidic Chronicles) Book five of the Davidic Chronicles continues to follow David's journey to fulfill his anointing and to become king of Israel. Forced to flee to the Philistines with his mighty men and their families, David lives in constant jeopardy, knowing that a single misstep will see him and everyone he loves destroyed. Meanwhile, other forces conspire to use David for their own ends in a bid to conquer Israel and prove that the gods of the Philistines are greater than the God of Israel. Beautifully crafted with an air of ancient ambiance throughout, the Davidic Chronicles creates a masterful tapestry of woven threads that are both biblically and historically accurate. See the world as young David saw it. True to the story you know and love, these novels will delight, gratify, and enlighten readers of all ages. You will discover things you never knew but were always there in the pages of your Bible. Inside King... Ziklag burned, but there were no bodies. Everyone was gone. David, his strength spent from weeping and his tunic torn in his grief, had collapsed to his knees into the smoking ashes of his home. Only the doorposts of the house had survived. Blackened and smeared with soot, the words of the Shema could still be faintly seen where David had engraved them upon the posts. They mocked him. Had he truly obeyed the LORD his God? For if he had, would this have happened? All around him, the wails and cries of his men smote the sky, their agony and despair an enemy he could not evade, could not hide from. And his wives were gone. Everyone was gone. No one had found a single body. It was the exact opposite of what David had done in his own invasions. Instead of killing everyone, the invaders had stolen everyone. In a way, it was worse. David’s imagination ran rampant. He knew what evil men were capable of. He knew what happened to women and children taken captive. He knew. And it terrified him. His men knew too. Fear, like a hungry beast let loose among imprisoned sheep, stalked through the men, devouring their hearts, their very souls, adding to David’s own despair. For the men now spoke of stoning him. “Stand upon your feet, son of Jesse!” roared a voice David knew too well. “This evil be upon your head!” Yet David did not have the strength to stand. He looked up. The pockmarked face of Shobal quivered in terrible rage. David remembered then that even a man such as he had a wife. David had never gotten to know her, and it struck him then that Shobal might also have children, children who were now captives of a roaming band of invaders. How could he ever be king when he could not even protect his own?
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 30, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 14, 2021
From Gath to Hebron via Ziklag
David, pursued on all sides, betrayed by some, beset by hunger and thirst, with no end in sight to Saul's predations, decides it is a good idea to return to Gath and offer himself and his men as mercenaries to the King of Gath, Achish, in Philistia. Initially, they're given a small section of Gath to live in...which displaces Philistine families, who already hate Hebrews for their losses in war. Anger reaches the boiling point. David is basically a hostage in King Achish's palace
When his men report an incident, Dabid confronts Achish, who says the Hebrews have been there 4 months and he has nothing to show for it. They had agreed to a 50/50 split of plunder, but David makes an offer: He will attack the Hebrew city of Bethshan and sack it, and bring all of the plunder to Achish, 100%. Achish agrees. David has, however, picked Bethshan for a reason - syncretistic worship and intermarriage with unconverted Canaanites means most of the Hebrews are mixed Hebrew and Canaanite blood, and they almost all worship Molech, Baal, Ashteroth, and other pagan gods, and throw the Hebrew God into the mix. Since Moleech requires human sacrifice, much as Dagon, the main Philistine god, does, David decides how to go about it. He explains to his men what he wants to do and why - sack the pagan temples; if necessary, kill the priests who are mostly Canaanite anyway; plunder the 4 pagan temples (where most of the wealth will be anyway); escape by a different route. They sneak close into the city so that just as dawn is breaking, they'll have shot arrows to disable the guards, go over the walls on makeshift ladders, plunder the temples, avoid killing anyone unless absolutely necessary, & book it back to Gath by a different route. They succeed, & make a big show of how much loot they've gotten. Achish is pleased, but realizes that David wants something in return. David asks him for a nearby place to settle so that they don't cause any more strife in the city. Achish agrees to give them the ruins of Ziklag, not far from Gath, where shepherds sometimes hole up in the more intact ruins - 2 days later, they're on Ziklag, which is a real fixer-upper of a town. They chase the shepherds out and set about making it habitable. Anything, they've all decided, is better than Gath.
Meanwhile, David has to convince Achish that he is sacking Hebrew towns when, in fact, he is rading the other enemies of Israel. He gathers the plunder, finds a Hebrew town, trades the under for Hebrew goods, and splits those with Achish. Achish is content, believing David is now hated in Israel and can be trusted.
