John Blanchard
Evangelical Press
288, £8.99
ISBN: 978-0-85234-782-9
Star Rating: 0
As the ‘clean pages’ in our Bibles they appear culturally foreign and remote from our modern Christian understanding. Some chapters can strike us as uncouth and inhospitable.
But the author serves us superbly, becoming to the Minor Prophets what Lonely Planet is to, say, Yemen. His aim is not to provide in-depth analytical commentary. Rather, to whet the appetite and give us a hankering to visit the twelve books from Hosea to Malachi.
Like a trusted tour guide saying ‘You must sample these’, ‘Isn’t this extraordinary’ and ‘Watch out for that,’ Blanchard fills his book with striking quotations, cultural commentary and doctrinal explanations. His vivid overview approach is enticing and provocative.
The mental gap between God’s dealings with them in their day and with us in ours is significantly lessened
The book considers similarities between all twelve prophetic messages. The common denominators are God’s utter and undeniable sovreignty, his inevitable judgement against sin, his amazing love, a passionate call to get right with him, and predictions of the coming Messiah.
The ‘major points’ are investigated with New Testament light, historical understanding, enormous literary breadth and keen human observation. Its selected themes convince us of the abiding relevance and power of Scripture, which is written, Minor prophets and all, for our admonition.
When a resourceful and reliable author like John Blanchard pens such an exploration of the uncharted chapters of Scripture, pastors will be planning their consecutive expositions, and church members will determine on sight-seeing tours of their own. Reading this book will get you eagerly reading twelve more.
Ali McLachlan, Dundee
