In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is one character who is a selfish, conniving liar, but we still cheer for him. His name is Loki. In the Bible, we also have a selfish, conniving, liar whom we also cheer for. His name is Jacob.

Hi, my name is Terence, and I’m your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you. Today, I review God’s Rascal by Dale Ralph Davis. 144 pages, published by Christian Focus in September 2022. Available on Amazon Kindle for USD 9.99 and in Logos, for the month of May, for Logos subscribers, free!

Whenever you see a book by Dale Ralph Davis, just get it, buy it, and I won’t say steal it, but if it is left unintended, then this book deserves a good home.

Dale Ralph Davis is the writer of many commentaries on the Old Testament. I have read his commentaries on Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and a few more. His commentaries have a special place in my heart because they were the first commentaries I enjoyed and understood.

A lot of what I say about today’s book is true for all his other commentaries. He has a certain style which stands out. If you were to randomly tear out one page from all the commentaries in a library — please don’t do that — and spread all the pages like cards on the table, any Dale Ralph Davis reader would be able to recognise Davis’ writing from all the rest. His sharp biblical insight, combined with charming wit and Civil War stories, makes his commentaries unique.

Let’s just get into today’s book and let me do my best to bring across Davis as he presents God’s Own Rascal to us.

There are 14 chapters in this book that cover Genesis 25:19 to the end of Genesis 35 and the end of Jacob. Let us tear one chapter out of this book so that you can see what I am talking about.

The Literary Analysis

This is chapter 3, “The Promise of God and Four Sinners”, a commentary on Genesis 26:34 to 28:9.

He begins his chapters with a hook. The hook is often some bits of American or personal anecdote that give readers a bridge into the Old Testament passage.

In chapter 3, he describes the ‘Civil War’ in his country and how, in the smoke, soldiers shoot each other, confused and the wounded are terrorised by fire, and it’s all a big mess. Davis connects that sense to the passage. He writes:

No one could conduct the semblance of a cohesive battle on such turf. Something like the account we face, especially in chapter 27. One wonders how it is possible for God to work in such a chaotic mess.

He then gives an outline, and for this Jacob story, he sees a chiasm pattern. To understand what a chiasm pattern is, imagine a bowl where the good stuff is at the bottom of the bowl. The bowl is symmetrical, so as you go down from one side of the bowl, you get to the bottom where the good stuff is, and you then go back up on the other side. To see a chiastic pattern in Genesis 26 to 28 is to see symmetries. Esau marries in 26:34-35, Esau marries in 28:6-9. In 27:1-4, Isaac orders Esau, and we see this counterpart in 28:1-5, where Isaac orders Jacob. And so we observe this symmetry until we reach the centre or the bottom of the bowl, and the good stuff is Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau deprived. This literary analysis shows that the biblical writer’s emphasis is on the contrast between Jacob and Esau.

Have you ever watched those YouTube videos where someone would explain the movie to you? He would explain how the camera angles, the lighting, or the background sound would be used to emphasise a character or a plot in the story. Biblical writers did not have cameras, lights and sound, but they highlighted using these literary patterns. And when we watch a YouTube video, we don’t feel bored when all these things are explained. We are enlightened, and we have a deeper appreciation for the craft. And that is the same effect I get from reading Davis’ commentary. I have a deeper appreciation for the Biblical text and characters, and the plot becomes more vivid. I see what the Biblical writer wants me to see.

So, my first point is that Davis gives us a literary analysis of the Scripture that makes the text more engaging to readers. Next, let us look at the story.

The Story

When you read a commentary, you have to be ready with the Bible next to you. You should try to read the Bible passage first because a commentary does not retell the story. It’s like movies that come with the director’s commentary. The director is not re-telling or simplifying the story; he is commenting on what is already there. If you know the story, it’s easier to follow the commentary.

I know the story. I have read Jacob and Esau so many times, for myself, for my children, for church camp skits. You would think there is really nothing more that I can learn, and you would be wrong.

Davis presents us with the four characters one by one.

We have Isaac, the patriarch, who favours Esau despite knowing that God favours Jacob. Davis describes him:

Isaac places palate over promise. He is the patron saint of all who say, ‘I don’t really care what the Word of God says, I will follow my own feelings.’

Then we have Rebecca, who is Jacob’s biggest cheerleader and manager. Davis writes:

We can summarize Rebecca’s approach as action eclipses faith. Not to be unkind, but she is an idolatrous activist. She cannot wait and let God sort things out—she must intervene and put things right.

We have the star of the show, Jacob. Davis says of him:

Jacob operates on the principle of pragmatism over righteousness. If God’s promise is right, it should be fulfilled in a right way—but not for Jacob. He is not above straight-out lying (vv. 19, 24), as long as it seems safe.

And we have poor old Esau, who deserves pity, or does he? Davis comments:

When he complains that Jacob ‘took away my birthright’ (v. 36), he is as big a liar as Jacob. He is a belly-aching, whining hypocrite. Indifference in spite of emotion sums up Esau’s stance. Don’t let his tears impress you too much.

Do you hear Davis? His quick sketch of the four characters? Do they seem real to you, as if they pop up from the pages? This is why I like Davis; he shows us the characters in their warts and all, and he argues that this is the tone that the Bible gives us.

