Not My People; No Mercy! A Name Change (Green)

 In a brilliant and edifying way, the apostle Peter refers to Christians using numerous terms for Israel found in the Old Testament.  In 1 Peter 2, for example, he calls followers of Jesus "a holy priesthood" that offers up "spiritual sacrifices" (1:5 NASB).  He also says that believers are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood,…

Israel, the Church, and Replacement Theology

I appreciate and agree with Iain Duguid's discussion of "replacement theology" in his commentary on Numbers 24: Some Christians believe that Old Testament promises that speak of “Israel” are only intended for ethnic Israel and not for the church. For them, Balaam’s prophecies speak of a glorious future for the physical descendants of Israel, but…

The Church, the Israel of God (Minear)

I recently picked up an older book that gives a detailed summary of the different New Testament images for the church.  It's by Paul Minear and is called Images of the Church in the New Testament (1960).  I'm not finished with it, but so far it has been pretty interesting and helpful.  Below is a…

Moses and Israel, Genealogy and Geography

I’ve been thoroughly impressed with Stephen Dempster’s Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible.  If I have time later on I’ll give it a fuller review here.  For now, I do want to note that it is an excellent OT biblical-theological resource.  To give our readers a snapshot, here is an insightful paragraph…

Life in Biblical Israel

If you’re looking for a scholarly yet readable textbook on life in biblical Israel, I highly recommend a resource with that name: Life in Biblical Israel by Philip King and Lawrence Stager.  At 430+ pages, this book gives an excellent archaeological and historical picture of what life was like for the Israelites.  With glossy pages,…