Saul's obsession with finding and ending David so that Jonathan can succeed him as king is now well known. Saul has dragged the army pillar to post huntong David, evennwhen he should have been elsewhere, fighting the Lord's battles. As a result, at one point, when David had been driven to southern Judah, he jad to defend Keilah from Philistine raiders. Another time, even though Jonathan warns Saul there are signs and rumors of a Philistine invasion force headed to his hometown of Gibeah, he had just found out David's location. Instead of assessing the threat from Philistia, he heads after David, only to have to turn back neaely immediately because the Philistine army is indeed invading. He immediately went back after David, repeatedly, and even whennhe stopped, Saul was still only worried about David's whereabouts & succession once he is gone.
Jonathan has been inquiring of the Lord on behalf of his father and Israel, getting answers pertaining mostly to him, but somce he is at Saul's right hand in battle, it works out.
The time comes when, knowing that Saul is primarily looking for David in the south of Judah (despite promising twice to leave off), and the 5 kings of the city-states of Philistia gather their forces to raid the north part of Israel, the Jezreel Valley. David wants to come along, and Achish lets him. While the Bible.says nothing about David's reasoning in wanting to go, the fact is that he has consistently refused to harm Saul as the Lord's anointed, ergo, the author makes the assumption that David was acting as a 5th column - a reasonable assessment. But wjen the other kings see him there, they demand Achish send him away. It is a good thing, and the Lord's hand is in it, because the Amelakites have attacked Ziklag and taken the women and children hostage. During their time in Philistia, the Lord has remained silent to all entreaties for guidance. David nevertheless needs guidance to recover the kidnap victims before they're harmed, so he asks the priest to inquire of the Lord, and repents of fleeing to Philistia without seeking God first. The Word of the Lord tells him that he will recover all. A forced march pver rocky, thorny ground, after having gone all the way to Northern Israel, being sent back, and finding Ziklag burning with everyone and everything gone, they are exhausted. Davis now plans something: he has sent gifts to the elders of Judah, asking to come home, but whether or not the answer is favorable, David doesn't plan on staying in Philistia a momemt longer than he has to. In a daring raid, the Amelakite population is significantly reduced and all the people, their possessions, plus plunder from their enemies, makes them invincible becaisenthe Spirit of the Lord falls on all the fighters.
As they're making for home, the learn of the deaths of Saul and his 3 sons, and the disposition of their bodies, which they later learn was remedied by grateful men from Jabesh Gilead, whom Saul had rescued early in his reign. Just as they're ready for their departure, a small army comes to take David to Achish; the Philistines won and see no need for David or his men. The contingent sent to arrest Davidbis soundly defeated, and they leave for Hebron, heading hime at last, knowing David is now king.
This is the final book of 5 books detailing, via historical fiction, the life of David from his anointing to his finally being crowned King at Hebron.
David, pursued on all sides, betrayed by some, beset by hunger and thirst, with no end in sight to Saul's predations, decides it is a good idea to return to Gath and offer himself and his men as mercenaries to the King of Gath, Achish, in Philistia. Initially, they're given a small section of Gath to live in...which displaces Philistine families, who already hate Hebrews for their losses in war. Anger reaches the boiling point. David is basically a hostage in King Achish's palace
When his men report an incident, Dabid confronts Achish, who says the Hebrews have been there 4 months and he has nothing to show for it. They had agreed to a 50/50 split of plunder, but David makes an offer: He will attack the Hebrew city of Bethshan and sack it, and bring all of the plunder to Achish, 100%. Achish agrees. David has, however, picked Bethshan for a reason - syncretistic worship and intermarriage with unconverted Canaanites means most of the Hebrews are mixed Hebrew and Canaanite blood, and they almost all worship Molech, Baal, Ashteroth, and other pagan gods, and throw the Hebrew God into the mix. Since Moleech requires human sacrifice, much as Dagon, the main Philistine god, does, David decides how to go about it. He explains to his men what he wants to do and why - sack the pagan temples; if necessary, kill the priests who are mostly Canaanite anyway; plunder the 4 pagan temples (where most of the wealth will be anyway); escape by a different route. They sneak close into the city so that just as dawn is breaking, they'll have shot arrows to disable the guards, go over the walls on makeshift ladders, plunder the temples, avoid killing anyone unless absolutely necessary, & book it back to Gath by a different route. They succeed, & make a big show of how much loot they've gotten. Achish is pleased, but realizes that David wants something in return. David asks him for a nearby place to settle so that they don't cause any more strife in the city. Achish agrees to give them the ruins of Ziklag, not far from Gath, where shepherds sometimes hole up in the more intact ruins - 2 days later, they're on Ziklag, which is a real fixer-upper of a town. They chase the shepherds out and set about making it habitable. Anything, they've all decided, is better than Gath.
