History of Israel

Dr Walter C. Kaiser Junior has lived a long successful life. He is the parent, along with his wife Marge Kaiser, of one daughter and three boys and are now the grandparents of two grandsons and four granddaughters. Kaiser attended school at Wheaten College where he received his A.B. and succeeded in becoming a member of the Wheaten College Scholastic Honor Society. From there, he moved onto Wheaten Graduate School earning a B.D. Finally, he received his PhD at Brandeis University in Mediterranean Studies.

Following his education, he became a professor at Wheaton College, where he taught Archeology and the Bible. From there, he moved onto become the Dean and Vice President of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois. In 1997 Walter Kaiser became the third President of Gordon and Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, replacing Dr. Robert Cook who served as president for sixteen years. Along with his presidential responsibilities, Kaiser serves on the boards of numerous ministries.

Throughout his career, Walter Kaiser has written over thirty books and commentaries along with many entries into articles and journals. These books include "Hard Sayings of the Old Testament," that covers sixty-eight of the most misinterpreted sayings found in the Old Testament. "The Messiah in the Old Testament," was published in 1995 and reveals the character, prophecy, and promise of God to send Christ in the Old Testament. He also co-wrote with Silva Moises, "Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics,"that discusses how to properly read and interpret the Holy Scriptures. Other books include, "The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable," "Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament," "Revive Us Again: Biblical Insights for Encouraging Spiritual Renewal," "Toward Old Testament Ethics," and many more. His commentaries include "Ecclesiastes: Total Life," "Malachi, God’s Unchanging Love," "Proverbs, Wisdom for Everyday Life," and "Psalms, Heart to Heart with God." Some of his other writings he contributed to include, "Christianity Today," "Journal for the Study of the Old Testament," and numerous more.

"My hope is that this work may stimulate the interest of many others to press on in our research of the historical understanding of the people of this land and book."1 The way Kaiser accomplishes his purpose is by giving the reader plenty of material to work with, encouraging them to study the topic and it’s debates for themselves. One is quick to realize that the historical accuracy of Israel is a broad topic and many have dedicated their lives to studying it. The reader can tell while reading his book that Kaiser has a desire to better understand and prove the perfection of God’s Word.

"Our approach will be to take the Bible on its own terms, just as we have taken all the epigraphic materials from the ancient Near East as reliable - until they were proven to be otherwise."2 Throughout his book, Kaiser is consistently using the evidence that is before us and comping it to the Holy Bible. He makes sure to cover even the smallest of details in the Bible and the archeological evidence. Likewise, Kaiser is sure to mention all of the major views on a certain topic, so that the reader can decide for themselves. By doing this, the reader is quick to see the historical, archeological, scientific, and geographical perfection of God’s Word. Kaiser, by all means, is not bias towards the Bible, instead he treats all information and evidence with equality, thus, in the end, emphasizing the truth about Scripture.

It is evident from the beginning of the book, that this isn’t a discussion for new Christians. Instead, it is for those who desire to know more about the people of Israel and how God dealt with them throughout the Old Testament and up to the Intertestamental Times in great detail. Walter discusses all of the major archeological evidence that relates to the Biblical account found throughout the Old Testament. So his audience would include archeologists, Pastors, and Seminary students.

The basic structure of "A History of Israel," is found in the table of contents. The book contains thirty - one chapters broken down into nine different parts. Each part contains different sections of Israel’s history. For instance, Part 5 is titled, "The Monarchy."3 This part of the book describes the reigns of Saul to Solomon. Kaiser begins his publication with the list of maps found throughout the chapters, along with a preface, abbreviations, and an introduction. At the end of the book Kaiser includes an index and bibliographies.

Walter Kaiser begins his book by mentioning different fallacies argued on why critics say that an accurate history of Israel is impossible. Fallacy one is that in a scientific world, it is considered a myth to consider something a fact if it is miraculous, or supernatural. The second fallacy is that nothing can be considered history if it’s without external evidence. Some scholars take this as far as not beginning the history of Israel until external documentation can support what they are saying. Therefore, they may not begin until the time of the judges or David and Solomon.

Another fallacy declares that focusing on a certain individual’s life cannot accurately portray the nation. The problem with this is that, though the narratives do seem to focus on one person, they discuss how this person affected Israel and how Israel reacted to this person’s decisions, leadership, etc.

