May Meeting at Gloria's Home

WOW's May's meeting was held May 22nd at Gloria's house.  Also, in attendance were Barb, Sharon, Linda, Angie, Karen M., Debbie, and Joyce.   The book, "Gods & Kings" by Lynn Austin was set in Jerusalem during the time of King David's grandson, King Ahaz's reign, although the book is primarily about his son, Hezekiah's, growth to manhood, and ultimate investiture as King.
Lentils and barley, multigrain rolls (bread was a very important food at that time), dates, olives and kosher grape juice were served to help transport us  back to the culture described in the book.
We had a lively discussion about the characters described in the book.  Some members brought their Bible, and several commented on their having read the passages used by the author to set the book.
We had conflicting views about Uriah.  Did he start out with good intentions or not?  Was Abijah weak or strong? Linda brought a chart of Jesus' genealogy, and we find that Hephzibah becomes the mother of Hezekiah's son and heir, Manasseh.  How could this be?
We agreed on Zechariah's character, especially at his ability to explain Yahweh and faith to his grandson.  We all liked Shebna, the tutor.  We all disliked King Ahaz.
We read passages from the book, talked about Hezekiah's terrible losses, and our own losses, and finding God's peace even amidst those losses.
Even though we couldn't find a set of reading discussion questions for this book, our group managed to maintain a lively discussion about  "Gods & Kings" throughout the meeting.
Submitted by Gloria Hannon