By Sinclair Ferguson, TGC.
Review: ‘The Message of the Old Testament’ by Mark Dever
At a conference for pastors, Mark Dever invited his audience to turn for the Scripture reading to Psalm 119. He meant it. His reading of Scripture didn’t end until he’d read verse 176, the closing word of the last section.
Nobody who knew Dever at the time should have been overly surprised by this 176-verse Scripture reading and the exposition that followed. For more than a decade prior, Dever had, through his preaching ministry, practically expressed his commitment to the apostolic teaching of Scripture’s divine origin and power.
The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made contains the record of one of the forms of the ministry of God’s Word. This book and its companion, The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept, provide substantial evidence of the way Dever, longtime pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC, is committed to the centrality of Scripture in the life of the church. Each chapter presents an expository sermon devoted to a book of the Old Testament. This volume’s republication testifies to its tested worth and reflects the appreciation accorded to it in the almost two decades since it first saw the light of day.
Reviving the Soul
The Message of the Old Testament is a monumental accomplishment—extending as it does to more than a thousand pages. But if anything, the quantity of these expositions is surpassed by their quality. Each chapter contains an introduction to a book in the Old Testament canon. Far from giving us more background information than we can handle, Dever wisely tells us only what we need to know to understand the book’s message—which he also clearly articulates.