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When you read the Bible, do you ever wonder what the locations look like? And I don't necessarily mean what did the land look like when the people of the Bible walked the land. What about the look of Israel today?
In Israel: Beauty, Light, and Luxury, the creator of The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble and photographer Richard Van De Water share the land of Jesus in a beautiful, hardcover coffee-table book. A series of devotionals written by Cobble accompany photographs of Israel today.
About the Book
The 255-page hardcover book contains 31 devotionals and a photo index which helps you identify each full-color photo. Some pages contain two to five photos, while other gorgeous photos fill the entire page. Each devotional focuses upon one area, references the Bible, and is a few paragraphs in length.
Photographs include:
- Buried ruins of King Herod's palace
- Enchanting doorways
- Hotels
- Mount Carmel
- Sunsets
- Flowers and trees native to Israel
- Citizens and tourists of Israel
- Underwater photos
- Rich meals
- And more!
- Reflections on Peter's vision to share Jesus' message with Jews and Gentiles
- A look at the splitting of Israel into two kingdoms
- A discussion of Jesus as the cornerstone
- The Baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River
- The miracles of Jesus in Capernaum
My Thoughts
The photography of Israel: Beauty, Light, and Luxury is so vivid and stunning. The photographs are grouped together thoughtfully to tell a visual story. The groupings are arranged by theme, color, and location. The ones on the pages with the devotion relate directly to Cobble's devotion.
The devotions are as thoughtful and meaningful as the writing in Cobble's other works published by Bethany House Publishers. For example, in the Palm Sunday Prophecy devotion, Cobble writes: "What an incredible demonstration of love, that Jesus would die on a tree He made to save a people He made" (184). What a beautiful reminder!
While I think this is a gorgeous book, I was expecting more photography of the land and locations of the Bible and not as many depicting Israel today. I was also disappointed that the majority of the photographs did not have captions describing them. I needed to look at the photo index to see what the photographs were of and then had to search the Internet to learn more about the locations that interested me the most.
I would recommend Israel: Beauty, Light, and Luxury to those Christians interested in taking a glimpse into the country of Israel. This book would be a wonderful gift for those interested in photography of Israel.
Read more reviews of the works of Tara-Leigh Cobble here:
Book Club: Book Review of The Bible Recap
Book Club: Book Review of The Bible Recap Study Guide
Book Club: Book Review of The Bible Recap Journal
Book Club: Book Review of The God Shot by Tara-Leigh Cobble
Book Club: Book Review of The Bible Recap Discussion Guide
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