This is a specially abridged edition of a book first published in 1962 under the title In the Steps of Exodus.
This Corgi edition, dated 1971, deals in mainly pictorial form with the development of Israel from the First Aliyah about 1875 up to say 1960, that is before the Arab Israeli war.
The photographs are all in black and white with short interesting captions. The emphasis is on the greatness of Israel as a people with no recognition of their place in the Divine purpose. For example, following a picture of the wilderness of Zin he writes,
“Throughout their ordeal, they raised hope-filled voices and found an eternal expression of man’s relationship to God. The Jewish people gave a groping mankind its first great bridge from darkness to light”.
Later on when speaking of the various religious denominations that are found in Jerusalem he writes,
“Are we not but branches of the same tree? There are many ways to express the same idea”.
On this basis truly Israel returns in unbelief.
One very striking reference is to the love of knowledge shown particularly in the kibbutz but also in quite ordinary homes. He writes,
“The walls of the most humble homes are lined with books. A kibbutz with a few hundred members will probably have a library of several thousand volumes in a half-dozen languages”.
Perhaps there is a message for us here. If we are to grow and maintain our interest we must read what devout men and women have meditated upon and with our knowledge of the Truth make use of their scholarship to gain an ever deepening appreciation of the things that are written. Particularly is this true of the works of our own brethren, and one thinks back to the days when brethren used to try and obtain every work as it was published by The Christadelphian Office even when they could not really afford the cost.
Other things apart, this is an enjoyable book to browse through awakening memories of events that have stirred our hearts in the past and caused us to lift up our heads and rejoice.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)