Stephen G. Dempster,The Return of the Kingdom: A Biblical Theology of God’s Reign

According to Stephen Dempster, the entire storyline of Scripture is captured in the short phrase “the return of the kingdom” (p. 4). But the return of this kingdom, Dempster continues, is not a return to its past status. Rather, the ending supersedes the beginning. So, for example, while “humans were made to rule the world on God’s behalf” in the beginning, “at the end humans are ruling with God forever and ever” (p. 9, emphasis original). The Return of the Kingdom delivers a valuable resource to the field in a small package.

After Dempster introduces the topic of God’s reign as central to the kingdom’s return, his study works through the entire Bible. Every book does not receive equal coverage, however, and two notable outliers stand out. In chapters two through seventeen, Dempster traces the theme of God’s reign through the Bible. Dempster’s choice of the biblical books with which he spends most of his time is intriguing. Many topics come in groups of two: two chapters on the former and latter prophets, two on the writings, and so forth. The Pentateuch, however, gets the most amount of the book’s attention. Three chapters deal with Genesis 1–3, two with the patriarchal narratives of Genesis, and two with Exodus through Deuteronomy. These seven chapters alone constitute just over 46% of the running text. The page coverage in the remainder of the study is generally more balanced, but the second outlier is in the New Testament survey portion. The book of Acts and all the epistles are addressed together within a single chapter. The coverage of Acts is detailed more substantially, but the General Epistles consist of only two pages. Although Dempster does trace God’s reign through the entire canon of Scripture, potential readers should be conscious of biblical texts for which the treatment is unbalanced.

Those familiar with the Essential Studies in Biblical Theology (ESBT) series will recognize Dempster’s use of helpful charts and figures, a characteristic of other works in the series. Unlike others, however, Dempster concludes each chapter with a set of discussion questions. This difference is both a strength and weakness of Dempster’s contribution to the series. On the one hand, the discussion questions pointedly benefit the reader, pushing the reader to apply Scripture. Dempster does an excellent job of making the questions approachable, albeit not always related to the kingdom’s return. For example, after spending two chapters on the Gospels, Dempster asks, “What do you think is the value of having four Gospels instead of one?” (p. 181). Similar small, yet thoughtful, questions end each chapter. On the other hand, Dempster does not include “Conclusion and Application” or “Recommended Reading” sections as the other volumes in the series do. The ESBT series functions much like a springboard, sending readers into motion toward other, denser works, so, while the discussion questions have a function similar to an application section, the lack of recommended readings lead this reader to desire more.

The ESBT series aims to provide introductory and accessible material to those interested in biblical theology’s major themes (p. x). Dempster’s The Return of the Kingdom hits the mark; moreover, he includes additional material that is not necessarily introductory but remains accessible. For example, Dempster blends ancient Near Eastern discussions into how he tracks the developing biblical-theological theme. He is thus able to compare ancient Near Eastern conceptions of creation as “enthronement” (p. 13), while also contrasting ancient Near Eastern formulations of a king’s power to biblical accounts in texts such as Deuteronomy 17 (p. 99). Similarly, as the discussion transitions into the New Testament, Dempster does not shy away from including and evaluating Jewish texts, such as the Psalms of Solomon, to corroborate the biblical storyline’s eschatological expectation of a coming king (p. 153). Dempster also has a way of incorporating linguistic nuances smoothly into his analyses. For example, as he discusses the serpent’s tempting in Genesis 3, he uses transliterations to note the similarity between the man and the woman as עָרוֹם (“naked,” Gen 2:25) and the serpent as עָרוּם (“shrewd,” Gen 3:1). In the end, Dempster argues “the Serpent’s shrewdness will bring an end to their nudeness” (p. 32, emphasis original).

The Return of the Kingdom does not set out to be a robust ancient Near Eastern comparative analysis nor an in-depth linguistic resource. Instead, Dempster aims to show how the entire biblical storyline can be summarized as “the return of the kingdom.” Dempster packs a solid representation of the biblical-theological theme of God’s reign in a small package. To those outside the field of biblical theology, Dempster offers a glimpse into it and the important topic of God’s reign over (and eventually with) God’s image-bearers. To those who are already familiar with the field, Dempster provides a brief refresher on the subject. The Return of the Kingdom achieves a lot in a short, succinct manner and challenges readers to see how Scripture applies to their lives today.

Kyle J. Keesling Jr.New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans, LA, USA