Sons of Encouragement: The Warrior

The story of the The Warrior, is Francine Rivers' interpretation of the life of Caleb.  Caleb was the son of Jephunneh, who was a descendant of Esau.  Caleb's ancestors made an alliance with the tribe of Judah and at some point married daughter's of Judah making Caleb half Edomite, half Hebrew.

The book begins during the plagues of Egypt and follows Caleb and his family through the Exodus, the wanderings in the Sinai wilderness, the conquering and settling of Canaan..  Caleb stands behind Joshua through thick and thin and is often the solitary voice counseling Israel to follow the commands of God.

Rivers' does an incredible job of showing the growth of Caleb's character.  The changes that Caleb experiences throughout life, and especially at the end of his life show a remarkable persistence for loving God and his commands with his whole heart.

Again, this is definitely a book that I would recommend to friends.  I love the way she writes and incorporates Scripture throughout the story.  She has a wonderful talent for weaving scriptural truths with fictional writing that makes a story complete.

On a completely different note, since my sister and brother-in-law are visiting from AZ and they brought Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, I will be taking a break from Sons of Encouragement to read that book before they head home.

Sons of Encouragement: The Priest

Francine Rivers' book The Priest in the Sons of Encouragement series tells the story of the Exodus of Israel and the wanderings in the wilderness from the perspective if Aaron.  It is a very unique perspective.  Rivers explores Aaron's resentment towards Moses while growing up on opposite sides of the "railroad tracks" for lack of a better phrase.  Aaron the slave, and Moses the Prince of Egypt.  She goes on to explore the attitudes of Aaron, Miriam, and the other Hebrews when Moses leaves the palace of Pharaoh to live and work alongside them and then further explores Aaron's frustrations, anger, and bitterness aimed at the Hebrew people who complained and whined while in the wilderness all the while forgetting all of the blessings that Yahweh had given them.  Ultimately, Rivers explores the resentment and then acceptance of not being allowed into the Promised Land for his part in the rebellion against God's laws.

So far, this series is off to a great start!  I can't wait to continue reading about some of the lesser known Biblical Heroes.  The Heroes who often go unnoticed because they were behind the "Great" men of the Bible.

This is definitely a must read, one I will read again and again.  I LOVE how Rivers accurately depicts scripture in a way that makes it come alive.  This story, although only the first of the five in the book, definitely gets 5 hearts from me.

New Blog

Since I was spending so much time on my personal blog putting ratings on the books I was/am reading, I decided to try this out... This way, I'll only really be updating every time I finish reading a book.  We'll see how it goes.

Here's what I'm reading right now:

Sons of Encouragement ~ Francine Rivers

There are five different books in this book, so I plan to review each individual book as I finish them.

Hope you enjoy.