Chapter 2 covers the geography of the Bible lands. The land mentioned most in Scripture is Canaan where the promise land was located. The earliest account we currently have of Canaan is from a letter from Mari during the reign of Amenhotep II. Also, there’s Galilee and central hill country. The central hill country and Galilee contain many of the lands we find throughout the Bible such as Megiddo and Samaria, Shechem, Dothan, and Tirzah. Kaiser then mentions the Jordan Rift Valley, or Biblically known as Arabah. What’s interesting is that the Jordan Rift Valley has a fault line that seems to divide the Valley between the Transjordanian highlands and the hill country. Another important Bible land would be the land of Egypt, which was where the people of Israel were in slavery for 400 years. Also, Mesopotamia, is an important Bible land with occupants from the land of Ur, Sumerians, and the Akkadians.

Next he moves to tell about the different periods that surrounded Israel’s history. The first period is the Paleolithic Age (or "Old Stone"), which can be broken down into three time periods which are the Lower Period, the Middle and the Upper Period. Archeologists have discovered that the "great geological Rift Valley system was carved out at this time,"4 as was the industry tool of chipped stone, and the famous site of Abu Khas, located in Jordan. The next age is the Neolithic Period in which the advancements that took place was considered a revolution because man stopped relying on hunting and fishing, and started to farm and started domesticizing animals. Finally, there’s the Early Bronze Age. This age is broken down into Early Bronze Age 1, 2, 3, and 4. In the Early Bronze Age, international relations began. Some of the evidence of this is found with the connections between Canaan and Egypt where they, among other nations, began trading. One of the interesting features during this period is the growth of many cities. Dan, Megiddo, Hazor, Qedesh, Lachish, and others find their beginnings during this period.

Kaiser mentions that the Patriarchs begin with the story of Abram and as a promise fathered the second patriarch, Isaac. Before the birth of Isaac, Abraham, through Hagar, gave birth to Ishmael, who is now the father of the Arab nations. After Isaac comes Jacob (or Israel), who becomes the father to twelve sons who become the twelve tribes of Israel, the most famous being Joseph, the last patriarch. Kaiser explains what life was like during this period. He mentions Kenneth Kitchen who explains that the average payment for a slave, like Joseph, was from ten to fifteen shekels of silver. The Bible also tells us that the patriarchs were shepards and, according to the evidence and Scripture, camels, which are mentioned fifteen times in Genesis 24, were domesticated. Therefore, the patriarchs, more than likely were not Nomads.

Kaiser now focuses on the life of Joseph, who was the favorite son of Israel, and therefore, his brothers hated him and sold him to Midianite travelers who sold him as a slave in Egypt. What’s so interesting about this story is that it is very similar to the Egyptian story called "The Tale of the Two Brothers," Though the two narratives are similar, there are strong contrast that tell us that the two aren’t the same story. While in Egypt, Joseph is given the Egyptian name Zaphenath-Paneah (Genesis 41:45) and married a woman named Asenath, who was the daughter of Potiphera. Though archeologists haven’t found the city, Genesis tells us that the twelve tribes of Israel settled in the land of Goshen. Here in Goshen, the people of Israel grew to be great in number and eventually became slaves.

Chapter 6 discusses the man known as Moses. The issue covered here is who was the pharaoh who "did not know about Joseph?" (Exodus 1:8) The possible answers to this question is that it could be Amosis, who is often rejected for several reasons. Another possibility is a leader of the Hyksos who overthrew the Egyptian government. This would explain the meaning of Exodus 1:9-10. Therefore, since it probably wasn’t Amosis, it would leave Amenhotep I (1546 - 1526) and Thutmose I(1526 - 151) as the possible leaders of Moses childhood. At best guest, Moses’ birth was estimated to be in 1526, the year in which Amenhotep I died and Thutmose I began to rule. It is speculated that the famous woman leader, Hatshepsut was the king’s daughter who was bathing when she discovered the basket with Moses in it. As he grew up in the Pharaoh’s palace, Moses was given the best education possible, therefore, he knew enough to lead the people in the wilderness.

