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Jesus and the Exodus: Discovering the Key that Unlocks Scripture
The Missing Piece. Because the full significance of the Passover/Exodus has been misunderstood, the Church worldwide has been deprived of the teaching of Jesus and the apostles on this key event in Jewish and world history. The evidence for this is displayed throughout the pages of the Church’s history. Here, in this groundbreaking study, the Exodus and the Passover are explored to recover avital missing piece in understanding how
God saves people. This easy-to-read book brings a new level of understanding of Jesus and what He has achieved for His people through His death and resurrection. It is a book for all
Christians, regardless of their denominational affiliations. It is written not for the scholar but for the average Christian reader. It reveals a new evidence-based understanding that confirms and enlightens the Church’s great ancient creeds. The significance that this book has for Christian teaching and experience is huge.
Endorsements
No one has explored the Exodus motif in the Bible as thoroughly and as well as has Tom Holland in this comprehensive book. I commend his work as worthy of prolonged consideration regarding this intriguing and provocative motif that attempts to unify the witness of the New Testament, presented by someone who has devoted years to its study and thoughtful consideration.
–Stanley E. Porter, President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament, Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Publishers make bold and unsubstantiated claims for their books. You know
the kind of “This book will change the church as we know it!” The
subtitle of Tom Holland’s book is certainly a bold “Discovering the Key
that unlocks Scripture”, but he presents plenty of evidence to substantiate
such a claim. This is no surprise to those who know him. He has spent a
lifetime researching the Old Testament background to the theology of the
Apostle Paul and he is the Senior Research Fellow at Union School of
Theology.
– John Lewis, (former manager of one of the largest Christian
bookshops in Cardiff)
In an era where evangelical Christians seem to produce either detailed,
scholarly, treatises, or overly generalised work, this book is a gem in
providing important, and sometimes theoretical theological issues in a very
readable and straightforward format.
Using easy-to-follow narrative style writing, the reader is taken on a journey
with the author to explore the apostle Paul's methodology, the Old Testament
exoduses, and the culminating realisation of the new exodus, as discovered in
the New Testament. In addition to this, we are invited to consider inter alia
such matters as the corporate attitude of New Testament culture, the amazing
use of Old Testament Scriptures by Paul, an analysis of the Biblical meaning
of “flesh”, and a fascinating bonus chapter on Rabbi Akiba.
The content is presented in bite sized portions, so that one is able to easily
grasp each ingredient before moving on to the next.
As stated in the Preface, this is a book for Christians who want to dig deeper
into the Bible. This is clearly true, but in my opinion, it is also a book that
will demand a reappraisal of many previously unquestioned norms, leaving
the reader with a greatly enhanced understanding of some important Biblical
truths.
– Roy Harries, Accountant
This book is written particularly for the non-theolog – i.e.
God saves people. This easy-to-read book brings a new level of understanding of Jesus and what He has achieved for His people through His death and resurrection. It is a book for all
Christians, regardless of their denominational affiliations. It is written not for the scholar but for the average Christian reader. It reveals a new evidence-based understanding that confirms and enlightens the Church’s great ancient creeds. The significance that this book has for Christian teaching and experience is huge.
Endorsements
No one has explored the Exodus motif in the Bible as thoroughly and as well as has Tom Holland in this comprehensive book. I commend his work as worthy of prolonged consideration regarding this intriguing and provocative motif that attempts to unify the witness of the New Testament, presented by someone who has devoted years to its study and thoughtful consideration.
–Stanley E. Porter, President, Dean, and Professor of New Testament, Roy A. Hope Chair in Christian Worldview, McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Publishers make bold and unsubstantiated claims for their books. You know
the kind of “This book will change the church as we know it!” The
subtitle of Tom Holland’s book is certainly a bold “Discovering the Key
that unlocks Scripture”, but he presents plenty of evidence to substantiate
such a claim. This is no surprise to those who know him. He has spent a
lifetime researching the Old Testament background to the theology of the
Apostle Paul and he is the Senior Research Fellow at Union School of
Theology.
