Book Review–But In Mount Zion

About the Book:

Book: But In Mount Zion (Companion Study for Knowing Obadiah)

Author:April W. Gardner

Genre: Bible Study for Women

Release date: October, 2023

But in Mount Zion is a companion study for the commentary Knowing Obadiah.

​This workbook offers an interactive and reflective experience for readers to engage with the commentary and dive deeper into the book of Obadiah.

Through thought-provoking questions, exercises, and group discussion prompts, the workbook provides readers and teachers the tools to apply the lessons from Obadiah to their own lives. It also includes suggestions for further study, making it an excellent resource for Bible study groups or individual study.

Whether you’re a seasoned Bible scholar or a new believer, this set will help you deepen your understanding of Obadiah and its message.

My Thoughts:

Several months ago, I noticed that April Gardner was asking for reviewers for her first Biblical fiction novel, A Hope Fulfilled. I offered to help her out, and along with that book she sent ebooks of Knowing Obadiah and a companion study guide, But in Mount Zion. I decided to work my way through this study of the book of Obadiah for my morning quiet time. I read Knowing Obadiah, and when I reached a place where the instruction was given to work through the study guide I switched to it. 

On my second read through But in Mount Zion, this time without going back and forth between it and Knowing Obadiah, I was struck with the author’s emphasis on me, the reader. How do these ancient writings and prophecies apply to my life? What does God want of me and have for me? This is quite an intense study. I wouldn’t recommend trying to do it without going through the other book, though. These two books are best used as a set, in my opinion.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

APRIL W GARDNER is an indie author whose great passion is historical romance with themes of Native American and Southeastern U.S. culture. Copyeditor, mother of two grown children, and non-trad college student, April lives in South Texas with her husband and two German Shepherds. In no particular order, April dreams of owning a horse, learning a third language, and visiting all the national parks.

More from April:

How close are you to your Bible? I don’t mean the distance from you to the nightstand where it’s resting. Or the amount of warm-and-fuzzy you feel toward it. Or the number of heartfelt notes you’ve scribbled sideways into the margins. I mean, how close is your connection to the Bible’s people and places?

Are you here in the twenty-first century while it’s there in some unknown BC year? Are you here in your comfy chair re-reading old Bible stories while prophets and priests are there battling against idolatry, while apostles and saints are there suffering for Jesus?

Or are you here and there, backside in a plush chair but feet planted in the hot sands of the Negev, body existing in the twenty-first century, but heart and mind connected to every message and mission given in Scripture?

The story of the Bible isn’t a three-act play: Old Testament characters and plot, New Testament characters and plot, present-day characters and plot. From Genesis 1 to today, it’s all the same act. We are all players in God’s Great Story. If we’re Christians saved by Christ’s sacrificial death, we’re all joined by the same Scarlet Thread. From Adam through Joshua, Obadiah, Esther, Lydia, Stephen, and all the rest to you and me.

It’s my hope that as you go deeper into the study of Obadiah, its origins, prophecy, and fulfillment, that you’ll place yourself at the center of its Before-Christ settings, that you’ll feel Esau’s grief, Jerusalem’s terror, and Judah’s righteous anger, and that you’ll look to God’s stage where His Story is playing out and say to yourself, “These are my people. This is my story. I am a player.”

So. Let’s get playing.

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