For the last month, I’ve been using a helpful new study tool during my sermon preparation. This resource took over ten years to complete, and it amounts to 1161 pages of text, not counting the indexes. Yet, I love it because it’s concise and user-friendly.
I’m referring to Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, edited by G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson (Baker). This book explores the Old Testament quotations, allusions, and echoes which occur from Matthew through Revelation. I’ve been using it while preaching from Revelation, arguably the NT book most permeated by the OT.
While most, if not all, of this material can be culled from the best exegetical commentaries, what preacher can carve out time to do this at an adequate level? I’m using this volume like I use The IVP Bible Background Commentary (two volumes – one on OT, and one on NT). A good exegetical commentary usually includes historical-cultural data, but having a volume which pulls it altogether allows me to get the information more quickly. Now we have a handy reference volume which points out the OT texts behind the NT texts.
The biblical texts we preach hold together and form one story. The Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament by Beale and Carson can help us see how the story develops and how its various pieces tie together. This volume is too large for your Christmas stocking, but it will fit nicely with the other presents under your tree!
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 9:48 AM on December 14, 2007
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