Any Christian with an interest in biblical theology and eschatology must face the question of the role of Israel in the plan of God. All evangelicals agree: God's redemptive purpose in the Old Testament focuses on Israel as his special people. But all evangelicals do not agree on the answer to the questions; What is Israel's present role in the new covenant era? What is God's prophetic purpose for Israel in the future? These are important issues, which, if unresolved, wholly undermine one's understanding of Scripture.

Holwerda's Jesus & Israel and Walker's Jesus and the Holy City are among the finest theological analyses I have ever read on the question of Israel. In fact, these books quickly established themselves as among the most important theological treatises I have read on any topic. I will be requiring these in courses I teach at Bahnsen Theological Seminary.

Another of the books is a very insightful analysis of the topic of spiritual adultery and the people of God: Orthund's Whoredom: God's Unfaithful Wife in Biblical Theology. This might seem an odd book to review under the topic of Israel. Nevertheless, because of my doctoral studies on the Book of Revelation this title greatly intrigued me. I believe Revelation relates God's divorce of Israel for covenant adultery (the seven sealed scroll is a divorce decree), her capital punishment (the fiery judgments on the harlot), and Christ's turning to take a new bride, the Church (the new Jerusalem from heaven). This is not the view of Orthund, but his helpful study of spiritual whoredom throughout Scripture proved quite beneficial for my research.