She obeys her abba’s wishes and travels south from Geshur, where her escort is attacked by Amalekite bandits. This group was tasked with securing a landing site for the Task Force tanks at Safi, south of Casablanca. Yanagiya arrived at Rabaul on October 7, 1942, as a member of 6th Kokutai, which was under the 26th Air Flotilla in the South East Division Air Fleet (including the 11th Air Fleet). When we arrived at the Old Testament site of Geshur, I was intrigued that the New Testament city of Bethsaida had been built directly on top of it! 27:8), I knew this city that was way north of the Galilee couldn’t be the same place David had destroyed. Looking southeast, we watched the sparkling rays glimmer off the Sea of Galilee. I was sitting on a plush velvet sofa, looking out onto ­Sydney Harbour but I was floating far out of my body. Looking for escorts in Auckland? Owing to insufficient Allied warship numbers at this early stage in the war, convoys received destroyer best independent escorts london only on the last three days of their journey. I’m so grateful for the various places we’ve lived and my husband’s occupational journey since 2000. He began his doctoral work at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (in Chicago), which gave me access to his scholarly library on campus.

Speaking of our 2020 journey to Israel . Tell us about your research process for understanding the political climate of ancient Israel and Geshur. In 2020, Hubby and I were so blessed to take a group of readers to Israel and actually visit the ancient ruins of Geshur! Hmm. Well, that would definitely be a problem for both me and my Bible-believing readers! How do you balance historical accuracy with creating relatable characters for modern readers? In order to write this story according to God’s Truth of Scripture, I created a fictional explanation for the villages "in the land extending to Shur and Egypt." Am I contradicting historical accuracy? Nope. I’m just giving a plausible explanation until some very smart archaeologists catch up with God’s Truth and find proof of the Geshurite villages David destroyed in Philistine territory. Realizing, however, that the Bible specifically describes the Geshurite villages David destroyed as "in the land extending to Shur and Egypt" (1 Sam.

It was one of the most beautiful sights I saw in the Land on that trip. I mean, the things I saw my mum do I can't even repeat because it's so cruel. Though neither David nor Maakah wish to pursue a betrothal, David vows to keep Maakah safe, even though danger abounds at every turn. When David rescues his family, he encounters Geshur’s arrogant pagan princess-having no idea Talmai had sent a betrothal contract with a Geshurite messenger. Using the knowledge I’ve gained during my twenty years of research and writing biblical fiction, I can know that if Talmai had any other heir to Geshur’s throne, he likely wouldn’t have been so welcoming to a grandson who could have posed a threat to a Geshurite prince. Princess Maakah, the only child of Geshur’s King Talmai, and the only heir to his throne, must shrewdly marry to strengthen her nation’s political future. Geshur, where his grandfather, King Talmai, sheltered him.

How do you approach writing about King David, such a well-known biblical figure, from a fresh perspective? These later Scriptures tell me some things about the character of King Talmai and the environment in which Maakah would have been raised as a young princess. When we have an open heart, God can use every circumstance to teach and bless! Customers can choose between a trimmed interior or a fully stripped out cabin. It has had no structural alterations inside or out. Sure, the letters have been tipped on their heads, but can you still make out this word? Despite this, you can customize them to your convenience. You can tell which were written in the wilderness and which were written after conquering Jerusalem. Then, most folks remember King David as the conquering king of Jerusalem. But that King David is very different than the David who roamed the wilderness and the thirty-year-old David who was learning how to reign in Hebron. When King Saul cancels the betrothal contract he and Talmai had arranged for Saul’s fourth-born son, King Talmai reacts swiftly to secure a betrothal with the legendary rebel David ben Jesse. While captive to the Amalekites, Maakah is befriended by David ben Jesse’s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail.