Preaching through the Bible - 2 Samuel

Preaching Through The Bible: 2 Samuel
By Michael Eaton
Sovereign World. 128 pages
ISBN 1 85240 173 7

The author states in his preface: 'There is need of a series of biblical expositions which are especially appropriate for English-speaking preachers in the Third World. Such expositions need to be laid out in such a way that they will be useful to those who put their material to others in clear points. They need to avoid difficult vocabulary and advanced grammatical structures . . . Preaching Through The Bible seeks to meet such a need.' With this in mind, the author takes the 24 chapters of 2 Samuel and in 36 three-page chapters gives us his exposition.
The material for the book was initially prepared for meetings of the author's fellowship and this no doubt explains the slant that is sometimes put on the exposition, and the fact that while most chapters of Samuel are dealt with in one or two chapters of the book, chapters 3, 4 and verses 1-3 of chapter 5 are given only one while chapter 7 takes up over five.
The style is mixed. Sometimes there are headings (which on the whole are too long), sometimes there are also sub-headings and sometimes there are no headings at all. Very rarely are there headings of a type to be easily remembered by a congregation. The book concludes with an appendix entitled: 'Some facts about 1 and 2 Samuel' which, I feel, would have been better placed at the beginning as an introduction.
Although there are some good points to this book, it does give some understanding of 2 Samuel and contains comments such as: 'Haste is often a sign of self-will. When we are not sure that something is God's will but we want to do it regardless, we are generally in a hurry,' and 'Good advice may come from someone one does not like,' it does not seem to me to achieve the stated objectives.

Brian Maiden

© Evangelicals Now - January 1997
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