40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Is there a tyrant or a brat in your life?, May 25, 2002
This review is from: A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness (Paperback)
Do you work or live with a tyrant? Got a spoiled brat in your life? David did. Had both. He served a crazy king who tried to kill him and had a vain, self-absorbed son who tried to usurp him. Both nearly succeeded.
How David coped with these insane situations with God's love, grace, and wisdom have changed my life. The patience, respect for God, surrender, and trust in the Lord spoke powerfully to me through the years of history between us. David's unique reactions revealed Jesus Christ to me in a new way.
David's struggles dwarfed mine but the lessons of his life challenged me to become a better Christian - a man of honor - a man of God.
Gene Edwards has a gift for cutting through difficult topics on a unique slant. He brings a new level of understanding to old problems, stories, and issues. There were times when reading this book that I had to stop, lay it down, and catch my breath as new revelation washed over me.
A strong recommendation for the thoughtful believer who is willing to go to the next level of faith.
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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A profound look into the purpose of why Christians suffer, December 28, 1999
This review is from: A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness (Paperback)
A Tale Of Three Kings is a an awesome piece of Christian literature. If you are tired of all the "holy spirit, healing, prosperity, achieving wealth through biblical principles" type books, than Gene Edwards is your man. In this book, Gene lays out a refreshing perspective on brokeness that is not quite traditional in mainstream "Sunday school, pulpit preachings". Through his wonderful and simplistic story telling style, Gene goes into the depths of the hearts of three kings, namely King Saul, King David, and King Absolom. Not only will this book aid in your journey towards the deep things of the Lord and His ways, but it will cause us to look into our very hearts and ask the question, "which heart of these Kings do I have....." Indeed men fix things that break, but after we read this book we emerge w/ the understanding that God breaks men to fix them.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some Good Insights, but Discernment Needed, October 27, 2009
This review is from: A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness (Paperback)
In "A Tale of Three Kings" author Gene Edwards examines two relationships in the life of David - Saul and Absalom - and from them he draws insights that believers can apply to their own authority-related issues. Instead of approaching these Scriptural accounts like a traditional devotional writer, he retells the stories in a semi-fictionalized fashion. This approach yields some beautiful, moving prose that almost reads like poetry in places, but it also leaves the door open to the author inserting his own conjecture into the story. I'm willing to accept a little artistic license, but Edwards goes over the top in my opinion. For example, in the prologue he spins a pure fable in which God tells Gabriel to allow the yet-to-be-born spirits of David and Saul to choose their destinies. This "Mall of Unborn Destinies", as Edwards calls it, sounds more like Mormonism than Biblical Christianity. I doubt that the author meant it that way, but it illustrates the pitfalls of the fictionalizing approach.
Aside from style-related problems, Edwards does cull some meaningful insights from the story of David and Saul in Part 1. David's refusal to rebel against Saul, especially when he had the chance to kill him, is a powerful illustration of how we need to react to our authorities, even those who are abusing their position. The author makes some excellent points about how God used David's suffering to bring him to a point of brokenness, and how David always treated Saul as God's anointed despite his wicked behavior.
His observations in Part 2 are less helpful. He makes some good points about David's humble heart and how we need to examine ourselves and trust God when someone is challenging our authority, but he wrongly portrays David's reaction to Absalom's rebellion. When Joab asks David how he plans to respond, David says he plans "to do absolutely nothing" (p.72). As presented here, David knows about Absalom's rebellion before it happens, but refuses to do anything to forestall it; he just puts everything in God's hands and quietly leaves Jerusalem so God can reveal His will.
Edwards closes the book with this passive withdrawal, but the rest of the Biblical account gives some needed balance. Yes, David was submitted to Gods' will (cf. 2 Sam 15:25-26) but the Biblical text makes it pretty clear that David's departure was not a gracious withdrawal - Absalom had blindsided him, and he was fleeing for his life! "Arise, and let us flee; or else we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us" (2 Samuel 15:14, NKJV).
After escaping capture, David sends several allies back to Jerusalem as spies (2 Samuel 15:27-37), and in 2 Sam 18:1-6, he organizes his loyal forces and sends them to attack Absalom's army. David was hardly doing "absolutely nothing"!
To sum it up, "A Tale of Three Kings" is skillfully written and has some helpful insights, but it overlooks the fact that a rebel can be confronted without being either a spear-throwing Saul or a complacent pacifist.
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