beaconchurches

Lessons From The Carpenter

by H. Michael Brewer

c. 2006

We know that Jesus was the son of Joseph the Carpenter, and that before He began His earthly ministry, Jesus worked as a carpenter as well. But what does that mean? And why did Jesus choose to be a carpenter? After all, being God, He could have chosen to be anything on this earth–a doctor, a lawyer, a potter, a millwright. Why a carpenter? And what links to being a carpenter can we see in His life and ministry?

The answer is there are lots of implications that we cannot even fathom unless we are carpenters ourselves. And that’s where H. Michael Brewer comes in. He is the son of a carpenter and worked (as many sons do) as a carpenter’s apprentice.

Step by step through the gospel references of carpentry Brewer explains the parables of being a carpenter. He explains the double meanings of the words and what it meant to have a yoke properly fitted and how to shore up a house that is falling in and what is entailed in a proper foundation. And along the way, we receive lessons we missed in the scriptures because we are not carpenters and don’t know and love the wood.

Some of the things he explains are that whorls in wood which make it the most beautiful are the result of troubles inflicted upon the tree. That shoring up a settling floor must be done a fraction of an inch at a time and not all at once. That a cornerstone or capstone or keystone are all the same word in Hebrew and all apply to Jesus. And that building a home for us is an individual by individual project. None of our homes will look like anyone elses and will be magnificent.

No study guide with this one but the whole book is the study. This work will make you look at carpentry in a different way. It will make you look at Jesus’ parables a different way. Jesus spoke to a certain people at a certain time. We can best understand what he means by understanding those He was speaking to. This book helps.

Thirteen short chapters but each one packed with information to draw you deeper into scriptures.