– John Lewis, (former manager of one of the largest Christian
bookshops in Cardiff)
In an era where evangelical Christians seem to produce either detailed,
scholarly, treatises, or overly generalised work, this book is a gem in
providing important, and sometimes theoretical theological issues in a very
readable and straightforward format.
Using easy-to-follow narrative style writing, the reader is taken on a journey
with the author to explore the apostle Paul's methodology, the Old Testament
exoduses, and the culminating realisation of the new exodus, as discovered in
the New Testament. In addition to this, we are invited to consider inter alia
such matters as the corporate attitude of New Testament culture, the amazing
use of Old Testament Scriptures by Paul, an analysis of the Biblical meaning
of “flesh”, and a fascinating bonus chapter on Rabbi Akiba.
The content is presented in bite sized portions, so that one is able to easily
grasp each ingredient before moving on to the next.
As stated in the Preface, this is a book for Christians who want to dig deeper
into the Bible. This is clearly true, but in my opinion, it is also a book that
will demand a reappraisal of many previously unquestioned norms, leaving
the reader with a greatly enhanced understanding of some important Biblical
truths.
– Roy Harries, Accountant
This book is written particularly for the non-theolog – i.e.
455 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 9, 2023
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November 22, 2023
Jesus and the Exodus / by Tom Holland / 2023 / Apiary Publishing / Bridgend / ISBN: 978-1-912445-30-1
If you have enjoyed Tom Holland's other works, you will enjoy Jesus and the Exodus: Discovering the Key that Unlocks Scripture. If you are reading Holland for the first time, you will find this work a delight. Pulling the many theological threads together from his other books, such as Contours of Pauline Theology, Romans: The Divine Marriage, Hope for the Nations, and Missing Lenses, Holland brings you along on his own personal journey to find the hermeneutical key to unlocking the New Testament's message, and its use of the Old Testament. Standing squarely within Orthodox Protestantism, Holland emphatically believes in the clarity (perspicuity) of scripture. For Holland, a Christian should not need a PhD in Ancient Near Eastern Studies to properly understand, believe, and obey the Word of God.
I... reasoned that the God who was speaking through the writings and preaching of the apostles would not deliberately make His will complicated.... This deeply held conviction clashed with those who taught that the true message of God's Word could only be accurately understood by highly trained academics.... But I believed the apostle's preaching and teaching had to be clear and consistent. To achieve this, he had to communicate with the average believer.
Holland's writing style in this volume is warm and personal. He provides a peek into his own struggles and shortcomings as he has sought to not only understand the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome, but to communicate it to his own congregation in Letchworth, North Hertfordshire, England. "I had learned all the arguments, issues, and problems concerning [Romans] and had passed the exam, but I knew that while I had satisfied the examiners, I couldn't honestly say I understood the letter, and more importantly, I had not satisfied myself."
While deep into his expositional preaching of Romans, Holland admits that he felt as though he was "a blind leader of the blind." In an attempt to soothe his conscience, Holland believed he had what he called his "get-out clause" card. "I reasoned," says Holland, "that I didn't know these things because I was not as spiritual as St. Paul. I convinced myself that if I had experienced Christ as he had done, it would have given me a better understanding."
It was while preaching on Romans 5:12-21 that Holland had his own personal epiphany. "It was in this last section of chapter 5," says Holland, "that the penny dropped, or perhaps better, a clue was given that was to change my entire understanding when I came to preach from chapter 6 onwards."
What was that clue? In Holland's own words, "The clue was something the Cambridge New Testament Professor, C.H. Dodd, wrote. He told his readers that to understand what Paul was saying in Romans 5, they had to put away their normal way of thinking...Dodd said that Paul was arguing in concepts of solidarity, i.e., how a community functioned and the way its members related to each other."
Holland will spend the next 250 plus pages teasing out for us just how monumental this idea of solidarity is for both Old Testament and New Testament studies. The book is broken up into five sections covering thirty chapters.
