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Ivan Friesen explores how the interpretation of the book of Isaiah is carried out and lived out today in faith communities where the Bible is the bedrock of faith and life. Such an interpretation combines the concerns of pastoral care with the distress and uncertainty of prophetic action. The commentary groups the sixty-six chapters of Isaiah into six distinct but continuous parts. Each part may be explored as one might explore the room of a house. The furnishings (themes) in each room are different, but the decor (structure) of the house combines to lend to the book an overall unity of purpose. The architecture of the book as a whole has distinct features that include words of judgment as well as words of promise announcing a new day dawning. In this new day dawning, there are strong elements of a messianic hope.
Christians in the bustling, diverse city of Corinth in 50 BCE quarreled about how to be faithful to Jesus. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he calls the small band of new believers to unity and cautions against factionalism, themes that pastor Dan Nighswander unpacks for contemporary readers in this thirty-second volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series. Any Christians who experience division over loyalty to different leaders, who find it hard to agree on sexual ethics (or to live up to them), and who feel tension between their theological convictions and social context will find common ground with believers in Corinth. Home of the exalted “love chapter,” which roots all Christian action in the greatest gift, 1 Corinthians equips those who follow Jesus to craft true community with other believers, differences notwithstanding. With keen theological, biblical, and pastoral insight, Nighswander illuminates for readers the apostle Paul’s challenge to the Corinthian church and calls Christians today to unity through the reconciling work of Christ. Free downloadable study guide available here.
Luke is a gospel of joy, amazement, and warmth. From the jubilant birth narrative and Magnificat at the beginning to the wonder of the ascension at the end, Luke offers a matchless portrait of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and those who followed him. In the 36th volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, New Testament scholar Mary H. Schertz helps readers inhabit the pages of the third gospel, replete with parables and paradoxes and ministries of mercy. In vibrant writing and with careful exegesis, Schertz invites readers to investigate for themselves the surprise, light, and awe of the kingdom of God, in which people find healing, the marginalized find welcome, and the poor find flo...
God is gracious, holy, and present. As a book about how to worship and how to live, Leviticus unfurls these critical characteristics of God in relation to humanity. In the thirty-third volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, Old Testament scholar Perry B. Yoder argues that the oft-neglected book of Leviticus discloses valuable truths, symbols, and practices of the New Testament. Traversing difficult interpretive territory such as the sacrificial system, purity laws, and priestly instructions, Yoder writes with a clarity and nuance that will interest a wide swath of readers. He eloquently poses for readers the focal question of Leviticus: how to live in the presence of God.
Deuteronomy is a book full of life, stories of God’s people, and a vision for walking in the way of God. Considered by some to be the theological center of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy has been called the gospel according to Moses, with its attention to divine grace and practices of justice. Deuteronomy has also disturbed thoughtful readers throughout history, having been used to justify violence and all manner of war. In this insightful commentary, Old Testament scholar Gerald Gerbrandt invites readers to struggle with the difficult passages and to humbly converse with the book’s consistently hopeful themes of covenant, land, and leadership. Against the backdrop of apathy and amnesia ...
Violence on the streets. Military expansion. Consumerism. Policies exploiting people and natural resources. Harassment and abuse: 1 & 2 Kings could hardly be more relevant. In the thirty-fourth volume of the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, Old Testament scholar Lynn Jost claims 1 & 2 Kings were written to form a community that would embrace the Ten Commandments and the Great Shema and would champion righteousness and compassion. Jost traces the characteristics of royal justice, with its systems of excess and indulgence, as well as the court intrigue, succession politics, interfamily rivalries, and prophetic judgment that mark the books. Through it all, Israel remains in a covenant ...
What if rather than only reading Philippians, we allowed Philippians to read us? In this 31st volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, New Testament scholar Gordon Zerbe challenges readers to allow Paul’s prison letter to interpret our own lives—not by extracting lessons out of historical and cultural context but by imagining ourselves into the ancient Roman world . . . and back again.
The gospel of John’s “from above” orientation transforms our human “from below” assumptions and habits. It draws us into union with God and into unity with one another. It communicates who Jesus is, in both intimate and profound dimensions. The book of John shapes Christian identity, invigorates worship, and implants eternal hope. “John’s gospel defies description,” marvels Swartley, professor emeritus at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. “It soars like the eagle, links heaven and earth, and both comforts and convicts the human heart. Its Christology is rich, with a plethora of titles for Jesus-even the divine eternal I AM.” Though commentaries on the book of John abound, this volume follows the unique Believers Church Bible Commentary Series format, providing sections on The Text in Biblical Context and The Text in the Life of the Church. According to Swartley, this format serves well “the interests of seminary as well as other graduate students, and pastors especially.” Volume 26 in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series. Free downloadable supplement available here.
The influence of Psalms is immense, both in terms of the worship of God’s people and in the spiritual experience of countless individuals. James H. Waltner aims to help readers find their way through Psalms, encounter God, and be led into obedience and praise.
What constitutes a faithful life? At its most basic level, the New Testament book of Hebrews considers this essential question and pleads with its audience to find in faithful living the rest that Christ offers. Hebrews begins with a poetic reflection on the one who lived the most faithful of lives—Jesus—and concludes with exhortations to go and do likewise. In the 37th volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, scholars Debra J. Bucher and Estella Boggs Horning examine at great length one important aspect of Hebrews: Jesus as the new covenant and the once-for-all, better sacrifice who replaces the daily and yearly temple offerings in Jerusalem. The authors also consider how...