Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Book: The One Year Holy Land Moments Devotional

Yikes, but that’s a long title.
The One Year Holy Land Moments Devotional from Tyndale Momentum is a compilation from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s Holy Land Moments radio program. These devotional moments are then commented on by Tremper Longman III, a Biblical Studies professor. It is an intriguing collaboration between a teacher of the Jewish faith and a teacher of the Christian faith.
I came to this with a measure of doubt. There is a pretty big gulf in belief between modern Judaism and modern Christianity. While there is much we as Christians should learn, there is just an undercurrent of divergence in our understanding. The shared heritage of the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Writings is valuable, but how well will this work?
An additional concern was whether or not Longman’s contributions would integrate well with Rabbi Eckstein’s. Would the Christian insight flow well with the Rabbinical statements?
The results overall are good. Rabbi Eckstein’s focus is on the Jewish concepts and rabbinical understandings of what we as Christians would call Old Testament passages. This includes providing clearer pictures of holy days such as Rosh Hoshannah and Yom Kippur. These insights are helpful, and Longman’s paragraph to connect to Christian views flows well throughout.
The devotional book is written with six entries per week, with a seventh day for reflection. The reading is easy, and the questions posed are worth the time. If you are looking for a new devotional book for the next year, this one is worth a try.
Note: Free book in exchange for the review.

No comments:

Post a Comment

To deal with SPAM comments, all comments are moderated. I'm typically willing to post contrary views...but I also only check the list once a day, so if you posted within the last 24 hours, I may not be to it yet.

Sermon Replay April 14 2024

 Here is the sermon replay from April 14, 2024.