Section One, "The Path of Disappointment," (chapters 1-2) deals with Holland's personal quest to understand Paul, and his (Holland's) disagreement with many of the scholarly views he was interacting with while looking to understand Romans.
Section Two, "Exploring History," (chapters 3-9) delves into years of Holland's personal research, both as a pastor and as a scholar, ultimately leading up to his PhD study: The Paschal New Exodus in Paul's Letter to the Romans with Special Attention to its Christological Significance. Eventually for Holland, Israel's exodus story would be the key to unlocking the New Testament and its use of the Old Testament.
Section Three, "Into The Exodus Narrative," (chapters 10-24) covers many of the themes that Holland explores in his earlier works; themes such as Israel's exodus out of Egypt, the role of the firstborn, the Babylonian exodus, Isaiah's theme of the suffering servant, the New Testament's "new exodus" motif, the divine marriage between God and His people, and a number of related topics. For Holland, the principles relating to the first exodus and the Babylonian exodus unlock many of the theological problems New Testament scholars have been wrestling with for decades.
Section Four, "Exploring Themes," (chapters 25-27) continues Holland's research in the areas of Jesus as the firstborn and the biblical meaning of "flesh." Holland contends that most "[b]iblical scholars have grappled with the identity of the origin of the term "firstborn" for centuries. He goes on to suggest that a good number of these scholars "have concluded that the term was used in the Greek world to speak of Wisdom and was taken up by the church to speak of Christ." For Holland, this claim is "rather desperate." The hymn of Colossians 1:12-20 has for Holland its roots firmly planted in the Old Testament. He finds the key to rightly understanding the hymn to be the theme of the firstborn in Israel's redemption story. "[W]hile Yahweh is repeatedly called Israel's Redeemer; Jesus is never called the Church's redeemer. What He is called is the 'Firstborn of many brothers' (Rom. 8:29)."
Why is it that New Testament authors never refer to Jesus as the Redeemer of the Church? Holland gives a number of reasons, but the most thought provoking is that the idea of a redeemer is never vicarious; "the redeemer did not die for members of his family." For Holland, the "[firstborn] was the one designated to die and so be the savior of his family." It is clear that Holland is not rejecting the idea of Jesus as redeemer, but he is thinking that to understand the Colossian hymn and other such passages, we need to see that Jesus was considered first and foremost "the firstborn of all creation."
Section Five, "Checking Out History" (chapters 28-30) is Holland's attempt to push back on contemporary scholarship that wants to Hellenize the apostle Paul and his writings, as well as the rest of the New Testament. He argues that this Hellenization of the New Testament "rests on three assumptions." They are 1) evidence that the New Testament writers used "Hellenistic materials;" 2) Paul was sent as an apostle to the Gentiles because of his Hellenistic educational background; 3) the Church adapted its message to its Greco-Roman context. Holland examines these three assumptions and finds them lacking the supporting evidence needed to validate their claims.
Holland also addresses New Perspective scholarship in these final chapters. He spends an entire chapter tracing out the history and thought of Rabbi Akiba - a rabbi born twenty years after the death of Paul. Holland shows that Akiba "was alarmed that some rabbis had accommodated themselves to the Roman occupation, and this included alien philosophy." For Holland, this simple clue supports his earlier claims that the apostle Paul, like Akiba, was not inclined to adopt Hellenistic ideas into his own thinking but remained faithful to his Jewish roots; roots that were grounded in the Old Testament.
In his concluding chapter, Holland provides thirty-three summary statements that suggest both contemporary "scholarship and the Church have wandered far from the understanding and experience of the New Testament church." For Holland, the alien infection of Greek thought into our hermeneutics has led to an anemic understanding of both the Old and New Testaments. In Holland's mind a recovery of the exodus motif will not only clarify many misunderstandings but resolve "numerous theological problems" as well.
Having read Holland's previous works, I found Jesus and the Exodus to be a nice summation of his years of theological research. Are there areas of disagreement to be had with Holland? Sure, but what author is there that any of us can say we are in 100% agreement with? For those who have never given the exodus motif much thought, Holland will be an exceptional guide, and they will find themselves amazed at their discoveries. After reading Jesus and the Exodus, they will also find they have a new and robust appreciation for the Scriptures and its message for a modern age.
Although I received a free copy of Jesus and the Exodus from the publisher for review, I was in no way required to write a favorable critique.
Reviewed by Chris Hanna, Director of Operations, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
If you have enjoyed Tom Holland's other works, you will enjoy Jesus and the Exodus: Discovering the Key that Unlocks Scripture. If you are reading Holland for the first time, you will find this work a delight. Pulling the many theological threads together from his other books, such as Contours of Pauline Theology, Romans: The Divine Marriage, Hope for the Nations, and Missing Lenses, Holland brings you along on his own personal journey to find the hermeneutical key to unlocking the New Testament's message, and its use of the Old Testament. Standing squarely within Orthodox Protestantism, Holland emphatically believes in the clarity (perspicuity) of scripture. For Holland, a Christian should not need a PhD in Ancient Near Eastern Studies to properly understand, believe, and obey the Word of God.
I... reasoned that the God who was speaking through the writings and preaching of the apostles would not deliberately make His will complicated.... This deeply held conviction clashed with those who taught that the true message of God's Word could only be accurately understood by highly trained academics.... But I believed the apostle's preaching and teaching had to be clear and consistent. To achieve this, he had to communicate with the average believer.
Holland's writing style in this volume is warm and personal. He provides a peek into his own struggles and shortcomings as he has sought to not only understand the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome, but to communicate it to his own congregation in Letchworth, North Hertfordshire, England. "I had learned all the arguments, issues, and problems concerning [Romans] and had passed the exam, but I knew that while I had satisfied the examiners, I couldn't honestly say I understood the letter, and more importantly, I had not satisfied myself."
While deep into his expositional preaching of Romans, Holland admits that he felt as though he was "a blind leader of the blind." In an attempt to soothe his conscience, Holland believed he had what he called his "get-out clause" card. "I reasoned," says Holland, "that I didn't know these things because I was not as spiritual as St. Paul. I convinced myself that if I had experienced Christ as he had done, it would have given me a better understanding."
It was while preaching on Romans 5:12-21 that Holland had his own personal epiphany. "It was in this last section of chapter 5," says Holland, "that the penny dropped, or perhaps better, a clue was given that was to change my entire understanding when I came to preach from chapter 6 onwards."
What was that clue? In Holland's own words, "The clue was something the Cambridge New Testament Professor, C.H. Dodd, wrote. He told his readers that to understand what Paul was saying in Romans 5, they had to put away their normal way of thinking...Dodd said that Paul was arguing in concepts of solidarity, i.e., how a community functioned and the way its members related to each other."
Holland will spend the next 250 plus pages teasing out for us just how monumental this idea of solidarity is for both Old Testament and New Testament studies. The book is broken up into five sections covering thirty chapters.
Section One, "The Path of Disappointment," (chapters 1-2) deals with Holland's personal quest to understand Paul, and his (Holland's) disagreement with many of the scholarly views he was interacting with while looking to understand Romans.
Section Two, "Exploring History," (chapters 3-9) delves into years of Holland's personal research, both as a pastor and as a scholar, ultimately leading up to his PhD study: The Paschal New Exodus in Paul's Letter to the Romans with Special Attention to its Christological Significance. Eventually for Holland, Israel's exodus story would be the key to unlocking the New Testament and its use of the Old Testament.
Section Three, "Into The Exodus Narrative," (chapters 10-24) covers many of the themes that Holland explores in his earlier works; themes such as Israel's exodus out of Egypt, the role of the firstborn, the Babylonian exodus, Isaiah's theme of the suffering servant, the New Testament's "new exodus" motif, the divine marriage between God and His people, and a number of related topics. For Holland, the principles relating to the first exodus and the Babylonian exodus unlock many of the theological problems New Testament scholars have been wrestling with for decades.
