Charles Swindoll aptly connects the time of great Israel persecution and a courageous woman who saved her people from genocide to modern readers who will feel like they know her by the end of the book. The cultural analysis is especially fascinating.

The entire Great Lives Series are biographies on individuals of the Bible. They are wonderful books because they can be read at many different levels. This book, on Esther, is no different.
On the surface level one can read this book and learn a lot about Esther. The next level reveals the character of God, and another level teaches the reader application for their own life and relationship with God.

This book is entirely about Esther, but doesn't have anything to do with Esther. Through reading this book one learns about Esther, her experiences, and the era she lived in. Yet what we are really learning are principles that remain constant for all people and all time. Some of these are: waiting on the Lord, the invincibility of God despite his invisibility, and self- constraint through the holy spirit. Like the parables Jesus used, the story of Esther's life is merely a tool God uses to portray His will. This is something Charles Swindoll has discovered, and I believe his intent in writing this book is to help us discover the same.

One of the great aspects of this book is that it is part of a series and each book in the series addresses different lessons and characteristics of God. These books introduce life- changing application we might otherwise miss in our regular bible reading and therefore, can greatly enhance our time in God's word.

I hadn't read the Book of Esther before buying this book by Charles Swindoll. The way that he presents the information is fun yet informative. A lot of times he will relate the happenings as to how they might occur in today's world just to illustrate the events further. This is a great book! I highly recommend it.

Contrary to what the first reveiwer says, I believe "Moses" is excellent and consistent with Swindoll's other titles - warts and all. Indeed, since the Bible does not gloss over a person's sin, then why should books about Biblical characters overlook their flaws? We can learn important lessons from people's failures, specifically: how not to repeat them!

Among the important points Swindoll mentions in his book are:

1. God can use "losers" and "accidents" for His glory.
2. Let God operate His will in your life in His time and way.
3. There are no shortcuts to maturity.
4. God prefers to use broken people instead of the proud and self-sufficient.
5. Be willing to surrender every detail of your life under the authority of Jesus Christ.
6. We do not know how to live until we learn to die.
7. When we try to make things happen, things are forced. When God is in something, things flow smoothly.
8. You cannot scoff at God forever. His judgments may take time, but they are decisive when they happen!

Instead of belittling Swindoll's book, I much prefer to honestly anayze my Christian walk and be ever mindful that should I become too proud or self-sufficient, I stand to experience failures like Moses did.

Why should we always read the Bible or a Christian book with the intention of feeling better about ourselves? Sometimes we have to be convicted by the Holy Spirit before He does a great work in our lives. Indeed, two of the Holy Spirit's roles is to convict us of sin and to keep us from falling into sin. Before we can be used by God, He must first refine our character.

I highly recommend Swindoll's book - be honest in your walk with the Lord and always remember, He can work great things through us not because of ourselves, but in spite of ourselves - a perfect picture of His unmerited grace towards us!

Read the book and be challenged and encouraged!

Moses is like me, and Chuck Swindoll details in this book, how God accepts us 'Just as I Am'. How like Moses, He moulds us to the way He wants us, what a profound lesson. The text is clear and simple, bringing sometimes hard to understand Bible passages into everyday language and interlacing it with experiences that can only make you smile. This book is a must for those still trying to determine where they fit in God's big world and if they are quite good enough. Excellent, page turning reading.

Swindoll's down to earth writing style coupled with this great Bible character really impacted my life. He brings out the good and bad in Moses' life (something we all struggle with), and gives an honest portrayal of God's plan being worked out in God's timing for God's greater purpose. If you struggle with accepting God's role of leadership, question God's chosen leaders in your life, or just enjoy a good character study, you will benefit from reading this book.

The Cliffs notes for the Bible is hardly an attempt to "condense the entire 39 books of the Old Testament into a little yellow book." I would not be so condesending, it does a very good job at condensing many scholars' perspectives on who's writing is included in it and the times the texts were written during; even touching on *some* pop Bible stories and the "great questions" they analyze. It introduces Bible newbies (and some oldies) to the notion the Bible wasn't written like a movie, by a few people in the span of a few months or even years; the Old Testament includes work by many people over the span of hundreds of years. Such a long time, that original documents wore out or decayed, thus needed to be copied down to a new hard copy...he briefly mentions instances of editorial modifications, he does not discuss language conversions however. I believe an overview of a very complicated piece of literature is great, before or after sitting down to read it in vast quantities. He does a good job at staying in an objective tone, not rambling on to preaching tangents. Again, this is not an attempt to condense the OT, but provide insight into who the current studied folks consider the authors and when the manuscripts were brought together.

