Consider Israel

About the Book

‘Consider Israel: Covenants in History’ looks at Biblical covenants and covenant features as a framework to study much of the Old Testament, the eschatological ‘prophecies’ etc. It highlights the correlation between covenant ‘curses’ and the troubled Jewish History. It traces the relevance of the covenants to the past, and also to present and future unfolding events, which will impact the Jews, and ultimately, the destiny of the world. The book’s description of covenants in relation to covenant features, is different and worth considering. Historical evidences giving support to the study of ancient Israel’s failure as a covenant partner, and the resultant ‘curses’, lend more insights to the God of Israel acting in its history. The (far-reaching and inclusive) New Covenant has been examined, along with a summarized comparison with the Mosaic covenants. The covenant relationship between God/Christ and His people, metaphorically depicted as a marriage bond, is in contrast to Babylonian Paganism (’adulteress’/ ‘harlot’) which has infiltrated ancient Israel and Christianity. Different views on ‘Suffering’ are included in the context of past, present and the predicted future suffering. Chapter 8 concludes with a note of hope especially for Israel for the fulfillment of the promised blessings. There are 4 particular features which may be noticed: (1) The careful research and in-depth study. The arguments presented are based on objective facts and observation of Jewish and contemporary world events, sustained by the weight of reliable and verifiable historical evidences. (2).The writer’s astute personal observations and insightful comments on relevant issues. (3) The book’s ability to whet one’s appetite; it leaves one with ‘constructive discontent’ because it pushes one to find out and to examine more about the topics discussed. (4) The tone of the writing is scholarly yet, informal and conversational. The book is reader- friendly, meant for all readers.

About the Author

Dr J. Waar is an academician who has been a student of the Bible, and a teacher of the same, for more than 40 years. Having been an ‘agnostic’ nominal Christian till aged 24, she needed to seek ‘rational’ answers about things of the spirit, including the Bible, to support her (then nascent faith in Christ. The mysteries in the Bible began to unravel, revealing more wonderful discoveries. One of these is the idea that covenants, especially those with ancient Israel, is a vital thread to link events in Jewish history, past, present, and possibly future. Secondly, covenants are foundational to understand the Bible, why the historical books of Kings (2), and Chronicles (2), and the Prophetic voices (22!!), occupy so much space in the Old Testament, and the same warnings are echoed in the New Testament. Covenants reveal much about prophetic eschatology too.