Section Four, "Exploring Themes," (chapters 25-27) continues Holland's research in the areas of Jesus as the firstborn and the biblical meaning of "flesh." Holland contends that most "[b]iblical scholars have grappled with the identity of the origin of the term "firstborn" for centuries. He goes on to suggest that a good number of these scholars "have concluded that the term was used in the Greek world to speak of Wisdom and was taken up by the church to speak of Christ." For Holland, this claim is "rather desperate." The hymn of Colossians 1:12-20 has for Holland its roots firmly planted in the Old Testament. He finds the key to rightly understanding the hymn to be the theme of the firstborn in Israel's redemption story. "[W]hile Yahweh is repeatedly called Israel's Redeemer; Jesus is never called the Church's redeemer. What He is called is the 'Firstborn of many brothers' (Rom. 8:29)."
Why is it that New Testament authors never refer to Jesus as the Redeemer of the Church? Holland gives a number of reasons, but the most thought provoking is that the idea of a redeemer is never vicarious; "the redeemer did not die for members of his family." For Holland, the "[firstborn] was the one designated to die and so be the savior of his family." It is clear that Holland is not rejecting the idea of Jesus as redeemer, but he is thinking that to understand the Colossian hymn and other such passages, we need to see that Jesus was considered first and foremost "the firstborn of all creation."
Section Five, "Checking Out History" (chapters 28-30) is Holland's attempt to push back on contemporary scholarship that wants to Hellenize the apostle Paul and his writings, as well as the rest of the New Testament. He argues that this Hellenization of the New Testament "rests on three assumptions." They are 1) evidence that the New Testament writers used "Hellenistic materials;" 2) Paul was sent as an apostle to the Gentiles because of his Hellenistic educational background; 3) the Church adapted its message to its Greco-Roman context. Holland examines these three assumptions and finds them lacking the supporting evidence needed to validate their claims.
Holland also addresses New Perspective scholarship in these final chapters. He spends an entire chapter tracing out the history and thought of Rabbi Akiba - a rabbi born twenty years after the death of Paul. Holland shows that Akiba "was alarmed that some rabbis had accommodated themselves to the Roman occupation, and this included alien philosophy." For Holland, this simple clue supports his earlier claims that the apostle Paul, like Akiba, was not inclined to adopt Hellenistic ideas into his own thinking but remained faithful to his Jewish roots; roots that were grounded in the Old Testament.
In his concluding chapter, Holland provides thirty-three summary statements that suggest both contemporary "scholarship and the Church have wandered far from the understanding and experience of the New Testament church." For Holland, the alien infection of Greek thought into our hermeneutics has led to an anemic understanding of both the Old and New Testaments. In Holland's mind a recovery of the exodus motif will not only clarify many misunderstandings but resolve "numerous theological problems" as well.
Having read Holland's previous works, I found Jesus and the Exodus to be a nice summation of his years of theological research. Are there areas of disagreement to be had with Holland? Sure, but what author is there that any of us can say we are in 100% agreement with? For those who have never given the exodus motif much thought, Holland will be an exceptional guide, and they will find themselves amazed at their discoveries. After reading Jesus and the Exodus, they will also find they have a new and robust appreciation for the Scriptures and its message for a modern age.
Although I received a free copy of Jesus and the Exodus from the publisher for review, I was in no way required to write a favorable critique.
Reviewed by Chris Hanna, Director of Operations, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary
February 9, 2024
Review of Jesus and the Exodus: Discovering the Key that Unlocks Scripture, by Dr. Tom Holland
Jesus and the Exodus is a logical successor to Professor Tom Holland’s previous books, Contours of Pauline Theology (2004), Romans: The Divine Marriage (2011), and Tom Wright and The Search for Truth (2017). At the outset, I’ll admit that the subtitle of the present book makes me a little nervous, but only because anyone who claims to have found the golden key that opens all the rusty locks is usually departing from historical orthodoxy; happily, nothing could be farther from the truth in the case of Tom Holland in Jesus and the Exodus.
