Though the books of Ezra and Nehemiah have sometimes been neglected in Old Testament scholarship, this NBST volume focuses on Ezra-Nehemiah as a literary unit that tells God's grand story of saving activity, exploring Ezra-Nehemiah's interest in the redeemed community and how to be a godly participant in God's story of the redemption and restoration of his people.
The closely related biblical themes of covenant and law are among the most important in Scripture. In this ESBT volume, Brandon Crowe considers these themes throughout both Old and New Testaments, laying out key principles such as our obligation to obey our Creator, how Jesus' perfect obedience to God's law opens the way to eternal life, and what the law means for us today.
How do we think about the theology of the book of Jeremiah? John Goldingay considers the prophet Jeremiah himself, his individual circumstances and those of Judah, and his message. As we view the book of Jeremiah in its entirety, we learn about God, Israel as the people of God, the nature of wrongdoing and prophecy, and what we know about the future.
In the biblical canon, two books lack any explicit reference to the name of God: Song of Songs and Esther. What is the nature of God as revealed in texts that don't use his name? Exploring the often overlooked theological connections between these two Old Testament books, Chloe T. Sun takes on the challenges of God's absence and explores how we think of God when he is perceived to be silent.
In this ACT volume, Thomas Scheck provides a new translation of Julian of Eclanum's commentaries on Job, Hosea, Joel, and Amos. Gain insight into how early Christians read texts such as God's speech to Job, Hosea's symbolic representation of God's unending love for a faithless Israel, Joel's anticipation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and Amos's call for social justice.
How did the apostles understand the Old Testament? The New Testament's explicit summaries of the Old Testament story of Israel give readers direct access into the way the earliest Christians did biblical theology. This NSBT volume examines the passages in the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Paul's letters, and Hebrews which recount the characters, events, and institutions of Israel's story.
What does it mean to provide leadership for the church in an increasingly secular context? Analyzing the phenomenon of secularization in the West and charting common Christian responses, this indispensable resource from Gordon Smith discusses the competencies and capacities essential for cultivating distinctively Christian leadership today.
What does the temple mean for the church's ongoing mission in the world? This ESBT volume examines temple theology throughout Scripture, exploring how this theme relates to Christian life and witness today. God has always desired to dwell among us; now the church must follow its missional call to extend the borders of God's kingdom and take his presence to the ends of the earth.
The Bible was written within collectivist cultures, and it's easy for Westerners to misinterpret—or miss—important elements. Combining the expertise of a biblical scholar and a missionary practitioner, this essential guidebook explores the deep social structures of the ancient Mediterranean, stripping away individualist assumptions and helping us read the Bible better.
The stories of Samuel, Saul, and David are among the most memorable in the Old Testament, yet they are bound up in the larger story of God's purpose for his people. In this Tyndale Commentary, V. Philips Long explores the meaning of the biblical history of Israel's vital transition from a confederation of tribes to nationhood under a king.