Gregory D. Cook. Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality: The Gospel According to Abraham. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, January 16, 2015. 208 pp.
4 out of 5
Purchase: Westminster |Amazon
Are you reading the narratives in Genesis about the life of Abraham? Also are you looking for a good devotional commentary that also have a redemptive historical awareness and also conscious of biblical theology? This would be a resource in understanding the portion of the book of Genesis.
This book is part of the series titled “The Gospel According to the Old Testament” published by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing. In past years I have enjoyed this series’ commentary on Esther and the book of Nahum which I thought the editor did a good job selecting the authors that have great exegetical observations of Biblical passages with an eye for things like literary device, word play, a big picture perspective and use of background information, etc. So when I found out that the editor for the series himself wrote a volume on the Genesis narrative of Abraham’s life I knew I had to get this book. The author Iain Duguid is an Old Testament professor from Westminster Theological Seminary. While I didn’t think this particular volume is as good as the other two volumes I have read previously still it is a good commentary that I would recommend for others to read, both pastors and laymen.
The book covers Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 25:18 in fifteen chapters in the book. Each book chapter covers roughly a chapter from Genesis. Besides observation from the text the author also applied God’s truth from the passage to the readers’ lives. This I appreciate very much and he does the application skillfully.
Here are some of the insights I gained from this book:
- Going to Egypt is often an alternative to trusting in God often in the Old Testament. It is often seen as making a choice that sounds good; but in the end is not a wise one.
- There’s an interesting parallel of Abraham with Jesus. Abraham left his father’s side, so did Jesus. Abraham is told that he will be great in Genesis 12:3 which of course Jesus is above all names in Philippians 2:9-10.
- Abraham in Genesis 14 was acting out as a blessing to Gentiles already when he went to rescue Lot and others.
- In Genesis Melchizedek blessed Abraham but the king of Sodom did not; we should also interpret this in light of Genesis 12:1-3 where those who bless Abraham will be blessed and those who do not will not be blessed.
- In Genesis 16 there seems to be an echo of Adam and Eve with Abaham and Sarah’s life. In both stories the couple were in land that was supposed to be a land of blessing. Sarah “took” and “gave” her maid servant Hagar to her husband Abraham, using the same verb of “took” and “gave” in Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve concerning the forbidden fruit. Like Adam, Abraham gave in to his wife’s request and followed his wife. This is followed by a blame game between husband and wife and negative consequences unfortunately.
Of course more insights are found in the book. There were times I wished the author could have gone over more details of what was going on in the narrative. The author in the book often write in a manner summarizing the passage without referencing specific verse in the chapter in Genesis he is talking about; I think as a constructive criticism he could be more explicit with the reference of which verse in the narrative he was referring to. Despite these drawbacks I recommend the book to anyone studying Genesis 11-25.
Thanks for the great review. Always looking for great material on Genesis.
Blessings.
Thank you for the blessing.
Thanks for the review!!!!!
You’re welcome! I am wondering if you might have read John Walton’s commentary on Genesis for the NIVAC series and your thoughts? (I believer you read his “The list world of…” books)
I think it’s a great commentary! I absolutely do NOT agree with all of his NIVAC points; however, I very much appreciate his work with ANE background. I find his Lost World books to be fascinating reads in that while I don’t agree with everything he gives me things to think about. He also helps strengthen my positions as well, in that, I want to be able to defend my views against those of his which I disagree. Was this helpful?
Thanks for the review! So many amazing types-foreshadowings of Jesus Christ in the OT!
Indeed so many! I’m still amaze what types I think legitimately are in the OT, I do think though sometimes people can be overly zealous and force an interpretation of a typology when it isn’t there…how’s your day going?
I recently finished a good book about types, but it focused on the nation of Israel being a type for Christ…i.e., witness, servant. The author also mentioned that there were abuses in the past and many tried to push square types through round holes.
The day’s going well, thanks! After chauffeuring my sister around yesterday, I anticipated lots of couch time today, but she called at 11:30 saying I needed to take her to Syracuse (80 miles away) for her 2nd C-19 vaccine shot at 2:30 only to call back saying the appointment is tomorrow and a friend is taking her. Early dementia. Ah, the couch beckons.
How is your day starting out?
Thanks for review!
Thank you, Sweetie.
You’re welcome and thank you for reading this review Maw Maw! How are things in my birth state?
Surviving.:)
Thanks for this helpful review
Thank you for sharing this book review SlimJim ☺️. Looks like a helpful commentary. Genesis is an amazing book.
Interesting comparison between Adam and Eve and Abraham and Sara.
Great review . Thank you brother Jim.
Thank you sister for reading this review! The Bible has so many neat parallels, do you find it amazing there’s so many of these in the Bible the more we are in the Word?
So true. His Word is amazing. We are so blessed to be God’s children.
I’ve read Genesis a few times but from your preview of what you learned from the commentary it seems there are still things I can learn and pick up from this book on Genesis.
I don’t know of much commentaries on Genesis besides Calvin on Bible gateway so this is helpful
Always keep learning and learning from others who have something to teach us, especially with the Bible.
Love the bullet points, and just the concept of the book – gap between promise and reality – is an important one for many of us, at least for me. I will add this book to my growing list.
So many books to read! Any particular titles you reading currently that stood out?
Just finished Don’t Give Up by Kyle Idleman. And I am reading an old Lucado book, but I don’t remember the name. A lot of great stories though. Nothing deep at the moment.