Heirloom Audio- For The Temple Review

Are you ready for another amazing adventure from Heirloom Audio!  For The Temple is the newest audio drama available.  This story came alive to my family and having been to many of the places in the story recently made it even more of an adventure.

I received a physical CD for this review. I also received a PDF Study Guide that I downloaded.

For The Temple CD

This is a 2-CD set that comes in a tri-fold case. The story is 2 1/2 hours long. The age range is  for 6-and up.

This audio drama is recorded with a state of the art sound that will make it seem like you are within the adventure yourself. My kids like to think of it as a movie going inside your head! As the sound effects and actors/actresses make the Christian audio drama come alive. 

For The Temple has an award winning all-star cast: Brian Blessed (Star Wars), Chris Larkin (Valkyrie), Jolyon Coy ( Beauty and the Beast), Jullian Rhinkd-Tutt ( Oliver Twist), Cathy Sara (Downtown Abbey), and George Blagden (Les Miserables).

The story is adapted by author G.A. Henty. G.A. Henty has written 122 historical fiction books that take you too many places and eras.  G.A. Henty writes about Godly character, loyalty, Biblical Worldview, and about those who stand up for their faith and convictions in God. I love the historical fiction that teaches you history, biography, and geography. 

 Synopsis:

I’m going to show some picture of some of the places mentioned in the story that we visited in 2013 and recently in November 2018. Hopefully it will bring the story alive in your imagination.

Modern day Gamala: ruins of a synagogue. This is the town that our story begins in.

John of Gamala is living a simple life of caring for his family’s vineyard in his town of Gamala. John is about to be betrothed soon too his longtime friend Mary.

Mary and John are working in a grape vineyard as the story starts to unfold.
 A grape vineyard in modern day Gamala. 

The country is living under the occupation of Rome. Many Jewish zealots are causing havoc in the land with one another and the Romans. Rome is not going to put up with the havoc in the country.

A calm Sea of Galilee. Storms are known to pop up out of nowhere here. To Mary's eyes the sea looks welcoming and doesn't notice a coming storm. John knows that a storm is approaching and going on a boat ride is dangerous.

Mary wants to find a way to talk about their betrothal alone without the escort of John’s mother. She suggests a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Mary foolishly jumps into the boat. John jumps into the boat after her to help navigate her back to dry land before the coming storm. What happens next will change the course of both lives as the boat is taken out further into the Sea of Galilee. A ship pulls them out of trouble and they met General Josephus who is impressed by John’s bravery. John is asked to help the cause of the Jewish people. John accepts his offer after discussing the matter with his family.

Modern day Jopapata is the first battle in the audio drama For The Temple.

John experience his first battle at Jotapata after Roman commander Vespasian lays siege of the city capturing General Josephus and killing all in the city and then destroying the city. John and his new companion Jonas are able to hide for days on a ledge big enough for the two of them until the Romans leave the city.

After a joyful return home to his family John realizes he has to be like a “flea to cause the Romans to itch” John knows he can’t defeat the Roman army but he can sure cause havoc among them until he is needed for the defense of the Temple.

Modern day Mt Carmel-no lions or bears seen much in this wilderness today. John takes a walk in the Mt Carmel wilderness and carries his javelin with him for protection not thinking he'd need it for a person but, for wild animals in the area.

Later on in the story John has an encounter with General Titus in the wilderness of Mt Carmel. John  spares Commander Titus's life and an oath is made between the two. However the encounter John received a head wound and is taken to the Roman camp.  At the camp he is reunited with General Josephus and comes to respect Commander Titus as a person. John is able to leave in peace back to his men. They send him to a place by the Dead Sea to heal. John hears of Yeshua but, isn’t sure what to think of this Yeshua.

The climax of the story takes place in Jerusalem while John and his men go to protect the holy Temple.  Commander Titus doesn't want to destroy the Temple. 

A replica of the Temple in Jerusalem.

This area could possibly be where the Temple stood. John and his men are outside of the Temple and are trying to keep the Romans from getting to the Temple. 

It was surreal the day I was able to walk on the Temple Mount. Thinking about this in the story and the history that these stones could tell you! The story came alive while listening to it.

The outer walls in our story are getting rammed, battered, and catapults are flying trying to breach the outer walls. This is what historically happened and G.A. Henty does a wonderful job painting the scene in the book.

