Story Of Prophets And Kings

The story of Israel's triumphs, defeats, backslidings, captivity, and reformation abounds in great.

Best Book of the Year NPR • The Washington Post • Boston Globe • TIME • USA Today • Entertainment Weekly • Real Simple • Parade • Buzzfeed • Electric Literature • LitHub • BookRiot • PopSugar • Goop • Library Journal • BookBub • KCRW • Finalist for the National Book Award • One of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year • One of the New York Times Best Historical Fiction of the Year • Instant New York Times Bestseller A singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence. Isaiah was Samuel's and Samuel was Isaiah's. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man—a fellow slave—seeks to gain favor by preaching the master's gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel's love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation's harmony. With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr., fiercely summons the voices of slaver and enslaved alike, from Isaiah and Samuel to the calculating slave master to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries—of ancestors and future generations to come—culminates in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets fearlessly reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.

Uphilas, their bishop, when translating the Old Testament for the Goths long ago, omitted altogether the four books of Samuel and Kings lest the stories of battle should stimulate too much the fierce spirit of the barbarians. In facing the task before me now I could almost wish that it were possible to imitate Bishop Uphilas, though for a very different reason. For what is one to do with this vast mass of sacred literature, nearly thirty books, more than three-fourths of the whole Old Testament, that is covered by the story of the Prophets and Kings? How can one deal with it in a single Book of Lessons? One might perhaps tell of the kings alone, but it would be of little value leaving out their prophets. Besides, I want to make the prophets stand out in their places, each in his own environment, each under his own kings—to make the pupil acquainted with them and interested in them as men, in the hope that he may thus be more induced to acquaint himself and interest himself in some of their writings and also be more likely to understand what they had in their minds. The prophets, except Isaiah, are very little read. Groups of sermons and speeches taken out of their setting in time and place with little or no indication as to author or environment are not likely to be interesting. Now this is a very large undertaking. Covering so wide a field, lessons in detail are clearly impossible. After full consideration I have decided to treat the whole subject in bold, broad outline, omitting all but the salient features and trying to keep the personal interest by making it into a series of biographies.

In this fourth volume in The Bible for School and Home series, Smyth handles the prophets TOGETHER WITH their kings, rather than discussing the kings first followed by the prophets according to the order they appear in the Bible. He treats the whole subject in bold, broad outline, exciting interest in this era through a series of biographies.

The drama of the Old Testament comes to life as Judah's most notorious king ascends to the throne in this gripping novel from the award-winning author of Isaiah's Daughter. At eight years old, Shulle has known only life in a small village with her loving but peculiar father. When Uncle Shebna offers shelter in Jerusalem in exchange for Shulle's help tutoring King Manasseh, Judah's five-year-old co-regent who displays the same peculiarities as her father, she's eager to experience the royal court. But Shulle soon realizes the limits of her father's strict adherence to Yahweh's Law when Uncle Shebna teaches her of the starry hosts and their power. Convinced Judah must be freed from Yahweh's chains, she begins the subtle swaying of young Manasseh, using her charm and skills on the boy no one else understands. When King Hezekiah dies, twelve-year-old Manasseh is thrust onto Judah's throne, bitter at Yahweh and eager to marry the girl he adores. Assyria's crown prince favors Manasseh and twists his brilliant mind toward cruelty, beginning Shulle's long and harrowing journey to discover the Yahweh she'd never known, guided with loving wisdom by Manasseh's mother: Isaiah's daughter, the heartbroken Hephzibah. Amid Judah's dark days, a desperate remnant emerges, claiming the Lord's promise, "Though we're helpless now, we're never hopeless--because we serve El Shaddai." Shulle is among them, a girl who becomes a queen through Isaiah's legacy.

Volume 2 of the 'Conflict of the Ages' book series, 'The Story of Prophets and Kings,' covers the Biblical history of the world from King Solomon to Malachi. This key Seventh Day Adventist text explains in detail the SDA understanding of the conflict between God and Satan and their understanding of the Bible and much of world history. White wrote the series based on her research of other authors and special information which she claimed to receive through visions from God. The books thus include unique insights and concepts not found in other works of the time.

Ellen White continues her controversial interpretation of scripture when she starts to cover the kings from Solomon and ending with Malachi. Although her writings form the basis of belief in the Seventh-Day Adventists, her view of scripture was highly challenging in the day it was written and causes many people to go back and reconsider everything they have been told.