New Studies in Biblical Theology

Review: Answering the Psalmist’s Perplexity

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Cover image of "Answering the Psalmist's Perplexity" by James Hely Hutchinson

Answering the Psalmist’s Perplexity (New Studies in Biblical Theology Number 62), James Hely Hutchinson. IVP Academic/Apollos (ISBN: 9781514008867) 2024 (Apollos-IVP UK website).

Summary: How would God fulfill the promise of an everlasting Davidic throne when the kingship had ended in exile?

Psalm 89 poses an agonizing question. God had promised (Psalm 89:3-4):

You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
    I have sworn to David my servant,
‘I will establish your line forever
    and make your throne firm through all generations.

Yet with the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, the line of kings had ended and the throne had fallen (Psalm 89:38-39):

But you have rejected, you have spurned,
    you have been very angry with your anointed one.
You have renounced the covenant with your servant
    and have defiled his crown in the dust.

And so the psalmist asks (v. 46):

How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
    How long will your wrath burn like fire?

This is the psalmist’s perplexity alluded to in the title of this work. How would God keep his covenant, when by exile it appeared null and void? The question is one set against the backdrop of prior covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, and at Sinai. And there is the question of whether and how these covenants find fulfillment in the new covenant.

James Hely Hutchinson believes the Psalms have much to contribute to our understanding of a question that spans the whole of scripture. After laying out his approach, Hutchinson reviews the spectrum of covenant-relationships. This spans a continuum of seven positions from Westminster covenantalism to classic dispensationalism.

Then over three chapters, he elaborates how the Psalms reflect the covenant relationships. Chapter three covers Psalms 1-89, setting the stage for the perplexing conclusion of book three of the psalms in Psalm 89. He begins with Psalm 2, key, he believes, in setting a new covenant agenda. Chapter 4 then shows how Book four of the Psalms (90-106) provides building blocks to answer that complexity, particularly in envisioning the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant closely tied to the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. Chapter five shows how Book five (Psalms 107-150) reflects the outworking of the answer in the convergence of all the covenants and their fulfillment in the new covenant.

Hutchinson proceeds to consider the import of the law for the new-covenant believer. He argues for continuity without seeing the new covenant as a renewal of the Sinaitic legislation. From here he proceeds to summarize his argument and how the covenant relationships answer the Psalmist’s perplexity. He summarizes his argument in twenty-eight statements and evaluates the seven models from Chapter 2, concluding that progressive covenantalism most closely corresponds to his study of the Psalms. Five appendices expand on particular details in his study.

There were several aspects of the work I especially appreciated. One was looking at the Psalms through the ‘hinge point” of the question in Psalm 89. His discussion suggestion a structure to the psalter I had not previously seen. And his discussions of the transitions between books three, four, and five were especially interesting.

At the same time, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. spoke of “the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” In this case, I felt Hutchinson never got to a “simplicity on the other side of perplexity.” His discussion proceeds from one intertextual discussion to the next. The fact that he needed to summarize his argument in 28 statements that he distills into two abstractions (eschatological satisfaction and transcendent inauguration) suggests to me that he never quite got there. I suspect that all but the most acute readers will find the argument in this book difficult to track.

That’s unfortunate, because the big idea of new covenant fulfillment of the prior covenants offers so much in helping the reader of scripture grasp the big story. In this case, I felt we spent so much time looking at all the trees that it was difficult to glimpse the overstory of the whole forest. I hope this author will keep working on unpacking that story.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Royal Priest

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Cover image of "The Royal Priest" by Matthew Emadi

The Royal Priest: Psalm 110 in Biblical Theology (New Studies in Biblical Theology), Matthew Emadi. Apollos/IVP Academic (9781514007396) 2022 (Apollos [UK] website).

Summary: A study of the theme of the priest king of Psalm 110, tracing this idea from Genesis through the New Testament.

Do you know the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament? It is Psalm 110:1:

“The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ ” (NIV)

In this Psalm, David describes a figure who is at once a royal king and a priest. He likens him to the “order of Melchizedek.” In Genesis 14, Melchizedek, the King of Salem who is also a priest of “God Most High,” meets Abraham after the rescue of Lot and the people of Sodom. This king-priest brings bread and wine and blesses Abraham, who in turn offers a tenth of the battle spoils to Melchizedek. Despite seeming an important figure, Melchizedek is not mentioned again except for Psalm 110:4 and several times in the book of Hebrews.

