A Star from Jacob: God’s Promises in the Time between the Testaments

A new book in Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz's Family Bible Commentary series, coming April 2029.

Scroll to the end of this article for special offers coinciding with the announcement of the sixth volume.

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Between the prophet Malachi and the evangelist Matthew, God’s people awaited the fulfillment of the Scriptures - a fulfillment greater than anything that had gone before.

What modern readers often call “the Intertestamental Period” is not a theological or an historical vacuum. It is the long and often very bitter season when Israel learned what it meant to live under a foreign empire while clinging to God’s eternal promises. Israel was required to read the prophets instead of hearing their voices and receiving their instruction. The Word of God persisted without an anointed royal family, awaiting the consolation of Israel, while foreign nations ruled with little regard for the nation’s culture, history, and religion.

Published by Ad Crucem Books, A Star from Jacob: God’s Promises in the Time between the Testaments takes up this neglected span of centuries and tells the story the New Testament Scripture assumes but does not directly narrate. From the close of the Old Testament historical books to the opening line of the Gospel according to Matthew, this work traces the lived history, literature, and theology of the Jewish people, centered on Scripture’s fulfillment and history’s purpose, at the advent of the promised King of Israel, Jesus Christ.

A Star from Jacob has been made possible by a generous grant from the Dissen Foundation. It will be the sixth and final volume in the Family Bible Commentary series authored by Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz.

At approximately 100,000 words, A Star from Jacob is written to be read slowly, consulted often, and used confidently by pastors, teachers, students, and serious readers of Scripture who want to understand not only what happened between the Testaments but also why it matters.

This book completes the story Scripture itself tells—from promise to fulfillment—by showing how God kept His Word when His people had nothing left to rely on but that Word alone.

The Star had been promised.
The nations ruled for a time.
And then, in the fullness of time, the Star rose.

History Fulfilled

The history of the Jews under Persian, Greek, and Roman rule is told from the fourth-century BC return to Judea to the Second Jewish War in the second century AD, with the fulfillment of the Savior’s prophecies concerning His own nation and the Jerusalem temple.

To this history is added coverage of the books of these centuries written in the style of Scripture, such as the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are clearly summarized and placed within their historical context. The rise of Jewish tradition in the Mishnah and its ancient political parties found in the gospels, the Pharisees and Sadducees, are discussed to explain in the end how the Messiah’s coming was prophesied in the Old Testament, hoped for in many and various ways in the time between the Testaments, and fulfilled in the New Testament.

Designed for Clarity and Application

Throughout the work, the reader is aided by a consistent visual and structural design. Empires are marked by recurring symbols: the Persian lion, the Greek sun, the Roman eagle, and the Jewish star. Tables of kings, priests, and rulers keep names and dates aligned at a glance. Each chapter is accompanied by at least one map keyed directly to the geography under discussion.

Provisional Structure

1. Introduction, continuing the historical narrative from the close of OT historical books

   1. Jacob under Persia. The history of the Persian empire

      1. Jews under the Persian lion: History of the return from exile

      2. The Bible in and after the exile

      3. Religious literature of the return

   2. Jacob beneath Alexander’s sun. The Greek conquest of the East

      1. Jews under Seleucid and Ptolemaic rule. The Jews a subject people

      2. Jewish discontent in Judea

      3. Jewish discontent outside Judea

   3. The Bible and its derivatives in Hellenistic times

      1. The canon of Scripture

         1. The Apocrypha

         2. Pseudepigrapha

      2. The Dead Sea Scrolls

      3. The Septuagint’s creation

   4. Jacob under the Roman eagle. The Roman empire’s spread to Judea

      1. Jews under Roman rule – sourced from Josephus, Alexander Polyhistor, Eupolemus

      2. Appeasement of Rome

      3. Rebellions against Rome

         1. Literature of a subject people

            1. The Bible in Hebrew and in Greek in the 1st centuries BC and AD

            2. OT Pseudepigrapha of the 1st centuries BC and AD

            3. The Mishnah

   5. Final confrontations with Rome

      1. AD 66-70

      2. AD 132-135

2. The Star is risen

   1. OT expectation of the Messiah compared to Jewish history

   2. Intertestamental expectation of the Messiah compared to the Scriptures

   3. NT fulfillment of the Messiah compared to Jewish history, especially the destruction of the destruction of the temple and the ascension of the Son of David to the right hand of God

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SPECIAL OFFERS

1. Customers who originally bought the five volume set will have the option to purchase Volume VI for around $12 when the book is released in 2029 ( pricing is estimated, but depends on final printing and shipping costs at the time).

2. Readers who were unable to take advantage of the original five volume offer now have the opportunity to buy all six volumes. Volumes I, IV, and V will ship in January 2026. Volumes II, III, and VI will ship in December 2026, December 2027, and April 2029, respectively.