Some weeks ago I introduced this newsletter to the four-volume Old Testament series I have been working on — The Things Concerning Himself — and the four commitments shaping every page of it. Christ is present in the Old Testament, not predicted from a distance. Law and gospel run through the whole Bible. The historical narratives are read as history. Typology, where it operates, runs on guardrails.
Volume One is now finished and available: Genesis.
I started here for the reason the series intro named: Genesis is the foundation. Every major theme of the rest of the Bible is seeded somewhere in this book. Creation and fall. The first preaching of the gospel (Genesis 3:15 — the protoevangelium, the first promise of the seed who would crush the serpent's head). The flood and the ark. The call of Abraham. The sacrifice on Moriah. Jacob wrestling at the Jabbok. Joseph in the pit, in the prison, in Pharaoh's court — and the line that holds the whole arc together: you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20).
The reading throughout is Christ-centered. Not by import — by recognition. Adam is a real man whose fall makes a real Adam-to-come necessary. Noah's ark is a real ark whose carrying of a remnant through the waters of judgment Peter himself names as the type of baptism. Melchizedek is a real priest-king whose order Hebrews names as the order of Christ. Joseph's brothers really did mean it for evil — and the God who turned that for good is the same God who turned the deeper evil of the cross for the salvation of the world. None of this is allegory. It is the historical reading of Scripture as the Holy Spirit, through the apostles, has taught the church to read it.
The volume comes in two pieces: a manuscript for the reader sitting in the chair, and a Teacher's Guide for the leader standing in front of the chair. The manuscript is available now; the companion Teacher's Guide is being released to paid subscribers through this newsletter, one section at a time, as we work through it.
More info here: [GENESIS]
The favored son sent by the father. Hated by his brothers. Stripped of his special robe. Sold for silver. Descended into a pit. Raised to the right hand of the king. Providing bread for the world during the famine. Hidden among foreigners until he reveals himself.
Volume Two — Psalms — is coming next. The Psalter is, in Luther's phrase, the "little Bible" — and it is also, more importantly, the prayer book of Christ. More on that when it ships.
In Christ,
Larry