Yesterday, Today and Forever: The Continuing Relevance of the New Testament

This book presents a fresh approach to the study of the Old Testament that is sure to engage your students. Designed for college-level courses such as Old Testament Survey or Biblical Literature, this book is intended to be used in conjunction with one of the excellent study Bibles now available, particularly the NIV Study Bible. With each chapter of Yesterday, Today and Forever, Helyer prescribes significant scripture readings. Throughout the book he provides a detailed look at the broad themes that run through the Old Testament and are still relevant today.

From Chapter 1: God Speaks. The OT testifies to the reality of divine revelation (Ps 147:19). In the pages of this book (the OT viewed as a unitary whole) the living God speaks. One of the characteristic phrases recurring throughout is the expression "This is what the Lord says." To be sure, this expression is found most often in the prophetic books, but its equivalent is clearly present in the historical and narrative portions. For example, in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, we have the repeated expression "The LORD said to Moses" (Ex 4:21). What about a narrative work such as Genesis? Or the books Joshua - 2 Kings? These works are infused with the authority of the great Law Book of Sinai (see Jos 1:7-8; Jdg 2:17, 20). They assume the moral, ethical, and spiritual standard of the Ten Commandments. Throughout these works we have instances in which God reveals himself to selected individuals. Furthermore, this revelation can be expressed in words (cf. Ge 12:7). Needless to say, this was the view of Christ and his apostles (Mk 7:9-13; Ro 3:2; 2Ti 3:14-16), as well as the historic position of the Christian Church.