The Beginning and End of Wisdom

by Douglas Sean O'Donnell, Sidney Greidanus (Forward )

The Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament can be daunting to interpret and to preach. But Douglas O'Donnell has successfully linked the messages of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job to Jesus in the New Testament. He shares six Christocentric sermons that reveal the often-overlooked shadow of the cross within this biblical genre, while addressing age-old questions of significance and suffering, the meaning of life and work, and humanity's chief relationship between husband and wife.

Through careful examination of poetic forms, linguistic correlations, and most importantly a profound understanding of the gospel, The Beginning and End of Wisdom will help you connect Wisdom Literature to the wisdom of God found ultimately in the person of Christ.

Genres: Old Testament, Christian

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2011

About the author

Doug O'Donnell is the Senior VP of Bible Publishing at Crossway Books. He has authored or edited over a dozen books, including commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, the Song of Songs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and 1-3 John. He earned his PhD from the University of Aberdeen.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expository preaching in the wisdom books of the Old Testament is challenging. The wisdom books are often neglected, or used to offer self-help style tips. Preaching Christ from the wisdom books is rare. This book is like cold, fresh water in the desert. The book has seven chapters and two helpful appendices. The first six chapters are sermons--two each from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. The seventh chapter breaks down those sermons and shows the how and why of the way they were put together.

The author gives us help on preaching Christ from the wisdom books in a concise and accessible way. O'Donnell gives a good, brief description of what preaching Christ means and explains the use of types in the Scripture. Every preacher needs to read and consider this book. It will help you.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful six examples of preaching Wisdom literature with one extra chapter on how to connect to Christ.

The biggest weakness of the book was his sermon on Proverbs 31 that questionably centers the chapter on the husband instead of the wife.

Overall it was a useful book. I picked it up to prepare for a sermon series on Proverbs and was encouraged by it.

[Chris Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful book from a talented new writer which instructs how to preach and teach from biblical wisdom literature. The author provides sermons from the first and last chapters of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job and then spends the last couple chapters showing "how he did it."

[Alexander Proudfoot · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent short volume on preaching the Wisdom Literature of the Bible. The book consists of a preface, introduction, and six example sermons on the beginning and end of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. The last chapter, 'How shall Wisdom Be Preached,' was probably the most helpful. In this chapter, O'Donnell tells you what he showed you in the rest of the body of the book. I recommend reading this chapter first, as you'll better understand his moves in the exemplary sermons. After this, there are two appendices: one briefly explains Hebrew poetry, and the other provides suggestions for the sermon series.

[Samuel Bierig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic primer to the Wisdom Literature of the Bible. If youre abt to preach through Proverbs, Eccles., or Job, you should consult this accessible little book for sure!

[Nate Claiborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally, this is the kind of book I wish I had access to this time last year. I was in Preaching I, which is required of everyone at Dallas Seminary who wants to graduate with a Th.M. Because preaching from the epistles comes very naturally to students once they've been through 4 semesters of Greek (and because hey, the epistles are like mini-sermons in many cases) the curriculum developers at DTS decided the first preaching class every aspiring master of theology takes should be completely focused on preaching from Proverbs.

In other words, what I am telling you is that this book provides a great summary of what I learned in a semester long class on preaching from Proverbs. There is certainly more to learn (which you'll have to take the class to find out) but as far as a 150 page summary in clear prose goes, this book is it. Don't be thrown from checking this out if you're not a preacher or don't aspire to be. I would place myself in that category, and that's why I was in Preaching I my second to last semester of school. I do however want to communicate clearly from Scripture, particularly in writing, and the principles O'Donnell provide in this book clearly transfer since after all, it's a book.

So, if you're interested in seeing Christ in the Wisdom Literature, you should probably pick this book up. If you're hoping to better preach Christ from the Wisdom Literature, definitely pick this book up. O'Donnell provides a great road map and the resources he points to are sound and provide even more help.

See a more comprehensive review on my blog

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the Bible points to Christ. O'Donnell has good ideas on seeing Christ in Scriptures where His presence may seem less apparent. The concluding chapter and the appendix are useful references for including Christ in our understanding of Old Testament passages.

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wisdom literature of the bible is beautiful and speaks to the heart. However, it is something that we have to mine for. We have to reflect on these truths for them to have any real value in our walk. I loved that he said that God loves poetery. Indeed he does, for the bible is so poetic in nature that it is intended to pull at our heart and see the goodness of God. This book is geared towards preachers and teachers of the word, however, I appreciated the truth of insight of the wisdom of God. A word of caution, most of this book is notes and other resources.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on preaching Christ from the Wisdom books of the Old Testament. Seven chapters, the first six each a sermon from, as the subtitle of the book makes clear, the first and last chapters of Prov, Eccl, and Job. The seventh chapter deals with the how-tos of preaching Christ from these books. The sermons are good as introductions and overviews of each of the three books mentioned. Having studied each of these books myself, I still learned quite a bit from this author. The endnotes are also quite helpful.

[Michael Locklear · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your theological "taste-buds" salivate at the thought of reading Job, Proverbs or Ecclesiastes, then this book is for you.
Douglas Sean O'Donnell does a marvelous job of drawing the reader into these over-looked books. You will, no doubt, "feel" the love and joy that he has for them.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you are planning to read through or teach from one of these Biblical books in the near future.

[Victor Chininin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful in pointing us to preach Christ in the wisdom literature.

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good primer on wisdom literature. The Job connections were a bit of a stretch, but everything else was great for jumping off points in wisdom writings.