Here's a review of a great book I recently read:
How do you respond when life does
not go as you may have expected? Depending on the situation, it has the
potential to completely destroy your life as you fight to cling to the last
vestiges of the dream you once held dear as if somehow those fleeting memories
will by some means manifest themselves into what you hoped for. The greatest
gift ever given was directly tied to the greatest need of the recipients and in
“The Messiah; Revealed, Rejected, Received” Dr. William Varner writes about this gift that was
promised centuries before it came to pass. He takes the reader on a journey
through Scripture illuminating along the way the need, the promise, the
expectation, and finally the gift. This is a book that applies to the life of
every person who has ever lived as it addresses our greatest need.
Brief Summary
The greatest promise ever made is
that of the Savior that God Himself would send into the world to offer all of
humanity the opportunity to be forgiven. Dr. Varner has written, “The Messiah”
in an effort, “to investigate how the Promise of the Messiah was revealed, then
how Israel as a whole rejected Him, but also how multitudes both from Israel
and from the Gentiles have received Him by faith.”
This investigation takes place within three corresponding sections in which the
author submits evidence in support of this study.
In the first section of the book Dr.
Varner offers Scriptural as well as extra-biblical corroboration for the
promise of a Messiah along with a detailed explanation of the nature and extent
of the promise. This includes defining the threefold role of the Promised
Messiah. The One who was to come would be a prophet which is to say that He
would speak for God to the people. He would also fill the role of priest by
going before God on behalf of the people acting as an intercessor. Finally the
Messiah who was to come would reign as King over all the earth as well as in
the hearts of His people.
The second
section offers a contrast to the promises that God made concerning the Messiah
by offering the expectation of the people as to who and what the Messiah would
be. These ideas hung on two main desires for a Messiah that had little to do
with any of the promises that God made. The people wanted someone sent by God
who would deliver them from any and all real or imagined oppression regardless
of why it existed. They also wanted someone who would come and ratify their
ideas, going along with the carefully constructed religious system that the
leaders built.
With a very
clear tension established between that which God promised and what the people
actually wanted Dr. Varner settles the issue by showing who the Messiah that
God actually sent was. The response was varied because of the conflicting ideas
that existed at the time, however, given the differences between what was
promised and what was expected those clashes seem unavoidable. Therefore, as
the subtitle indicates the Messiah was rejected by many and yet even in this
God has left for Himself a remnant as some were willing to receive the gift
recognizing it as such.
The Book Review
Although
Adam enjoyed a wonderful fellowship with God in the garden for a time, sin
severed the communion such that the ear of man became deafened to the Word of
God. Therefore, it is only fitting that the Promised Messiah would be a prophet
as man needs desperately to hear from the Lord. These truths are drawn out as
the reader is referred to Scripture that begins with Moses declaration that,
“God will raise up for you a prophet like me.”
He then strengthens that point by offering an
exposition of Deuteronomy 18:15-20 listing the seven characteristics of the
Prophet whom God has promised to send as outlined in the passage. The argument
that this promise was fulfilled in Jesus is solidified as corresponding testimony
from the New Testament is offered to address each of the characteristics laid
out in Deuteronomy pointing to Him as the fulfillment.
The people
needed to hear from God and yet at the same time they also needed someone who
would go before them to the throne of their Creator. This is the role of the
priest and it is one of the offices that the coming Messiah was to fill. “The
Messiah’s priestly function is seen both in his work as the sacrificer, who
officiates at the alter, and also as actually becoming in His own person the
sacrifice…”
The coming Messiah would be in the priestly line of Melchizedek, unique and at
the same time better as He offered Himself once and for all, a sacrifice to pay
for sin. These important points are laid alongside the Promised Messiah’s
ongoing work of interceding for those who have received Him as Savior.
The role of
king is the final major characteristic that the Messiah will hold and it is
spoken of in terms of a present as well as a future work. Psalm 24:1 says, “The
earth is the LORD'S, and
all it contains, the
world, and those who dwell in it.”
As the Apostle John states in the first chapter of his gospel the Lord Jesus,
“The Messiah,” is the Creator of all that is and He granted His authority of
dominion to Adam who in turn surrendered it to Satan during the fall. This, as
with all the wrong that has been done in the ensuing centuries of rebellion
will be undone by Messiah the King. This takes place first in the hearts of who
put their faith in the Messiah, making Him the Lord of their lives, and then as
He promised both personally and through the Old Testament prophets that He will
come again. It is at this second coming that the Messiah will visibly rule all
that is. These are the major promises that close out the first section of the
book as the promise of God has been illuminated.
The
argument of the first section of the book is based almost entirely on Scripture
leaving the reader to first answer the question as to whether they believe what
is written or not. Is the Old Testament trustworthy? If the passages are to be
taken as authoritative and from God then, perhaps, the reader is only left to
ask whether the author’s exposition and conclusions are in keeping with the
text? According to those sections of Scripture the Promised Messiah is to be
one person who is Prophet, Priest, and King.