The union of a priest and king in one person seems an anomaly, particularly in light of the Aaronic priesthood. Matthew Emadi traces the theme of the royal priest throughout the scripture, with Psalm 110 as a lens. Throughout, he traces how the royal priest figure serves as a mediator of God’s covenantal relationship with his people.

He begins with Adam, God’s vicegerent on earth and priest of his royal temple in Eden. Emadi then shows how the figure of priest king is developed in Noah, Abraham and Melchizedek. He explains how Israel is a “royal priesthood” and “holy nation,” represented in the Aaronic priesthood.

Then Emadi focuses on Psalm 110. As David grapples with the implications of God’s promises, he turns back to Genesis 14. Only a greater son who is a royal priest like Melchizedek can bless the nations. Only such a figure can fulfill this promise to Abraham. Emadi unpacks all this in a chapter exegeting Psalm 110.

Before turning to the New Testament references to Psalm 110, he considers how Psalm 110 influenced intertestamental writing. On one hand, the Psalm is never quoted. But he shows a number of passages in which messianic hopes reflect kingly and priestly elements. 11QMelchizedek is most significant in its description of a king-priest, Melchizedek “who rules the nations, conquers satanic forces of evil and provides atonement for the sins of his people.”

Turning to the New Testament, Emadi first considers the two references to Psalm 110 in Mark. The first (12:36) is in the temple, the second (14:62) at the trial of Jesus, both self-referential. Emadi outlines Jesus’ priestly ministry in Mark while proclaiming the kingdom. These elements converge on the cross as he “ushers in the kingdom through his covenant sacrifice.”

Finally, Hebrews reveals Jesus as the superior royal priest after the order of Melchizedek. He mediates a superior covenant through a superior sacrifice. And he rules at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Emadi concludes this study by outlining the eschatological, ecclesiological, and apologetic implications of this biblical theme. He questions the idea of a thousand year earthly reign of Jesus in the millennium as a step backwards from his heavenly royal session. He explores how the church mediates the royal priestly authority of Jesus in the world through gospel proclamation and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s table. Finally, he shows the apologetic relevance of Christ’s royal priesthood in the Latter Day Saints context in which he works in Utah, where priesthood and temple are important elements.

Matthew Emadi offers a rich study of an important biblical theme. He starts with the puzzle of how one person could unite the roles of king and priest. Then he discusses how this is God’s intent throughout scripture. Royal priesthood is evident in the mediating of every covenant. It culminates in Jesus, the royal priest, a superior fulfilment of all that was anticipated from Adam to David. In so doing, he demonstrates once again how it is one great story that unfolds in the many stories of scripture.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Life in the Son

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Life in the Son (New Studies in Biblical Theology #61), Clive Bowsher. Downers Grove and London: IVP Academic/Apollos, 2023 (UK publisher link).

Summary: A study of the idea of “in one another” participation in the Johannine literature.

The idea of union, oneness, of participation in Christ has been a significant discussion in Pauline studies. In this monograph, Clive Bowsher explores this same idea in the Johannine literature, particularly in the various references to God, Christ, and believers being “in one another.” After setting out the current discussions and his approach, Bowsher exegetes the relevant passages first in the gospel of John and then in 1 John. His approach is to focus on what each says individually rather than reading them in light of each other. Then he takes the findings from each study and synthesizes them, finding similar themes in both the gospel and the letter.

He then considers the journey theme in the gospel of John and the letters and traces our participation with Christ in that journey: begotten–walking–suffering and laying down life–resurrection–going to the Father. Following this, Bowsher considers “one anotherness” in the eschatological culmination of the covenant: life everlasting in the age to come. Finally, he pulls together the Johannine theology of participation from these various approaches. There are several salient ideas running through the Johannine literature:

  • Union with Christ or oneness is expressed in terms of the one-anotherness of the Father, Son, and believers.
  • That in-one-anotherness is evident in intimate loving relationship and loving obedience.
  • This union is closely correlated with the life of the age to come.
  • The propitiatory work of God in Christ and his resurrection is the source of this union.
  • Union in Christ means sharing in his missional journey from commencement to walking to destination, sharing in proclaiming his words, his suffering, sacrificial laying down of one’s life, and resurrection.

