Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings

Christ-Centered Exposition

by Tony Merida

Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, this new commentary series, projected to be 48 volumes, takes a Christ-centered approach to expositing each book of the Bible. Rather than a verse-by-verse approach, the authors have crafted chapters that explain and apply key passages in their assigned Bible books. Readers will learn to see Christ in all aspects of Scripture, and they will be encouraged by the devotional nature of each exposition.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Old Testament, Reference, Nonfiction

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2015

About the author

Tony Merida is the founding pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, NC. Tony is the author of Faithful Preaching, co-author of Orphanology, and serves as a general editor and as contributor to the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series (B&H Publishing Group) along with David Platt and Danny Akin. He is married to Kimberly, with whom he has five adopted children.

Reviews

[Brooklyn Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This helped my understanding of 1&2 Kings so much— very thorough but also focused on overarching themes! And always brought it back to the Gospel! One of the best commentaries I’ve gone through yet!

[Kimberly Erskine · Rating 4 out of 5]

From King Hezekiah to Josiah to Zedekiah, and everyone in between - there were A LOT of kings in Biblical times! Some of these kings were good and some were bad. Most were hard to keep track of. This is the beauty of Merida’s Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings.

Admittedly, I still struggle to remember who is who and if King Hezekiah was good and if King Josiah was bad. Merida helps me to remember that in the end, all of that doesn’t actually matter. Each King, whether wholly good or bad, can never live up to the standard set forth by Jesus since He was and is the King of Kings. So long as I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and worship and praise Him as the King of Kings that He is, that’s all I ever really need to remember.

[DT · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Some good insights, but some parts felt glossed over.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome Commentary

Love the focus on Christ! There’s great life application and the reflection questions help wrap your mind around the passages. Great commentary for any pastor or lay person.

[Arthur Kaliisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The people who have impacted us in some way or the other deserve to know and until we take this step we are indebted to them no matter our beliefs. Paul said, “We must serve God through our lives (Phil 1:19-30, KJV). We must decide for ourselves what values we hold to guide how we live. Who we are and what is important to us? And whether it will always be important.

The world will demand that we change but we must not – sometimes, in the space where we are it is easier said than done but we must be firm anyhow. We are called to be exemplars nevertheless, wherever we are. We must commit to being a person who exhibits a strong character for the people we lead. Merida says well, “Commitments have consequences”.

Working quietly behind the scene, we set our sights high on that which is important and this means doing and being known for good work. For us who work in professions that allow us to have good salaries and benefits, it is incumbent on us to consider how to use such blessings to advance what is important to us.

Remembering that we don’t live for the applause of people but for a cause much greater – allegiance to the cause will sometimes bring accusations from people around us. A world without temptations is a fad.

Who we are, depends largely on the choices we made and continue to make. We must give our best today – aware that anything less than our best will steal our joy. We must enable the right habits to salvage our time and guide us on the right course that is both fulfilling for us and pleasing in God's eyes.

[Katie Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and easy to read commentary on the rarely studied and preached on book of Kings. The commentary alongside scripture made me long for Christ’s coming, cry for the exiled Israelites who chased everything but Yahweh and mourn because I see so many of the same patterns in my own heart. I spent two months reading this as part of my morning Bible Study time and it was a sweet time I looked forward to each morning.

[Cristian fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exelent book

Really Great, never read a better survey on kings, I hope I can find more of this brother to read

[Matthew Huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-organized and thoughtful commentary series. Well done.

[James Keogh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book highlighting Christian leadership from the Bible. Merida does a great job of breaking down complex theology to simple reading.

[Carlos A]

Excellent commentary by Merida. Very practical with a good theological understanding.A commentary for the rest of us in plain language.

[Carmen Dampf]

Phenomenal!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accessible, yet thought-provoking exploration of two often neglected books of the Old Testament. Recommend for any student of the OT or student of leadership.

[Sally Rejas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it was assigned as a textbook for a class, I actually enjoyed the samples of leadership in the Bible.

[Khiala]

Very good depicition of the different leadership of each King

[Andrew Ysasi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to read this book as part of the course at Liberty University. what a great opportunity to learn about aligning biblical teachings with leadership.

[Kara Rochester Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were tiny nuggets of powerful wisdom throughout, but I felt like I had to read through a lot of drudge just to find them.