Book Review: Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel

When people read the Old Testament, they can come away with a lot of interpretations, which some of them may not even be Biblical. Some will look at the Old Testament as God having anger issues and the New Testament shows how He worked them out. Okay, God had a temper tantrum. Don't think so. Another would be looking at the stories of the Old Testament as a way of gaining prosperity and wealth which is one of the devises used by the Prosperity Gospel preachers.

Many don't see the Old Testament as part of the gospel. Some many think because Jesus is not in the Old Testament, it does not apply to me. That is not the case. The Bible is a collection of books that tell one story. That story is how God came to redeem man from their wickedness by sending Jesus. All of the Bible points to Jesus Christ including the books of 1 & 2 Samuel.

J.D. Greear and Heath Thomas have come together to produce Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel, which is part of the "Christ-centered Exposition" series published by the B&H Publishing Group. In this latest edition of the series, Greear and Thomas look at 1 & 2 Samuel and how we can see Jesus in it.

Like all commentaries, there is an introduction to the book, or in this case books and explanations for the passages. In this commentary, we see Greear and Thomas taking what was inspired by the Holy Spirit and make it applicable to us in the 21st Century. There was one thing I was disappointed about in this commentary was how they treated the story of David and Goliath. We have heard sermons about facing the giants in our lives and other preachers have said we should not apply this story like that. There times the authors didn't, but toward the end of the chapter, it went in that direction.

Not my favorite from the "Christ-centered Exposition" series, but a good commentary to use for sermon preparation or Bible study.

Thanks B&H Publishing Group for letting me review this book.