I was really excited about this book, and did end up enjoying it--but felt it was one of those where the back-cover description doesn't match the actual book contents.

Per the back cover, I was expecting more of a general read focused on Jesus; once I actually dove into it, I found the book much more of a women's devotional book highlighting not only Jesus (of course, as it should be!), but also the importance and significance of women in the Bible. Fine ... just again, not what was advertised, and I frankly felt like a lot of it had been covered already in other books.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I love this author's work and how she makes the Gospel tangible. This book will help any woman or man deepen their study and see Jesus in every single book. I always love learning about how prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus and this book goes so much further than that!

I give this book 5 stars, it is one of the best books I've read that espouse a Christ-centered way of reading the Bible.  The author has an interesting take on the identity of the two followers of Jesus who were walking on the road to Emmaus with Jesus.  Jesus' statement that "All of Moses and prophets are talking about me," provides the foundation for the book and then the author goes through the Old Testament and shows how Jesus-centered hermeneutics brings more meaningful reading.  Highly recommended book.

Sometimes reading the Bible feels like just another obligation, something else to check off your to-do list. But Scripture is so much more than a book of rules and regulations. In her book, Elyse Fitzpatrick reveals how each section and books of the Bible points to Jesus and God’s eternal love for us. You will find yourself drawn to the Bible like never before as you begin to see Jesus on every page.

I have to say, though, that this book was not one that spoke lots to me. Firstly, I think it might be because of the church I go to — one that teaches through the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse, line by line. Because of this, I have learned to study the Bible. I have been taught to see how every book of the Bible is connected. I know that Jesus can be seen on the pages of the Bible. So though there were good examples and connections, there wasn’t exactly much new in here for me.

In all honesty, there were also a few points I wasn’t exactly comfortable with. There were some points where the author stretched the interpretation of a verse quite far. For example, when discussing the example of the Emmaus road. The author interpreted that Mary, the aunt of Jesus, was the wife of Clopas and therefore one of the disciples to whom Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus. Now I understand that this could be an assumption — as the Scripture doesn’t definitely say that. But the wording of the author doesn’t make it seem like it is an assumption. That bothered me as I read it, and there were a few other points like that as well.

Though this book wasn’t for me, I think it could be great for those who have not read through the whole of the Bible. Those who have only come to know Christ, could benefit from reading this book and finding the love of Jesus on the pages of the Bible.

AMAZING read. This is my first time encountering Elyse's work, and I was thoroughly impressed. Too often, Bible study books targeted towards women talk specifically about "women's issues" like marriage, balance and motherhood. While I enjoy those books, it was good to open up a book that was full of deep and rich theology, and centered specifically around Jesus.
I love Elyse's writing style - it flows easily, she uses beautiful words & it's very accessible. As someone who holds a Master's Degree in Theology, I learned from this book and was challenged by it - but feel I could give it to a brand new believer and they would equally enjoy it.

<b>Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament (Law) and the New Testament (Gospel), will change how you read the bible. </b>

Do you have trouble reading the bible? Understanding how it relevant to your life now? I know from first hand experience that I came to the bible for all the wrong reasons. Some of those reasons are as follows.

To live morally.
To understand how I fit in.
How is the bible relevant to me.
What is God's will for my life.

What I failed to do and the text directs you to is Jesus. What Jesus did. Why he did what he did. The plan of salvation and why is it important. The importance of the law and how the gospel saves. It is important to note and Elyse Fitzpatrick teaches is that law and gospel do not pit against each other. They work together for us know Jesus, not a Jesus made in our own image.

The text helps us to discover Jesus in the life the Moses, Ruth, and David and how it is all brought together in the New Testament. When reading the bible correctly, we are motivated to read more, to obey the word, and to share the good news. This is not a spoon fed text but a text to encourage you. To be excited about the word of God. To believe what I great salvation I have in Jesus.

What I appreciated the most is how to distinguish between the law and the gospel. It is very easy to be unbalanced with the two and reading the bible in this mindset is brings us to the feet of Jesus.

Highly recommend.

