Book Review: Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Samuel

Exalting Jesus in 1 &2 Samuel is part of the Christ-Centered Exposition series.  The exposition series is a series of commentaries that strive to exalt Jesus from every book of the Bible.  This particular volume is authored by Heath Thomas and J.D. Greear.  The authors stress that when one reads the Bible from front to back then it is also necessary to read it from back to front.  This does not mean that we are to read words backwards, but to recognize that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament.  These echo the words of the great church father Augustine who said, “The New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament and the Old is revealed in the New.”

As with all commentaries there is an introduction to the books of Samuel.  It is a detailed introduction which also describes how in ancient Judaism the books were one volume.  It goes over every verse in 1 & 2 Samuel, and describes the rise and fall of Saul.  In this regard the authors make it personal, but in a good way.  They write that Israel was thirsting for something other than God, and they wanted to be like other nations and have a king.  We have all heard this story at one point or another, but the authors write that our king may be money, honor, or titles.  If that is what we rely on to give us happiness then we will be very disappointed.

The commentary contains 271 pages, a great bibliography, and a very detailed scriptural index with cross references.  This is a great book for those who want to study 1 & 2 Samuel in a deeper way.

[Note:  The book was received free of charge from B&H Publishing in return for an honest review.]