Indeed, as the reader works through the book, there will be moments in which you particularly appreciate the precise way in which he has angled the lighting, even as you gape in delight at the portraits which, so lit, reveal something of the beauty and majesty of the Lord Jesus. Perhaps best of all, preachers will, I hope, see a range of exciting possibilities open up at the prospect of giving their own guided tours of the Old Testament.

I was grateful to be offered an early glimpse of David Murray’s latest book, Jesus On Every Page (Thomas Nelson, 2013) (see below for a giveaway and special launch offer). It did not disappoint.

Imagine, if you will, an art gallery devoted to portraits of one particular person by one particular artist. A significant part of it is well-illuminated, clearly open to the public, and the beauty of its displays is fairly readily evident. However, there are substantial portions of the gallery which, though belonging to the whole, showing works by the same artist and portraits of the same subject, and contributing to the whole effect, are being overlooked. Over time, it has been suggested that the early works of the artist are perhaps not his best efforts, and do not show his subject to best effect, if indeed that subject is properly discernible.

Such discouragements led to visitors being steered away from that part. Experts, some of them well-meaning, set up barriers to keep the plebs away. When the bulbs went out, no-one bothered replacing them; when rooms fell into disrepair, no one worked to restore them. Over time more than half of the gallery, with the exception of a few well-maintained and often-visited spots here and there, became shrouded in dust and cobwebs, entered only by an intrepid few, peering through the gloom at dimly-seen and barely-appreciated works of art.

Such is the Old Testament to many readers of the Bible, even those who are persuaded in principle that the whole of the book and all its books declare the Lord Christ in some way. I remember hearing of a Westminster Seminary professor who would examine the Bibles of his students, assessing the wear of the gold leaf on the edges of the pages to see if they had been neglecting to read and to study their Old Testaments, and who was often moved to deliver something of a reproof to his acolytes.

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