<I>A Special Thank You to Bethany House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I am a big fan of Elyse Fitzpatrick’s books. However, this one was a little odd. It felt like it was two different books that put together served to muddy the waters. I’ll address the two “books” separately.
The dedication reads, “To every woman who has ever wondered whether the Son could love her or would want to be near her…because, after all, she isn’t a man.” I thought, “What a weird dedication.” Then twice in the acknowledgments, she again made comments about theology and women. It felt odd because nothing in the title or the description lead me to believe this was a book about how Jesus feels about women or women studying the Bible. The introduction talked about Jesus’ costly love for women. I read that and finally understood what the author was getting at in her earlier comments and decided that must be the focus of the book. However, just as soon as that became clear, it felt like the book shifted in chapter one to its second focus which is the real meat of the book…that every part of the Bible is about Jesus. Women are still addressed specifically in some of the comments but the content really applies to everyone.
This second focus is the real strength of the book. Fitzpatrick points out that we often read the Bible thinking that it’s about us. We read a story about a Bible hero and try to see what we can emulate. Or we read a Psalm thinking it’s about us and how we feel or how we should pray or sing. Fitzpatrick urges us to look at the Bible in a different way. “The Psalms are not primarily about us (though we find our hearts resonating with them all the time). They are about Jesus and how he fulfills every one of his people’s cries: cries for help, strength, wisdom, faithfulness, thanksgiving, trust, deliverance, joy, and relationship” (location 1098).
Throughout the chapters, Fitzpatrick gives different questions to ask or things to look for in different types of books in the Bible (Books of Moses, Israel’s Stories, His Songs & Sayings, the Prophets, the Law, and the Gospel). She then walks through several of those stories to show what that looks like. I found this to be really helpful. Not only did I learn more about these stories but it taught me how I can use these same principles as I’m reading other parts of the Bible.
I get that this book is supposed to teach women how to study the Bible in a way that stays true to what the Biblical authors intended. I wish that that had been made clear in the title or somewhere on the cover and in the description. I’m afraid that some will read the opening pages and be confused like I was, or worse turned off, and will put the book down and miss the riches in the main body.
Thank you to Bethany House for providing me with an e-copy of this book. I was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.

An interesting, readable, and relatable Bible study of finding Jesus all through the Bible. This is also a good, understandable guide as to how to accurately read and study the Bible. The target audience of this book is women, but there’s much good information here for everyone.

This would be a good book for a group to study together. It’s also an effective Bible study to do individually.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.

In Finding the Love of Jesus from Genesis to Revelation, Elyse Fitzpatrick showed me that I could find glimpses of Jesus throughout the entire Old Testament narrative. I appreciated Fiztpatrick's reminder that we're not reading the Bible for what we get out of it. The Bible is all about Jesus. We have to let Him be the focus. 

Fitzpatrick shows you how to see Jesus throughout the different writing styles in the Bible - the Books of Moses, in Israel's stories, in Songs and Sayings, in the Prophets, in the Law, and in the Gospel. I appreciated the time Fitzpatrick took to show you how to read the story searching for Jesus. As well as her reminders of how what we read influences how we live our lives. 

This book was a precious reminder to me that we have to read the Bible to see what it tells us about God and who He is. Fitzpatrick says "The gospel is the fuel that's meant to empower our diligence throughout our entire life, even through times of terrible suffering." The gospel should be our fuel for everything in life. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This review is my own, honest opinion.

First sentence: Jesus loves women. He has loved us since the beginning, even from before the words "in the beginning..." were written.

I have conflicting thoughts on Elyse Fitzpatrick's newest book, Finding the Love of Jesus From Genesis to Revelation. I do.

On one hand, it's a book about reading the Bible. It's a book on a mission to get people excited about reading the Bible. It's a book that seeks to clarify what the Bible is all about: JESUS. It's a book that wants believers to understand the Bible and really grasp the glory of God. So how could I not appreciate that?

But.

On the other hand it's a book for women. Part of me totally and completely gets why there are devotionals for men and devotionals for women. Why there are certain subjects where it makes complete logical sense for books to be targeted just for men or just for women.

But I find myself having strong feelings that reading the Bible is not one such subject. Theology should be for everyone--for men, for women, for young and old. If something is TRUE like good theology is true, then it doesn't need to have a label "for women" or "for men" applied to it.

Bibles, bible commentaries, good and hearty theologies shouldn't have to be segregated into being "for men," or "for women." They just shouldn't. If theology is good and sound and TRUE and substantive, it shouldn't matter if it was written by a man or a woman.

Women shouldn't only read books by women. Men shouldn't only read books by men. Women can learn from men. Men can learn from women. The truth is it doesn't matter the sex or gender of the author-preacher-teacher. What matters is if they are being led by the Holy Spirit. The same spirit leads all believers.

Along the same lines, it also shouldn't matter if a book is new or old. Books should be judged by their contents: not their covers, not their authors.