In appendices, Bowsher briefly interacts with the Pauline idea of union and of oneness and participation in Revelation. He also offers an original language analysis of John 14:15-24 and the “Hortatory-imperatival use of the third-person indicative in New Testament Greek outside 1 John.”

If I were to make one quibble, it would be that the structure of the study results in the repetition of the same ideas or slight variations of them through much of the work. The shared journey part of the study is the one place where this is less the case. What Bowsher does do is elucidate a Johannine perspective of participation that, while consonant with Paul, uniquely emphasizes loving relationship and the close connection between being in that relationship and having entered into the reality of the life of the age to come. This work, as part of a renewal of Johannine studies, is a welcome complement to the extensive Pauline literature, not least on union or participation with Christ.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: From Prisoner to Prince

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From Prisoner to Prince (New Studies in Biblical Theology), Samuel Emadi. London/Downers Grove: Apollos/IVP Academic, 2022 (Link for From Prisoner to Prince at UK publisher).

Summary: A study of Joseph as a type of the Messiah, considering the place of Joseph in the Genesis narrative, the theological themes arising from the Joseph narratives and how later OT and NT writers appropriate this material.

I always loved the story of Joseph with his many colored robe and his rise from slave and prisoner to Pharoah’s famine administrators. Later on, I began to realize he was a rather spoiled, insufferable brother, who if destined to leadership, needed some slavery and prison to humble him. Other than saving his family and providing them refuge during the famine, I didn’t think about Joseph’s place in the bigger biblical picture or why Genesis devotes so much space (chapters 37-50, more than to anyone else in Genesis). That would suggest that Joseph was considered a significant figure. Yet there are but a handful of Old Testament and New Testament references to him.

Samuel Emadi argues that Joseph can be understood as a type of Christ. But Emadi is disciplined in his typology. He addresses the criticisms of this approach. He argues that a properly controlled type “is a historical person, event, or institution anticipating an escalated reality. If these features can be established from the original context or from later biblical reflection, then a type is present.

He begins by considering Joseph within the context of Genesis. He begins with the toledot structure of Genesis, and the purpose of that structure to carry for the covenantal promises of God, and how Joseph carries this a step further. It functions to close off the narrative that began with the fall and the alienation that led one brother to kill another. That nearly happens with Joseph and his brothers, but instead there is a reconciliation that “saves” the line of Jacob. Joseph is the rejected, kingly deliverer. His ministry functions to multiply Abraham’s seed. Through both his work and the blessings by Jacob of Pharoah, the blessings of the nations foreseen by Abraham occur in an anticipatory way. Joseph in life and in the directions about the deposition of his bones in Canaan, prepares the way for the fulfillment of the land promises to Abraham and Israel.

He then considers the remainder of the Old Testament. The Exodus passages reiterate Joseph’s expectations of God’s fulfillment of his promises. Psalm 105 is the other significant reference to Joseph, showing how he was one of those who “delivered” Israel and were part of the fulfillment of the promise, indirectly a type of the Messiah, part of a line of “messiahs” who would save his people. The other passage Emadi deals with is the book of Daniel and never before did I see the parallels between Joseph and Daniel. A table is provided showing nineteen parallels, most with close linguistic similarities that would suggest strong literary influence on the writer of Daniel. Daniel is portrayed as the new Joseph, showing how to live faithfully in exile and preparing for a new exodus to the Promised Land.

Emadi considers three New Testament passages, two which reference Joseph and one that he believes makes a strong allusion to Joseph. First he analyzes Acts 7, Stephen’s speech. Joseph anticipates Jesus, both as the rejected prophet of Israel, and the one whose “death” delivers Israel. Hebrews 11 refers to the faith of Joseph in giving direction concerning his bones. His faith is a typological anticipation of the promise fulfilled in Christ’s redemptive work. The final passage is that of the wicked tenants in Matthew 21 who kill the beloved son who becomes the chief cornerstone of God’s work. Just as Joseph was throne in a pit, a symbol of death, so Jesus is murdered, and yet both serve God’s redemptive purposes, Joseph in anticipation of Jesus.

