This is an awesome series, but mark this one with the Edward Klink volume as my favorites. In the old battle of the trees versus the forest this one pulls off a coup by taking the trees to construct a grand forest. And oak trees at that.

Strangely enough, I almost thought it might be a dud. I mean where a new author (Mitchell Kim) takes the work of an old author ( G. K. Beale) and makes a new book from the old book just didn’t sound like a winning proposition to me. Why not just get the old book? After reading this work, I’m of a different mind. Either get both books, or get this one, but I’d recommend not getting the old book over the new one.

The old book (The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God) is a masterwork of its kind, but this one reads better…a lot better. Mr. Kim is not just riding the coattails of a seminal work, but he took the vitamin-filled book and made it tasty to the palate. At times, it even had its devotional moments. I learned AND I enjoyed it.

So the theme of Creation, or Eden, as the first Temple is quite familiar to me, but the connections made here were the most compelling I’ve seen. As the book traveled through the Tabernacle and Temple it revealed threads that I had frankly missed. The book reached a profound level for me when it got to Jesus. Especially the statements Jesus made about the Temple were far more packed with meaning that I realized. The final chapter on the New Jerusalem as the Temple was, without hyperbole, thrilling for me.

Only the chapter on Eden’s ministry fell flat for me. The interpretation for Revelation 11 just didn’t seem plausible to me. As with every title in this series, the authors swear by Covenant Theology. I don’t fully subscribe to that viewpoint, but some of these larger concepts transcend our typical divisions. We view from the mountain tops here.

Beale is a genius. Kim has the winsome writing down. Together they made this one is a gem!

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.