Davis is a masterful storyteller. He tells stories from his own life, from the lives of the great and the small in history, and, most of all, he tells the story of the Bible. If you are a long-time Christian who has become bored with the Bible because you know the characters, the plot, the plot twists, the endings, and you have heard these stories so many times that you can literally tell the story back, and you think, “It would be nice to read all this in a fresh and exciting way, like how I first read it. If only I could forget everything that I read.”

Well, I cannot wish you amnesia, but this book is the best thing for you because it builds on what you already know.

The Big Question

Now that we have these four characters, what do we do with them? If you just want to know the story of four members in a dysfunctional family, there are plenty of stories out there, in TV shows, movies, I would say, in any language and culture. But when we read about dysfunctional characters in the Bible, there is always the question, “What is the meaning behind the text?”

We don’t ask that question of any TV shows or movies because we do not consider them to be the Word of God. We do not have the scriptwriter of The Big Bang Theory saying, “All the Script is God-breathed”. Nor do we have the Producer for Modern Family saying, “All this was produced for your good.” But the Bible claims the story of Jacob is God-breathed, that it is put down here for our good. So, what is the meaning behind Isaac, Rebecca, Esau and Jacob?

To find the meaning in the Bible text, sometimes we do this by asking questions. A good question makes us dig because, in finding the answer, we reveal something of us, of God, and how we have lived our lives before God.

Dale Ralph Davis asks a great question. When you read this story, have you ever thought of this question:

How can all the families of the ground be blessed (12:3) through a people like this? How can Yahweh dream of using such scurvy characters in any way to His glory?

Is that a great question or what? Even the unbeliever wants to know the answer to this. Because the unbeliever asks, “How can God be true when Christians are so rubbish? God is holy, but his people are what… liars, hypocrites, abusers, and more.” And it’s a question, Christians also ask ourselves at this time and age, when sometimes, it feels like everything is going to collapse at any moment. How can God use the church when the church is so messed up? And some well-meaning Christians have pushed for us to move beyond the church.

But if God can use these four jokers: Isaac, Rebecca, Esau and Jacob, then… let us explore this question.

Davis writes:

Contemporary covenant people should not be tempted into thinking they belong to a higher class, for the text is telling us that the kingdom of God does not come because the church is so faithful.

Wait, what? “The kingdom of God does not come because the church is so faithful.” It sounds wrong, but when you think about it, it is right. It sounds wrong because we always stressed the importance of being faithful, which is correct. God wants us to be faithful. Jesus calls us to be faithful. The Holy Spirit gives us the faith to be faithful.

But to think that it is our faithfulness that brings about the kingdom of God is a great conceit.

I am going to read a long quote from Davis. I want us to notice how he links this conclusion with what has been read before, the context, and how this conclusion gives Christian confidence, not in our abilities but in God’s sovereignty.

At the end of it all, Yahweh’s decree (‘the older will serve the younger,’ 25:23) comes to pass in spite of direct opposition and devious assistance. Yahweh’s will is going to triumph in spite of all efforts to sabotage it—in spite of the network of ‘free’ and sinful wills opposing or ‘aiding’ His decision. God brings His Word to pass, if not through man’s consent, then in spite of his resistance; if not through man’s cooperation, then through and over his rebellion. Yahweh has such marvelous ways of overcoming all hindrances in order to effect His designs.

The Illustration

And to seal this point of God’s sovereignty, Davis gives us one of his delightful illustrations. He tells of an evangelist in 19th-century England visiting a lady who was dying. When he was there, she was rejoicing. She was praising Christ her Saviour. The evangelist asked how she came to know the Lord. And this is where the story gets good.

She gave him a torn piece of paper. It was part of an American newspaper that had printed bits of Charles Spurgeon’s sermons. Where did this newspaper come from? It was used to wrap a package sent to her from Australia. An American newspaper with an English sermon wrapped in a package from Australia was sent to this dying lady. She reads it and turns to God.

I smiled when I read this story. I repeated this story to my family, and we were all amazed. Many of Davis’ illustrations in this book can be re-shared as bite-sized stories. They are folksy, fun and family-friendly, not just family-friendly, but family-edifying.

Make Davis Write More OT Commentaries

And just as that torn newspaper extract was able to turn one soul to Christ, maybe this book review, where I tore us chapter 3 to review Dale Ralph Davis’ God’s Rascal, will bring you to a better path in your life.

If I could make a wish, I would wish that Dale Ralph Davis lived a little bit longer. He has so many great commentaries on the Old Testament. Would it be too much to ask that we have a Dale Ralph Davis commentary on every book of the Old Testament? That would be a reader’s dream.

But we should not be so greedy. We should appreciate what we have now. I have read Dale Ralph Davis’ commentaries, and I don’t exaggerate this, but his books, his writings, have changed the way I read the Bible. I am a better reader, preacher, storyteller and follower of Christ because of his books. And I think if more people read his work, then hopefully more people will continue his good work to write really good books that help us understand and love God’s Word more.

So, what are you waiting for? A torn page from his book showing up as packaging material from a box? Don’t wait. Just get the book.

This is a Reading and Reader’s review of God’s Rascal by Dale Ralph Davis. Thank you for listening. Bye-bye.