"Numbers" by Jay Sklar - a Review

 

No one, just no one in their right mind writes a commentary on the book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Hebrew Scriptures. No one with any sense would dare delve into the tedium and trivialities of censuses and ancestry. No one with any sense, right? But lo-and-behold, Jay Sklar, vice president of academics and professor of Old Testament at Covenant Seminary, St. Louis Missouri, did just that! Adding his voice to “The Story of God Bible Commentary” series put out by Zondervan Academic, Sklar gives readers a 472-page hardback that will walk them through all of Numbers in a way that will surprise them. This straightforward, readable, and engaging (yes, I said it) commentary will take those who dare, and give them hope and direction and, most of all, it will give them Jesus.

 

As is standard in Zondervan’s “The Story of God Bible Commentary” the Scripture text is the NIV (2011) as the starting point of each chapter. Then it works through the passage by explaining what was going on and how the whole episode functions, without becoming laborious and surgically detailed. Next, the chapter moves to the clear applications. But the applications have an ear for our Lord’s words in Luke 24, that Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms all testify of him. The format leans the commentary toward homiletics (sermon preparation) and Bible teaching, but I found it also made the volume very useful for my personal devotional reading in the dark morning hours. There were several times, as I was working through the book, I found myself praying for myself, my congregation, and the larger church.

 

Sklar doesn’t step back from the difficult places in the story, nor soften the rougher edges of Numbers, and he doesn’t turn the softer rims into a hammer. There is a fittingness to the way the author moves from chapter to chapter, and event to event. And there is, similarly, a fittingness to the way the author brings out the applicable value of an episode. For example, in Numbers 16 the people of God shift the blame for the death of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram from the culprits to Moses. Not only that, but they moan for the good old days when they were back in Egypt, even calling Egypt (the land of their enslavement and oppression) a land flowing with milk and honey. Sklar rightly observes, “Sin distorts our perception so badly we turn every truth into a lie” (227). Bam! How many times has this happened in my own heart, and how many times have I sat with people listening to them tell their tales, and the story-spinning and truth-twisting comes out. But also, Sklar addresses Korah’s problem. He wanted greater leadership position and power, discontent with the privilege he had already been granted by the Lord. It’s in this discussion that the author spots an important purpose of what godly leadership is truly about, “when God calls us to positions of authority, it is for the sake of service, not privilege” (232).

 

This is a commentary very suitable and useful for ministers as they think about taking on Numbers in a sermon series. It is a valuable resource for those who will be teaching a class on this biblical book. But, without a doubt, this is a solid aid to the man or woman in the pew who wants to grasp the book of Numbers, find Jesus, and be drawn deeper into the steadfast love of the Lord that endures forever. I highly and happily recommend this commentary.

 

I’m very grateful to the author for inviting me to read and review the work. I’m also thankful to the publisher for sending me a gratis copy to review. Neither the author nor the publisher made any demands on me. There was no bribery involved, and no one was taken hostage. Therefore, my evaluation is all my own, freely made and freely given.