But. Back to the book in hand. This book wants women to feel the love of God and to see that love of God expressed fully in Christ. This expression is not limited to the four gospels. Christ Jesus is to be seen Genesis to Revelation. There is not a book of the Bible where Christ is not to be found. The whole book is about HIM. Four chapters of the book focus on seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus is to be found in the law; Jesus is to be found in 'the gospel.' I can't argue the necessity for this even if I feel it is a felt need for both men and women.

It is written in an easygoing appealing style. It is not intimidating. It is not dry. It is engaging.

I agree with the premise that the Bible is all about Christ. I agree that every book of the Bible has something to say about Christ. But believing this to be true does not mean that every single verse in every single book of the Bible points to Christ. Or at least every single verse points equally. For example, it is easy to see Christ in Isaiah 53, it is a lot more difficult to see him in Genesis 5. Yet each generation in the begats was one step closer to the promised Seed. Each generation could cling to the hope that one day the Savior would be born.

Ever wonder what the point of reading the Bible is? It's just a history book. What does it mean for me today? I can't understand it. Do any of these thoughts go through your head when someone mentions the Bible? This book is here to help you; to answer your questions and help you see how the Bible connects within itself and also connects and is very relevant to us today. The author begins by explaining why the Bible is important and what it is ultimately about. It's not about me. It's about God. It is God's love story! Then she goes on to introduce and explain 4 categories to use while reading the Bible to help you see Jesus in stories about Moses or Abraham or any other place in the Bible, because Jesus is all over the Bible. He isn't just in the Gospels (New Testament) when he walked the Earth. The Bible comes alive when you can see how Jesus is in it all; even before he was born to Mary. Ms. Fitzpatrick then uses these 4 categories to show the reader how the love of Jesus is found in the Books of Moses, in Israel's stories, in his songs & sayings, in his prophets, in his law, and in the gospels. She writes clearly so the reader can follow and understand. Her writing is broken up into easy to understand chunks. I would recommend reading the book slowly so you can fully digest everything she is saying. Then open your Bible so you can practice what you've learned for yourself.

This book is geared more towards women but is helpful for everyone. It can be used by new Christians or those who have been saved for years. There's something for every stage. The author is passionate about what she writes and wants the reader to see the joy of reading their Bible. I found the book extremely applicable and helpful for my own Bible reading. I write the 4 categories in my journal so I can have them handy when I'm reading. I would recommend this book!

I received a copy of this book from Bethany Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions stated here are my own.

Fitzpatrick looks at the story of Jesus and the two disciples on the way to Emmaus and concludes, “All of Moses' writings, the Psalms, and the Prophets were actually about him, his suffering, his glorification.” (Loc 1654/2159) She is quite clear that the Old Testament does not merely contain references to or truths about Jesus. She writes that Jesus was saying that “everything he read,” that is, the Old Testament, was about himself. (Loc 260/2159) Fitzpatrick also reminds readers that Jesus loves women, loves to instruct them.

That really piqued my interest because there are some Old Testament passages that troubled me as a woman. There are OT passages that value women much below men. An example is Lev. 27:4 where the value for a man's vow is 50 shekels while a woman's is 30. Fitzpatrick had emphasized Jesus' love and honor for women so I was interested to see how these kinds of passage would be interpreted.

But I was disappointed. Fitzpatrick picks the typical examples of Abraham, Hagar, Ruth, Esther, etc., that show gospel qualities. She doesn't choose a story like the unnamed woman in Judges 19 who died because of being abused by a mob, thanks to a Levite.

Fitzpatrick went from assuring readers that ALL the Old Testament was about Jesus to picking out stories and passages that can be related to Jesus and His work. Rereading Luke 24:27 it seems to me that Jesus explained all the parts of the Old Testament that were about Himself, not ever claiming that the entire Old Testament was about Himself.

Fitzpatrick brings up an interesting concept about finding Messianic fulfillment meaning in all Bible passages. She notes that reading the Old Testament this way means “we often have to hold two sometimes very different meanings in mind at the same time.” (Loc 1304/2159) She is clear that we do not ignore the original intent of the passage yet see Jesus in it too. In this way, the Proverbs 31 woman becomes a description of the bride of Christ. (Loc 1171/2159)

I have mixed feelings about this study. I think Fitzpatrick makes way too many assumptions, like that Clopas' wife was Jesus' aunt. This is based on John 19:25 where Fitzpatrick concludes that the sister of Jesus' mother is the same as Clopas' wife. There was no punctuation in the original Greek but modern translators insert a comma, making them separate people. Fitzpatrick argues that Clopas and his wife were the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. We just don't know that.

