"The Lands of the Bible Today" (Dave Branon)

TITLE: The Lands of the Bible Today: Experience 44 Places in Scripture and Photos
AUTHOR: Dave Branon
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: ODB Publishing, 2020, (192 pages).

The Bible is the bestselling book of all time. It is also ancient with many names, places, and cultures totally foreign to many modern readers. One of the best ways to get a feel of the Bible context is to physically go visit the Holy Land. For various reasons, not many people would be able to visit the places. It could be physically demanding or financially limiting. For the rest of us, the best way is remotely or through the print medium. This book is a powerful version of the latter. With beautiful and captivating pictures of 44 places in the land of Israel and beyond, readers are able to get a glimpse of the biblical terrains. The purpose of this book is two-fold: Firstly to help readers be more familiar with the knowledge of these places. Secondly, to make our reading of the Bible a little more personal and also to bring the physical locations alive to us when we read Scripture. For each of the 44 locations, one to two pages have been allocated to provide salient information for Christians interested to know more about the physical locations. Some of the features include:

• Name of the city or place and where is it on the map;
• Events that occurred there;
• Bible passages that referred or alluded to the specific place;
• Key passages that show us the significance of the location;
• Where we can find the location now;
• Some attractions that visitors can see;
• Beautiful photographs and maps;
• Buildings and monuments; as well as scenery;
• Historical background of the place;
• Favourite Site Reflection;
• and much more.

My Thoughts
As I was reading this book, I felt that the book could benefit three groups of people. First, for those who have been to the places mentioned, it would trigger memories of what they had seen or heard. There are times in which the tour guides give us so much information that we are unable to remember everything. We might also be so in awe of the places that we didn't pay attention to what the guide was saying. At the same time, the tour guide might not be familiar with how Christians read and study the Bible. They might not even be believers at all! Thus, the book helps one to link what they remember with the spiritual significance of the place.

The second group of people are the tourists or visitors wanting to make a trip there. While there are many other guide books to help us navigate the terrain, this book is a compact volume that provides brief and concise notes for us. Usually, we depend on the guide to do all the talking. However, not all guides are equally knowledgeable. With this resource, we can easily use it to supplement what we have heard or to ask more questions based on the knowledge in this book. Books like the "Christian Traveler's Guide to the Holy Land" would give us more information. This book is a good companion to that. We can even map out our own itinerary!

Finally, this book is for the rest of us who had never visited or not intending to go to the Holy Land. They would find this book a welcome guide to bring the holy land scenes to them. Not everybody have the privilege or the financial means to travel to such a distant place. It is also useful for professors, preachers, pastors, and teachers of the Bible, where they could use information in the book to teach their students or their congregation. My favourite part of the book is the many references to help me connect the place to the Bible, and to help my audience visualize the physical place. This would make this book a helpful teaching resource.

Dave Branon is a freelance writer for many years. For 18 years, he served as managing editor of Sports Spectrum magazine. Now he is an editor for Discovery House. He loves going on ministry trips with students.

Rating: 4.25 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Our Daily Bread Publishing and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.