Book Review: Tough Questions about God and His Actions in the Old Testament

Book Review: Tough Questions about God and His Actions in the Old Testament

By Walter C. Kaiser Jr.

Written by one of the biggest names in Hebrew Bible studies, the book is a much needed, scholarly study of troubling themes in the Old Testament. I appreciated how Kaiser did not sugar coat nor dumb down the issues. He tackled questions at their hardest to explain. Issues like Evolution or Creation (How could there be light before the sun and moon were created?), Grace or Law, Monogamy or Polygamy (Didn’t heroes of faith like Abraham and David have many wives?), Peace or Genocide (Didn’t God command the extermination of entire peoples?), etc. are confronted head on. Yet, Kaiser approaches the topics as one who believes the Bible to be the Word of God. This in itself is refreshing in this day and age. Trust me. Not many like him left in academic circles.

If some of God’s actions in the Old Testament have seemed troublesome to you in the past, this is a book you will thoroughly enjoy. Though, let me warn you that part of Kaiser’s honesty will cause him to leave some issues unresolved to your satisfaction. Again, he is handling the Word the best way he can, while still allowing for mystery in the will and actions of God; as it should be, I guess. Personally, I like clear-cut answers, and black or white points of view, but I understand that they are not always possible.

4/5 Stars

Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only an unbiased one.

Book Review: Interpreting the Prophetic Books: An Exegetical Handbook by Gary V. Smith

The idea behind the Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis series is an outstanding one. Short, to the point, yet scholarly and well documented. Gary V. Smith is a well-known scholar of the prophetic writings and is informed enough to write a useful handbook; and that he did. He covers the fundamentals, rather than just the essentials (see below). That is, Smith not only tells us how to interpret, but what to do with that information. Most commentaries/exegetical handbooks stop at interpretation.

PROS
• There are chapters on “Proclaiming Prophetic Texts” and “From Text to Application,” which are extremely useful in our day and age. Very few of us know how to preach from these texts without over spiritualizing them. Rather than giving God’s message, we usually end up giving our own (with the best of intentions, mind you).
• FOOTNOTES. Oh, yeah!  I love having footnotes rather than endnotes. This is a major plus for any academic work.

CONS
• The type is set in a small font; specially the Hebrew font. I had trouble reading some of the vowel markings. Not good. I understand the need to make the size of the book manageable, but please remember that 40-year-old and above also want to read scholarly books and continue studying.
• Some charts had too dark a background, which made reading the text more difficult.
• Maybe the content was a little too brief. Again, I understand the purpose behind the brevity, but at many points I was left wanting just a little more information. I would definitely love the book at double its current size.
• A little too critical of the text itself at some points. Since I believe the Bible to be completely inspired of God. Some of the current critical views do not settle well with me.

With that said. I would pick this book up first when beginning a study of the prophetic material, and work from there. It should not be the only source of information by any means, but it is a useful one.

3/5 Stars


Disclosure: The book was received for free from Kregel Academic & Ministry review program. The program does not require a positive review, only a truthful one.

DVD Set Review: The Tabernacle — Rose Publishing

DVD Review: The Tabernacle

By Shawn Barnard, MDiv

Important Note: This review is for the 6-Session DVD and printable Leader Guide edition only. Therefore, other items in the Complete Kit For The Tabernacle DVD-based Bible Study were not available for review.

Rose Publishing is currently a leader in publishing study books that are attractive, well laid out, and very useful; most of them are truly eye-candy. It is no different with The Tabernacle 6-Session DVD.

I teach Tabernacle typology at a local Bible school; therefore, my expectations of Barnard’s teaching may be a little higher than most. Barnard is a good communicator and the multimedia features added to the lectures are very helpful in aiding further understanding. Unfortunately, the audio in the lectures is uneven (the right channel is very low and unclear); still, the images used are beautiful; I just wish they had used more of the relevant images throughout the presentations. Also, I’m not sure how I feel about some of the camera work; looking at the back of people’s heads may seem interesting to some while unnerving others.

Of course, most of the teaching was familiar to me; however, I did find one or two nuggets of gold in Barnard’s teaching. As is common with any typological teaching, I think that sometimes Shawn went beyond the Biblical evidence in some applications (e.g. the Trinity in the Tabernacle?), but overall he tries to stay grounded in Scripture. Further, I could not agree with his statement that, “Everything in Scripture points to and finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.” Most current scholars of Hermeneutics would not agree with that position. I think most of us can think of Old Testament passages that cannot point to Jesus in a typological fashion (descriptions of geographical locations, numbers, genealogies, descriptions of sinful behavior, etc.). That is not to say that Jesus is not present in the Old Testament; He certainly is present in every division of the Hebrew Bible! (See John 5:39: Luke 24:27, 44–45.)

All the video sessions come in one DVD; the second DVD contains marketing materials for the class and also a 96 page Leader’s Guide that is very nicely done and could be useful in teaching a class on the subject at your local church as it contains suggestions on group activities. Of course, the student’s would have to avail themselves of the Student’s Notes with fill-in-the-blanks elsewhere since they are not included in this package (see the Complete Kit for the Tabernacle from Rose Publishing that does include those).

Viewing all sessions takes about three hours; hardly enough time to give an adequate overview of the richness of the typology found in the descriptions of the Tabernacle plan and function. This need not be seen as a negative comment; I just wish Barnard took his time explaining each lesson in more detail; he seems to have more to share than he had time to. Maybe Rose Publishing will produce a more complete course on the subject (one also has to keep in mind that Rose has a book and other materials on the subject that can complement the DVD series). Having said that, I think the DVD study is an excellent primer on Tabernacle typology for the average church member. Get this resource. You won’t be disappointed.

4/5 Stars

Disclosure: The DVD set was received for free from the Rose Publishing book review program. The program does not require a positive review, only an honest one.