Return to Me - The Restoration Chronicles Book 1
By Lynn Austin
The Israelites have lived in captivity for many years. Just as the prophets foretold, when the
people turned their back on God and began to worship other gods, their homeland
was destroyed and the people were enslaved to their conquerors. Iddo was carried off to Babylon as a boy with
the last remnant of the Israelites who had remained in Jerusalem. He is of the Levite line, and is burdened to
see his people return to the Lord even while in captivity. When the unthinkable happens and King Cyrus declares
that the Israelites may return home and begin rebuilding the temple of God,
Iddo is overjoyed. But will the
obstacles that come before Iddo tear his family apart and will the people of
God continue in their sin despite the promise of restoration God has set before
them?
I have been waiting for Lynn Austin to write another book
of Biblically based fiction!! Her first
series “Chronicles of the Kings” has long been my favorite series of Bible fiction
ever. I fell in love with King Hezekiah’s
story through those books. Now I have a
whole new set of characters to love. I
couldn’t help but pull my Bible out and try to “read ahead” to see the end of
the story of the remnant that returned to rebuild Jerusalem. When I read the Biblical account I found that
so much of what I read the character’s saying in the book was pulled right out
of Scripture. This book is so well done. Though the character’s lives are
fictionalized, they become so real in the pages of Scripture when we realize
that they struggled with the same things that plague us even now. It is also thrilling to know the fulfillment
of the promises God gave through these Scriptures about God dwelling among the
people – Jesus is coming to you Israel! The
ancient Jews were just beginning to see that God’s desire was not for them
alone to worship, but that every nation, tribe, and tongue worship Him. I
think you can tell by now that I thought this was an excellent read – A+ once
again Mrs. Austin!!! (And hurry up with book 2!)
I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers
in exchange for my honest review.
