Reformed Expository Commentaries

The Reformed Expository Commentary Series is a new set of commentaries edited by Richard Phillips and Phillip Ryken. These Reformed commentaries were first preached as sermons before a congregation before being worked into a book. They are thus less technical and more devotional in manner. Their plan is to come out with two commentaries each year until every book in the bible is covered. Now available are Esther & Ruth, Zechariah, Galatians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews and James. I am currently reading with profit Iain Duguid's commentary on Esther & Ruth. James is currently being taught in Sunday School at FCC and Daniel Doriani's James commentary has been noted as helpful.

Here's a taste from Duguid's commentary on Esther. This comes as Duguid comments on the morality of Mordecai's edict to allow "the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods." Esther 8:11

"It is important that we see why we are not called to this kind of holy war. It is not because holy war was somehow wrong in its original historical context, or was a sub-christian procedure, unworthy of the followers of Christ. It is not even because holy war seems out of date and old fashioned, a barbarous and uncivilized practice. We have not abandoned holy war simply because we have become modern people and have grown more civilized. Rather, we have abandoned holy war in its Old Testament form because we live in a different era in the history of redemption. We live in the era of the outpouring of grace, in which we fight with spiritual weapons to bring the gospel to the nations, defeating God's enemies by seeing them graciously transformed into His friends. Now we fight with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, which instead of turning live foes into dead corpses can transform dead sinners into live saints. Now we wrestle in prayer, seeking God's enlivening work in the hearts and souls of our friends and neighbors." Iain Duguid, Esther & Ruth, pages 108-109

To find out more read Tim Challies interview with Richard Phillips.