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“This book will change the way you read the Old and the New Testaments. The ideas are big, but the words and the chapters are not. I will joyfully wear out my copy.”
— Tom Kelby, President, Hands to the Plow Ministries; President, Table Fellowship Churches
As a Christian, are you unsure about the best way to read and understand what is literally the first three-quarters of the Bible?
It’s a hugely important question, because unhealthy approaches to reading and understanding the Old Testament can lead to significant doctrinal and ethical problems. But answers appear when Christians read the Old Testament properly—through Christ and for Christ. This is why Enjoying Jesus’s Bible teaches us how to:
- read the Old Testament in the ways God intends (chapter 1),
- see Jesus where Scripture discloses him (chapter 2),
- hope in all God’s promises for us (chapter 3), and
- live faithfully in relation to God’s law (chapter 4).
After all, God gave the Old Testament “for our instruction” and to serve us (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 1:12). When Christians read it through Christ and for Christ, it clarifies many doctrinal and ethical issues that cannot be addressed in any other way.
This book is short, clear, and packed with insights. It’s perfect for anyone with an interest in Scripture:
- from students and everyday Christians eager to learn more
- to pastors, teachers, and scholars who will appreciate the succinct, insightful presentation
Learn how to enjoy, delight in, and grow in Godward hope through the Old Testament — the Bible of Jesus, the Apostles, and the earliest Church — the 39 books of Scripture that set the stage for the worldwide spread of Christianity.
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- reading the Old Testament in the ways God intends (chapter 1),
- seeing Jesus where Scripture discloses him (chapter 2),
- hoping in all God’s promises for us (chapter 3), and
- living faithfully in relation to God’s law (chapter 4).
Enjoying Jesus’s Bible: The Old Testament for Christians comprises an Introduction, four Chapters, and a Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
Does the Old Testament Really Matter for Christians? The intro supplies ten reasons why the Old Testament is important for believers.
CHAPTERS
- Reading Well: How Does Jesus Help Christians Interpret the Old Testament? Both Old and New Testament authors recognized that God gave the Old Testament for those connected to the messianic era and that only through Jesus does God enable people to read the Old Testament as God intends. Christians alone bear the spiritual ability to interpret the full meaning of the Old Testament, and Christ’s life, death, and resurrection provide a necessary lens for understanding rightly all God intends.
- Seeing Well: How Does Jesus’s Bible Testify about Him? Along with reading through Christ, Christ’s glory is the end to which God gave the Old Testament. This chapter offers seven potential ways the biblical authors model reading the Old Testament for Christ. It concludes with a case study in reading Genesis this way.
- Hoping Well: How Does Jesus Secure Every Divine Promise? In Jesus, Old Testament promises remain a vital means for Christians to grow in holiness and persevere through suffering. This chapter shows weaknesses in the way prosperity preachers approach biblical promises. It then offers key principles that guided the New Testament authors when appropriating Old Testament promises and shows how Jesus fulfills promises by maintaining them (with or without extension), transforming them, or completing them.
- Living Well: How Does Jesus Make Moses’s Law Matter? None of Moses’s law is directly binding on believers today, but all of Moses’s law still guides us when read in view of how Christ fulfills the law. Specifically, Moses’s law still matters in the way it reveals God’s character, anticipates the saving work of Christ, and models what justice and love looked like in the age before Christ. This chapter evaluates alternative approaches to old covenant law, which includes confronting dangerous perspectives. It then supplies four case studies to show how Jesus maintains the law (with or without extension), transforms the law, or annuls the law.
CONCLUSION
Can Christians Really Enjoy Jesus’s Bible? Yes. This conclusion provides seven tips for doing just that.
Author
Jason DeRouchie is Research Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology and the Rich and Judy Hastings Endowed Chair of Old Testament Studies at Midwestern Seminary; Content Developer and Global Trainer with Hands to the Plow Ministries; and a Pastor of Sovereign Joy Baptist Church in the northland of Kansas City, MO. His books include How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology and Delighting in the Old Testament: Through Christ and for Christ, of which Enjoying Jesus’s Bible is a distillation.
Endorsements
“This book will change the way you read the Old and the New Testaments. The ideas are big, but the words and the chapters are not. I will joyfully wear out my copy.”
— Tom Kelby, President, Hands to the Plow Ministries; President, Table Fellowship Churches
“Shows us how the Old Testament can be both accessible and awe-inspiring. DeRouchie seeks to inflame our hearts.He opens the treasures of the Old Testament, allowing them to illuminate the New Testament, exalt Jesus, and lead readers to greater faithfulness and deeper worship.”
— Joe M. Allen III, Assistant Professor of Missions, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College
“Jason DeRouchie helps us see Christ in this part of God’s word, resulting in a joy-filled faith. I highly recommend this book to you, whether you are a Christian in the pew or a leader in the church. Don’t rush through it. You will see the Old Testament Scriptures as you have never seen them before!”
— Conrad Mbewe, Pastor, Kabwata Baptist Church, Lusaka, Zambia; Founding Chancellor, African Christian University
“This book provides a model for Christ-saturated and biblically grounded reading of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. Church groups and classrooms will be blessed as they learn how to read, see, hope, and live in light of the Christ-centered message of the first three-quarters of the Bible.”