Emadi thus argues that Joseph functions both to close the circle of Genesis, and by his life and death, anticipate a more complete fulfillment of God’s purposes, and he believes this warrants considering Joseph as a type of the Messiah. He grounds this claim in both textual evidence and the covenantal arc of scripture. He makes sense of why so much of Genesis is devoted to Joseph. Joseph carries forward what was begun in the aftermath of the fall, serves as a deliverer of Israel, and one whose suffering and deliverance anticipates the greater work of Jesus. Emadi offers us good biblical theology, recognizing the themes of kingship, deliverance, seed, blessing, and land in Joseph’s life. He shows how through his faith and faithfulness, Joseph accomplished more than he knew and was part of a bigger story yet to unfold but that he embraced by faith.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: Now and Not Yet

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Now and Not Yet (New Studies in Biblical Theology), Dean R. Ulrich. Downers Grove: IVP Academic/London: Apollos, 2021 (Apollos-UK publisher webpage).

Summary: A study of the biblical theology of Ezra-Nehemiah that situates the books within an account of redemptive history, emphasizing both what already had been fulfilled and what yet remained.

Dean Ulrich believes that the combined books of Ezra-Nehemiah have not received the scholarly attention they are due. In this monograph, he situates these books within the arc of redemptive history, particularly with regard to the promises of restoration made to Israel’s exiles.

He divides the structure of these books into three parts, with the second part covering a significant part of the two books with three stages.

Ezra 1-2: The decree of Cyrus and the exiles who returned. Not only does Cyrus decree the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple in fulfillment of prophecy but he returns the vessels seized when Jerusalem fell and permits the exiles to return with offerings of silver and gold and livestock to support the rebuilding. God has kept his promise and there is hope for the future.

Ezra 3:1-Nehemiah 7:73a: The performance of Cyrus’ decree in three stages:

  • Stage one: The temple is rebuilt over a twenty year period. Expecting the promise of Isaiah 60 that the nations would participate in the rebuilding, instead they encounter local resistance and apathy, addressed under the leadership of Sheshbazzar, Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, and Zechariah. Yes, the temple is rebuilt, but with nothing like its former glory and not yet realizing the positive response of the nations.
  • Stage two: Ezra returns in 458 BC to rebuild the people so that the new temple is not defiled. Ezra teaches the people and calls on people to dissolve intermarriages unless the wives convert. Ezra leads the people in corporate repentance. They are back in the land but still prone to pursue the patterns of sin that led to exile.
  • Stage three: Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem empowered by Artaxerxes to rebuild the walls and gates, critical to protecting the sanctity of the temple from those who are unfit spiritually to worship there (an idea I’ve not encountered before). Yet keeping out the unfit may also keep out the nations who would come to worship, a conflict with Zechariah’s vision.

At this point the temple is rebuilt, the people are being instructed in the holy life to which God calls them and the holiness of the temple is protected. But the promised glory, the king to come and the blessing to the nations awaits.

Nehemiah 7:73b-13:31: The continued reformation of the people. The charging of interest for loans with fellow Jews reveals the community renewal needed beyond the physical construction of a wall. Nehemiah and Ezra lead in the instruction of the people in God’s Word, leading to the confession of sin and the obedience of God’s command. Yet reformation is a continuous process as Nehemiah has to address intermarriage and commerce on the sabbath, and the graft of Tobiah, even after the glorious celebration at the dedication of the walls. This glimpse of glory was not enough to remove the need for continued repentance and reformation.

Ulrich moves between Ezra-Nehemiah and the greater fulfillment in Christ, yet also draws parallels between the “now and not yet” of Ezra-Nehemiah and the similar reality we face as we both live out kingdom come and await its full realization. In particular, the continued need for instruction in the Word, repentance, obedience and fulfillment of God’s mission are realities both for the returned exiles and we who are “exiles and strangers” awaiting our future hope. This is a useful study both in understanding the place of Ezra-Nehemiah in redemptive history and our own.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review: The Glory of God and Paul

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The Glory of God and Paul (New Studies in Biblical Theology #58), Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson. Downers Grove and London: IVP Academic and Apollos, 2022. (Link to UK publisher)

Summary: A study of the theme of the glory of God in scripture, with a particular focus on the writings of Paul.