Holland’s greatest impetus seems to have been to respond in a rigorously biblical manner to the so-called “New Perspective on Paul,” which has been all the rage for the last several decades. This is not to suggest that all who have contributed to the “New Perspective” are patently unbiblical and, therefore, devoid of merit, only that there has been a definite measure of “jumping onto bandwagons” of research, dialogue, and scholarship regarding Paul’s theological approach and the various influences on that approach.
Holland takes great pains to establish, with clarity, that the apostle Paul was fully rooted in and driven by Old Testament teachings regarding the promised Messiah and salvation through him. Further, he notes that 18 verses from Isaiah form the framework for Paul’s thought, as is apparent throughout the Pauline corpus, but especially in the Epistle to the Romans. That Paul was thoroughly and unapologetically Hebraic in his approach runs counter to many who have argued that Paul was strongly influenced by Greco-Roman philosophy as he delivered to local churches his Spirit-led teachings on Christ, salvation, man, sin, et cetera via his letters.
Fundamental to Paul’s approach, according to Holland, is a Paschal (Passover) exodus motif, expressed through three, separate but historical exodus events: the Egyptian exodus, the Babylonian exodus, and the New Exodus – with Jesus being the bridegroom in the divine marriage-New Exodus event. Of course, the Church is the bride (cf. Ephesians 5 and Revelation 19). A short quotation from the book captures both thrusts well:
“…throughout His ministry, Jesus unashamedly linked Himself to the promises of the New Exodus. He was the bridegroom of the New Exodus, highlighted by the parables He used to teach the people of the coming Kingdom of God. In these parables, He described the coming kingdom as being like a marriage, and He put himself at its centre by saying that He is the bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; 22:1–12 and parallels). (p. 141).
One of the most immediately practical and, arguably, most significant doctrinal clarifications that Holland makes in this new book is that much of the language used in Romans 5-8 is, in fact, corporate rather than individualistic. If he’s correct, and I’m convinced he is, countless “sticking points” in our hermeneutics will be smoothed out. Western democratic contexts have been the birthplace for much of the doctrinal exploration and explanation that is current in the global Church. Sadly, the governmental situation in those contexts has caused a serious “listing” of the ship of biblical interpretation toward individualistic understandings and applications. In the pages of Jesus and the Exodus, Holland aptly rights the ship via sound exegesis of both Old and New Testament texts. A collective or corporate understanding of these critical texts is necessary if the Church is to be faithful in its evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and teaching.
Jesus and the Exodus is an extremely personal and honest book. Holland admits his own struggles in exegesis of the text, especially as he was studying and preaching through Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Holland’s book can be likened to a travelogue of a long theological journey that occupied much of the writer’s ministerial life. Moreover, since his own arduous trek through Romans, Holland has supervised quite a few students who have faithfully and energetically received and run with the theological batons of the Paschal New Exodus and divine marriage. Thus, Holland and his students have greatly served the Church through their clarifying and solidly biblical efforts, eschewing some of the modern but errant tendencies of interpreters and commentators.
The pre-publication manuscript that I received and read contained many typographical errors (misspellings, inconsistent capitalization, punctuation issues), but I have received assurance that these have been corrected prior to the book’s release.
Holland’s thoughts and explanations guided me personally to sounder understandings of multiple passages, and to a more thoroughly Scripture-based biblical theology. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to dig deep into the truth of God’s word and is eager to understand more fully the rich intertextuality of the Old and New Testaments, especially as it pertains to Paul’s epistles.
I received a free copy from the publisher without any requirement to post a favorable review.
This book is available from all good booksellers (276 pages, ISBN 9781912445301), £14.95/$19.95. If you buy from your local shop, tell the one who serves you that the wholesaler is Ingramsparks. Alternatively, you can buy it directly from the publisher https://apiarypublishing.com/ where a discounted e-book is available.
Jesus and the Exodus is a logical successor to Professor Tom Holland’s previous books, Contours of Pauline Theology (2004), Romans: The Divine Marriage (2011), and Tom Wright and The Search for Truth (2017). At the outset, I’ll admit that the subtitle of the present book makes me a little nervous, but only because anyone who claims to have found the golden key that opens all the rusty locks is usually departing from historical orthodoxy; happily, nothing could be farther from the truth in the case of Tom Holland in Jesus and the Exodus.
