This handsome, glossy coffee-table book is a wonderful way to introduce modern Israel – and her fulfilment of biblical prophecy – to friends and family. Released earlier this year to coincide with her 70th anniversary, this is a photography project with a difference: comparing black-and-white photographs of Israel from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries with colour photographs re-shot today from the same angles, showing just how much the Land has changed in just one lifetime. 

The result is (as the flyleaf puts it) “a unique visual story of Israel’s miraculous journey from unforgiving desert land to thriving nation”. It is based on the premise that “While it’s great to read about such dramatic changes, it’s something you simply need to see”. A desert re-planted and flourishing, a barren land re-inhabited and re-invigorated, wasteland reclaimed for farming and irrigation, ruins rebuilt by thriving communities: this is a book that relishes the wonder and captures the drama of prophecy-in-action. 

Celebrating Prophetic Fulfilment

For those unfamiliar with Bible prophecy, Israel Rising is an ideal introduction – and for sceptics, it presents a powerful challenge. Author Doug Hershey, founder of Ezra Adventures, grounds the whole project in Ezekiel 36’s vivid foretelling of Israel’s restoration from global exile. The introductory section of the book includes a simple study of this chapter, looking at who it was spoken to and why, what promises it gives and the time-frame for its fulfilment.

This is a book that relishes the wonder and captures the drama of prophecy-in-action.

Readers are then given a brief history of the region from Ezekiel’s time up to the present day. Excerpts from Mark Twain’s historic traveller’s account, as well as other quotes, build up a picture of what the land was like under the Ottomans and the early British Mandate (quotes from eyewitnesses through the 4th-19th Centuries are included in a separate section at the back of the book). A short history is also given of early photographic archives of the Holy Land. Together, these introductory pages work well to put what follows into biblical and historical context.

The bulk of the book is, naturally, given over to the photographs, arrayed into seven different geographical chapters ranging from Galilee and the Golan through Judea and Samaria to Jerusalem. A double-page spread is given to each individual location: one page for the historic photograph and the opposite page for the contemporary shot, laying them out side-by-side. This glorious fly-through of the land, past and present, is beautifully executed. It can be read systematically or dipped in and out of.

The ultimate aims are two-fold: to celebrate what God has done and is doing, and to prompt deeper reflection on what Scripture says not only about the past and the present, but also about the future. While many photographs show evident and dramatic transformation, others are surprising in how little has changed in 70 years – an implicit reminder that much is still yet to come.

Powerful and Poignant

Hershey strikes a fine balance between letting the pictures speak for themselves and illustrating them with short explanations, Bible verses and historical quotes. Delightfully, prominence is given to little anecdotes about the people that he and the photographer, Elise Theriault, met during their six-week ‘treasure hunt’ to rediscover each old photograph’s original vantage point. And so, readers’ visual journey through the Land, poignantly, is not cut off from the people that God is still using, in this very hour, to restore it to life.

Readers’ visual journey through the Land, poignantly, is not cut off from the people that God is still using, in this very hour, to restore it to life.

Hershey ends with a short conclusion – easily missed if one is just flicking through - prompting the reader to consider personally the significance of what they have seen: is modern Israel some crazy coincidence – or is something divine and supernatural at work behind the scenes? Readers are encouraged gently to think more deeply about what God says about his purposes for Israel’s restoration and his greater covenant plans, for the Jews and for all mankind.

Captivating

This is so much more than a ‘before/after’ photography project highlighting human ingenuity and Jewish cultural tenacity. It is a captivating celebration of the Lord’s faithfulness to fulfil his own word. It will surprise and delight every supporter of Israel and provide a fascinating, immersive introduction for those who know little about her.

Truly a one-of-a-kind addition to your coffee-table that will be a talking-point, an opportunity for witness and a source of enjoyment and inspiration to worship. The more you look, the more you will see.

‘Israel Rising: Ancient Prophecy / Modern Lens’ (207pp, hardback) is available on Amazon for £18.58. Find out more about book and see sample images on the Ezra Adventures website.