At an Urbana Missions Convention, I remember being provoked to thought by a statement of John R. W. Stott to the effect that the highest motive for the church’s mission in the world was neither obedience to the Great Commission nor concern for those who did not know Christ, but rather zeal for the glory of Christ (a remark reproduced on p. 230 of this book). It didn’t make sense at the time but it has increasingly over the years. In my university work, I walk through hallways with displays of research posters and read news of incredible research being done in a multitude of fields, uncovering the wonders of the creation (only one aspect of God’s glory), yet rarely acknowledging its source. Increasingly I find myself praying and working that these researchers would know and acknowledge and glorify the One who is the source of all these wonders, who has illumined and delights in their research.

This may seem an odd way into a review of The Glory of God and Paul. It is not however, because I sense the same motive behind the writing of these two authors, as John Stott spoke of, to foster in us a zeal for the glory of God in all of the manifold excellencies of that glory. They do so by primarily focusing on the theme of God’s glory in the writings of the apostle Paul, who was certainly captivated by the glory he beheld in the risen Lord.

The work begins though by stepping back and attempting a summary of the “panorama” of God’s glory within which Paul’s writing is set: in major sections of scripture, in relation to key doctrines, at turning points in the biblical story, in different senses of “glory” in scripture (summarized as possessed, purposed, displayed, ascribed, and shared) as intrinsic and extrinsic, in biblical tensions (e.g transcendent and immanent), and in redemptive history. One could spend days just pondering this panoramic presentation!

In the second chapter, the authors turn from panorama to drama, considering the storyline of scripture and how every part of redemptive history reveals glory: the creation, the fall, the working our of redemption and the consummation of God’s purposes. These two chapters set the stage for chapters 3-7 which focus on five major sections of the Pauline corpus:

  • Chapter Three: Romans: The Glory of God in salvation
  • Chapter Four: 1 Corinthians 15: The Glory of God and the resurrection
  • Chapter Five: 2 Corinthians 3-4: The Glory of God and the new covenant
  • Chapter Six: Ephesians: The Glory of God and the church
  • Chapter Seven: 2 Thessalonians 1: The Glory of God and eschatology

Each chapter identifies multiple themes in the particular text relating to the major theme for the chapter. So much is offered here for reflection that I will only touch on a few personal highlights. In Romans, we see how glory suffuses every aspect of our salvation. I Corinthians 15 reveals the glory of the risen Christ as the second Adam and the glory we will share in Him. The discussion of the church in Ephesians is challenging in that we do not often think of the place of the church in the purpose of God as a showcase of the one new humanity united through the revealed mystery of Christ’s saving work.

The writers then draw all this together in two concluding chapters. In chapter 8, the biblical theologians address systematic theology, showing how the glory of God relates to the areas commonly discussed in systematic theology: God and his Word, humanity and sin, Christ’s person and work, the Holy Spirit and the new covenant, salvation, the church, the future, and ministry (under which the statement by Stott mentioned earlier appears). Finally, the writers turn to the Christian life and how God’s glory bears on love, provision, hope, mystery, boasting (no room for such!) and our worship.

I suspect that for many of us, John Calvin’s statement about our chief end being to glorify and enjoy God forever is just so much pious content without substance either in our thought, worship, or daily life. Likely, this follows from lack of instruction and personal reflection in a culture focused on “how to’s” and getting God to work for us, or at times simply a list of “ought to’s.” This work certainly represents one place to begin, by taking us into scripture, focusing on the many ways God’s glory shines through every aspect of life, inviting us from hum-drum workaday to wonder and worship and the mission of showcasing that glory to the world.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Piercing Leviathan

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Piercing Leviathan (New Studies in Biblical Theology), Eric Ortlund. Downers Grove and London: IVP Academic and Apollos, 2021. (Link for UK publisher).

Summary: A study of the book of Job that focuses on the second of the Lord’s speeches to Job, focused on describing Behemoth and Leviathan.

There is so much that is challenging to understand about the book of Job, from the willingness of God to permit Job’s loss and suffering to the seemingly endless speeches of Job’s friends and Job’s protestations of innocence and desire that God come and answer. In this book, Eric Ortlund covers all this material but focuses his treatment on God’s two speeches to Job, and especially the second and more baffling, where God at length discusses two imposing creatures: Behemoth and Leviathan. God never directly answers Job about why he has suffered, yet in the end, Job describes himself as having uttered what he did not understand and repents in dust and ashes.