Next we begin to study Moses confronting the Pharaoh, the ten plagues, and the Exodus from Egypt. Some critics try to give credit of the ten plagues to nature, saying that there were comets falling from the sky, a volcano exploded, and other explanations. But what they cannot explain is why did some of the plagues not affect the land of Goshen, where God’s people dwelled? At any rate, each plague was a direct assault on the Egyptian’s false gods and religion. God was proving a point, and that was that their gods weren’t a match for the One True God.
Following the plagues, the Hebrews began their exodus. The problem with the Exodus is dating it. There seems to be much silence in the Bible and in archeological finds to answer all of our questions. Eugene H. Merrill says, "Is it not more reasonable to assume that the reason for the silence is that all interior Canaan was in Israelite hands by this time except Shechem and Jerusalem, the picture given by the Bible itself?"5 This seems to be the best and more likely conclusion.

Chapter 8 discusses all of the events surrounding the time when Israel was at Mount Sinai and where it was located. Some say it is located in Jebel Halal, Hala el-Bedr, Gebel Serbal, but more than likely it was Jebel Musa. Here on Mount Sinai, Moses receives the Ten Commandments, ceremonial laws and the Sinaitic Covenant. This covenant seems to mirror other treaties, but the Covenant contains many differences. From there, the Israelites traveled from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea. So far, Israel has been in several battles and were victorious the majority of the time. As a result, the king of Moab, Balak hired Balaam to put a curse on Israel, but Balaam became useless. The most famous event contributed to Balaam was the story of his talking donkey, but, in the end, Balaam was dead after an attack on Moab, while Israel marched on.
Chapter 9 includes the narratives of the conquest. Some of the archeological evidence of Joshua 1-11 is found in "daybooks." Though they don’t mention Joshua, one will notice the striking similarities. Kaiser compares the first six chapters of Joshua with the Annuals of Thutmose II, showing the parallels of the two accounts. Next he discusses the story of Rahab and how she aided the Israelite spies helping them get into the city. Roland de Vaux doesn’t believe that this story is accurate, but Kaiser quickly refutes de Vaux, giving evidence on why he is wrong.

What’s worse is the false conclusions of M. Noth and W. Rudolph. They believe that the account wasn’t a story but a Canaanite group called the "house of Rahab" that survived with Israel after the fall of Jericho. Like de Vaux’s beliefs, Noth and Rudolph theories are wrong, without question.

Next we move from Jericho to Joshua’s central campaign. The first location being the land of Ai. The Israelites conquered the land, but, of course, others reject that it was Israel that conquered the land. Most of these critics give the credit to Egypt, but there is a fallacy in there statement. The Eighteenth Dynasty in Egypt was simply not powerful enough to carry out such a campaign in Canaan because they were pursuing the Hyksos. So the only candidate left would be the people of Israel. After that, Joshua begins his southern campaign to finish taking over the land promised to Abraham. However, before they could, their ally, the Gibeonites, ask Joshua for help to defend their land, and Israel did so. Here we have the story of God making the sun stand still, as Joshua defeated his foes with the miraculous help of Yahweh. Finally, the Hebrews finished by winning their northern campaign, and after 40 years, God’s chosen people were ready to settle into the land they were promised.

The next section is a challenge because the book of Joshua is the only source we have that tells us anything during this time period. Here the Jews divided the land into each tribes allotments. Some were east of the Jordan River, Judah, Manaseseh, Ephraim, the cities of refuge, and the rest of the tribes. And at one point, civil war almost came to pass. The men of Gad, Reuben, and Manaseseh returned home and erected an altar at the Jordan River. The other tribes thought that this was an alter for false gods, and refused to allow this in their new kingdom. Before war broke out, Phinehas and ten others gave the three tribes a chance to explain themselves. When they did, the rest of the tribes excepted their explanation and peace remained in Israel.

The first issue in chapter 12 is finding the connection between Joshua and the book of Judges. At first, the reader of Judges may think that there is a contradiction, but in reality, there isn’t. It is odd that the death of Joshua is mentioned three times in Joshua 24:29, Judges 1:1, and 2:8. The reason, despite what critics say, is that there’s a transition from the book of Joshua to Judges.

The book of Judges includes 13 judges from Othniel to Samuel. It is uncertain exactly how long the period of the Judges last because some of the Judges overlap with other Judges. Kaiser relieves any confusion at what the word "Judge" means in the book of Judges. Here, judge means to command and so the Judges aren’t professionals at law, but were leaders that led the people of Israel out of captivity, and ruled over them for some time. The judges were never appointed by the people but by God himself.

