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Search for Holiness is Lifelong Journey
Dr. Randall Bailey, associate professor of Bible, recently published a commentary on Exodus. College Press approached Bailey to write the commentary in 2005 after he successfully wrote introductions to commentaries on Genesis through Deuteronomy and Daniel. His book will be used as a textbook in college courses, but it is also straightforward enough for any Christian to access and use.
Bailey’s firsthand experience with archaeology added to the credibility of his commentary. He has studied archaeology and earned a doctorate in Old Testament from Drew University. He uncovered artifacts on an excavation in Jordan in 1982 and later went to Israel for a tour and seminar. “Digging is touching the past,” he says, “[It] makes characters from history seem real when you uncover and hold things they held and used.”
In his commentary, he takes a deeper look at the wordplays from the original Hebrew language and the typology between the Old and New Testaments. Throughout Exodus, one can see how God was setting things up for His people today. Sometimes it is subtle: the Tabernacle was the place where God dwelt among His people. When Jesus died, Christians then became temples for God. Just as the Tabernacle had its Holy of Holies, where God was, our hearts are now the Holy of Holies. Therefore, Christians must be holy for God to dwell in their hearts.
What Bailey wants others to understand about the Old Testament—not just Exodus—is that every illustration is a model for today. These stories are not just for children’s Sunday school classes, but should require deeper consideration as the examples that they are intended to be.
Bailey’s firsthand experience with archaeology added to the credibility of his commentary. He has studied archaeology and earned a doctorate in Old Testament from Drew University. He uncovered artifacts on an excavation in Jordan in 1982 and later went to Israel for a tour and seminar. “Digging is touching the past,” he says, “[It] makes characters from history seem real when you uncover and hold things they held and used.”
In his commentary, he takes a deeper look at the wordplays from the original Hebrew language and the typology between the Old and New Testaments. Throughout Exodus, one can see how God was setting things up for His people today. Sometimes it is subtle: the Tabernacle was the place where God dwelt among His people. When Jesus died, Christians then became temples for God. Just as the Tabernacle had its Holy of Holies, where God was, our hearts are now the Holy of Holies. Therefore, Christians must be holy for God to dwell in their hearts.
What Bailey wants others to understand about the Old Testament—not just Exodus—is that every illustration is a model for today. These stories are not just for children’s Sunday school classes, but should require deeper consideration as the examples that they are intended to be.
