William R. Osborne

How should Christians read prophetic literature? Questions abound both in the academy and the church as to how to engage the prophets, particularly in light of the New Testament. The Gospel writers and the church fathers all read and appealed to the Old Testament, but are we as modern-day readers supposed to take the same approach? The Prophets and the Apostolic Witness is a dialogue among scholars that identifies the interpretive methods used throughout history while also charting a constructive way forward for our own approach to reading the Major Prophets. This comprehensive volume brings together experts on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel to illuminate the following topics: How the Apostles Read the Major Prophets as Christian ScriptureLimits on Reading the Major Prophets as Christian ScriptureReading the Major Prophets in the Footsteps of the ApostlesThe History of Interpretation of the Major Prophets as Christian ScripturePreaching the Major Prophets as Christian Scripture This collaborative endeavor offers fresh and helpful insights to scholars, students, and pastors alike as they engage with the text of the Major Prophets.

20 Psalms and Devotions to Help Children Learn More about Who God Is The Psalms are full of “You Are” statements—like “You are my rock and fortress” found in Psalm 31. For generations, Christians have used these phrases to praise God for who he is and what he has done for his people. These short, simple statements provide wonderful opportunities for parents to teach their children about the character of God and reflect on who he is in powerful ways. In this book, professor, pastor, and father William R. Osborne presents short devotionals around the 20 “You Are” statements found in the Psalms. Each devotional is followed by a short prayer that families can pray together as they read. Using a clear and warm style, Osborne provides a distinct connection between the gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s goodness, holiness, and mercy as they are illustrated in the Psalms. For Children Ages 4–8 Helps Young Readers Learn to Read the Psalms: Each devotion shows how the Psalms point to the New Testament, showing the connections between Old and New Testaments Encourages Children to Pray: This book offers simple prayers that parents and children can read and say together as they echo the words of the psalmist Scripture Memorization: Great tool to help children memorize scripture about the character of God Illustrated by Brad Woodard: Cofounder of Brave the Woods, a creative studio that specializes in illustration, branding, and education

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things”—Romans 8:32 As Christians, “blessing” pervades our everyday lives—from testimonies recounting God’s provision, to praise songs, to wishing someone well. The term has been so integrated into our everyday vocabulary that it is rarely considered carefully. Many people think that blessing is described as either physical (Genesis 1:22) or spiritual (Ephesians 1:3), but a fuller biblical-theological approach reveals that God’s blessing has always been physical, spiritual, and—ultimately—relational. Unpacking this pattern throughout redemptive history, William Osborne shows that divine blessing is not just a good gift here or there, but the fullness of all we were created to be, in relationship with our Creator.

The Old Testament prophets did not hesitate to use the rhetorical conventions accessible to them when delivering their sermons of salvation and judgment. One source of comparison used frequently in the prophets and widely throughout the ancient Near East is the image of a tree. In Trees and Kings, William Osborne evaluates the cultural and cognitive setting that potentially gave rise to this figurative tree imagery, drawing on both comparative study with ancient Near Eastern tree imagery and the cognitive-linguistic approach to metaphor theory.Osborne examines tree metaphors that appear in the texts of Israel's writing prophets, specifically Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. He takes this material as largely reflective of the Israelite prophetic tradition from the 8th–6th centuries BC. Tree imagery in the Old Testament is certainly not limited to these prophetic books, and this study takes many of these texts into consideration in seeking to understand tree imagery in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel better. The question is rarely asked, why do the prophets often defer to the metaphorical use of the tree? The goal of this study is to answer this important question by comparing and contrasting tree metaphors in much of the prophetic literature of the Old Testament with tree imagery and metaphors encountered from the ancient Near East.