Thanks to Chris at Zondervan for a review copy of this book.
It has admittedly, and regretfully, been a while since I’ve posted more of my review of this book. I won’t make excuses, but I’ll reiterate that Waltke’s book is well worth the time it takes to plow through it. I left off in my last portion of the review with the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants and some of Waltke’s thoughts on kingship in the OT. In this part, I’d like to summarize Waltke’s treatment of the historical narratives written for the postexilic period: Chronicles, Esther and Ezra-Nehemiah (these constitute chapters 27-28).
Waltke favors a date shortly after the return from exile for Chronicles, written to address the issues of that community. As one might expect of a community coming out of exile in a foreign land, there were many questions to ask. For example, Chronciles highlights the Jerusalem temple. In fact, Waltke follows Pratt in pointing out that 17 of 21 chapters about David are dedicated to his preparations for the temple, which was built by Solomon. This fact helps lean the reader towards a date around the time of Haggai and Zechariah, post-exilic prophets who were instrumental in getting the temple rebuilt.
It has been noted time and again that the Chronicler “whitewashes” some of Israel’s history, leaving out some of the negative details and including more repentance on the part of certain kings, notably Manasseh. “His portrait of Manasseh serves as an object lesson for the Judahites and the covenant community at large: God is more concerned with repentance and restoration than with retribution” (p764).
Regarding Esther, Waltke takes the intriguing point of view that Esther and Mordecai are nothing more than “nominal covenant people” rather than heroic figures. He notes: they do not return from exile, Esther hides her nationality (which would have to include breaking certain Mosaic laws that contradicted pagan practices in order not to be discovered), they do not give glory to God when they come out victorious, etc. I’m not entirely sure what to make of this, but it’s something I’m going to spend more time studying. I know Douglas Stuart, one of my former OT professors, takes a similar approach. If scholars of this caliber agree on something, one would do well to pay attention, at the very least.
As for what the book of Esther teaches about God, it certainly shows his providence and his faithfulness to his covenant people, even using nominal covenant members for his purposes. There are far too many “timely reversals” in this book for it to recall mere coincidental happenings. The book of Esther demonstrates God’s behind-the-scenes work on behalf of his people.
Ezra-Nehemiah constitute one book, compiled through official records and the memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah. Perhaps the most informative aspect of this chapter is Waltke’s careful weaving of the structure of the book- he apparently have never met a chiasm he didn’t like- with insightful comments regarding the content of the book. The reader comes away with a strong summary of Ezra-Nehemiah and a better idea of how the book coheres.
Waltke also discuss some of the theological aspects of Ezra-Nehemiah. Again, the reader learns about how God’s providence works to bring his people back from exile. There is also an emphasis on the need for a pure community wholely devoted to God. Waltke also detects in the prayers of repentance found in Ezra 9 and Nehemiah 9 a longing for the Messiah, the promised Davidic king, as the people are still enslaved to a foreign nation. This fits well with the thesis that even in Jesus’ day there was a sense in which the exile had not ended because Israel was not self-governing.
In all, these 2 chapters provide the reader with a strong grasp of the biblical material and how God worked to bring about the restoration of his people. I found nothing in these chapters particularly disagreeable, in fact, I’d highly recommend them as reliable guides for those wishing to become oriented to the books of Chronicles, Esther and Ezra-Nehemiah.
danny
bmarchio