The first "commander" is the Judge Othniel who defeated the Mesopotamian Arameans. He died somewhere around 1310 BC. Next is Ehud, a left handed man, who killed the fat king Eglon, king of Moab, and ruled for 90 years. Next is the judgeship of Deborah and Barak. They lead Israel against Hazor. The focus of the story is on Heber who drove a tent peg into the head of Sisera, which ended the oppression in the north. Kaiser goes on to discuss the attempt of Abimelech to become king, which utterly failed, the judges Tolar, Jair, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.

Chapter 14 tells of a possible "contradiction." The problem is that Samuel told Saul to wait for seven days for him to return to give him more instructions, but in the verses before that, Samuel tells Saul to "Do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you," (1 Samuel 10:7). This is an apparent contradiction and the best possible explanation is "a military challenge from Saul against the Philistine garrison at Bibeah would surely demonstrate his divine designation...Therefore, Samuel issues a second command...Thus...as soon as Saul has done what his hand found to do...Saul was to go immediately to Gilgal where Samuel joined him to offer sacrifices, consecrated him to the conflict that must surely take place, and gave him further instructions."6 Again, no contradiction is found.

Next we learn about Israel’s first king, Saul, son of Kish. The Bible’s first mention of Saul is when Samuel gives him three proofs that Saul would someday be king. Once he gets into office, Saul fails his first test of leadership, that is, to battle the Philistines. But soon, he tried to make up for his mistake by helping the people of Jabesh. Saul gathered an army of 330,000, the most since Joshua, and lead them to victory. Saul showed to be a great man of war and won many victories, but soon would begin to morally turn against God, and cause Samuel to rebuke him. In fact, God had already anointed David as king, and eventually Saul and his three sons would die in battle against the Philistines.

Kaiser goes on to tell that recently archeologist have found an inscription with the words "House of David,"a phrase found in scripture more than 20 times. Before this discovery, many doubted the existence of David, but the critics are now silent. David was anointed by Samuel which caused great hatred from Saul towards young David. Therefore, David had to live as a fugitive until Saul’s death. Throughout the time he was a fugitive, David did all he could to escape death, even if it meant he had to act as if he had gone mad. Eventually, Saul dies and David laments over the man who tried to kill him.

After the reign of Saul, David takes the throne. David, along with Solomon, was one of Israel’s greatest kings, by far, surpassing Saul. David’s reign is filled with what seems to be constant war with the Philistines, and at one victory, the ark of the covenant returns to Israel, and David dances in thanksgiving. Other wars he fought were with the Ammonites, Aram, Moab and Edom.

Next we learn of David’s domestic problems, probably David’s downfall. One problem is his son, Absalom, who rebels against his father and tries to take over him as ruler over Israel. In the end, Absalom is killed in battle when his hair gets stuck in a tree. Other problems include his affair with Bathsheba, and the results of that sin. Although David had many problems, he was still known as a man after God’s own heart, and Nathan prophesied to David that the Messiah would come through his line.

After David, Solomon becomes king. Solomon was gifted with great wisdom, and as a result, Solomon lead Israel to be one of the most powerful and richest nations at that time. Solomon also constructed the Temple, a sea port, stables, and other great building projects. Finally, Solomon began to ignore the law of the Lord.

Following the reign of Solomon, Israel divides into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah. It is hypothesized that at about 930-931 BC the nation Israel had spilt. The first four kings of Judah were Rehoboam, Abijaim, Asa, and Jehoshaphat. On the other side, Israel’s first few kings were, Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Omri, and Ahab.

Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom, introduced pagan beliefs, and ignored God’s law. He reigned for 22 years and had a few construction projects as a result of heavy taxation. Rohoboam was the southern kingdom ruler, who, too, was a sinful king who built Asherah poles and even had male prostitutes throughout the land. By the last 12 years of his reign he improved by humbling himself. The two kingdoms were plague with various battles with each other, neither side gaining the upper hand over the other.

Chapter 22 covers the Omride Era which includes Elijah, Micaiah, and Elisha. King Omri made Samaria the new capital of his kingdom and is considered to be among on of the best ruins of Israel. Ahab, who followed Omri, reigned for 22 years and continued Omri’s building projects. Ahab frequently was confronted with the prophet Elijah of which were usually negative as a result of Ahab’s lack of spiritual dependance on God. Jehoshaphat was the complete opposite of King Ahab when it comes to spiritual maturity. Jehoshaphat was one of Judah’s better rulers. Other prophets included in this section are Joel and Obadiah.

