WILDERNESS

Description

JOEL BEEKE & NICK THOMAS

Do you need help teaching the Bible in your family? This guide to family worship helps you engage with your children in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The last four books of the Pentateuch pick up where Genesis left off, showing how God faithfully led Israel out of Egypt and dealt with them faithfully during forty years of wilderness wanderings. Use this simple, helpful guide to teach your children how the types and shadows of the Old Testament have pointed God’s people of all times to Jesus, the ultimate deliverer of His people.

Endorsements

“During the Reformation, family worship around the table was part and parcel of family life. Joel Beeke and Nick Thompson have the admirable goal of recovering such a practice for Christian families today. But family worship is hard work for parents. Besides time, discipline, and perseverance, it takes thoughtful creativity with a good resource alongside the Bible. Beeke and Thompson have provided us with just that. Using four simple steps (review, read, reflect, request), the authors guide families through key passages in the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy, providing short but clear explanations and applications. I look forward to giving it a go with my family.”

— Jonny Gibson, associate professor of Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia; author of Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship

“There is no book like the Bible—clear enough to speak to a child yet challenging enough to keep the scholar humble. God has revealed in His word all that is necessary for life now and the life to come; it is the divinely inspired manual of true religion. True religion is a family affair, and parents have the responsibility to keep God and the Bible central and foundational in family life (Deut. 6:6–9). Paul said of Timothy that he had known the Scriptures since childhood (2 Tim. 3:15) and implied that his faith could be traced to family influence (2 Tim. 1:5). That remains the paradigm for Christian homes today. This series, Teach Your Children the Scriptures, is a helpful resource to guide parents in this sacred duty. Wilderness focuses on a part of the Bible that is fundamental to learning lessons at the heart of the gospel. Beeke and Thompson simply yet artfully give a synopsis of each passage, highlighting essential truths and offering hints to guide parents in explaining and applying the selected passage in plain and understandable terms. Wilderness is an effective tool to aid parents in fulfilling their mandate to keep religion real at home.”

—Michael Barrett, senior research professor of biblical studies, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

“What a brilliant aid for family devotions!  Pastors Joel Beeke and Nick Thompson have found the sweet spot in this series. Both parents and children will be delighted, edified, and blessed by these books.”

—Rosaria Butterfield, wife of Pastor Kent Butterfield, First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Durham, North Carolina; and homeschooling mother and grandmother

“Wonderfully written, theologically focused, pastorally surefooted, and all within the grasp of children ages 5–12. A marvelous achievement for which parents will be ever thankful. May this series be instrumental in raising a generation of godly men and women who are biblically informed and eager to learn more of all that Scripture teaches.”

—Derek W. H. Thomas, senior minister, First Presbyterian Church, Columbia South Carolina

“Not many who write about family worship do so from the perspective of these writers. Joel Beeke, for example, was raised in a home where family worship was practiced from the time he was born. Then he raised a family of his own ‘in the discipline and instruction of the Lord’ through family worship. Now his grandchildren enjoy the fruit of this influence, as do the men in his church whom he has trained to lead their families in the daily worship of God in their homes. And now you and your family can profit from these decades of experience and insight through this practical and helpful volume.”

—Donald S. Whitney, professor of biblical spirituality and associate dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, and author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Praying the Bible, and Family Worship

About the Authors

Joel R. Beeke is president of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and a pastor of the Heritage Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids.

Nick Thompson is the pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he resides with his wife and three sons.