Many of us have imagined ourselves responding, “But, but, but…” Why doesn’t Job? Have these strange answers truly given the answers Job needed, or is Job just acquiescing in the face of God’s awesome presence? Eric Ortlund contends the former, offering a close reading both of Job’s complaint and responses, and the speeches themselves, especially the second on Behemoth and Leviathan. In some sense, Ortlund’s whole book is a prologue to his discussion of this second speech. Even so, I found his elucidation of the Accuser’s test and the friends speeches assuming a retributive answer brought clarity to these chapters–both the inflexible fallback of the friends on the theory that Job must have sinned and thus deserved the tragedy that followed, and the insistence of Job that God has wrongly punished him and his desire to have God justify his ways.

Ortlund describes the first speech with its questions as a massive reminder of God’s good rule in creation, and that God is not the arbitrary deity who has punished Job without cause. And Job admits that his criticism of God’s rule was wrong, but that he has nothing else to say in response. Implicit is still this question of all the evil that has befallen him. Then God launches on the descriptions of the massive and threatening Behemoth and Leviathan, who may only be conquered by their Maker. Yet the conquest is not described here, only the formidable armament and power of these “evil” creatures.

Ortlund considers various possible interpretations for these creatures, contending that they represent supernatural chaos and evil. On this interpretation, the comfort to Job is that it is not simply God and Job in the story but that “a massive, writhing evil is loose in the creation.” There may be other possibilities than God unjustly afflicting Job, or Job having done something worth affliction. The massiveness of Leviathan offers reason to believe there is a source outside God for the terrible evil done Job. And the fact that God wields the sword and fishhook that will bring these creatures down, but not yet, offers hope for ultimate justice.

Then more briefly, a discussion follows on the restoration of Job, and why God never fills Job in, as the reader is, on the specifics behind his suffering. Ortlund argues that any such explanation would have invalidated the test, saying that Job only repented and believed to have blessings restored. As told, while Job is restored, what he lost is lost, and throughout his life, he believes God for God’s sake.

To my mind, Ortlund offers a treatment of Job that coheres. More than that, he portrays a Job that believes God for God’s sake, even in his accusations, and a God who finally will defeat evil and is overwhelmingly good, even when this is not readily apparent in the chaos of the world. He treats other views of Leviathan in the course of this book. What I think Ortlund has done is establish an alternate proposal that other readings will have to address and helped make sense of Job’s ultimate response to God’s speeches.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Changed Into His Likeness

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Changed Into His Likeness (New Studies in Biblical Theology), J. Gary Miller. Downers Grove: IVP Academic/London: Apollos, 2021. (UK publisher link)

Summary: A biblical study of how personal transformation takes place in the life of a believer.

Change is hard. How many of us keep those New Year’s Resolutions? At the same time, one of the claims made by Christians is that new life in Christ is transformative. J. Gary Millar, in Changed Into His Likeness explores what may be asserted from the teaching of scripture about the change that is possible, avoiding the extremes of over- and under-realized eschatologies. He considers the clear teaching that we both have been changed in coming to new life in Christ, and we will be changed. Meanwhile, there is the question of what may be expected in between, where believers live their lives this side of eternity, which is the focus of this volume.

Before engaging this question, Millar asks the question of what do we mean by “us,” considering what is meant by the image of God, and the various words used addressing body, soul, spirit, mind, etc. This relates to current neurophysiological debates. If we are merely material, change is simply a matter of re-routing neural pathways. He seems most sympathetic to the idea of “holistic dualism.”

He then turns to the biblical account of change, considering first the Old Testament. His contention, considering case studies from Noah to Solomon showing that positive change was not possible for those who believe, but rather decline. He then asks an intriguing question: were Old Testament saints regenerate, particular if this Spirit was at most upon them rather than indwelling them? The theologians he references dance around the question and he leaves this unanswered as well. But the evidence shows that transformation is not evident in the Old Testament.