Holland’s greatest impetus seems to have been to respond in a rigorously biblical manner to the so-called “New Perspective on Paul,” which has been all the rage for the last several decades. This is not to suggest that all who have contributed to the “New Perspective” are patently unbiblical and, therefore, devoid of merit, only that there has been a definite measure of “jumping onto bandwagons” of research, dialogue, and scholarship regarding Paul’s theological approach and the various influences on that approach.
Holland takes great pains to establish, with clarity, that the apostle Paul was fully rooted in and driven by Old Testament teachings regarding the promised Messiah and salvation through him. Further, he notes that 18 verses from Isaiah form the framework for Paul’s thought, as is apparent throughout the Pauline corpus, but especially in the Epistle to the Romans. That Paul was thoroughly and unapologetically Hebraic in his approach runs counter to many who have argued that Paul was strongly influenced by Greco-Roman philosophy as he delivered to local churches his Spirit-led teachings on Christ, salvation, man, sin, et cetera via his letters.
Fundamental to Paul’s approach, according to Holland, is a Paschal (Passover) exodus motif, expressed through three, separate but historical exodus events: the Egyptian exodus, the Babylonian exodus, and the New Exodus – with Jesus being the bridegroom in the divine marriage-New Exodus event. Of course, the Church is the bride (cf. Ephesians 5 and Revelation 19). A short quotation from the book captures both thrusts well:
“…throughout His ministry, Jesus unashamedly linked Himself to the promises of the New Exodus. He was the bridegroom of the New Exodus, highlighted by the parables He used to teach the people of the coming Kingdom of God. In these parables, He described the coming kingdom as being like a marriage, and He put himself at its centre by saying that He is the bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; 22:1–12 and parallels). (p. 141).
One of the most immediately practical and, arguably, most significant doctrinal clarifications that Holland makes in this new book is that much of the language used in Romans 5-8 is, in fact, corporate rather than individualistic. If he’s correct, and I’m convinced he is, countless “sticking points” in our hermeneutics will be smoothed out. Western democratic contexts have been the birthplace for much of the doctrinal exploration and explanation that is current in the global Church. Sadly, the governmental situation in those contexts has caused a serious “listing” of the ship of biblical interpretation toward individualistic understandings and applications. In the pages of Jesus and the Exodus, Holland aptly rights the ship via sound exegesis of both Old and New Testament texts. A collective or corporate understanding of these critical texts is necessary if the Church is to be faithful in its evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and teaching.
Jesus and the Exodus is an extremely personal and honest book. Holland admits his own struggles in exegesis of the text, especially as he was studying and preaching through Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Holland’s book can be likened to a travelogue of a long theological journey that occupied much of the writer’s ministerial life. Moreover, since his own arduous trek through Romans, Holland has supervised quite a few students who have faithfully and energetically received and run with the theological batons of the Paschal New Exodus and divine marriage. Thus, Holland and his students have greatly served the Church through their clarifying and solidly biblical efforts, eschewing some of the modern but errant tendencies of interpreters and commentators.
The pre-publication manuscript that I received and read contained many typographical errors (misspellings, inconsistent capitalization, punctuation issues), but I have received assurance that these have been corrected prior to the book’s release.
Holland’s thoughts and explanations guided me personally to sounder understandings of multiple passages, and to a more thoroughly Scripture-based biblical theology. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to dig deep into the truth of God’s word and is eager to understand more fully the rich intertextuality of the Old and New Testaments, especially as it pertains to Paul’s epistles.
I received a free copy from the publisher without any requirement to post a favorable review.
This book is available from all good booksellers (276 pages, ISBN 9781912445301), £14.95/$19.95. If you buy from your local shop, tell the one who serves you that the wholesaler is Ingramsparks. Alternatively, you can buy it directly from the publisher https://apiarypublishing.com/ where a discounted e-book is available.
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