Until someone comes out with Debby Does the Old Testament, this is perhaps the easiest way of passing any test on the most boring book ever written. And until society stops forcing unwilling, open-minded youth to read such cockadoodledoo-doo, Cliff's OT will remain the smart student's companion to the bible. Thanks to Cliff, students can look smart in class and still have time to read good books on the side - an important benefit for real scholars. Weighing in at nearly 100 pages, my only complaint is that these notes are bit too long. Subsequent editions should shoot for thirty or less pages. For me personally, trudging through ten pages of the bible is boring enough.

Wow, I really have to say--this is one Cliffs Notes that I can appreciate. It actually has a purpose. This is the perfect book for those of us who are forced by parents and sunday school teachers to read the Bible on penalty of everlasting suffering and torment. I wish this was available when I was growing up...it is the perfect tool to decieve those that would try to force us to read the incomphrensible gibberish that is the Bible. And frankly rounding out at just under 100 pages, I can say that this is about as much of the Bible that I can bear. Easy to read and understand and without the mind-altering, brainwashing side affects. A+, highly recommended!!!

Countdown to Armageddon is a great resource for those studying the end-times. It's best use is as a reference. These distinguished men of God have taken each aspect of the last days and have have exegeted the corresponding passages biblically.

Prophecy is a wonderful, yet dangerous pursuit. If interpreted literally, it inspires, informs, and motivates the believer to greater work for God. If taken out of context and used as the foundation for a life-ministry, can get lead to wild and crazy interpretations that lead well-meaning believers on useless wild-goose chase for the latest and greatest nugget.

This book does the former. It presents biblical prophecy clearly and accurately. It doesn't fantasize or read between the lines of Scripture. It would be a great text for a college prophecy course.

It's great to see insight from pre-tribulation, pre-millenial, dispensationalists. I believe as do most conservative bible belivers, that this is the only true way to read Scripture.

This is the best video of Bible Prophecy concerning the endtime in which we live right now. It not only shows us how past Old Testament prophecies have been fulfilled but also lets us know WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW CONCERNING THE IRAQ WAR AND THE DEFINITE RISE OF THE ANTICHRIST.
AN ABSOLUTE MUST BUY!!!

This book takes 4 of the finest experts and in simple language and wonderful word pictures explains the Book of Revelation that I have come across. I am in a comprehensive study of Revelation for which this book has been a tremendous tool yet it also reads like a story. This book can be used as a witnessing tool because of the easy read and again as a wonderful navigation tool through the past, present and future description Apostle Paul gives us from his devine experience.

I have to wonder if the other reviewers at Amazon read this volume, all the way through; I was forced to as part of a Plymouth Brethern training program. This book is dense; it does not read well. Its writer is seldom quoted even in PB circles. If someone bubbles about this book, ask them this: "How much of it have you read?" My suggestion is first to read the books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) through, perhaps several times. Then look for commentaries on the individual books. Think careful before you purchase this monstroity.

The first five book of the Bible were often the most negelected ones in my study. This great commentary has helped me see Christ throught these books and has helped me pull out many great applications. This book is a MUST for every serious believer's library!

This book is very informative and insightful in regards to providing a clear understandable basis for interpretation of the events of the first five books of the Bible. This in turn helps for better understanding of the Old Testament, which in turn helps to provide a context for better understanding and application of the entire Bible in one's own life. Also extremely helpful as a tool for Bible teachers to see the glory of God and the purpose of Christ even from "the beginning."

This book is good, not great. Its to small and many of the illistrations are too small,and hard to see. But for the money its worth it. They have many other books that are a bit better than this one. Here is one that is very good 'Masterpieces of the J.Paul Getty Museum Illuminated Manuscripts'. This book is awesome with easy to read text and wonderful pictures. Happy Reading.

This is one of my favorite illumination books. Being a practicing illuminator, I need photos much more than I need lengthy discussions, historical analyses, elaborate provenance notes, etc. They have to be color photos and they have to be large enough, and at a high enough resolution, that I can learn something from them--and maybe even copy an initial, a diapering pattern, a bit of the border, or more.

This book satisfies all these criteria. In fact, the only thing I dislike about this book is the fact that it's so small, it's really hard to keep open while I paint from it. REALLY hard, because if you get large and heavy enough items to hold both sides down, inevitably the items obscure parts of the page you are painting from!