The
reader’s attention is directed toward who and what the expectation of the
coming Messiah would be. Logic would dictate that given the explicit detail
offered by God as to the answer to this question that there should be little
deviation between the promise and the expectation. However, fallen human nature
will not allow for things to be so simple and although, “There was no uniform
idea about what the Messiah would be like”
there does seem to be a general consensus which falls into two main ideas. The
first being that the Messiah would be someone who would come to deliver the
people from all those that they believed oppressed them in any way. Specifically,
at the time of the coming of the Jesus that would have been directed toward the
Romans, but a brief scan of the Old Testament reveals that this was in no way
the end of the list. The Israelites as a whole did not see their greatest
problem as being that of sin and the need for deliverance from it. Rather, they
saw themselves as God’s chosen people, the people of the dynasty of King David
and the most prolific struggle they faced was being denied the opportunity to
enjoy their rightful place.
The second
category of ideas about the Messiah would fit under would be the heading of, a
Messiah who ratifies their accepted wisdom. Although there was no one
philosophy to which everyone held to it is safe to say that all of the various
sects of Judaism wanted God to send a Messiah that would step in and commend
them for exactly what they were doing. This is why there was so much tension
that existed between the religious leaders and Jesus because He wouldn’t go
along with the system that they had so carefully assembled. The Jews did not
know exactly who the Messiah would be but it is safe to say that whoever He was
He would love their brand of religion.
This has
set up an impasse because, as demonstrated by Dr. Varner, you have two parties
with very divergent views on what is to happen and with that, when the Messiah
is actually revealed, somebody will not get what they anticipated. In the third
section of the book the Promised Messiah is shown through several New Testament
passages. Jesus is exactly who God promised Him to be and He came to do exactly
what God said that He would do. He did this first by working to expose and
correct several misunderstandings related to the character and nature of God’s
Law as well as God Himself. In addition to this He also showed the people their
own sinful condition and repeatedly pointed to it as their greatest problem. He
taught and ministered to those who would accept and then He submitted Himself
for the main purpose of His coming, to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the
people. Not just the Jews, but even in this, Christ revealed a long forgotten
secret. God, in calling Abraham and his family to be His chosen people wanted
to draw all men into a relationship with their Creator. Therefore, when Christ
gave His life as a ransom it was that all men may receive the gift of eternal
life.
As I read
this book and have sat under Dr. Varner’s teaching I have sensed that this is a
man who has a deep love for God’s chosen people and I believe that his goal in
writing this book was to offer a clear and inoffensive Scriptural presentation
of the greatest problem that all men have and the Messiah that God actually
promised. Dr. Varner sought to clear up and reveal some unflattering elements
of Jewish history that may be neglected in Jewish teaching which is helpful in
gaining insight as to why some Jews in the first century would not have
accepted Jesus as the Messiah. With this the reader is now faced only with the
question and that has to do with whether the New Testament is a reliable source
of information as the author plainly demonstrates an accurate picture of Jesus
as offered in the New Testament in the third section of the book.
The most
obvious use of this book is in ministering to a Jewish person to help them
understand what God said about the Promised Messiah which opens the door to a
conversation about the New Testament claims of Christ being that Messiah. The
pattern that Dr. Varner establishes would be very effective in sharing the
gospel because it seeks to answer the questions that would probably come in
this conversation. This book would also be very helpful in tracing the main
theme of the Bible which is Christ as it systematically walks through the Old
Testament teaching on this subject. I felt that Dr. Varner clearly laid out the
biblical teaching and it was done in a manner that was easy to follow along
with and share with others.
This book
shows that from the fall of man God has taken an active role in offering the
only solution which is found in the Promised Messiah. I feel that Dr. Varner
presented the information clearly and in an interesting manner that was easy
for most anyone to follow. He was careful to not embellish or add to God’s Word
but simply exposed what is there and he did so in such a way that the reader
must decide whether they believe the Bible or not because the text in clear.
This book has helped to strengthen my faith as I see the promises that God made
concerning the Messiah and how God literally fulfilled each of those. This has
given me great encouragement as I consider other promises that God has made
which apply to my daily life and I am reminded that just like His fulfillment
of the promises concerning the Messiah I can know that He will keep His
promises that relate to me.
I also received from this book a better understanding about why the Jewish leaders responded to Jesus the way they did. Their problems centered on taking the promises that God had given and beginning over time to forget, neglect, and alter those promises. Therefore, when the Messiah was finally revealed they had a very hard time accepting Him. With this I also see application in my own life as I walk with the Lord because it is very easy to see how we can slip into this thinking. This is the only question that I am left with from this book, Where have I allowed by understanding of Scripture come into conflict with Scripture and my belief of who God is? I think that is a lifelong question we all must wrestle with.
