Vol.4 The Mysterious and Profound Providence of God
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Commentaries
Dr. Seok-Tae Sohn

Recently, I received a mail from a pastor that I admire, Rev. Kang-Ro Lee (former moderator of the Reformed등 Presbyterian Church of Korea). it was a book about the genealogy of Jesus Christ, a common theme about which too many people have written. I did not even open the book and stuck it in a corner of my bookshelf.

later, I was talking with my old acquaintance and he started to share with me about Rev. Abraham park's books. Because I had no knowledge of Rev. park nor had I read his books, I began to be curious about everything he was saying. He said that he had read a newspaper article, which motivated him to go buy and read his books. He is now waiting for the publication of the fourth book in the series. More

Then, he urged me, the Old Testament scholar, to read those books. So, I took out his book and read it. In reading the book, I tried to understand the book from the perspective of the author, Rev. Park, who is a minister, and forego the various theories and perspectives proposed by contemporary theologians.

What struck me when I started reading the introduction was his testimony about spending years in a cave on Mt. Jiri in order to study and understand the Word of God. There, he read the Bible and every time he had a realization, he wrote it down on arrowroot leaves, which he bound together with bush-clover stems. These notes later became the sources for his books. I was touched by the fact that there still is a pastor in Korea who reveres and searches through the Word of God today because many Korean Bible, deeply meditate upon the Word, nor have the zeal to wrestle with the Holy scriptures for clearer understanding. Setting aside the content of the book, I believe that Rev. Park's sincere and earnest zeal for studying God's Work sets and excellent example for our young pastors today. Frist of all, the fact that Rev. park chose to study about Jesus Christ, who is the essential core of the Bible, and His genealogy in his biblical research itself makes a statement about his books-that they are not of the ordinary. The genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:1-17 starts with Abraham, continues through David, and is divided into three periods of 14 generations. Rev. park chose to analyze each period of the genealogy and use the combined analysis to grasp the flow of redemptive history. The book in review in an exposition of the second period of the genealogy spanning from David to the deportation to Babylon. I was quite amazed that someone who is not a trained scholar of the Bible could so tenaciously and incessantly research a single topic to produce such a vast volume of literature. Rev. Park has dug a very deep well for his entire life. Ultimately, he has poured out his doctrinal and theological beliefs, his faith and spirit, and his fervent zeal into this series of books. I believe the term epic masterpiece has been reserved for early such volumes.

In actuality, Rev. Park did not merely dig a deep well. he not only had depth but breadth as well. Under the rubric of the adminstration of redemptive history scattered throughout the Bible and presented a complete picture . He has brought together the stories about the individuals that comprise the genealogy of Jesus Christ in a most vivid and fascinating way. e is a natural storyteller. he does not monotonously narrate events according to their chronology, but structures the stories of the individuals in the style of expository sermon b putting appropriate titles for each section, making possible to get a general picture of the whole just by looking at those titles and subtitles. The messages that the author conveys through the lives of the individual personages penetrate th reader's heart like an arrow. His writing style is elegant, savory, and charismatic, entrancing the reader until the last page. I think that his is one of the prominent features good storytellers; however, it is difficult to preach on the historical books of the Bible although there are many great subject matters about which new model for teaching and preaching the historical books.

Moreover, the "excursus" charts and diagrams about the chronology of the kings are distinctive . They are clearly organized for laypersons, seminary students, ministers and anyone as useful reference tools to study the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is profoundly great and magnanimous that it is not an easy task to come to a complete understanding and knowledge of Him. Many have wandered down countless paths seeking for the proper knowledge of the Lored, but not many have succeeded. We follow the path that our forefathers of faith have discovered to believe and follow Jesus Christ. Rev. Park has found Christ through this path called "genealogy." He has pioneered a new route to reach the summit, who is Christ, and he has written these books to be our guide. I believe that this route that Rev. park discovered is one of the definite shortcuts for all Christians to reach Christ. Therefore, I recommend this book to all who love Christ and desire to know Him. I also strongly recommend that we minsters, who are to lead the way toward Christ, especially read this book and have it handy in our libraries as reference.

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Dr. Seok-Tae Sohn

President Emeritus, Reformed Theological Seminary of Korea
President, Korea Evangelical Society of Old Testament Studies
Chairman of the Board, Evangelical Students Fellowship

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