Land of Silence by Tessa Afshar

Land of Silence by Tessa Asfhar is a retelling of the Biblical story of the woman with the issue of blood.

Since so little is known about her Asfhar was able to create a rich backstory to this character, Elianna, bringing the reader into her tragedy, heartbreak, hopes, and dreams. She also connects Elianna to Lydia of Thyatira, setting up her next book.

What I find so interesting about the culture explored in this book are the exploration of the gender roles, how Elianna becomes stuck because as an unmarried woman, she can't run the business she's been running for her father after his death, and also how she nearly kills herself to provide dowries for herself and her sister. Even knowing this is an accurate portrayal, and having prior knowledge of these practices, from a modern Western perspective it is difficult to understand personally. 

Additionally, in her 12 years of uncleanliness, again it struck me how while in some cases being unclean was evident to others, sometimes it wasn't—and then it was the responsibility of the unclean person to tell others and to avoid making them unclean (sitting on the floor, not touching others, etc). This woman became an outcast in every way. She couldn't worship at the synagogue or Temple, couldn't hug her sister, couldn't draw water with the other local women—and was isolated from her community. There were so many times she warned someone and I was like, Why did she tell them?, even knowing that not doing so would be sin. 

We live in such a different world today, but there are so many lessons from Elianna's story that we can learn, from cultural information to deeper lessons of what it means to follow God's Word, even when no one is watching. If you like Biblical fiction, definitely check out this book. 

You can get it here on Amazon!

What if It's True?: The Shelter of His Wings

As I said in the last post, I love pretty much everything Charles Martin writes. But he mostly writes fiction, so when he published a nonfiction book this year, I was curious. What if it's True? didn't disappoint!

In chapter 2, "We're all bleeders", he explores the concept of the tassels on the hems of garments, which reminded me of this post I wrote last year from Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg's book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus. 

They basically explore the concept of tassels on the hem of the garments of Jewish men, especially in ancient Israel, and gave me a perspective how specific stories from the Bible that I'd never thought of before: David cutting the hem off Saul's robe and the woman with the issue of blood touching Jesus' hem. 

So, when I saw that Martin wrote a chapter that also talked about this concept and these stories, I wanted to share it here.

What I love is that Martin expands on the concepts I learned from Spangler and Tverberg's book. While they spoke about the hem showing authority, power, and holiness, he talks about its protection. Martin talks about the word "wings" used in the Old Testament to show God's protection of the Israelites, threading it from Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 1 Samuel, Psalms, Malachi... and all the way to Matthew.

The meaning of "wings" in the passages he cites have to do with cover, refuge, deliverance, and trust" (page 21). He points out that when God commands in Numbers for the Israelites to put tassels on their garments, it was because "God is practical and He doesn't want His people to forget" (page 21) and later on this page shows that the corner/border of a garment is the same word used for wings in these passages. "God was making a mental connection for His people. In a sense, He was saying, 'The corner of your garment should remind you of Me and My protection—of My deliverance and your healing" (pages 21-22).

As with the story of David cutting off the tassel of Saul's robe, Martin points out, "That tassel represented God's covering and protection. God had given Saul into David's hand. And when David held it up and showed it to Saul, and Saul glanced down at his now three-winged shirt, Saul knew it. He understood" (page 22).

As for the woman with the issue of blood:

"This woman believed the Word was more true than her circumstances" (page 27).

WOW. Read that about 50 times more, please. I know I need to.

It wasn't just her though. Martin points out in Matthew 14:35-36: "And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well."

What about us? As Martin states: "The wings of His garment are here. Now. Will you reach out and grab hold?" (page 27)

So now, we've seen a connection of this physical picture of God's authority, power, holiness, and protection. How does this continuation of this theme deepen our understanding of this practice and God's Word?