Meanwhile, David has to convince Achish that he is sacking Hebrew towns when, in fact, he is rading the other enemies of Israel. He gathers the plunder, finds a Hebrew town, trades the under for Hebrew goods, and splits those with Achish. Achish is content, believing David is now hated in Israel and can be trusted.
Saul's obsession with finding and ending David so that Jonathan can succeed him as king is now well known. Saul has dragged the army pillar to post huntong David, evennwhen he should have been elsewhere, fighting the Lord's battles. As a result, at one point, when David had been driven to southern Judah, he jad to defend Keilah from Philistine raiders. Another time, even though Jonathan warns Saul there are signs and rumors of a Philistine invasion force headed to his hometown of Gibeah, he had just found out David's location. Instead of assessing the threat from Philistia, he heads after David, only to have to turn back neaely immediately because the Philistine army is indeed invading. He immediately went back after David, repeatedly, and even whennhe stopped, Saul was still only worried about David's whereabouts & succession once he is gone.
Jonathan has been inquiring of the Lord on behalf of his father and Israel, getting answers pertaining mostly to him, but somce he is at Saul's right hand in battle, it works out.
The time comes when, knowing that Saul is primarily looking for David in the south of Judah (despite promising twice to leave off), and the 5 kings of the city-states of Philistia gather their forces to raid the north part of Israel, the Jezreel Valley. David wants to come along, and Achish lets him. While the Bible.says nothing about David's reasoning in wanting to go, the fact is that he has consistently refused to harm Saul as the Lord's anointed, ergo, the author makes the assumption that David was acting as a 5th column - a reasonable assessment. But wjen the other kings see him there, they demand Achish send him away. It is a good thing, and the Lord's hand is in it, because the Amelakites have attacked Ziklag and taken the women and children hostage. During their time in Philistia, the Lord has remained silent to all entreaties for guidance. David nevertheless needs guidance to recover the kidnap victims before they're harmed, so he asks the priest to inquire of the Lord, and repents of fleeing to Philistia without seeking God first. The Word of the Lord tells him that he will recover all. A forced march pver rocky, thorny ground, after having gone all the way to Northern Israel, being sent back, and finding Ziklag burning with everyone and everything gone, they are exhausted. Davis now plans something: he has sent gifts to the elders of Judah, asking to come home, but whether or not the answer is favorable, David doesn't plan on staying in Philistia a momemt longer than he has to. In a daring raid, the Amelakite population is significantly reduced and all the people, their possessions, plus plunder from their enemies, makes them invincible becaisenthe Spirit of the Lord falls on all the fighters.
As they're making for home, the learn of the deaths of Saul and his 3 sons, and the disposition of their bodies, which they later learn was remedied by grateful men from Jabesh Gilead, whom Saul had rescued early in his reign. Just as they're ready for their departure, a small army comes to take David to Achish; the Philistines won and see no need for David or his men. The contingent sent to arrest Davidbis soundly defeated, and they leave for Hebron, heading hime at last, knowing David is now king.
This is the final book of 5 books detailing, via historical fiction, the life of David from his anointing to his finally being crowned King at Hebron.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2023
excellent book
Read the five books in order, it will be worth it, they mirror the Book of 1 Samuel in the Bible and you will learn much about David
Read the five books in order, it will be worth it, they mirror the Book of 1 Samuel in the Bible and you will learn much about David
September 19, 2021
The best series on the first half of King David’s life
The best historical fiction series on the first half of King David’s life that I’ve ever read - I felt that the author kept true to the Biblical account- my hope and prayer is that Greg Baker will continue and make another series on the second half of King David’s life.
Awesome series - I’m bummed that I finished the last book the other day - a series like this is hard to find in this day and age - good stuff 🤙🏻
The best historical fiction series on the first half of King David’s life that I’ve ever read - I felt that the author kept true to the Biblical account- my hope and prayer is that Greg Baker will continue and make another series on the second half of King David’s life.
