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Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible (New Studies in Biblical Theology, 15)

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According to Dempster, the problem with many biblical theologies is that they end up being the particular theologies of the theologians doing the theologizing. He argues that this is because thematic approaches often impose a lens upon the reading of the larger Text; they often miss the `Text' for the `texts' that make it up. Dempster proposes that instead, biblical theology should strive to acquire its lens from the Text itself, necessitating a belief in the unity of the one Text. Furthermore, if there is unity to the one Text, then questions pertaining to the literary structure of that Text have profound hermeneutical implications. He then proposes that the literary structure perhaps most helpful in determining the central message of the Old Testament is the Tanakh, since it is the oldest such structure and very likely the Bible of Jesus Christ. Discerning a fundamental theme of this text then becomes imperative to the discipline of hermeneutics. When it comes to any such theme(s) in the Hebrew canon, Dempster argues that the central storyline is composed of two main themes, dominion and dynasty, being realized through the house that God is building for David.

Get past the introductory chapters and the rubber really hits the road in chapter 3 as he starts with Genesis, showing how Adam and Eve were made God's vice-regents over the land, failed at this task, and were then promised a coming seed to reestablish divine dominion. This proceeds to Abraham who was promised land for his descendants, who would be innumerable. One of these descendants, Jacob, at the end of Genesis then foresees Judah exercising dominion over the whole world. Dempster then walks through the rest of the Hebrew canon showing how the story of Scripture unfolds slowly but surely, with God demonstrating piece by piece what this coming dominion will look like. Israel is delivered from exile, conquers the land and institutes the Davidic dynasty, only to lose the land and find Judah exiled. All along the way, it is evident that the coming seed would serve as a priest-king over the people, who were to be a kingdom of priests and a light to the nations. Dempster argues that the middle of the Tanakh offers reflection on what has happened a view of what is to come.

At the beginning of this middle section, Jeremiah states that all it not lost and God is tilling the ground, in essence, in preparation for planting and building. Such building is powerfully visualized for the reader in the book of Daniel, where the coming seed not only reestablishes dominion but also institutes a new world order where righteousness reigns in the place of sin. Before this, however, Dempster shows how the prophet Isaiah offers a stunning twist in the story. Israel must be torn apart because it is a vineyard that has failed and produces bitter grapes. At the same time, there will be a new Israel. The coming servant of the Lord will be different from the kings of the earth and will bring salvation to all nations. He will restore Israel and forgive her sins, bringing this new world order with him.

The Hebrew canon then closes with Chronicles, which Dempster stresses ends on a note of eschatological expectancy. The exile in Babylon ends and Israel is commanded to rebuild the destroyed temple. The Tanakh therefore "orients its readers to the future. As such the Story is unfinished. The long, dark night of exile awaits a sequel--the dawning of a new light that will radiate to the ends of the earth" (227).

Dempster then concludes his book with some brief reflections on how these twin themes of dominion and dynasty are immediately picked up in Matthew and begin to be fulfilled typologically all across the New Testament. Jesus brings the Kingdom of God and serves as the new David, the new Israel who does not fail in the wilderness and whose followers serve as a city set on a hill, etc. He is the obedient Son who suffers the curse for the disobedient son, but whose death inaugurates the end and ultimately brings about a new creation.

The careful and meticulous demonstration of how the Hebrew canon sheds light on the central theme of the Old Testament, Christ, is both the aim and resounding success of this book. Dempster's rigorous defense of his thesis by highlighting the centrality of the literary structure and narrative concentration of the Tanakh is not easily dismissed or missed. One of the crucial ways he does this is by showing the literary and narrative significance of what have been often overlooked passages.

