The Priest: Aaron

This is about Aaron, the brother of Moses. It is well written and a very enjoyable read. Ms. Rivers made Aaron, whom I had not thought much about, come alive and be believable as a man. a man struggling to know and understand God, even while he failed God so often. I love the moments when he realizes his sin and failure and his ineffectiveness as a priest, calling out to God to send his people a high priest who is pure and able to be a proper intermediary. This moved me to tears several times, identifying with Aaron.

I'm conflicted about this book because I have really enjoyed other books by Francine Rivers. To begin with I couldn't really put my finger on what the problem was. The details I was reading seemed very familiar almost like a deja vu experience, so I was scratching my head and trying to work out whether I was reading something else similar as I usually have several books on the go at one time. Then I realised it was my Bible....doh! My daily readings right now are in Exodus/Leviticus so I have been reading about Moses and Aaron.

Those of you who follow my reviews will probably now be surprised because usually I am complaining about the lack of Christian content or the errors in theology. It was almost like this book had too much biblical show more content--it is basically the biblical narrative of Aaron's life with some creative additions. I think the problem with this approach is because it is so close to the biblical account, the creative additions from the author may become part of the biblical narrative in the mind of the reader, but they are fiction. I am reading another book Agents of Babylon, about the life of Daniel, it gives a fictional story for each chapter then follows it up with the biblical narrative afterwards. This is a much better approach as there is no blending/mixture and there is a clear distinction.

The author really hasn't added much to the life of Aaron apart from making him into a bit of a wimp who was always afraid, in awe of Moses and cowering in the background and from God suffering terrible guilt over his many sins. I'm not sure that this is a correct portrayal of Aaron but as it is fiction I guess it doesn't matter. I liked the idea of Aaron beginning as a slave but I'm not sure about all the jealousy of Moses and the complaining that went on.

This book is clean and biblical. I didn't see any obvious theological issues. It just wasn't that much of a story. I probably won't bother to read the rest of the series. Maybe some who don't know the biblical account of Aaron would enjoy learning about him through this story but I would suggest reading the biblical account as well to understand what is fiction and what is not! show less

3.5 stars
I found this a really thoughtful and thought provoking retelling of Aaron's life. I loved how closely it stuck to the Bible and brought home the emotions of the events taking place.

This book did a great job of getting into Aaron's head. I had forgotten some things about the end of his life. I'm glad I gave this series a second chance. Much better than the Scribe. This book is told as if it was happening.

Sons of Encouragement:

Similar to A Lineage of Grace, this book contains five novellas about different biblical characters – but this time, it’s the men! For this collection, Rivers chose to tell the stories of background figures and secondary characters who don’t often get as much focus as the main heroes of their stories: Aaron (The Priest), Caleb (The Warrior), Jonathan (The Prince), Amos (The Prophet), and Silas (The Scribe).

Aaron’s and Caleb’s stories overlap as they chronicle the plagues in Egypt, the Exodus, and Israel’s wandering in the wilderness, with Caleb going on to tell of conquering the Canaanites under Joshua’s leadership. Jonathan struggles to remain loyal to both his father, the first king of Israel, and show more his best friend, David, anointed to take Jonathan’s place as Saul’s successor. Amos is called to turn the hardhearted nation of Israel back to the Lord and warn of His coming wrath, and Silas recounts his travels with the apostle Paul and the emerging first-century churches across the Roman Empire. I see the theme of faithfulness throughout: both our lack of it and God’s abundance! show less

Moses' brother Aaron was called on to speak for his brother before Pharoah. Then, he played the role of defending his brother to the Israelites in the wilderness. Finally, God called him to be High Priest of the Jewish people following their exodus from Egypt.

Rivers included vivid details of Ancient Egyptian culture. She did a great job of bringing to life the historical figures from this key period in Jewish history. I enjoyed reading the events of Exodus from a different perspective.

While everyone knows the story of the Moses and the Exodus from the Bible, this book gives a glimpse of Moses' older brother Aaron and tells Aaron's side. Rivers writes with compassion and understanding for Aaron's mistakes and shows his heart for God. I would read it again to gain more insight. Although the book is fiction, it is written believably.