In this volume Rex Mason invites us to walk with him around the 'portrait gallery' of the Old Testament, to look at the many pictures of God that the writers present. Images of God as Redeemer, Craftsman, Father, King, Judge, Shepherd, Warrior, and Lover are surveyed, together with 'human' and 'feminine' characteristics ascribed to God. The author's approach is to enable us actually to 'view' the pictures by providing us with substantial amounts of text to read, woven into a lively commentary that uses the best literary and historical-critical tools to 'restore' the pictures to the freshness and color that they had in Ancient Israel. While drawing on recent scholarly discoveries , the author never loses sight of the relationship of trust in God that the pictures are meant to evoke, and so this volume will provide both material and encouragement for preaching from the Old Testament.

Dr. Rex Mason was Fellow and Tutor in Old Testament at Regent's Park College, Oxford from 1975 through 1990 and at the time of publication, was a minister in the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Among his many published writings are Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (Cambridge Bible Commentary), Preaching the Tradition: Homily and Hermeneutic after the Exile (Cambridge University Press) and Micah, Nahum, Obadiah (Old Testament Guides, JSOT Press).