Next comes the Jehu Dynasty. This dynasty was the longest of all of Israel’s dynasties. Jehu’s rule was filled with confrontations and losing the Phoenicians as allies after the overthrow of King Omri. Following him was his son Jehoahaz, and then Jehoash. On the other end Joash ruled over Judah and hated Athaliah because he stood in the way of becoming king. Following him came Amaziah, who was known for his battles against Edom and Israel. During this period come the prophets from the 8th Century which include, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Jonah, and Isaiah.

This chapter covers the great mystery of who was "So king of Egypt?" It has been theorized that it was Pharaoh Tefnakht I, Osorkon IV, or a place in Egypt. Nevertheless, "So" was called for help. During the reigns of Pekah and Hoshea, Israel fell to the Assyrians. The impact this had on Samaria was great and fulfilled the Deuteronomic Principle and the prophecies of Isaiah.
Assyria controlled Judah for 100 years. During this time, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, and finally Amon ruled over Israel. Jotham was a good Godly king that built important temple gates, enlarged cities, added the wall of Phel, and built towers and forts. A king that was a complete opposite of Jotham followed named Ahaz. He made images of Baal, built pagan altars, and sacrificed his son. But Ahaz’s heir, Hezekiah, returned Judah back to the Lord. Hezekiah is known to have rebelled against Sargon and Sennacherib. Following Hezekiah came the rule of Manasseh and Amon.

There is a great amount of archeological evidence of the events that take place in the Bible with Babylon. The prophets during this time were Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk, many of whom predicted the fall of Israel. A great tragedy hits Israel in the death of their king Josiah who was a man who desired to please God. After his death, Jehoahaz rules Israel, then, following him, is Eliakim and Jehoiakim, brothers of Jehoahaz, and finally Jehoiachin, Josiah’s grandson. It is here, in 597 BC, that the prophet Ezekiel was sent to Babylon. Finally, before the fall of Jerusalem, Zedekiah ruled, even though most did not consider him as their king. But, in the end, Jerusalem fell into the hands of Babylon despite the efforts of Jeremiah and the other prophets to lead Israel into repentance.

Next we begin with the murder of Gedaliah by the hands of Ishmael and the effects it had on the shambled nation. Here in Babylon, the Israelites were scattered throughout the kingdom to keep them from uprising. Babylon was a magnificent city and became one of the greatest in history under the leadership of King Nebuchadnezzar. Twenty - three years after his death, the Capital city of Babylon was destroyed into the hands of Medo-Persians. Other than Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon only saw 6 or 7 monarchs. Daniel 5 predicts that Babylon would fall that night. The Persians then began to control Israel.

In scripture, the books of Nehemiah and Ezra pick up when the king of Persia let the Israelites return to their homeland. It was Ezra’s job to see that the temple be rebuilt, and this took place in the second year of the reign of King Darius. There is one problem with the chronology of Nehemiah and Ezra. The issue is, according to the wording of scripture, when did the two books take place? It is probable, according to the evidence, that Ezra came first, followed by Nehemiah. Next, in the reign of Xerxes, comes the narratives of Esther, the only book that tells us anything about king Xerxes.

Now we venture into the Hellenistic age which was important to Jewish history. First of all, Jews began hating the Samaritans who were considered half Jew and half Gentile because of their mixing of the Gentile world. This period also introduces the Synagogue which was a place of worship, along with the Temple, that the Jews used. Also, we see the reign of Alexander the Great and his kingdom that follows. Alexander introduced the Hellenism to the Jews, who rejected its pagan customs. Following Alexander, comes the reign of Ptolemy and Seleucid, who were officials under Alexander who eventually ruled over Israel at different points of time. As a result of the Greek influence throughout Israel, most Hebrews could speak Greek better than Hebrew; therefore, the Old Testament was translated into the Septuagint (or LXX).

Eventually, Israel grew tired of rulers trying to turn them into pagans. Therefore, Mattathias
began to rebel against the Syrians. Eventually, due to his old age, he gave the leadership role to his son Judas Maccabee (the hammer), who rededicated the Temple that was desecrated by the King Antochus. The Jewish holiday Hanukkah celebrates this victory. After the death of Judas, Mattathias’ youngest son took over, followed by Simon Maccabees. At last, the Jews were free from pagan influence.

