Ben Amittai — Bruce Judisch

TELL THE KING AND THE PEOPLE: ISRAEL SHALL BE RESTORED TO THE LAND ... FOR A SEASON. The angel s words reverberated in Jonah s mind as he set his face south toward Samaria. In Ben Amittai: First Call, recounting Scripture s first mention of Israel s most memorable prophet (2 Kings 14:25), author Bruce Judisch takes Jonah, son of Amittai Ben Avram, a tanner from Gath-hepher, and his friend and protector, Elihu, on a tumultuous journey from Galilee to Samaria with God s message of deliverance to the court of King Jeroboam II. Years of agonizing silence had followed the angel s first startling exhortation to Jonah: PREPARE YOURSELF . Even after his beloved mother s revelation of their family s life-changing encounter with the great prophet Elisha, Jonah had grown weary, believing Adonai had revoked the tanner s call to prophecy. But nothing could be farther from the truth ... Ben Amittai: First Call traces the first faltering steps of the prophet history remembers most for rebelling against God s call to preach salvation to the people of Nineveh. But, as is often true of a divine calling, a period of preparation and a test of faith must come first.