— Ian J. Vaillancourt, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Heritage Theological Seminary; author, The Dawning of Redemption and Treasuring the Psalms
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— Tom Kelby, President, Hands to the Plow Ministries; President, Table Fellowship Churches
“Jason DeRouchie’s love of the Old Testament is contagious. He loves the Old Testament because it leads him to his Savior. Neglecting the Old Testament results in an impoverished understanding of the words and works of Christ. Even though the Old Testament’s language, culture, and worldview can strike modern readers as foreign or arcane, DeRouchie demonstrates how the Old Testament can be both accessible and awe-inspiring. He does more than merely inform his readers; he seeks to inflame their hearts, beginning with the Law and all the Prophets. DeRouchie serves the global church by opening the treasures of the Old Testament, allowing them to illuminate the New Testament, exalt Jesus, and lead readers to greater faithfulness and deeper worship.”
— Joe M. Allen III, Assistant Professor of Missions, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College
“While Christians may confess that the first three-quarters of the Bible is ‘breathed out by God’ (2 Tim. 3:16) and bears witness about Jesus (John 5:39), and although they may affirm that it is ‘profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness’ (2 Tim. 3:16), they often find it difficult to discover in it the kinds of life-transforming riches that would lead them to be ‘complete, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:17). Put another way, it is one thing to believe that the Old Testament is a bottomless mine of life-transforming gospel gold, and it is quite another to experience its riches as one mines deeply. With this book, Jason DeRouchie has handed us a tool for mining, helped us get started, and given us instructions so that we can dig deeply for the rest of our lives. This book provides a model for Christ-saturated and biblically grounded reading of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. Church groups and classrooms will be blessed as they learn how to read, see, hope, and live in light of the Christ-centered message of the first three-quarters of the Bible.”
— Ian J. Vaillancourt, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Heritage Theological Seminary; author, The Dawning of Redemption and Treasuring the Psalms
“We love to tell the stories of the Old Testament to children but, sadly, often fail to rejoice in it for ourselves. Jason DeRouchie helps us see Christ in this part of God’s word, resulting in a joy-filled faith. I highly recommend this book to you, whether you are a Christian in the pew or a leader in the church. Don’t rush through it. You will see the Old Testament Scriptures as you have never seen them before!”
— Conrad Mbewe, Pastor, Kabwata Baptist Church, Lusaka, Zambia; Founding Chancellor, African Christian University
“When it comes to Old Testament studies, Jason DeRouchie is one of this generation’s most trusted authors. In Enjoying Jesus’s Bible, he brings his considerable gifts to bear as he walks the reader through how to read the Old Testament in light of the person and work of Christ. This accessible, reader-friendly volume will biblically inform and spiritually inspire all who read it. Whether you’re a new believer or an established scholar, I highly recommend this book.”
— Jason K. Allen, President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Spurgeon College
“This book covers an incredible amount of ground when it comes to helping us understand and apply ‘Jesus’s only Bible.’ Of particular import is how much more attention and care teachers and evangelists should take as we teach the Old Testament. All Christians stand to benefit immensely as they worship their way through this comprehensive and informative text. Feel your heart leap for joy as you see how Jesus heals you of your spiritual disabilities and purchases for you every spiritual blessing!”
— Gloria Furman, author, Labor with Hope and Missional Motherhood
“This book is a dream come true. For years, Jason DeRouchie has won my trust. He cherishes both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Messiah himself. And without pretense or fudging, he loves to see the genuine, authentic marriage of the sacred text and its supreme Treasure. Few take both the Old Testament and Christ with such seriousness and contagious joy. Now, in this book, a world-class professor leverages his learning and skill in the Hebrew language, discourse analysis, and the full text of Scripture to train lay leaders, common Christians, and all careful students of the Bible, not just to read and understand the Old Testament better, but through it to encounter the King himself in the full sweep of his majesty and to delight in him.”
— David Mathis, Senior Teacher and Executive Editor, desiringGod.org; Pastor, Cities Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota; author, Habits of Grace
“For a Christian, understanding how Jesus is the center and climax of Scripture is of utmost importance. In this volume, Jason DeRouchie channels decades of study to help readers appropriately read the Old Testament as Christian Scripture by examining how Jesus fulfills all of God’s promises. I love this book because it helps believers delight in God’s word and delight in the God who gave us his word.”
— Benjamin L. Merkle, M. O. Owens Jr. Chair of New Testament Studies and Research Professor of New Testament and Greek, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Editor, Southeastern
Theological Review
“If Enjoyment is not one of the first words that comes to mind when you think about the Old Testament, then this book is a gift to you. Jason DeRouchie is a trusted scholar and just the man we need to teach us that the Old Testament prepares for and points to Jesus Christ. This happy discovery awaits all who read Enjoying Jesus’s Bible: The Old Testament for Christians.”
— C. J. Mahaney, Senior Pastor, Sovereign Grace Church, Louisville, Kentucky
“Jason DeRouchie is a faithful guide to the Old Testament. He shows that its theological message is that God reigns, saves, and satisfies through covenant for his glory in Christ.”
— Andy Naselli, Professor of Systematic Theology and New Testament, Bethlehem College and Seminary; Elder, The North Church, Mounds View, Minnesota
“I have benefited from Jason DeRouchie’s work both personally and professionally for decades, and this book represents yet another gift to those who would engage its content. His work is clear, thorough, and compelling. Additionally, his argument is fundamental and essential for the full and proper interpretation of the Old Testament as Christian Scripture. If you are not convinced, repent and reread it.”
— Miles V. Van Pelt, Alan Hayes Belcher, Jr. Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages and Director, Summer Institute for Biblical Languages, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson
“Jason DeRouchie’s work will be immensely helpful to a wide variety of readers. It is both accessible and comprehensive. It is practical and well-researched. I’m looking forward to hearing of its impact in a variety of contexts around the globe.”
— Ryan Robertson, President, Reaching & Teaching International Ministries; Elder, Third Avenue Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky
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