Rob Slane brings us this title as a fruit of his own family devotionals, which were held with the specific aim of keeping Christ at the centre of their Christmas season. It consists of Scripture readings, along with comments, for 25 days, leading up to and including Christmas day.
The result is a helpful introduction to key biblical passages, mainly from the Old Testament, that show how the Bible foreshadows and anticipates Christ and his kingdom.
The themes he highlights are freshly appraised and helpfully integrated with each other. Each chapter centres mainly on one Scripture passage, explaining its Christ-centred focus.
The author’s choice of passages begins with creation, ‘In the beginning’ (Genesis 1:1-5), and ends with two of the Gospel infancy narratives. Biblical extracts concerning the Davidic kingdom, as well as from Isaiah and Daniel, are included. This wide selection is appropriate, since, fundamentally, the whole Old Testament is one big ‘Advent reading’ to prepare the world for Messiah!
In less than 100 pages, this Christ-centred little book brings us some great insights, though I’m still wondering whether the 70 bulls sacrificed during the Feast of Tabernacles really were, as the author asserts, a type of the Gentiles yet to be gathered to Christ. Perhaps so!
Mention is made of John the Baptist, but more could have been said on him in relation to the Advent theme. However, this is a minor quibble. Among other things, this book will be helpful for preachers looking for fresh biblical themes to expound during the joyful Advent/Christmas season.
Roger Fay
Ripon
