A Layman Looks at the Lamb of God

The Shepherd Trilogy

by W. Phillip Keller

Book by Keller, W. Phillip

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Religion, Devotional, Christianity

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1982

About the author

Weldon Phillip Keller (1920-1997) wrote more than thirty-five books on Christian subjects, including his most popular book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 The son of missionary parents in Kenya, Keller grow up in Africa before becoming a world citizen as a photographer, agronomist, and author. His books have over two million copies in print.

Reviews

[Morgan Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The very essence of His character; the very makeup of His divine Person, demanded that He share His own life; lay down His own body; spill His own blood; give up His own Spirit in order to save us from our sins.”

Wow. One of the best books I’ve ever read. The emphasis on the weight of His sacrifice is heartbreaking, but beautiful. No words, just read it!

[Hannah E. Griggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a thorough study of exactly what it means that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Mr. Keller went through the different "acts" in the Bible, in which a lamb played an important role, and explained how each of those pointed to Jesus. The final chapter showed how Jesus' suffering and death were a fulfillment of the prophesies that He would be our Lamb and would take away our sins.

[Sassa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the final book in Phillip Keller’s Shepherd trilogy and it is excellent, excellent reading.
Keller’s purpose is to show the unique perspective shepherds may have to explain the analogy God has drawn for our understanding of His perfect plan for man’s eternal salvation through His Son’s sacrifice on the cross.
Keller starts the book with provoking thoughts and questions: “‘THE LAMB OF GOD...’ What an unusual title! Among the countless varieties of animals, why was this particular species chosen most often to portray God’s Son? What special significance does it bear?”
To lead us to answers, Keller guides us through the divine drama unfolded from Genesis 3 to Revelation 5 in seven chapters. He calls them seven Acts.
We start by seeing the Old Testament requirement of continual sacrificing of lambs for temporary forgiveness of sins beginning with Adam, Eve and Abel and moving through Abraham, Moses and the kings. This is all a foretelling of the better thing to come. The ultimate culmination of God’s plan is the New Testament singular sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God who died for our sins ONCE and FOR ALL.
I highly recommend this Biblically-sound trilogy. It made me pause and re-evaluate long-held assumptions. 👍 Those assumptions can be misleading!

[Jasmine Shadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short and delightful read. Phillip Keller's love for his Savior and the Lamb of God is so evident in his writings. May we all develop a love for our Savior and God as he has. He has a gentle style of writing. It is almost poetic in style. We learn a little about sheep in these pages, but more importantly the picture of sheep in correlation with our Savior.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept waiting for the book to get better. Although it is a magnificent subject, almost all of the book left me unmoved. I would take exceptions to some of the author's "facts," e.g., the fish the disciples caught after the Resurrection when Jesus met them on the shore was the biggest catch they had ever taken.

[Ruthann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was refreshing and interesting. I appreciated his descriptions from a shepherds vantage point and learned a lot about sheep- I will never think of them the same way again! It brought the Bible analogies to life in a new way for me. Highly recommend - it’s very practical reading for a Christian.

[Greg West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keller is a very good wordsmith. This is an eye-opening walk-through the Bible looking at the Lamb. From the one that covered Adam and Eve, Abel’s offering, to the one provided for Abraham and Isaac to the Passover lamb, to escape goat and Isaiah‘s vision, all of these point to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

[Karen Butman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so thoroughly enjoyed all three books in this series. He makes Scripture come so alive with his descriptions. I learned so much from all three books and am inclined to read others. Well written, easy to read and understand. Wonderful books!

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Layman Looks at the Lamb of God" is a study of Old Testament events which point to Christ as the Lamb and the New Testament events that fulfill this role.

The author looked at six examples of foreshadowing Christ as a lamb: Adam and Eve's covering, Cain and Abel's offerings, Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac, the Passover lamb, the scapegoat, and the lamb in Isaiah. Each event was discussed in a separate chapter. The final chapter was a look at Christ fulfilling his role of lamb in the New Testament.

There was very little about shepherding or lambs in this devotional. There was a fair amount of speculation, some of which I'd agree with because it's consistent with the Bible as a whole. However, he based some of his studies on speculation rather than information specifically stated in the Bible. And I'm not even sure where he got some of his speculations from, like some ideas he stated--as if fact--about Nazareth and Jesus' growing up years. While I though the book was useful to make a person think, I'd suggest that people double-check what the Bible actually says after reading it so they can separate speculation from fact.

[Debi Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the book is written in true Keller form, I found it a bit more difficult to absorb than his book on Psalm 23. Nevertheless, it ends in a powerful, compelling way lifting my eyes of faith to Christ - The Lamb Of God Incarnate - who is seated in glory. This fact makes all the difference in how I live day by day. This book will change how you see Christ as the Lamb of God.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the subject matter of this book and the way he emphasized the Old Testament sacrificial system and the foreshadowing of the time when Christ, The Lamb of God, would be the sacrifice for sin, once for all. This book was good and a fast read, but it could have been better. His writing was repetitive in some places and he took some liberty in relating the details of Christ's life.

[Gwendolyn Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a study of the significance of Christ as the Lamb of God. The author writes with a remarkable depth and insight, drawing upon his background as a farmer/sheep rancher.