The scars are still laying in the city of the destruction of Herod's Temple. The rubble is from the catapults which you can see in the back and see the indent in the stone floor.
 

Eventually John and his men are called to defend the Temple. They find that inside the walls of Jerusalem many zealots are just as horrible as the approaching army. The zealots Eleazor, Tobin, and other zealots are fighting among themselves. One of them has even killed someone at the Temple. The zealots are robbing from their own people and have been completely lawless.

John brings the zealots together as the battle begins to defend the Temple. Many lives are lost in battle. The people are running out of food and some of them leave the city. That was a bad choice as 2,000 are crucified when they leave the safety of the walls. The battle is not fairing well and that is when John comes to the conclusion that it is God’s will to let the Temple fall.

The audio drama when John and his men went through Hezekiah's Tunnel they had the sound effect of water dripping. Which when your in the tunnel you can hear water dripping. The sound effects are so real.

This is where John and his men would have exit the tunnels at the Pool of Siloam.

In the end John and his men are able to escape through Hezekiah’s Tunnel and leave Jerusalem.

John and Jonas are captured by slave traders while heading home. They end up in Egypt being sold to a Roman. John is glad they are sold to a Roman as he was given something from General Titus if he ever needed him to help him out. They find themselves heading to Rome before they are able to make it back to the hills of Gamala.

John eventually ends up marrying Mary and starts a family of his own but, something is missing in his life. He makes one more trip to the Dead Sea to find out more about Yeshua.

For The Temple Study Guide

The Study Guide comes as a PDF file that I downloaded. There are 51 pages in all.

The Study Guide is broken down in sections for each chapter: Listening Well, Thinking Further, and Defining Words. 

 I like to think of the Study Guide as open discussions with my children. It lets me see how they view the story and what they understand. It gives me ample opportunity to clarify things. I also see their heart on matters as the context is always from a Biblical Worldview.

Listening Well:  All of the questions are found in the story from the CD.  Some of the questions are easy and other questions are more difficult.  This particular section lets you see that your child comprehends the story and if they are listening. You can read the questions out loud or print out the questions.

Thinking Further: This section will have many thought provoking questions that your child will need to come up with. They may have to look up something, come to some conclusions about the characters and their actions. It will take the story to a whole new level to increase their understanding of the story.  For younger kids some of the questions you may have to start out and let them finish up your thought.

Defining Words: Grab a dictionary for this section. You can have them write down the vocabulary words or tell you what they mean orally.   

The numbers of questions vary in each section of the story.

We spent a lot of time discussion Josephus as he is a very controversial figure in his day and even now. We debated several of the questions and had some interesting outcomes on this chapter. 

We also found it interesting that John's encounter with General Titus gave him a different outlook on him as a person and not just a Roman. We couldn't talk about General Josephus character without looking at General Titus, and John's character side by side. 

Like I mentioned earlier the chapter "Loyalty" we  talked a lot about Josephus. I liked that there are several sections that go deeper than what you find in the story. The square box is all about Josephus.

There are several other topics covered like the Shabbat, foods, and even a map. They are all very interesting to read and all are very relevant to our story.

I was glad to see that the Study Guide mentions Tisha B'Av that is still remembered annually by Jewish people. 

 More on the Destruction of Jerusalem for Older Readers: This has 4 recommended books for older kids to read if they want to find out more about this era of history.

Within the Study Guide there are 3 brief Bible Studies.

Bible Study I: No Other Savior

This has several scripture references for you to look up with your child. There are 7 subjects that have a few references under them. For example, “His death is the only remedy for sin.” All of the scripture references are from the New Testament except for 2 from the Old Testament.

Bible Study II: Proper Worship

The layout is the same as format with 7 subjects.  The majority of the scripture references are from the New Testament except for 5  from the Old Testament.

The Bible Studies are great for digging into the Scriptures and they aren't to long. This is suitable for young and older kids. Older kids can work independently on this. 

Bible Study III: Christ Our Temple

This has 6 subjects to look up in the Bible. All the scriptures are from the New Testament.

For The Temple in Your Homeschool?

If you're wondering how you can use For The Temple in your homeschool let me give you a few suggestions! 

One just for pure fun and enjoyment. Its great to take on a road trip, or running errands, or even a family night. You won't be disappointed. While having fun they are learning history, geography, and some amazing character traits.

If you want to dig in deeper but not reinvent the wheel you could use the Study Guide. All the questions are laid out for you and you don't have to put anything together. The Study Guide is great for younger kids to have open discussions with them with all the questions in each chapter.  This will work with older kids the same way.

Study Guide  has suggestions of books for older kids that you could study. 

Of course they could always write an essay about the audio drama.

You can go beyond the Study Guide.  You could easily add the audio drama to a Biblical study on the Temple, Israel History, Church History, and even Roman History.There are several topics and ways you could approach this as each area I mentioned is involved in the story. 

So lets say you want to know more details about what led Rome to attack Jerusalem and the other cities. You could research Roman Commanders Vespasian or Titus. Hopefully that gives you the depth that For The Temple has in it as a jumping point to further study.

How Did I Use For The Temple in My Homeschool?

Usually everyone listens to the audio theatre in the car while out and about. This year we all had different things going on in our life and haven’t yet been able to listen together as a family to the whole CD.

My daughter is 16 and we were still able to listen to For The Temple while my daughter had her weekly appointments in town. Since we are usually in town all day we had no problem listening to the story in a day in between appointments and errands.Then the following week my daughter and I listened to it again. Let’s just say that we have listened to the adventure more than twice. My daughter thrives on audio books since reading is hard for her with her disabilities.

My daughter’s thoughts:

I feel like I can close my eyes and see the people and things happening in the story. It’s like being at the movies yet, it’s better because I get to put faces on the people and how I see the story before my very eyes. It’s exciting listening to the story.

I don’t know if I have a favorite part as the whole story is very good. It’s such a tragic event and yet at the same time Yeshua told the Jewish people that the Temple was going to be destroyed. 

My son was able to listen to the story without any interruptions from the comfort of home. He popped the CD in his computer and put on his ear phones.

My 13 year old son just came back from Israel in November 2018. The story was really vivid in his imagination. Even through all the ruins he seen there in Israel the story made the ruins pop out into history into whole building again.

My son’s thoughts:

The first thing I thought of was something we do every year on Tisha B’Av or the 9^th of Av we remember as a family and congregation the destruction of the 1^st and 2^nd Temple. As a Believer I know that the Temple was just a building but I am waiting for the return of Yeshua. I kept thinking of that when the Temple was being destroyed in the story.

I love the sound effects of the clashing of swords, battering ram hitting the gates, and the sound of the roaring fire. It was amazing listening to the story.

He is given For The Temple a thumbs up!

My favorite part is when John and his men are at the Roman camp and cutting the ropes, and causing so much havoc. I could just imagine being in your tent and suddenly the tent falling in on you!

I really had an appreciation for the places in the story and being in the land just a few months ago. It was so real in my eyes.

The Study Guide in our Homeschool:

As a family we went over the Study Guide together. I scheduled it into school schedule to go over the guide. By the time we did this all of us had already listened to the CD twice. We read over the questions and looked up the scripture references.   

As a family we are constantly studying the Jewish history and are familiar with several aspects of it. We didn’t feel the need to elaborate on the story any more than what was given in the Study Guide. I felt it had sufficient information to make this a rich study. Like I mentioned we talked a lot about General Josephus. We also talked about how the gate was closed for the Sabbath and John and his men couldn't enter the city a lot. We just dived into the Study Guide as a whole and spent a good amount of time talking about For The Temple. 

For other Heirloom Audio dramas we would listen to a chapter and then go over the Study Guide chapter. With this we felt to do it over a couple of days of just looking at the questions. We have always loved Heirlooms Audio’s Study Guides and take away so much more from the stories when we incorporate them into the audio theater.

Mom’s thoughts:

I love the stories and would have to say the whole story is my favorite part! I enjoy going over the Study Guide with my kids and getting to see the story from my kids perceptive. It’s always so interesting to talk to my kids about history and God's word.

If you have read any of my other reviews from Heirloom Audio then you know that they are one of our absolute favorite audio books and company. My kids actually stalk Heirloom Audio to see when and what the next one will be. I’m glad G.A. Henty has 122 books! I hope that is a sign that they have many more upcoming adventures for years to come.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeirloomAudio
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeirloomStories 
Instagram: @HeirloomAudioOfficial
 

There are 79 reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew. Stop by a few and see what they have to say about Heirloom Audio and For The Temple! Just click on the graphic below.

Shalom