Keepers of the Covenant by Lynn Austin

From the publisher:
In one life-changing moment, the lives of the exiles in Babylon are thrown into despair when a decree from the king's palace calls for the annihilation of every Jewish man, woman, and child throughout the empire in less than one year.

Ezra, a quiet but brilliant scholar, soon finds himself called upon to become the leader of his people. Forced to rally an army when all his training has been in the Torah, he struggles to bring hope in a time of utter despair, when dreams of the future--of family and love--seem impossible.

In Keepers of the Covenant, acclaimed novelist Lynn Austin weaves together the struggles and stories of both Jews and Gentiles, creating a tapestry of faith and doubt, love and loss. Here, the Old Testament comes to life, demonstrating the everlasting hope displayed in God's unwavering love for His people.  

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I really respect Lynn Austin as an Biblical fiction author.  As you read her works you can tell that she has delved into the Bible and wrestled with hard truths in order to share with the readers God's love and mercy--even when it is hard to see.

This book is the second in the Restoration Chronicles but you don't have to read Return to Me in order to enjoy and be blessed by this book.

The story is woken between five main characters but this is not overwhelming and the stories begin to link together.  The characters are interesting and challenging to read.  The difficult situations that Lynn Austin writes about from the Bible take on new life as we see them through the eyes of these characters.  The Biblical stories become personal and she made me think about different aspects of them that I had not before.

I found myself underlining what the characters were saying to each other about God.  The spiritual truths that Lynn Austin put in here are amazing and any Christian will be blessed by reading them and taking them to heart.

Something i really appreciated was that in the difficult situations, where the characters are questioning what to do, and what is right from God's point of view--according to the Torah--she doesn't just gloss things over, or let the characters "wink" at sin.  Instead she gives solid Biblical answers and proof for the situations.  I found myself wondering how she was going to answer some of the questions, and was amazed each time.

I highly recommend this book.

I received this book from Bethany House Publishing in exchange for my honest review.