He then considers the New Testament. Jesus, unlike the Old Testament saints fulfilled the law and expanded his treatment from outward to inward, limiting the provisions for divorce, and transforming the lives of those who encounter him, like Zacchaeus and the Samaritan woman. He frees from sin, and promises the indwelling of the Spirit, through whom he would bear fruit in their lives. Paul likewise speaks of the gospel’s transforming work. Believers abound in love, please God more and more, learn to discern his will, increasingly reflect the character of Jesus, are strengthened to serve, filled with God’s fullness, show a work of God moving forward to completion, and reflect God’s glory in Christ. He also traces the contributions of other New Testament writers. His summary of Hebrews could preach: We will grow in our knowledge of truth, focus on encouraging others, and experience the kindly discipline and training of God

He then does a historical theological survey from Augustine to the present, including fascinating material on Calvin and John Owen. He also characterizes James K. A. Smith’s focus on replacing cultural liturgies with richer, thicker Christian ones to be a flirtation with legalism. I think he misreads Smith here and does not distinguish what Smith proposes from his own recommended practices of a Word-shaped life. He makes these observations: Biblical change is complex, God’s work, trinitarian, flows from union with Christ, is word-driven, requires piety, and is comprehensive. This sets the stage for his own biblical theology of personal transformation. He highlights that it is a work of God, occurs through the gospel, enabling us to respond with repentance and faith. This change comes through our life in the church and in the world, and involves perseverance. Perhaps more simply, we change as we gaze upon Christ and are changed increasingly into people who reflect his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18).

This is much needed work in an era where the gospel has been hi-jacked either for personal prosperity or political ends, all of which reveal a shrinking understanding of the true and glorious transforming power of the gospel. Only this holds hope for those who have been failed by all the self-help teachers and those in the grips of sin’s tyranny in all its forms–our idolatries, our besetting sins, our injustices, and our fearful animus toward our neighbors. God can transform all of these–not with a wave of a magic wand but as we focus on Christ, are discipled by his word, are impowered to repent, believe, and change by his Spirit, and drawn by a loving Father in a community of mutual encouragement. This theology of change speaks into the lives of quiet desperation of believers who wonder what there is between having first believed and going to be with the Lord and who feel they are just going through the motions. Millar’s study is a vital resource that I hope enjoys much use by pastors and all who commend the Lord who is changing us into his likeness.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: The Servant of the Lord and His Servant People

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The Servant of the Lord and His Servant People (New Studies in Biblical Theology #54), Matthew S. Harmon. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2021.

Summary: A study of the application of the term “servant” to a number of key figures in scripture culminating in Jesus, and the way these were used by God to form a servant people.

In most contexts the idea of servitude at very least is an undesirable state, and, if involuntary, a breach of human rights. Yet one of the curious themes in scripture underscored by this book, is the idea of being a “servant of the Lord.” Matthew S. Harmon notes the cultural overtones, but also addresses the dignity of those who serve the Lord.

This work centers on key figures who “serve the Lord” through scripture: Adam, Moses, Joshua, David, the servant of Isaiah, Jesus, and the apostles. There is another group as well. Throughout scripture, it becomes clear that God is out to form a servant people–first Israel and then the church. Harmon devotes a chapter to each of these key people or groups of people.

We begin with Adam the servant of the Lord who rules over all creation and is the priest and guard of God’s garden-temple. Adam fails in his task, but in his descendants God continues to call servants–Noah, Abraham, and the patriarchs through whom God begins to form a people. Then Moses becomes the servant of God, a kind of prophet, priest, and king. Harmon traces the language of “servant” relative to Moses through the Torah and the Prophets and Writings. Then Joshua follows as the faithful servant who does what Moses commands, through whom God works similar acts, and who calls Israel as a people to serve the Lord at the end of his life.

Yet when the generation who led with Joshua dies, Israel turns to serve other gods, and are given over by God as prey for the surrounding nations. They want a king. Saul fails to serve God wholeheartedly and David is anointed and becomes the next servant of the Lord. He is not only the king through whom God gives Israel rest in the land from their enemies, but priest who prepares for the construction of the temple, and prophet who wrote songs to God. One of the songs is about David’s greater son. Solomon starts out well but is drawn off to other gods, as are most of his successors. Israel and Israel’s kings have failed at their servant calling. Isaiah writes about this failure and about the servant who will fulfill the service in which Israel fail, suffering for the sins of the people as he does so.

And so we come to Jesus, the culmination toward which all the other servants looked. One of the distinctive aspects of Harmon’s treatment is that he shows how Jesus fulfills what the other servants anticipate. He reverses Adam’s failure in his victory over Satan in the wilderness. He is the prophet greater than Moses, the Joshua who brings his people into eschatological rest. He is the Davidic king whose rule never ends. His whole history from his exile in Egypt on recapitulates Israel’s story. He is the servant whose death and resurrection save his people–all people.