The lengthy genealogies that appear suddenly in the opening chapters of Genesis and the middle of Nehemiah are demonstrated to be elemental in pointing the reader to the flow of history towards its purpose. This is evidenced by the short side-story of Judah at the end of Genesis. A text often seen as of little relevance to those who are text-minded suddenly takes on monumental significance for the Text-minded. The story of Ruth prefigures the inclusion of the Gentiles. The subtle mention of Mordecai as a descendent of Saul in Esther demonstrates both that forgiveness has come even to Saul's house and that God sees to his purpose in history to exterminate the Agagites. The preservation of Joash from Athaliah shows how close the line of Judah comes to being extinguished, yet protected by the providence of God. The apparent randomness of the insertion of details like those of Jehoiakim's at the end of 2 Kings prove to be part of a literary and narrative fabric that is larger than one text. Dempster's work is profoundly effective at demonstrating the unity of Scripture and making a case for the reading of the Old Testament according to its original structure.

The only complaint that might be leveled at the book is that it doesn't labor too long on the New Testament evidence for his thesis. The book is a theology of the Hebrew Bible, so it is somewhat understandable that the New Testament only receives four pages' attention. However, given the hermeneutical presuppositions that the author works with, one might like to see this thesis carried out through the whole Text, which would include the New Testament. Dempster uses the four pages of New Testament reflection to great effect, focusing on how these themes are carried out in the New Testament. Nevertheless, the book would likely have profited from an extended discussion of the ordering of the New Testament and how that plays into the overall literary structure of Scripture as a whole. One further minor quibble might be that the author point the way forward towards application for the church. This is a minor quibble because the book essentially helps us to understand the central themes of the Old Testament better and how they anticipate the Lion of Judah found in the New Testament plainly enough. The application can easily be found with the way this book helps us to grasp Scripture more effectively.

This book will likely help to legitimate the `wide-angle lens' of the Tanakh as a launching pad for further studies into the themes of the Old Testament. Quite simply, I don't think I will ever read the "normal" ordering of the Old Testament found in most bibles again. I believe it simply must be read according to the Hebrew ordering in order to 'get it.' While this book will undoubtedly find its critics amongst those who have prior reservations over the reality or possibility of a Text, it will surely find a place on the desks of those with a thirst for seeing Christ in the Old Testament. The literary/theological approach of this work elucidates the redemptive story and how it anticipates Christ at every turn. As such, it should be read by pastors who desire to faithfully preach Christ from every text or by laypersons who, like Philip in Acts, desire to faithfully demonstrate Christ in all of Scripture.

This is without doubt the best book on Old Testament theology that I have yet read. I don't have time for a full review, but in brief, Dempster traces the twin themes of geneology and geography (seed and land/dynasty and dominion) throughout the Old Testament Hebrew canon (the order of the books in Hebrew is different from our English canon) and shows them to be the unifying themes of the Old Testament.

Dempster's book did something more for me than even Graeme Goldsworthy's excellent book Gospel and Kingdom (which hitherto has been my favorite book on the Old Testament). Goldsworthy's book gave me an understandable outline of redemptive history in broad brush strokes. And it was invaluable to me, and really the foundation for understanding Dempster's book. But Dempster added to those broad brush strokes color and texture. Whereas Goldsworthy framed the puzzle for me, Dempster started putting significant pieces into place. So, really the two books complimented one another.

Be warned: Goldsworthy writes for the layman, but Dempster writes on a more academic level. But that doesn't mean his book is boring. Far from it! It really is one of the most compelling books I've ever read. If you want to read a book that will help you make better sense of the Bible and open your eyes to see just how interwoven the tapesty of the Old Testament actually is, get Dempster. It is a great book and one that I am sure I will return to over and over again for many years.

Dempster's work is one of the latest in the New Studies in Biblical Theology Series. Of all the books I have seen in this series, this one is probably the closest to a pure Biblical Theology. Dempster traces two main themes throughout the Hebrew Canon (he adopts a canonical view using the Hebrew canon, not the Septuagint order we have in our English Bibles) of Dominion and Dynasty. The reason I say this is probably the closest to a pure Biblical Theology is because Dempster does not step out of the pages of Scripture to trace these themes. He does not look to historical evidence or other event oriented material, but simply looks at how the Pentateuch sets up the necessity of Messiah and the gift of the land to the people Israel. He then looks at the Prophets and Writings sections of the corpus and sees how they interpret and further realize the hopes for Israel found in the Pentateuch. This book is informative and a great introduction to the Biblical Theology of the Old Testament because of its macroscopic view. It is simple to read which was one of the goals of the series. I encourage anyone just starting to look at the Bible to those who have been doing Biblical Studies for years to read this book. Another great one is Pentateuch as Narrative by John Sailhamer which takes more of a microscopic look at the Pentateuch and its Theology.

Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible by Stephen G. Dempster is 15th in the New Studies in Biblical Theology series by Inter-Varsity Press.

The series is aimed at helping thinking Christians understand the Bible better by instructing and edifying, marrying mind and heart. It fulfills this goal. It is a bit academic yet certainly accessible to the "thinking" person for whom it is written. It is very readable and certainly recommended as a supplement to Bible study, classes stressing the Old Testament, and personal devotional reading in conjunction with Scripture.

In his preface, Dempster indicates this work is a result of his looking at the Old Testament for general contours, not details, after being concerned he was missing the forest for the trees. Thus, this book is a welcome supplement to detailed commentaries in which the "trees" and even their tiniest branches are dissected. There is a place for both, and Dempster provides a valuable counter-balance both for academics and personal reflection.

His thesis regarding biblical theology, as described in the introduction, follows: "[I]f it can be shown that literary means that this material has not only an implicit literary cohesion but an explicit unity as well, biblical theology may get a fresh hearing." (p. 37) This approach deserves to be heard. The author's understanding of genres makes his reading of the Tanakh "literary" in the true sense of the word: how the ancient contemporary reader understood the text. And his view of the unity and integrity of the writing echoes Catholic teaching. Reading the Bible with a "hermeneutic of charity rather than of suspicion" (p.42) presumes unity and coherence of the Word of God. Should we expect anything less?

Dempster's thorough survey of the books of the Tanakh really adds value to the reading of the sacred page by providing insights, particularly regarding his overarching theme of "dominion and dynasty." The prominence of land and genealogy is no surprise to Christian worshipers and even the casual reader of the Bible ("Promised Land" and lots of "begats"). But the author's unique focus on these themes in the Tanakh adds a valuable volume to the literature.

Finally, Dempster briefly mentions the New Testament and typology. It immediately brings to mind Augustine's famous quote: "The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New." (CCC 129) The amount of typology within the Old Testament is enlightening in itself and Dempster does a service in pointing out so much of it. Generally speaking it is not something to which the modern reader is nearly as much attuned as Old vs. New. But touching upon the New Testament makes me look forward to a sequel that treats this in the same depth the author treats the Tanakh.

I did not have much exposure to the academic study of the Old Testament before reading this book. I knew the stories and the overall plot line, but I had a lot of gaps in my knowledge and did not know how everything fit together. This book helped with that tremendously. He walks through almost every story of the Old Testament showing how they relate to the others and continue a unified theme all the way through. It can be a little dry as he is doing a lot of analysis of the Hebrew used in different passages, but if you have some patience with it you will greatly benefit from reading Dempster's work.

Unless you are an Old-Testament scholar or someone with a peculiar interest and passion on the Old Testament, it could be a challenge to enjoy reading "Dominion and Dynasty." To me personally, I dragged my feet slowly and laboriously as I walked through the book. There are lessons to learn, yet overall, the flavor is somewhat bland. I could not put my finger on why this is the case. It could be the presentation that tends to be more of a scholarly style, considering I am not a Bible scholar. But anyhow, here Prof. Dempster attempts to describe out of a literary study, the big picture of what the Hebrew Bible is about by connecting the dots from each book that composes it. In other words, by studying the trees, not from a ten-thousand foot altitude, an attempt was made to understand what the forest looks like. Another way to say what the goal of a literary study is to understand the big-picture "plot, that refers to a meaningful or purposeful arrangement of incidents or events in the text from beginning to end" or "to achieve a clear understanding of its beginning and ending that will help the reader determine its plan and organization, which clarifies its overall meaning" (p.45). The literary study of the Bible is critical, most importantly, "... because the Bible is a sacred literature that readers should be serious about enjoying it, learning to understand it as a literature (it may be possible for the Old-Testament, but may not be as easy for the New Testament, particularly when I think of the sequence of the epistles). Since it is not a `mere' literature, its comprehension is imperative. For believers, the interpretive task is not only validated; it is sanctified" (p.26).

