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I received Let Earth Receive Her King compliments of The Good Book Company in exchange for my honest review.
Let Earth Receive Her King is an Advent devotional by pastor and author Alistair Begg. The book includes twenty-five devotionals, one for reading each day during Advent, and is divided into five parts. The five parts are: Christmas in the Beginning, Christmas in the Land, Christmas in the Gospels, Christmas in the Letters, and Awaiting A New Advent.
Each devotional begins with a Bible verse and follows with a brief commentary by Begg on the verse. The devotionals conclude with questions for reflection followed by hymn lyrics. I appreciate that Begg began the book with verses from Genesis and helps readers understand how all of Scripture points to Jesus.
A bit confusing to me was the reference to Jesus being crucified on Mount Moriah on page 37. It says, “About 2,000 years ago, on Mount Moriah, God did with His Son what Abraham did not have to do with Isaac. On that day, God led His Son up the hill. On that Son’s shoulders, the wood for the sacrifice burdened Him with a great weight. And on the cross, the Son was bruised; the Son was the sacrifice.” I had understood that Jesus was crucified on Mount Golgotha (John 19:17-18). I did some research to try to understand what Begg meant by using Mount Moriah to make his point.
Mount Moriah is mentioned only twice in Scripture and it is not in reference to the crucifixion. It is mentioned in the Old Testament, specifically in Genesis 22:2 and 2 Chronicles 3:1. In my research, I learned that many scholars believe that Golgotha and Mount Moriah are in the same area [1] (I also learned that Moriah is pronounced Mo-ree-uh and not Mo-rye-uh).
If Let Earth Receive Her King is ever updated, I think a note in the book about scholars believing Mount Moriah and Golgotha to be the same would serve readers well since the Bible doesn’t explicitly state that they are and it seems at this point that we can’t know for sure.
I believe Let Earth Receive Her King is an excellent resource and incredibly helpful. In it, Begg consistently shares the gospel message and the book is full of verses. If you’re looking for an Advent devotional that will help you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus this Advent season, I highly recommend Let Earth Receive Her King.
[1] How God connects Moriah, Passover and Good Friday to reveal His eternal plan, Dallas Leadership Foundation Blog
