Story Description:
Baker Publishing Group | May 1, 2005 | Trade Paperback
| ISBN 978-0-7642-2990-9
As King Hezekiah embraces God’s Law, he leads his
country into renewed prosperity. But
following the will of Yahweh is a perplexing process, requiring unpopular
choices – for both his personal life and political career. Now his archenemy’s demands for tribute are
forcing Hezekiah into a precarious situation.
Jerusha, a young Jewish woman far from home, has seen
firsthand what the dreaded invaders are capable of doing. As the powerful Assyrian army sweeps through
the northern provinces, leaving little but devastation in its wake, Jerusha
longs to escape. Her desperate will to
live could become a link to Jerusalem’s survival.
With Assyria on the march, moving closer to the heart
of Judah, Hezekiah’s decision to follow the everlasting One is about to face
the ultimate test.
My Review:
King Hezekiah is the son of the now deceased King Ahaz
who worshipped the idol Molech and offered his own sons as a sacrifice pushing
them into his fiery mouth to their deaths.
Thankfully, Hezekiah had his grandfather Zechariah who taught him that
the One and only God was Yahweh. Yahweh
means “the Lord”.
King Hezekiah ruled Judah from 716 to 687 BC and was
only twenty-five-years-old when he became King.
“After King Solomon’s death in 931 BC, the Promised Land split into two
separate kingdoms. Israel, the larger
nation to the north, set up its capital in Samaria and was no longer governed
by a descendant of King David. In the
southern nation of Judah, David’s royal line continued to rule from Jerusalem.”
As the book opens King Hezekiah had walked down the
hill from his palace to the Valley of Hinnom, and followed the path he had
taken the night he was torn from his bed as a child to become a sacrifice to
Molech. It was hard for him to
understand now how anyone could have worshipped the brass idol much less
sacrifice their own child to it. That horrible
night his brothers had been sacrificed instead of him. He remembered his brothers Eliab and Amariah
as he watched the workers destroying it and remembered how his brothers had
burned alive. Although now toppled over,
King Hezekiah knew there were still people who would choose to ignore the truth
about Yahweh and continue to make sacrifices to Molech, only in secret. He instructed Jonadab, his captain of the
palace guards to warn his guards at the Valley Gate to watch the place after
dark when people were most likely to sacrifice their children under the cover
of darkness. He wanted the idol
“…smashed into pieces, melted down and weapons forged from it – swords, spears,
arrowheads, and shields – then fill his armory with them” as he knew someday he
would once again have an army and wanted Jonadab to lead them. He promoted him to “General” Jonadab.
King Hezekiah’s intentions were to turn his people
back to Yahweh and away from all other idols.
He enlisted the help of his grandfather, Zechariah, to teach him how to
pray, how to believe, how to love and how to trust totally in body, mind, and
soul in Yahweh. He wanted the people of
Judah to experience all Yahweh’s promises and commands.
His other intention was to stop paying exorbitant
taxes to the Assyrians who were a ruthless and morbidly violent army of
men. Under his father’s reign he had
entered into an agreement of protection from the Assyrians but it was literally
bankrupting Judah. Unsure of his
decision to withhold the tribute to Assyria, he asked Zechariah if he was
making the right decision for the right reasons. Zechariah told King Hezekiah that trusting
God was never a mistake. God commands
you not be afraid, so to be fearful is to doubt God, and that is a sin. Yahweh never promises that life will be
without problems but you are to meditate and pray on what He has promised and
to allow that to be your strength.
Jerusha, is a young Jewish woman who lives with her
mother, Hodesh; father, Jerimoth; and younger sister, Maacah. They are a poor family living on a small
farm. One horrible day the Assyrian’s
storm through their community killing and maiming people in their wake. The evil Iddina grabbed Jerusha and spirited
her away on his horse and she was terrified at having been taken captive by
these barbaric people. Six days after
the raid they reached their camp in the far north. Jerusha was pushed in front of all the other
men by Iddina who was proudly displaying her as his “trophy”. These men seemed more animal than human and
Jerusha was forced to become their prostitute.
She was raped over and over by many men and forced to cook for
them. She belonged to all of the men
now. Everything in Jerusha’s new world
was oppressive and evil. She watched as
the men returned to camp with other captives whom they tortured. She listened to the cries of human pain for
death was a sport for the Assyrian’s. It
was a way of life for them and their god.
Her life became an unrelenting grind of slavery, preparing meals, and
being used, abused, and raped by Iddina and his fellow officers at night.
Now the Assyrian’s are on the march again and King
Hezekiah is rallying to fortify the walls of his city and rerouting his water
supply but knows the Assyrian’s NEVER lose.
Will his faith in Yahweh save his nation? Will Jerusha ever escape or become one of the
many slowly tortured until her death?
I couldn’t put this book down and read it in one
sitting. I was completely entranced by
this story and will be keeping it as part of my permanent collection. I’m really looking forward to reading Book #3
‘The Strength of His Hand.’ Pick this
one up, you won’t be disappointed.
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