The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh consists of the same books, but is structured differently from the Old-Testament. It is divided into Torah that most of us are familiar with, that includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), Nevi'im or the Prophets covering Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and the twelve, and Ketuvim or the Writings, composed of Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon, Lamentation, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles (p.36). In Section 1, not only the importance of a literary study of the Bible is pointed out, but also various views from different references of the difference of canonical arrangement of Old-Testament and the Tanakh. In general, from the major division, it has the pattern of narrative (Torah) - commentary (Prophets) - narrative (Writings). Further observations for example, that the Old Testament, having the classical Prophets at the end accentuates eschatology while the Tanakh's structure emphasizes ethics. The Old Testament anticipates fulfillment while the Tanakh signifies completion (p.40), which I believe Dempster seems to disagree but does not explicitly write it since at the end of the book, he implies that Chronicles, being the last book of Tanakh, also anticipates fulfillment.

It is important to note that "the beginning sketches the context, providing background information and introducing the main characters and themes of the work" (p.45). Therefore, Genesis account of creation culminated by the creation of Adam and Eve provides this key context of genealogy and dynasty, as well as land - geography and dominion, the loss of land and exile being a peculiar sub-theme of the latter. These are the recurring theme of other major accounts throughout the Tanakh, including the post-deluvian humanity represented by Noah and his family, the calling of Abraham out of Ur in the Chaldees, the liberation of the Israelis from Egypt, Naomi's return from exile, and finally the return from the Babylonian exile, the rebuilding of the city and temple in Jerusalem. The major themes of all of these center around the Davidic dynasty, as well as the loss and re-acquisition of land or dominion. Since the journey in the wilderness, it has been shown over and over again Israel's failure to keep God-given covenant despite them being a chosen nation to represent "a new humanity." Yet the Prophets make it clear that God has promised a "new David" who "has fulfilled the covenant requirements, made atonement and established an everlasting covenant with all who accept his free offer to partake his covenant meal" (on Isaiah 55:1-2, p.180), also extended to all nations, and whose "victory will mark the victory of the saints, who will also receive universal dominions. Humanity will regain the dominion and royal status conferred on it at the beginning" (p. 217).

The return from the Babylonian exile is not the fulfillment of the restoration of this dominion and royal status since the "real exile will not be over until the Messiah comes" (p. 225). Somehow it offers hope, however, though it "paints a very bleak picture of the restoration and return," (p. 224), at least from "the realities depicted in Ezra - Nehemiah - compromise, assimilation to the pagan culture, unfaithfulness, and devotion to their own pursuits instead of the kingdom of God. The spiritual and moral torpor... reinforce the failure of the restoration movement" (p. 224). As a conclusion, Chronicles show that "Israel is still in exile even though it has returned" (p.224). Yet hope never dies because the command to rebuild the temple illustrates the fulfillment of a prophetic hope, that would be "a rallying point for a new world order of peace and harmony in which a new David will proclaim the Torah. As Jews make their way up to the temple, spurred on by the Psalms of Ascent (Ps 120-134), the people from the nations will grab the hems of their robes, saying, `Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you' (Zech 8:23)" (p.227). In the end, as Dempster puts it, the end of Chronicles, and thus, the Tanakh, is a "Story (with big "S") unfinished. The long, dark night of exile awaits a sequel - the dawning of a new light that will radiate to the ends of the earth" (p.227). This "dawning of a new light" is revealed in no other texts than the New Testament that completes the Story of God and his creations from the beginning to end.

The book came on time as described by the sender. I would buy from them again.