Finally, we come to the end of the book The Hasmonean line began with Simon and ended with Hyrcanus II in 63-40 BC. John Hyrcanus tried hard to please the Romans and, toward the end of his reign, gained control over Joppa. Alexander Jannaeus took control when Aristobulus died. What’s interesting about him, was that Jannaeus was taken from prison, and made ruler over the land. Like those before him, Jannaeus was able to gain control of more land for his kingdom that extended out to Philistine, Transjordanian area, and Egypt. Finally, Aristobulus II was leader, but didn’t really get to rule like his predecessors. He became a puppet of Rome, and eventually Pompey took control over the land. There, in 63 BC, Rome took control over Jerusalem, setting the stage for the promised Messiah to save the world.

Critically, I thought the book was first of all, well researched. Kaiser uses a great deal of books and archeological studies to back up what he says. In some chapters, he may quote over thirty different books and sources. Together the author uses three hundred eighty - one different authors as sources for research, thus, the reader will catch on quickly that they are reading a book that is well researched and well thought out. Therefore, the reader can be assured that the information found in "A History of Israel," is accurate and true.

The problem with this is that the book uses words and evidence that most do not understand. Most don’t know what "epigraphic" means or where Goshen and Tell Beit Mirsim are located. Without carefully studying the text, the reader will be lost and confused from the very beginning, thus causing it’s readers to reread sections, sometimes, chapters of the book to fully grasp what is being said.

On the positive end, Kaiser discusses possible contradictions in the Bible, and looks at it from all points of view which helps the reader to strengthen their belief about the inerrancy of the Bible.

For instance, he raises the issue of who killed Goliath? It is reported in 1 Samuel 17:54 that when Goliath was defeated by young David, that he "took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent." On the other hand, the victor over Goliath is given to both David and Elhanan. So, who killed Goliath? Kaiser mentions that there are two possible explanations of this. First of all, Elhanan could be the name of the throne of David, but also, according to 1 Chronicles 20:5, Elhanan really killed Goliath’s brother. And after looking at the evidence, it should be concluded that the copyist of 2 Samuel made a total of 3 mistakes, he misinterpreted the words to make it sound like Goliath, not his brother, was killed by Elhanan, also he misread the word for "brother," and finally, he misplaced the Hebrew word, Oregim.

With this, and other possible contradictions, the Christian reader is affirmed that the Bible is Holy and is the infallible Word of God.

Walter Kaiser believed in the inerrancy of God’s Word, but he was not bias to certain ideas and beliefs, unless they could be proven wrong. For example on the section on "Solomon’s Building Projects," he mentions the theories of James B. Prichard, Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, and Yigael Yadin and declares that due to recent archeological evidence their theory was wrong, even though their theories were accepted by many scholars. He treated each piece of evidence without bias and with equal importance. He believed that correctly interpreting external and internal evidence about the Bible, would prove that it is historically and factorially inspired by God.

I would recommend this book to those who are serious about knowing as much as possible about the historical account of God’s chosen people and aren’t in a rush to read it. If they are, they will dislike the book because it is so difficult to read. At times it is hard to follow due to the fact that there is so much evidence presented and words are used that the average church goer will not understand. So pastors, students, archeologist, and confident critics would greatly benefit from this book. The title doesn’t mislead the reader, the book literally discusses the history of Israel, from the Bronze Age to the Jewish Wars. A book like this proves why Christians should not worry whether or not the Holy Bible is the Word of God. We learn, through this book alone, that science, archeology, and criticism can not disprove the Scriptures.

Other book reviews agree that Walter Kaiser "has carefully researched this subject, assembled the facts, and conveyed his findings in a convincing narrative style."7 (http://christianbookstore.us/info.asp?ISBN=0805462848&Type=&Cat=&SubCat=) The majority of the reviews of "History of Israel," approve of the book discussing how it refutes all bias and critical outlook on the Holy Scriptures. One review says that "A History of Israel," "presents the most convincing proofs for the historical authenticity of the Bible."8(http://ascendmagazine.com/home/material.shtml) All of the Reviews compiled together are mixed between whether they like it or not. Some say that it is boring due to all of the information presented, while, on the other hand, some say that it was one of the best books written because of all of the facts. So it is really just a matter of taste. If one is interested in the specific facts about the Bible, they