Heavenly
Lights: Noah’s Journey
My Review:
This story carries on from where Lioness leaves off. Another amazing story which almost goes behind the scenes of the Bible story. You don't need to have read Lioness, which is book one, but it will help a little.
Noah is essentially doing a man's job, but one she loves. She takes care of her flock the only way a true shepherd(ess) can and under her care they thrive. Her fellow shepherd, Jeremiah, is deaf and dumb, yet the two of them communicate almost flawlessly. But with ongoing war, and the judgement of God falling on the tribes of Isreal, a path to more than friendship isn't going to be an easy one.
Ms Britton has done an amazing job and it's gone right back into my TBR pile.
The daughters of Zelophehad travel
further into the book of Joshua (Joshua 5-8).
Book blurb:
Noah bat Zelophehad might have broken
tradition by being able to inherit her father’s land, but her heart’s desire is
to have the finest herds in all of Israel, something an orphaned and unmarried
woman has never achieved.
Jeremiah ben Abishua cannot speak, nor
hear. God has made his thoughts captive to his mind. But he can communicate
with one shepherdess, a woman who sees his skill with animals and treats him
like a man worthy of respect.
When their people disobey God and incur
his wrath, Noah and Jeremiah must overcome tragedy in order to change
perceptions in the tribes of Israel. Will their kinship desire to care for one
another and the four-legged creatures God has placed in their care, be able to
flourish in a land filled with enemies of the One True God?
God gave Noah bat Zelophehad four sisters, a way with four-legged creatures, and
a strong spirit. She will need all three gifts to thrive in the Promised Land
of God and find love with a special shepherd.
Extract:
Fast as a hungry hawk, Noah
sprinted in the moonlight. Past tents and watering jars. Past sleepy-eyed men
and women. She raced toward their place of worship.
A Levite stumbled beside the ornate curtain of the Tabernacle, clutching
at his garment.
“Adonai has abandoned us,” he wailed.
Another man slumped to his knees and wept into his hands.
Fighting men trudged into camp. Torches lit their faces, but no battle
scars were revealed.
“Hebrew blood has been spilled on the rocks of Ai,” a sword-carrying man
said. His recount hung in the haze of smoldering campfires.
How could this be? The walls of Jericho fell with a shout. Ai held few
soldiers. Her people should be celebrating a victory, not mourning a
defeat.
She climbed atop crates which held the gold and silver spoils from
Jericho. The height removed her from the rush of elders and forlorn leaders
congregating near the courtyard of the Tabernacle. She gripped a tent lead for
balance.
In the distance, a column of
carts neared the pathways between the tents of the tribe of Dan. Donkeys
carried their burdens closer to camp. Were their burdens dead bodies?
How many had died? And from which
tribe?
Her heartbeat flooded her ears, drowning out
the cries of nearby women.
Joshua marched toward the returning
troops. He stumbled as carts of the dead lumbered closer. Dropping to his knees
in the center of the camp with the Tabernacle curtain at his side, and woven
wings of cherubim floating above his head, their valiant leader tore his robe
and cried.
Priest upon Levite upon leader,
ripped their garments. A Tabernacle servant rubbed ash on his hair.
“God has forsaken us,” a Levite said for all to hear. “Our camp will be
overrun by our enemies.”
A falsehood. God had given her
sisters land in this very place. Twice God confirmed their inheritance of land.
He would not take it away. He would not take away her future, or the future of
His people.
Her cheeks flamed. But why God?
Why the dead? Why from Ai and not Jericho?
Leaping to the ground, she ran
toward the carts, the open tombs of the slain.
She recognized a man from the
tribe of Judah.
“How many?” she asked, her voice
rough as the pitted ground.
“Thirty-six fell.” The Judahite
scanned the path.
Was he looking for kin? “They cut us down on the slopes outside of the
city.”
Her stomach threatened to spill.
Jeremiah couldn’t hear a pursuer’s footfalls. He should never have gone. How
foolish of her to allow it. She could have petitioned Nemuel, or Abishua, or
even Joshua. She should have balked like the hen they claimed her to be.
Thap, thap, thap. She kept running
and searching for that familiar face. Those eyes that sparkled like a
sun-bathed river. The smile that chastised her and rejoiced with folly.
Maybe only Judahites were slain?
They were the first to go into battle.
She passed a cart and gazed upon
a man whose face was hidden by linen. Who was he? Who would mourn his passing? I
will.
You can purchase “Heavenly Lights” on:
Barb’s Bio:
Barbara M. Britton lives in Wisconsin
and loves the snow—when it accumulates under three inches. She writes Biblical
fiction and enjoys bringing little known Bible characters to light in her
stories. Barb is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Romance Writers of America
and Wisconsin Romance Writers of America. She has a nutrition degree from
Baylor University but loves to dip healthy strawberries in chocolate. Find out
more about Barb and her books at http://www.barbarambritton.com/.
Comments
Good luck and God's blessings
PamT