I would think this study would be best done in a group setting so these issues could be discussed and not just taken at face value. There are questions included for discussion or personal reflection.

My rating: 3/5 stars.

Elyse Fitzpatrick is a nationally known author and speaker. She holds a certificate in Biblical Counseling from CCEF, and an MA in counseling from Trinity Theological Seminary. She has authored twenty-three books on daily living and the Christian faith. You can find out more at https://www.elysefitzpatrick.com/.

Bethany House Publishers, 160 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

I appreciated that she showed Christ through the different genres of the Bible. It was well done and informative.
I received this book free from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

In the first third of this book, the author talked about who was on the road to Emmaus with Jesus and what she was going to talk about in the rest of the book. I got impatient waiting for the actual study to begin, then I was disappointed with how brief the study was. Anyway, the author feels that the Jews of Jesus' time did not know how to properly interpret the Old Testament and that, after his resurrection, Jesus had to teach his disciples to see him in the Old Testament. So she is trying to teach us what she felt Jesus taught them.

She went through some stories and verses in Genesis, Ruth, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Daniel, and some other places to show us how to look for Jesus. We are to look for appearances of Jesus (like as the Angel of the Lord), prophecy about Jesus, types of Jesus (where a person's life had some similarities to Jesus and what he went through), and echoes of the gospel. She then taught that the law is any verse where we are commanded to do something while the gospel is any verse where God does the work. She feels that people only look for the places where we are supposed to do something and miss that this is in response to something God has done.

I do believe that we encounter and learn about God in the Bible, not just learn about events that happened or how we should live. I would agree that you can find Jesus all throughout the Old Testament. But the author repeatedly stated that ALL of the stories (while true events) are actually about Jesus (not the Trinity, but Jesus). That meant that some of her examples were a bit of a stretch. For example, she feels that Proverbs 31 is actually meant as a description of Jesus. Some things she said left me saying, "Uh, where did she get that?" However, if you're surprised to learn that Eve received a prophecy about Jesus or that God personally led the Israelites in the Exodus, then this book might provide new insights for you.

I very much enjoy reading the Bible, and it is something that I challenged myself to do daily starting in January 2018. Therefore, Finding the Love of Jesus from Genesis to Revelation by Elyse Fitzpatrick, sounded interesting to me, and I thought that it would be able to add some depth to my daily reading. At first, it started out a little repetitive, and I was not sure if I was going to gain as much insight from the book as I had hoped. But I ended up finding quite a few interesting points as I read on. Here are a few examples of things that caught my attention while reading:

In Genesis, after Adam and Eve have sinned, God talks about the woman's son who would crush the head of her children's enemy. The author points out that He is not referring to Eve's son, but Jesus (son of another woman, Mary) who will ultimately defeat our enemy, Satan.
Fitzpatrick stated that there are four different Bible reading methods that we tend to use: The Magic 8 Ball Method (reading the Bible to find a message that will help us to discern God's will for a specific circumstance in our lives), The Headlines Method (comparing the Bible to what is happening in the headlines/news to prove that the Bible is relevant), The Quid Pro Quo Method (God will bless us if we take the time to read His word), and the WWHD Method (What Would Heroes Do - following the lives of the heroes of the Bible to tell us what to do in our own lives). She argues that the Bible should be read to discern the intent of the original writer and to see the good news of Jesus throughout.
I liked how she gave tips on how to see Jesus and the message of the gospel in the Old Testament on our own.
She pointed out some instances where I would not have thought about it being Jesus playing a role in the story: walking in the garden with Adam and Eve, when an angel of the Lord appears (only if the angel is also referred to as the Lord and he does not refuse worship), the Rock/cloud/fire that guided the Israelites during the Exodus, protecting Joshua in the book of Zechariah, etc.
Mount Moriah, where Isaac was nearly sacrificed, but God intervened, is the same spot where Jesus would later be crucified. 
There are characters throughout the Bible who demonstrate Christ-like characteristics and/or who's story mirror the gospel story (i.e. Ruth, Esther, groom/bride in Song of Solomon).
Excellent summarizing quote from the book: "We've learned that rather than the Old Testament being detached and in conflict with the New, it is the backdrop to the main attraction, the stage upon which the good news is acted out."
Overall, I give the book 4 stars. It was a little repetitive and slow to start, and sometimes I feel like the information could have been organized a little better, but I definitely gained some insight that I can use in my daily Bible reading.