I was given this book by a good friend which was really nice as it is probably not something I would have been drawn to but I have enjoyed it immensely. It does what it says on the tin, it is a thematic approach to the Old Testament, no surprises there. The surprise was how readable it was which for a book that is about the theology of the Old Testament really is a surprise. It's probably aimed at first year Theology undergraduates but is very readable so it could benefit anyone. I haven't purposefully avoided any Old Testament scholarly works but I think this is the first O.T. text I've read since I was a 3rd year theology student. For this reason I found the large introduction useful as it covered all the major players in Old Testament studies and their perspectives as well as their different schools of thought.
The book covered major themes in the Old Testament occasionally demonstrating how they relate to a New Testament understanding. For me the most informative section was in the chapter 'God and the future' especially 'Messianic expectation'. Routledge is an evangelical who believes the whole Bible so he interacts with the New Testament. He argues that many of the terms that we rightly associate with Jesus found within the Old Testament are not necessarily considered Messianic. I'd never thought of that before and have automatically presumed that any passage that speaks of Jesus, such as the prophet, the Son of Man, the Servant are all Messianic. He also traces some of these themes into the inter-testament period and saw how they developed. In the same chapter I was a little disappointed with his treatment of the after life but I did a large essay in the 3rd year at HTC so I had explored it in more depth than it is treated in this book. I appreciate the way he interacts with more liberal scholarship but sometimes it is unclear if he believes in some of their ideas, especially predictive prophecy and the number of authors for the book of Isaiah.
This book is not an Old Testament introduction because it doesn't cover book by book or explore all the themes in the Old Testament, how could it when it's only 350 pages? It would be good to read alongside a more traditional Old Testament introduction and worth a read as a stand alone volume!
God Bless
Stephen <><
The book covered major themes in the Old Testament occasionally demonstrating how they relate to a New Testament understanding. For me the most informative section was in the chapter 'God and the future' especially 'Messianic expectation'. Routledge is an evangelical who believes the whole Bible so he interacts with the New Testament. He argues that many of the terms that we rightly associate with Jesus found within the Old Testament are not necessarily considered Messianic. I'd never thought of that before and have automatically presumed that any passage that speaks of Jesus, such as the prophet, the Son of Man, the Servant are all Messianic. He also traces some of these themes into the inter-testament period and saw how they developed. In the same chapter I was a little disappointed with his treatment of the after life but I did a large essay in the 3rd year at HTC so I had explored it in more depth than it is treated in this book. I appreciate the way he interacts with more liberal scholarship but sometimes it is unclear if he believes in some of their ideas, especially predictive prophecy and the number of authors for the book of Isaiah.
This book is not an Old Testament introduction because it doesn't cover book by book or explore all the themes in the Old Testament, how could it when it's only 350 pages? It would be good to read alongside a more traditional Old Testament introduction and worth a read as a stand alone volume!
God Bless
Stephen <><
3 comments:
Hello Stephen,
My name is Anders and I found your blog today and would like to provide you this information about the Messianic prophecies:
I would like to comment about who the Jewish Messiah was.
Lets compare their beliefs to what is taught in the Hebrew Bible (which Christians call the OT).
Let’s study the prophecy of Yeshayahu – ‘Isaiah’ – 7- 9:
“It’s essential to understand that this passage was originally interpreted in its historical setting. That understanding remained unchanged for nearly a millennium and Scripture informs us that ha-Sheim [the Creator] doesn’t change. The original meaning is the only true understanding.
The prophet Yeshayahu [Isaiah] wrote this passage ca. BCE 720 relative to the king Âkhâz (7.1). The child Yeshayahu [Isaiah] names in 9.5 prophesies a wonderful and righteous son of the disappointing and evil Akhaz: the king Khizqiyâh (see Melâkhim Beit [“2 Book of Kings]18.3-8; 20.2ff; Divrei ha-Yâmim Beit [2:nd chronicles] 31.1-4). Nor was Yeshayahu the only Nâvi -prophet – prophesying about the blasphemous rule of Âkhâz and the cleansing of Israel by his son, the king Khizqiyâh [“Hiskia”]. the prophet Hosheia (see 1.1ff) and the prophet Mikhah (see 1.1ff) were proclaiming parallel prophecies.“
If you read the prophecy in Isaiah 7-9 in Hebrew and related verses of the Hebrew Bible you will see that king Hizkiah was a partial fulfilment of that prophecy and he was a human, and not divine, nor a ‘Saviour’, nor a ’Christ’. Thus, neither the Messiah would be a ‘Christ’ as you state. The historical Messiah called Ribi [Jewish first century leader in Israel] Yeshua taught his followers to pray to the Creator, not to pray to Jesus. One is forbidden to pray to any human according to Torah; and one is forbidden to pray to or worship Jesus.
More information on www.netzarim.co.il about the Messianic prophecies and how they read in Hebrew [see History Museum (left menu); Mashiakh-section [top menu]].
If you truly want to follow the historical Rabbi Y’hoshua then you must start to live as he lived - i.e. start doing your utmost to keep the commandments of Torah non-selectively; which is required in order to relate to the Creator, which is immensely meaningful.
Hi Anders,
I don't think there are any Christian commentators that believe there was no fulfillment during the life time of Isaiah. They might disagree about who, some suggest the king's son others the son of the prophet himself. However the problem with just seeing it as fulfilled then is what to with the part about him being called Everlasting father, prince of peace and mighty God. Whilst I agree the creator doesn't change the New Testament says that Jesus is the creator (John chapter 1 and Colossians 1). Also that he doesn't change see the book of Hebrews. There are plenty of verses in the Hebrew Bible that suggest that the Messiah is Son of David and YHWH Himself, see for example Ezekiel chapter 34. Shalom, Stephen <><
Hey,
A very good reply which makes biblical sense. But come on bro lets have another post from you!
Looking forward to whets coming next.
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