The final two chapters focus on groups. First there are the apostles who speak of themselves as servants of the Lord, even his two brothers, James and Jude. He traces this through the letters they wrote. But there is another group, and we are part of it. The church is portrayed as the servant people of God. It is a people who follow Jesus in his sufferings, but also fulfill the Adamic call to reflect the character of God to all things.

In his conclusion, Harmon considers the implications of this call to be a servant people. It is a call to a new freedom from the tyranny to self, sin and Satan. It is a call to be shaped in a community in the form of love that serves each other, washing each others’ feet. It is a call to be a light to the surrounding world, that others would find their way into this community as we did through repentance and faith. Finally, it is a call to become servant leaders, exercising the kind of kingship of the king who stoops to serve and even die.

This monograph cannot help challenge the contemporary church’s quest for power and influence, the celebrity culture, and the obsession with political influence and access at the expense of humble service. It indicates how little the Servant of the Lord captures our imagination and our allegiance. What may be equally challenging to think about is why we hear so little of this overarching biblical theme from the pulpits of many of our churches. It may be that we are working off the wrong script.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: Death and the Afterlife

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Death and the Afterlife.jpg

Death and the Afterlife (New Studies in Biblical Theology), Paul R. Williamson. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2018.

Summary: A discussion of the biblical texts concerning death and what follows: the state of the dead post-mortem, the resurrection, judgement, hell, and heaven.

One of the most indisputable statistics is that one out of one die. While many other things differentiate us as human beings, the terminus of our lives is one thing we all have in common.  Our responses to this vary, from denial to despair, to mute acceptance that when we die, that is all, to some hope for continued existence beyond the grave. What we believe about these things profoundly shapes how we live.

In this monograph, Paul S. Williamson explores these questions in light of contemporary and ancient thought, and biblical teaching. He writes at the outset, “My primary focus, however, is not the theological case that proponents of various views can mount but rather the prior question: What does the Bible say?” In his opening chapter, he summarizes various views, both ancient and modern, and some of the areas disputed even by evangelical interpreters.

Following this he explores first the biblical materials surrounding what happens to us at death. While acknowledging the limits of the evidence, he recognizes the possibility of some form of post-mortem existence, although this involves a radical separation from embodied life and is thus interim. The ultimate destiny is resurrection. He considers but dismisses the idea of the dead being outside time, and thus the resurrection “immediate.” He traces the idea of resurrection and its development in later OT and intertestamental periods, to its full blossoming following the resurrection of Christ. His chapter on judgement particularly deals with tracing the idea of divine recompense for one’s deeds and how this might be reconciled with salvation by grace alone. He contends that saving faith is trust in action through persistence in doing good, that reflects the transforming work of God in our lives.

Many will turn to the final two chapters on hell, and on heaven, and the contention that ultimately all will wind up in heaven. On hell, while he argues that the language of fire and darkness may well be metaphor, we cannot ignore the language of torment that is everlasting, dismissing the language arguments that deny this. He would argue that annihilation must be read into the text. On heaven, he would contend from scripture that this is the interim resting place of those who die in Christ, but that God’s intention is for a new creation which the resurrected will inhabit. He responds to the arguments of “Gregory MacDonald” for a final universal salvation in which those in hell are brought to post-mortem repentance, showing that this case cannot be made from scripture.

The outcome of Williamson’s study is to uphold the traditional teaching of the church and contend that this is rooted in scripture. There is evidence for an interim state between death and resurrection, for the final resurrection and judgement of all and for eternal conscious punishment in hell. Following some newer interpreters, he would argue that the ultimate destiny for new believers is eternal life with God in the new creation, where heaven “comes down” to a transformed and renewed earth.

No doubt, this is contrary to what interpreters like Rob Bell (“love wins”) or “Gregory MacDonald” (“God wins”) would contend. What Williamson makes the case for is that while such opinions may be popular, they are wanting in terms of biblical evidence. For those who really care about searching such things out, this book is a good, careful statement of the traditional understanding of what scripture affirms, cautious in acknowledging what is not known, and equally cautious in not speculating on what scripture does not say. It makes clear the hope of the resurrection, how we may hear God’s “well done” in the judgment, and how one may enjoy eternal life in God’s new creation as well as warning of what faces the unrepentant. As much as we struggle with the hard truth of the latter, this book poses the question of dare we go beyond what scripture has plainly affirmed?