THE SCROLL BY GRANT R JEFFREY & ALTON GANSKY

 THE SCROLL by GRANT R JEFFREY & ALTON GANSKY
takes place in Israel in the near future.  It is a prophetic novel with a strong Christian message, fast-paced and full of action. 
David Chambers is professor of archeology at Harvard.  He has also written books, given lectures and become quite famous with his discovery of Herod's tunnel in Jerusalem.  He used to love biblical archeology, uncovering so much proof of the truth of God's word, but gave it up and gave up on God as well, blaming his father for his disillusionment.  His father was an archeologist who stayed on in Israel at a dig while David's mother was dying of cancer.  David was very angry and believed the worst of his father without knowing the truth. He also blamed God for his mother's death and his father's supposed insensitivity. David had been engaged to Amber, also a doctor of archeology, but she broke off the engagement when he changed.  He became difficult to be with, was very volatile, and gave up on the Truth and on biblical archeology.  Amber is a committed Christian and her faith is very important to her.
David and Amber are thrown together when their friend and mentor, Abram Ben-Judah, asks each of them, without letting the other know, to join in excavations funded by American billionaire Trent and backed by the prime minister of Israel and Israeli military, to find hidden treasure from the Second Temple.  They are to follow the rather well hidden clues found in the Copper Scroll.
Nuri Aumann is also part of the team.  Nuri is a real thorn in the flesh to David, especially because of his friendship with Amber Rodgers, which looks like more than friendship to him!  They work well together, in spite of everything, but keep taking digs at each other.
The first treasure is found in an Essene cave.  David leaves in a huff when he feels they are not following correct scientific procedure and are in too much of a hurry, but Hiram Landau, who is in charge of their security "persuades" him to stay on.  the team members are fed up with David's anger, self absorption and childish behaviour!
The work is dangerous, especially when it is leaked to the media that the Jews are looking to rebuild the Temple.  A Hebrew student is shot and there is an explosion in the tunnel where the first treasure is found.
It is thought that Hussein Al-Malik, a former Jordanian archeologist turned terrorist, who has ties with Hamas, is behind all the violence and that he has infiltrated the project by inserting one of his men in the crew.  There is an exciting discovery made in a natural tunnel leading off Herod's runnel.  The enemy does all it can to destroy David and to stop the excavations.  They are not after the treasure, they simply do not want the Temple to be rebuilt.  
Ben-Judah wants to find the ancient Temple artifacts so that the Jews can rebuild the Temple according to biblical prophecy.  He feels this will make a statement to the world that Israel is here to stay.  The building of the Third Temple has been a dream of the Jews since the first century AD and could radically change the world.
David feels responsible for the deaths as he is team leader and he wonders whether the project is worth it after all, however, when he sees his mentor on his knees worshiping God, overcome by the discovery of the Holy Table of Shewbread and the Temple Menorah, he is deeply moved.
Ben-Judah is a godly man with a passion for the God of the bible.  For him archeology is "an act of worship and service to God."  This used to be the case with David too, until he turned away from God and started to see it merely as a way to make an income and be successful.  He has become a little too proud of his achievements and is surly and unpleasant to be with.  Ben-Judah says David is a passionate man and a great archeologist, and as they get more involved in the work, David's excitement mounts and he is drawn back to his love of the Lord and of biblical archeology.  He now reads the bible in order to have a closer relationship with his God and not just to find archeological clues.
In this book we are reminded of the importance of forgiveness, of self-control, of unselfishness and of not losing faith in God.  As the suspense builds up we wonder who the mole is, if the project will succeed, whether Amber will choose the more charismatic Nuri or whether she and David will get back together again.  The characters are well portrayed and the setting in the ever volatile land of Israel makes this novel an exciting read.  I can highly recommend it.





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