Anyone You Know?

By John N DeFoore Sr.

A collection of stories of Biblical characters, some historically accurate, some fictionalized, but all consistent with the power and wonder of the Biblical truth. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: John N DeFoore Sr.
• Release date: Oct 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224078820

John N DeFoore Sr.

John DeFoore was born in a small town in Mississippi.  He grew up surrounded by cotton fields and dense forests.  He left home at age 17 and went to work with a highway construction group.  He finished high school, started college, and entered the Army when WWII began.  He served seven years: enlisting as a private first class and being discharged as a major. He was in the infantry and saw service in New Guinea, the Netherlands East Indies, and the Philippines.  He was awarded the Bronze Star during an amphibious landing on Morotai Island.  After the war, John was ordained as a Baptist minister and graduated from Mississippi College with a Bachelor of Science degree, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Theology degree.  He did further study at New College in Edinburgh, Scotland, Princeton, Harvard, and the Jungian Institute in Zurich, Switzerland.  He served as a missionary in Alaska for 5 years, then pastored in Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas for more than 30 years.  He began his second career as a counselor and international business consultant and retired from this practice at 98 years of age. He and his wife Marion Sue live in Boerne, Texas. He is the father of four sons.  At 104 years old, John spends his days writing and reading. Since retiring, he has written more than a dozen books. 

Book preview

Part One:

Characters from the

Old Testament

Chapter One: Adam

Incredible—ludicrous—I cannot believe that we are leaving— cannot believe that I—what in the world was I—???

Ihad the whole world . Everything-everything—leaving EVERYTHING— and now???

Eve was so convincing. She was smiling and running to me and saying:

It’s not bad. It’s not bad at all. I love it. Please taste it and you will see. Come on Adam, taste it and you will see for yourself. This fruit is delicious.

I took the fruit, and it was my choice to eat. I was not forced to eat.

And I knew at that-at that-very moment—something on my insides said, Don’t do it Adam. Don’t do it, man. Stop. This is wrong (where did I get that word: :wrong?) That is a new word——wrong. I never used that word before. I don’t think I know what that word means. Oh, but I do man. I do know a new word— wrong, I wonder where that other one came from.

What was that other word—I can’t—I can’t—Oh yes, I  remember now. It was disobedience. Hmm. Yes, that was it— -Oh well, I will think about that one tomorrow.

We are leaving Eden. The Voice from the skies said that. We are to leave this beautiful place. Wrong and Disobedience that is why we are leaving.

So beautiful here. I have such an inner peace. Guess this is just a part of being alive, but it seems to have left me. I am sure it will come back though. Not to worry—.

Funny thing Eve seems to have grown suddenly silent. Never saw her this way before.

She left yesterday and stayed in the woods a long time. I asked her where she had been and she said, Nowhere. Then I asked what she was doing, and she said, Nothing.

I was worried— -what? that was a new word, also. Worried’—it seems I am learning a lot of new ones recently—worried—Hmm.

New world here. Never been like this before. This road is rough, very rough. There is no place to live—no house (another new word). I need to build something to protect us from this terrible weather. It was never like this in Eden. The sky is different here. Different, did I say that? Everything is different. Everything-everything is different. Different?????? Hmm.    

The strangest thing happened the other night. I woke up suddenly and could not even believe the dream. Went back to bed. Could not sleep. After I was awake, I found I could not escape the dream, not even for a minute. I knew I had to tell Eve.

The next day, after we had our meal I said, Eve, I need to talk with you. She agreed and then we walked over the little hill in front of this thing we call a house; sat down in the grass and I said, Eve you are going to think I am crazy, but I had this dream last night. It was very clear. Don’t know what it means but anyway, anyway, anyway—I dreamed that someday someone would come— -some great and fabulous person, and some way he would pay for what we have done and, and, and that everything would be alright. It was almost as if he would save us from what we had done.

And then, and then Eve’s face took on that rosy glow I had not seen since we left Eden, and she held my hand and whispered softly: 

Adam, Adam, I had the same dream—exactly the same dream.