Awesome series - I’m bummed that I finished the last book the other day - a series like this is hard to find in this day and age - good stuff 🤙🏻
June 7, 2021
Most wonderful set of books.
After thoroughly enjoying the first and second books in this series I immediately bought the rest of the set. What an inspired writer Mr Baker is. He really brought David to life yet sticking with the scriptures. I hope he is led to take on more of the Bible Characters.
After thoroughly enjoying the first and second books in this series I immediately bought the rest of the set. What an inspired writer Mr Baker is. He really brought David to life yet sticking with the scriptures. I hope he is led to take on more of the Bible Characters.
May 8, 2022
I pray there's more!
I would absolutely love to see Greg Baker continue in the Biblical fiction and bring so may other noteworthy biblical characters to life. What away to whet the appetite to dig into scripture and I followed along with 1 Samuel as read this wonderful series.
I would absolutely love to see Greg Baker continue in the Biblical fiction and bring so may other noteworthy biblical characters to life. What away to whet the appetite to dig into scripture and I followed along with 1 Samuel as read this wonderful series.
October 6, 2020
Excellent Read
The culmination of the Davidic Chronicles did not disappoint! David's journey ends as he becomes King of Israel, as ordained. His travels were many and his trials were often harrowing. The end result, however, made it all worthwhile.
The culmination of the Davidic Chronicles did not disappoint! David's journey ends as he becomes King of Israel, as ordained. His travels were many and his trials were often harrowing. The end result, however, made it all worthwhile.
December 5, 2020
Final Novel!
Unfortunately the series has come to an end. 1 Samuel has always been my favorite book of the Bible. I’ve read it many times over and was overjoyed to read it in this format.
Unfortunately the series has come to an end. 1 Samuel has always been my favorite book of the Bible. I’ve read it many times over and was overjoyed to read it in this format.
December 20, 2020
Outstanding Series
I absolutely loved this series. I truly felt I was taken back in time to walk with David through these early years of his.life. I am amazed at how well this was done and yet keeping to the Scriptures. Well done!
I absolutely loved this series. I truly felt I was taken back in time to walk with David through these early years of his.life. I am amazed at how well this was done and yet keeping to the Scriptures. Well done!
May 29, 2021
I very much enjoyed the series. My only complaint is that it ended right after he became king. There are still decades of story left !
I wish he would go back and finish it
I wish he would go back and finish it
October 17, 2021
Great Book
Book five in Greg Baker series on King David is just as good as the past four. You will not be disappointed in your purchase of the book s.
Book five in Greg Baker series on King David is just as good as the past four. You will not be disappointed in your purchase of the book s.
July 31, 2023
I just finished all five books.
I like reading on the story of David and the History of Israel.
I find the series to be improving as you approach book #5.
Generally speaking it was engaging and the angle of glorifying God in it is very good (unlike other cases where people try to eclipse the supernatural side of God's interventions in the timeline).
The development of the characters though is a bit simplistic (for my perception & taste anyways), so I think that the series would be good for teenagers maybe, or young adults.
Thank you Greg for all the effort you put into this and the heart behind it.
God bless you richly.
I like reading on the story of David and the History of Israel.
I find the series to be improving as you approach book #5.
Generally speaking it was engaging and the angle of glorifying God in it is very good (unlike other cases where people try to eclipse the supernatural side of God's interventions in the timeline).
The development of the characters though is a bit simplistic (for my perception & taste anyways), so I think that the series would be good for teenagers maybe, or young adults.
Thank you Greg for all the effort you put into this and the heart behind it.
God bless you richly.
June 25, 2023
This series is eye-opening for sure. Gives the scriptures a depth of understanding along with the reality of David’s life and what he went through. Reading it in the Bible is more factual like a history book. Reading this series puts it into real life. Now more than ever I want a heart like his that doesn’t waver in his love and pursuit of God.
February 7, 2023
King David
I love reading these books. They bring the Bible alive. They make the Bible stories more readable and understandable with the background that is not found in the Bible. I realize it is maybe not the way it happened but makes it most interesting.
I love reading these books. They bring the Bible alive. They make the Bible stories more readable and understandable with the background that is not found in the Bible. I realize it is maybe not the way it happened but makes it most interesting.
April 3, 2023
Fantastic ending to the series.
December 6, 2025
Awesome series
This series or chronicles are well worth the read. Chronicling the history of David from youth to kingship in the end.
This series or chronicles are well worth the read. Chronicling the history of David from youth to kingship in the end.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews