Doug O’Donnell’s new book is now available: The Beginning and End of Wisdom: Preaching Christ from the First and Last Chapters of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job (Crossway, 2011), with a foreword by Sidney Greidanus.
You can read the introduction and first chapter online for free.
TGC now has a page set up providing resources for pastors on preaching from Wisdom Literature, and today they interview O’Donnell on his book.
Here is one exchange:
How would you explain the unique message of each OT wisdom book as it anticipates Jesus?
I hope these Christological summaries below don’t come off as too simplistic. The book shows, I hope, some of the complexities as to the connections I made.
Proverbs: For our own good and the glory of God, the book of Proverbs invites and instructs God’s covenant people—especially young men—to embrace wisdom. For Christians, such wisdom comes through fearing God’s beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:21), and walking in his wisdom.
Ecclesiastes: Ecclesiastes is about finding the goodness of God while living within the vanity of this world. Such goodness or “wisdom” is found only through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. This relationship involves trusting in Christ and heeding his commands, which brings rest, justice, and joy.
Job: The book of Job prefigures the purposeful sufferings of Christ. That is, the story of God’s servant Job prepares us for the story of Jesus, the suffering servant, who in his passion and death shows how innocent suffering can show forth the justice of God.
