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Gospel According to the Old Testament
Right in Their Own Eyes: The Gospel According to Judges
Right in Their Own Eyes explains Judges from three Old Testament and three New Testament perspectives. First, it shows how the Spirit enabled wayward people to fulfill the mission God gave them, promotes David as king of Israel, and illustrates God's covenant with his people. Schwab also shows how God sovereignly works among his wayward people to forge a community of faith under the New Covenant, which points to Christ, calls modern Christians to faith and obedience, and looks forward to the return of Christ and the final judgment.
- GenresOld Testament
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 29, 2019
This is another in the excellent series "The Gospel According to the Old Testament". Judges is probably not one of the more familiar books of the Old Testament; I daresay that most Bible readers cannot name a judge other than Samson or Gideon. Probably this is due to the period of history covered, and to some of the unsavory accounts contained in it.
Schwab does a good job of examining Judges in the context of the history of the covenant people, both before and after the time of the judges, and in examining the author's intent and framing of the book. He deals with issues related to the chronology of the judges, the stylization of events, and authorial intent. Particularly helpful are the six different perspectives from which he examines the text: what actually happened, how the story advanced the cause of David as king, how the text relates to Deuteronomy and the covenant blessings/curses, how does the text reveal or point to Jesus, what does it say to the church today, and how does it anticipate the final judgment and glory.
Schwab's alliterative titling of every chapter and certain sections within the chapters is very clever ("God Guides Gutless Gideon"), though sometimes a bit forced ("Jordan Jawing (Or, River Wrangling)"), and even occasionally cringe inducing ("Vamoosing Virgins"). Each chapter contains a list of questions for further reflection, which are helpful.
He does raise some interesting issues, and deals with some difficult aspects of the text, but at times it appears to me that he is forcing his interpretation a bit. For example, he lists the twelve judges (not counting Abimelech as a judge, although he does give him an entire chapter), and claims that each one is associated with a different tribe of Israel. However, there is no textual support that Shamgar comes from the tribe of Simeon, and Jephthah came from Gad, not Reuben, as Schwab listed him (compare Judges 11:1 with Joshua 13:25).
Still, this is a very helpful commentary on the book of Judges, and--as with all the books in this series--is very accessible to the layperson. I recommend it.
Schwab does a good job of examining Judges in the context of the history of the covenant people, both before and after the time of the judges, and in examining the author's intent and framing of the book. He deals with issues related to the chronology of the judges, the stylization of events, and authorial intent. Particularly helpful are the six different perspectives from which he examines the text: what actually happened, how the story advanced the cause of David as king, how the text relates to Deuteronomy and the covenant blessings/curses, how does the text reveal or point to Jesus, what does it say to the church today, and how does it anticipate the final judgment and glory.
Schwab's alliterative titling of every chapter and certain sections within the chapters is very clever ("God Guides Gutless Gideon"), though sometimes a bit forced ("Jordan Jawing (Or, River Wrangling)"), and even occasionally cringe inducing ("Vamoosing Virgins"). Each chapter contains a list of questions for further reflection, which are helpful.
He does raise some interesting issues, and deals with some difficult aspects of the text, but at times it appears to me that he is forcing his interpretation a bit. For example, he lists the twelve judges (not counting Abimelech as a judge, although he does give him an entire chapter), and claims that each one is associated with a different tribe of Israel. However, there is no textual support that Shamgar comes from the tribe of Simeon, and Jephthah came from Gad, not Reuben, as Schwab listed him (compare Judges 11:1 with Joshua 13:25).
Still, this is a very helpful commentary on the book of Judges, and--as with all the books in this series--is very accessible to the layperson. I recommend it.
August 25, 2015
This is a good series, but I was very disappointed with this particular book. It just wasn't that helpful, by the time I got to the end of the book I was barely consulting it at all.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews