Exile of the Chosen: God's Heroes from Solomon to Malachi

War of the Ages ##2

by Sally Pierson Dillon

Mark, the celestial watcher, is quivering with excitement clear to his wing tips as he records the stories of children who live through the most thrilling moments of Old Testament history. Such as Jedediah, a friend of the son of Ahab, who sees Elijah call down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel. Or Zillah, daughter of Jedediah, who is captured and becomes a household slave by Naaman of Syria, a leper. Next we meet Miriam, Zillah's niece, who wonders about the mystery child that Aunt Zillah, now back in her own land, keeps hidden away in the Temple. Then there is Daud, the dock thief who steals the belongings of the prophet Joriah, only to meet up with a horribly sick sea monster. In his terror Daud promises the God of Israel that if his life is spared, he will do whatever God wants. Prophets and kings and scheming scoundrels come alive in vivid technicolor.

Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jordyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was even better than the last one!

[Evelynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so this book was better than the last one. Definitely better. But four stars for the writing.

Also, it excluded the story of Daniel and the lions' den. I was disappointed, to say the least. I mean, the author wrote out the events that sorta led up to Daniel and the lions' den (God's hand writing on the wall during Belshazzar's party and when Cyrus took over immediately after). She even talked about when Cyrus made his uncle Darius king over Babylon. But still not the slightest mention about he amazing story afterwards. Not even a little sentence in parentheses, or even a footnote! Zilch! Nada! Zip! C'mon! That's one of the biggest stories in the Bible, one of the ones we grow up with!

So what kept me from giving this book 3 or 3.5 stars? The retelling of the story of Jonah. I don't know why I liked it so much, but it was very interesting the way the author put a new perspective on the age-old story of Jonah, the whale (well, according to the Bible, it wasn't necessarily a whale, but a "big fish"), and the salvation of Ninevah. Unfortunately, it was the shortest story/chapter in the book, but it kept my attention and didn't leave me wanting when it ended.

I think that's about it. I really enjoyed it, but it would have been more enjoyable had the story of Daniel and the lions' den had been in it.

[Lana Kapiniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly excellent series of the Bible stories for kids (I personally enjoyed it too). Loved how the author made it compelling and realistic. We've tried quite a few different Bible story books. These series are by FAR the BEST!