James the Just Book Review

Written by Dr. David Friedman (Jewish Rabbi, scholar, former Academic Dean and Professor of Jewish Studies at King of Kings College in Jerusalem, Israel; currently lectures internationally on biblical topics), This commentary is not verse-by-verse but one that points out lots of details that most non-Jewish commentaries miss. The intended readership is Jews, but gentiles are welcome to read to gain more background on the book of James. I do not believe I would recommend this book to the laymen due to the technical nature and at only 100 pages this was intended to be a introduction, as far deeper Jewish commentaries on bigger books of the Bible no doubt would overwhelm most laymen without a background in the languages and textual criticism. I have learned some things while reading this commentary and one is the Hebrew name of James as Ya'akov, and another is that the book of James is the proverbs of the New Testament. Reading through the book I have seen various connections between the book of James and the Old Testament that I previously missed and I thank the author of this commentary for pointing them out. But then again most of my reading is in the area of Bible Prophecy, Evangelism & Apologetics, and theology. I do very little reading of commentaries, the original languages, and other books in the textual criticism field of study, so I am quite ignorant on these issues. Lord willing I will re-read parts of this book that I did not understand. 

1 Samuel for You A devotional commentary By Tim Chester

I was not aware of this series a month ago, but acquired the book 1 Samuel for You by Tim Chester and I am glad that I did. The book claims not to be a commentary, which is accurate as it’s more of a laymen level devotional commentary. The book is not deep nor filled with technical language, but is designed to get the readers feet wet, so I hope the publisher of the series continues to publish new books. This book by Tim Chester is 221 pages long and in hardback format (at the time of this writing). I have no major complaints other than the header to each chapter and the page numbers which are all in an ugly font, and confusing. The headers for example say something like this for every chapter "1 Samuel x verse x to x verse xx." I am confused and wish they would simplify the titles, as I have no idea what verses to focus on other than the chapter being written on. The author gives lots of practical advice and tries to connect the book to daily Christian living, which is a wise choice for a survey application commentary. Each chapter has a questions for reflection section at the end making this book a smart choice not only for individuals but also for small group and or Sunday school discussion. However the book is too simple for the academic level to be used without other deeper books. Reading throughout the book I have found that I mostly agree with Tim in most areas, as Tim appears to be a Calvinist so we share the same theological perspective on things. I am gonna highlight a few pages that made a personal impact on me so far in my readings. On page 46 Tim says the following. 

It is possible for us to treat God like a waiter in a restaurant….But God is not there for us. We are here for him, we were made in him image, we are not to make him in ours. The world does not revolve around you. God must be at the center (Tim by the way center is spelled centre in the book). God’s glory must be central to your life. We need to recognize the weight of glory. We need to take God seriously.

The comments above are very true which sadly myself and many others do not always take seriously.  Lots of immature Christians these days, and maybe books like this one will help people see this. Then on page 53 Tim highlights the great importance of the doctrine of repentance from sin as Tim says, “True repentance is a movement away from sin and back to God.” Lots of people these days may not have repented from their sin because they were told all they had to do to get saved was to raise a hand, walk an isle, or say a prayer without fully realizing the gravity of their sin, so they walked away from the church service still living in sin and not interested in being a disciple of the Lord. Well anyways this is off the topic and focus of this book, but for more on the subject of repentance get the book The Gospel According to the Apostles by John MacArthur.

I have not yet finished the book (as of this writing) but may comment more as I complete the book in full.  I received a free copy of this book from The GoodBook Company and Cross-Focused Reviews in exchange for a fair review.