Chapter Two: Cain

He never could understand why—

There was really no reason—

It was just that—

he was so cocky, so arrogant, so something— -. Of course, he was his brother.

Mom and Dad always seemed to pay more attention to him.

Whatever he did always seemed to be prettier, better, smarter in the eyes of his parents. He watched his mother and her eyes beamed whenever his brother walked into the room.

To be truthful he was just as successful as his brother They both brought gifts to their aging parents who could no longer do manual labor. But the parental response seems to be different.

Look at him. He is so arrogant. Struts when he walks, like his parents had cautioned him was not acceptable behavior.

The feeling in the heart of this man was so strange. He had never had this emotion before like—he just wanted his brother out of the way. He interfered with Cain’s life. It seemed that everything he tried to do this man was in the way.

The feeling intensified and soon his brother appeared in his dreams. He was obsessed, controlled, manipulated—He finally gave a word to the feelings he had for his brother. He called it hate.

New word. New feeling. Never had he known the feeling or the word. It was a new word, but it felt smooth on his tongue. He repeated it several times that afternoon while he was working in a pile of hay. And then—

Out of nowhere a realization burst in his brain: His brother had to be put out of the way. That was it. Somehow, he knew Abel must be removed from the world of Cain if he was ever to be happy.

Several days later, Abel came to borrow a stone axe. He stood there and  waited while Cain went to get the axe, and when he returned Abel was standing there looking at the sunset.

Without thinking Cain buried the axe in the head of his brother. Strange, he fell on the ground and did not move. Cain stared in disbelief and watched the red flow pour from his brother’s head. A new surge of feelings swept over Cain— power, control, authority, might, strength and he stood and looked at the body of his fallen brother.

Time passed. Cain was not aware of the sun’s rising and setting. Even the darkness did not matter, until out of nowhere, Cain heard a voice. It was a whirlwind and a  whisper It was a scream and a breath. But the voice was crystal clear when Cain heard the question, Cain, where is Abel?

A deluge of emotion swept over Cain, and he was buried in a cloud of confusion but in the midst—in the midst of the turmoil, Cain was determined not to be overwhelmed.

Then he answered with a shrug of his shoulders: No idea. Can’t keep up with myself. Am I the keeper of this other being?

Then, further than the depths of infinity, from the spans and heights of an unmeasured universe, and beyond time, space and being—

this unanswered question was embedded in every human heart:

Am I... am I... am I my brother’s keeper?

Chapter Three: David

He put his harp down very carefully, leaned back slowly against the stone he had chosen for his bed and put his harp away. His heart sang with the last few notes of the night hymn. He was joyful with his music, and it was a huge part of the young shepherd’s life.

As he was putting his harp away in its hiding place he suddenly stopped. Something had triggered his entire being and his body became instantly tense and rigid.

It was a sound, or maybe an odor, unmistakably, and all of a sudden, he was aware of danger to his flock. His immediate response was lion because he knew that odor all too well. He heard a rustling among the lambs which told him that something was amiss. His years with the sheep had sharpened his sense of smell and his hearing, so he was instantly alert and moving among the lambs. He had learned from his older brothers how to watch over the lambs at night. But his brothers were not there, because as they grew older, they left the lambs and slept with the older men. Gradually the task of caring for the lambs had been passed down to David, the youngest son. David was the youngest, in fact he was the youngest of eight children.

Every night David had the task of caring for the young lambs and the sheep. The many nights spent with the sheep in darkness had made him comfortable and familiar with the night, the moon and the vast space he called the heavens.

Instantly awake, he was ready to move —he was certain that the lion was there, and this meant death to the young lambs. The odor was unmistakable. All the lions had that same smell. He approached the spot where he thought the lion had hidden and it instantly jumped over the wall but not until the harp player had caught him by the tail. He pulled him back and crushed his head. David’s strength was far beyond his years. Crushing rocks and cutting boulders had made him super strong. His brothers had seen to that.

With his strong hands David crushed the jaws of the young lion who