Unveiling the Kings of Israel

David Down’s new book released by New Leaf publishing is an archeological journey through the holy land in which we get a glimpse of biblical life excavated from the mounds of sand and time.   The main premise is that far from being a book of myths, the Bible is an amazing historical record, and each year, more archaeological discoveries continue to prove its validity and significance.

There were a lot of things that I learned from book like how Abraham most likely brought advanced mathematics from Ur to Egypt, which is why he schmoozed with pharaoh, how much water a camel drinks and how hard it would have been for Rebekah to water 10 of them for Isaac’s servant, or even how there is huge amount of written history from other cultures like the Sumerians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans that correlate with Biblical history (including many of the miracles.)

And as much as I learned, the academic in me was disappointed by a couple of issues that I noticed in the book: 

First David Down frequently refers to his altered timeline that goes against the currently accepted one for the Egyptian empire.  He says it’s about two hundred years different, but there is not much in terms of actual or estimated dates, like 1600 B.C.  So unless you are deeply familiar with the Egyptian Empire and the dates of all the pharaohs he references; it’s hard to get a sense of when these events are taking place.

Second, the section on the last king of Israel is pretty sparse when it comes to any references to archeological or historical evidence.  And there is a lot he could have referred to, but instead he just recounts the story.

I definitely recommend Unveiling the Kings of Israel if you’re into this sort of thing.

You can buy the book here for $19.79

I received this book free from the publisher in return for my honest opinion.

Featured Non-Profit

This December with every post till Christmas, I'm featuring a non-profit worthy of support.  You can see a complete list here.

Today’s Non-profit is the Joshua Fund

Since this post reviews a book on the Holy Land, I thought a non-profit that focuses specifically on the Holy Land would be appropriate.  The Joshua Fund was founded by Joel Rosenberg to be a blessing to Israel and the surrounding nations.  They help the poor in the area, as well as sharing the Gospel with Jews and Muslims alike.  They work almost exclusivity with local pastors, who in many cases are part of the persecuted church, especially in the Muslim nations.

You can read more about supporting the Joshua Fund here.