STUMP KINGDOM: Isaiah 6–12
By Dale Ralph Davis
Christian Focus. 128 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 527 100 060
WONDERS OF CREATION: design in a fallen world
By Stuart Burgess, Andy McIntosh & Brian Edwards
DayOne. 216 pages. £25.00
ISBN 978 1 846 255 656
THE HIDING PLACE
By Corrie Ten Boom, John & Elizabeth Sherill
Hodder & Stoughton. 224 pages. £7.99
ISBN 978 0 340 863 534
The owner of the house, says Jesus, brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.
I have just come back from holiday and, after reading some treasures, would like to recommend some books old and new which would make worthwhile Christmas presents.
Stump Kingdom
The first is a new addition to the treasury of Christian literature. It is Stump Kingdom by Dale Ralph Davis. How good all his books are! This is a brief but immensely encouraging exposition of chapters 6 –12 of Isaiah. These chapters, of course, contain a number of prophecies from the eighth-century BC prophet which come into their own at Christmas time, for they concern the advent of Christ and his kingdom: ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders’; ‘A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse’, etc. But of course the most famous one is: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him, Immanuel’ (7.14).
Davis does not just cherry-pick the well known verses, but rather gives a thorough exposition of the chapters in the brief compass of 127 pages. He gives great insight into spiritual lessons which emerge out of the Assyrian threat and the political man-oeuvrings of Isaiah’s time, which leap off the page to minister to us in the present. However, the longest chapter does deal with the Immanuel prophecy. Here he gives a very robust argument for the position that this refers to Christ alone and that we should not waste time on ‘double fulfilment shenanigans’. King Ahaz, by his unbelieving refusal to ask for a sign had forfeited any encouragement from the Lord for his own situation. If you are a pastor or preacher, get hold of this book before Christmas. Whether or not you preach on Isaiah over the festive period or not, this will deeply warm your heart for your pulpit work. It’s published by Christian Focus. We read Stump Kingdom one chapter at a time with Christian friends with whom we shared the holiday. Each morning it left us in awe of God and led into a rich time of prayer.
Wonders of Creation
This is a coffee table kind of book, immaculately produced with splendid photography, and was an occasional ‘dip into’ on holiday. It is written by the two Professors – Andy McIntosh and Stuart Burgess (though Brian Edwards does add a few things). They are both highly qualified scientists and fully committed to Genesis and the supernatural creation of our world.
The book begins by exploring the evidence for design in land mammals, sea creatures, birds and insects. It is a real treasury for those who love their scientific facts. There is usually a double-page spread regarding each species under consideration. The reader is then taken on for a spacewalk around the planets of our solar system. Mathematics, the phenomenon of beauty, human biology and much more are opened up in thoughtful ways which speak clearly of the reality of our Creator God. Wonders of Creation would make a great present for any thinking Christian, but perhaps especially for teenage children of Christian families with enquiring minds. It’s published by DayOne.
The perennial problem for the Young Earth Creation stable is that of starlight and time. If the creation is so comparatively recent, how come we see stars billions of light years away? In the book Professor Burgess gives the reader an assessment of the four main theories which have been used to explain this – coming down basically on a mixture of a relativistic time-dilation scenario accompanied by the supernatural act of God (which must inevitably be entailed if God created the universe).
Also recently expanded and republished by DayOne is Clive Anderson’s Gunpowder, Treason and Plot: the gruesome story of Guy Fawkes which tells the story of the terrorist plot to blow up Parliament in 1605. With the struggles of the Reformation against Catholicism in our minds because of Luther’s anniversary and the recent three-part BBC TV drama series concerning the plot, this might make a relevant read for someone too.
The Hiding Place
Sometimes great old books get forgotten. This is a tragedy. The Hiding Place tells the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her Dutch family as they walked with God through WWII hiding Jewish folk from the Nazis and eventually going into Ravensbrück concentration camp. Anyone reading this book will be confronted with the reality of the living God and his love for mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ.
As I read this on holiday I kept in mind the list of ‘how to’ questions mentioned in the Preface and addressed in the story, with answers that are so needful for Christians to learn today. They may well become even more urgent in coming years. How do we handle separation, get along thankfully with less, know security amid insecurity, find the ability to forgive others, be useful to God in our weakness, deal with difficult people, face death, love our enemies and know what to do when evil wins? Who knows what the future holds for believers? But whatever it does hold we are very likely to need to know the answers to such questions, not just theologically but practically.
The book is sobering, but at the same time joyful, for we find again and again how God provided and how he is faithful.
First published in 1971, a new generation of Christians needs to read The Hiding Place. And of course, if you are a bit of a Scrooge, you can probably pick up a copy secondhand to give as a gift!
