Authors JOHN KLEIN & ADAM SPEARS
Publisher COVENANT RESEARCH INSTITUTE BEND OREGON
ISBN 1-58930-237-2
Two volumes are so far available in this series and a third is on the way, so the authors inform us. They come from a Messianic Hebrew congregation in Oregon and their writings are promoting an understanding of the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. The second volume is their view of the book of the Revelation through Hebrew eyes and the third will complete their analysis of that last book of the Bible. Although there are some interesting points made in these books these are alongside an excessive and constant criticism of all things Greek as though God made a massive mistake in allowing His Son to come at a time when Greek was the common language and the one which carried the writings of the New Testament around the Roman Empire.
There are better books, more reliable in scholarship and interpretation, available if we want to make a study of the Hebrew roots and interpretation of New Testament truth. It is almost impossible to not get the feeling that these authors have a pet theory and everything must be poured through the mould of that single idea. There is a lack of firm ground in many of their assertions, for instance the way they divide the idea of covenant into four parts, first, the blood (servant) covenant, then the salt (friendship), followed by the sandal (inheritance), which in turn is followed by the marriage (betrothal) covenant. The former are all contained and fulfilled in this last to which all things are moving as revealed in the Book of the Revelation that culminates with the marriage of the Lamb. It is around this framework that they build much of their argumentation and they supplement it with notions, often culled from the book of Enoch (an extra Biblical book) as to the different kinds of angels, origins of demons and of Satan himself. Inevitably reading books of this nature leads to a kind of spiritual superiority being attached to all things Jewish and racial pride inevitably emerges.
As we would expect, the last chapter in volume two gets political with mention of the USA in God’s plan and that she will only be great if she sides with the Israel that now is. The implications of this would be that we must vote Republican rather than Democrat for we all know that Republican presidents have had greater sympathy for Israel, etc, etc. These are books to be avoided, in the main they carry us away from Jesus Who died to make of two one new man, so making peace (Ephesians 2:14-16).
That there is illumination and increased understanding that will come from study of the Jewish background of the Bible is not in question but we cannot walk the extreme pathways these authors take.
