Focus on the Bible
4 total works
Exodus is the story of the first redemption of God's people for Himself. Starting with a people enslaved and oppressed, seemingly forgotten by their God, it culminates with the Tabernacle. God had chosen His people, setting them apart from the other nations: His kingdom of priests. Exodus forms the sub-structure of the Old Testament - and points at every stage to the coming Messiah of the New Testament.
Isaiah has been called the 'fifth gospel'. Why? Because in it God speaks through his prophet of his people's departure from truth, the need for repentance and the redemption provided by a coming saviour. Isaiah's imagery is some of the most beautiful, and terrifying, in the Bible.
It was written in the 8th century BC at a time of material prosperity. This wealth had brought increased literacy and so God's people could be brought back by a book of 66 chapters to understand a world that had spiritual, as well as physical, dimensions.
This is a key Old Testament book, as well as charting a key change in the life of God's people it provides some of the most important prophecies fulfilled only in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Its lessons for the contemporary church are particularly apt.
Too often modern commentaries become a discussion between commentators rather than an exploration of what the text has to say to contemporary readers. Allan Harman's methods follow those of Leon Morris and Allan McRae in that he devotes most of his energy to discovering what God is saying through his prophet, rather than what we are saying amongst ourselves.
'Deuteronomy' is a misnomer, it means 'the second law'. The name is taken from Deuteronomy 17:18 where the expression really means having a copy of the law. Deuteronomy is therefore not a second, different, law but a renewal of the covenant made on Mount Sinai. For a people on the brink of entering their promised land Deuteronomy confirmed God's gracious promises as they prepared for new horizons and adventures:
Allan Harman shows the covenant structure of Deuteronomy throughout its 5 key sections
- Historical introduction (1:1 to 4:49)
- The Foundation of the Covenant Relationship (5:1 to 31)
- The Exposition of Ten Commandments (6:1 to 26:15)
- The Re-affirmation of the Covenant (27:1 to 30:20)
- The Continuation of the Covenant (31:1 to 34:12)