Its size can be an advantage, though. I purchased this at the National Gallery in Washington, on a midday jaunt during a conference, then went back for the next conference presentation. When the speaker turned out to be droningly boring, I brought out this tiny book and paged through it inconspicuously under the table. Could I have done that with Janet Backhouse's monumental work? I think not...;)

The selections are wonderful, and they're usefully broken down into sections based on content--excellent when you need to find a quick animal or floral image for a border, a rendering of a king or queen, or a picture of a dragon or other supernatural being. Not so excellent when you need to find an example of, say, a late 1400's eastern French book of hours (there are many, just not in any kind of chronological or geographical order). But then, there are other resources that do that. This book is interesting for its variety, its excellent reproductions, and its well-selected and unusual miniatures.

Excellent reproduction of a number of styles, with reasonable commentary. Very valuable for me as a newbie, to provide a sense of medieval style and composition. The size is at once very handy and very frustrating.

I have owned a number of study bibles in the past (Dakes, Nelson, Thompson, etc.). I have not been completely satisfied with any of them. In my search, I have determined the following criteria, which have to be balanced in selection of a bible. Of course, your needs may vary.The Ryrie Study Bible meets most of my needs. However, there are way too many notes that are unnecessary and only serve to add bulk. It appears that Dr. Ryrie had a goal to increase the number of notes from his previous version.

The construction is average. The leather quality is typical of the leather found on most bibles, and the same can be said of the paper quality. The binding is also typical. You can find Cambridge's bibles that offer overall superior construction with impressive leathers and paper. Cambridge's best personal bible retails for [$] that uses goatskin leather and leather lining. Holman's top of the line KJV reference bible ([$]) also has similar quality as compared to the Cambridge.

Primarily a KJV reader, self-pronouncing text and a dictionary are features that are very beneficial to me. Ryrie does not provide these features.

On the positive side, this bible has easy-to-read text, excellent subtitles, exceptional cross-references, a very useful topical section, functional concordance, great diagrams, and informative book introductions.

This is an excellent Bible. It has a plethora of great study helps, layouts, and maps. If you need a quality Bible that will last through some extensive studying and still come out in good shape, this is it. I would recommend a version without the index tabs. They tend to get in the way when you want to quickly flip to a book you are familiar with. Plus the pages crease and fold a little around the tabs as time goes by. Another small disappointment is that there is no index for all of the charts and commentaries scattered throughout the Bible. I have made my own and attached it into the back. Be careful of some of Ryrie's comments also, they tend to be from a theological perspective and not always from the anointing. I call this library piece my 'mac daddy'.

Ryerie has put together an awesome Study Bible. It has maps in the text that show where in the world the events are happening. Verse notws that clear up trouble pasages. In the back, you have your own little handbook of theology. This is a must for everyone.

I read this book over a year ago but haven't gotten around to writing a review until now! :P

Contrary to one review here, I believe it is obvious that the Biblical authors considered the Book of Enoch to be "scripture." At least Jude did. (JFYI, I don't believe the Bible is infallible or literally "God's word", nor do I believe Enoch is)

Regardless of your perspective on the Bible or the Book of Enoch I think most will agree with me that the Book of Enoch is an enjoyably chilling, goose-bump giving read; absolutely fascinating!

Chapters 6-8 were marvelously entertaining. The descriptions of the vampire-like beings known as the Nephilim (also Rephaim, which some, interestingly, translate into "the dead") were more interesting than anything Hollywood could come up with! (This book gives movie writers a perfect story for a horror-film so I am surprised that so little has been done in this area---not that I would not Hollywood to corrupt the story)

I must say, however, that I do take issue with some of Charles' translations. Hebrew "Nephilim" should not be translated into "giants", not from etymology (which isn't a correct method of translation in the first place) or in usage. We do not know what it means, so he should have left the word as UN-translated (simply "Nephilim") instead of taking it upon him to decide that the word meant "giants", which is ridiculous.

"Sin against" in 6:5 is not a correct translation. I think "defile" might have been more accurate. This paints a very different picture since it then implicates that the Nephilim somehow mated with the animals (which happens to correlate with the Authentic Book of Jasher's account on the subject).

"Wives" in chapter 5 is also incorrect. The "Irin'" (often translated as "watchers", though others often have it as "those who are awake" or "those who watch") did not choose "wives", they chose "women." The Hebrew text indicates that these sex-crazed angels were lusting after "women" rather than choosing "wives." It is nonsense to think that the angels talked to the human fathers of these women and discussed contracts and legal issues (which is what usually went on before marriages could take place)!

"Bastards" (describing the Nephilim) in chapters 10 and 13 is not a correct translation either. "Biters" would have been more accurate. (And it is interesting that these "biters" happened to drink blood, according to chapter 6)

While I have much more to say about some of the translations, as well as some comments to make about Charles' theory of why the church rejected the book, I think I've said enough.

