Hi ,
This is an unusual newsletter since most of the article is already on the website. Normally, we include the text here in the newsletter, but on this occasion, the rich formatting on the website is not possible here in an email. To see the full table and all of the useful highlighting and formatting, you will have to go to the website. I hope that you find the harmonisation of the two records helpful.
NaNoWriMo has been a wonderful opportunity and spur for me over the last four years. In 2017, I wrote the first 50,000 words of the story that we published as "Joseph, Rachel's son". This was followed in 2018 by a story on Daniel that is still in progress.
In 2019, a story about the time of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, began. This story is now heading towards publication as "The King's Armour-bearer", which we plan to release first in a weekly eBook serial, starting in January 2021. For more details, look below the article.
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Background
King David ruled over a united kingdom of Israel, made up of the 12 tribes that had entered "the Promised Land" – the land which is still called Israel today, although at that time it included extra areas now claimed by the Palestinians and Jordan.
After David's death, his son Solomon became king and expanded the kingdom even further – but in his later life he was led away from worshipping God into idolatry. In response, God said that the kingdom would be split in two in the reign of his son. This happened when Solomon died and his son Rehoboam became king. A man called Jeroboam led a rebellion and the nation was split into two smaller nations: Israel, made up of ten tribes with Jeroboam as their king, and Judah,
made up of two tribes with Rehoboam as their king.
From that time on until the destruction of Israel by Assyria, the two nations swung like a pendulum between open war and a troubled co-existence. It was during this time that Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah, and he followed in the godly footsteps of David his ancestor (2 Chronicles 17:3).
Yet Jehoshaphat had a problem: he was too tolerant. Throughout his reign over Judah he kept looking for partnerships and friendship with the kingdom of Israel, despite the fact that Israel was deeply idolatrous. He even made a marriage alliance with Ahab, king of Israel, arranging for Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram to marry Ahab's daughter Athaliah. This unholy alliance almost caused the complete destruction of the kingdom of Judah within 30 years.
This is also the setting for the work of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
The Bible passages which record events in the times around the life of Jehoshaphat are as follows:
- 1 Kings 15:1 to 2 Kings 8:27
- 2 Chronicles 13:1 to 22:3
Mostly, the records of this time in Kings and Chronicles interleave easily, but there are a few places where the information is provided in a different order, since the book of Kings is trying to present information about the kings of both Judah and Israel. Some passages from Kings have been moved to match the order given in Chronicles.
As a result, they are best shown in a table from the time of Jehoshaphat’s grandfather Abijah/Abijam through to the start of the reign of his grandson Ahaziah, and this table can be seen on the Bible Tales website as part of the post: The time of Jehoshaphat.
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eBook Serial – The King's Armour-bearer
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Last year during NaNoWriMo I wrote the first 50,000 words of a story called "The King's Armour-bearer", set in the time of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.
The story has grown since then, and we now plan to release it as a weekly eBook serial beginning early in the new year – if the Lord is willing.
Each week, another chapter or two (or even three) of the book will be distributed to subscribers by email. If you haven't yet tried this way of getting early access to Bible Tales novels, why not subscribe to The King's Armour-bearer?
Not only do you get early access to the text and a copy of the final eBook, you will also get the opportunity to purchase up to 5 copies of the published paperback at a very low price.
Subscriptions are now open, so why not sign up here?
Subscriptions close as soon as the serial starts, God willing, on 18 January 2021. To make sure you don't miss out, sign up now.
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May the Lord bless you and keep you safe this week.
Mark Morgan
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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