In summary, this book simultaneously beautiful and terrifying! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the paranormal and supernatural (which are not synonymous).

-- Pat Casanova...

Okay, the reviewer below is wrong about a couple things: A-Jesus said angels "in Heaven" don't marry; he wasn't talking about ones that might take human form! Also, Enoch never in this text is a mediator between God and men. Even if he was, Jesus didn't become the mediator until his rise to Heaven. Now for the actual review: While much of the Intro is wild speculation to say the least, ( I doubt the NT was as influenced by "Enoch" as Mr. Charles thinks ) it is still an invaluable document in studying how the Jews did eagerly await a PERSONAL Messiah and they believed in an EARTHLY manifestation of His Kingdom. The Book of Enoch is stunning in it's glowing poetry and vivid images; this text was of great importance to both William Blake and even modern day Anne Rice. I doubt strongly this is some "lost book" of the Bible, but it has added so much to my faith in the canonical Scriptures that I heartily urge ANY lover of the Word, or truth-seeker, to obtain and study this fascinating ancient text.

Dear Mr. R.H. Charles: I am very interested in obtaining a copy of your books in spanish, for I want to share them with a non-english speaker friend and find them to be extremely informative and would like to know where or how can i get them. Sincerely,

Samuel Johnson remarked once that learning in Scotland was like bread in a siege town. Everyone got some but none got enough to make a meal. His quip could equally apply to this book. It touches on everything, but doesn't cover anything in sufficient depth. In fact I would tend to view the book as really centered around bringing Fireworks and Freehand into play (contra Illustrator and Photoshop). Freehand and Fireworks get 200 pages each, while Flash gets 90 pages. Dreamweaver gets just under 300 pages, and the surface of many features is revealed. However, there isn't a lot of depth throughout and elaborate examples are avoided. The rest of the book is focused on Cold Fusion (which was not of interest to me).

My personal recommendation is to look at specific books for specific components. Compendium type books, often suggest more than they can deliver.

Almost 1,200 pages packed with great information! The authors did a superb job of hitting the most important features of each application with special emphasis on integration.

There are even a couple of new Bible icons in this book, one was to indicate exercises that contributed to the books ongoing project. I could jump into any chapter and have the files needed without doing anything previously. It was a nice way to learn how to use the applications together.

Wonderful resource for learning a lot about each program. I discovered which application was best for which job. For example instead of trying to print my Fireworks logo, I've decided I'm better off doing that in FreeHand when I need cards and stationary and such then bringing the vectors into Fireworks to prepare for the web.

I purchased the studio and didn't know how to use the programs together in harmony. I really liked how many of the exercises were related to a site that was being built throughout the book. I could pick any topic I wanted and often times make something for the books project.

It has good coverage of each of the studio applications a bit of beginner and intermediate mixed with more advanced (ColdFusion). There is even a bit on Flash Remoting.

Overall its been a good reference when I had a problem in any of the applications. I'm new to Fireworks and it's helped out a lot in learning how to prepare images to use in DW. How to optimize them, slice, export, make buttons and even animations.

If you own the Studio MX package you can't go wrong with this as a reference for all.

This could have been such a good book. It is like he just put something together,just to get out another volume. I won't be getting anymore in the series. This one wasted my money.

Contrary to other reviews, I really enjoyed this book in the Great Lives Series by Swindoll. The book is an excellent encouragement to stand firm in the Lord even when others are compromising.

Among the excellent points Swindoll mentions are:

1. Lessons to be learned from Elijah's life.
2. Principles about God's leading.
3. Trust in the Lord and spend time alone with Him.
4. Reasons why Elijah may have been intimidated by Jezebel.
5. Do not let self-sufficiency replace your dependence on God!
6. Elijah had to learn self-denial and to rely on God instead of himself.
7. Living in sin will make you unsure and indecisive.
8. God will often use tests to shape us into His likeness.

Again, these are just a few of the many excellent points mentioned in the book. An excellent supplement to the Bible, I highly recommend it!

So far I have read Elijah, David, and Moses. All three are excellent, but Elijah has been my favorite. If you are a Christian looking for a way to have more of God and draw closer to Him. Elijah will be of great benefit to you. Elijah was a man with a great annointing on His life and was selfless and dedicated to obedience. Charles Swindoll does show a balanced view of Elijah's weaknesses and strengths. Swindoll has a way of getting into the skin of each person he is studying. It was easy for me to relate to Elijah on a personal level because Charles Swindoll has a way of reflecting the human qualities of this giant for God along with the supernatural nature of God that lives within each of us. I enjoyed reading this book slowly so as not to miss one drop. :}