Tracing His Promise: Book Review

Tracing His Promise by author Donna Amidon is a Bible study that shows the thread of Christ throughout the Old Testament.

One thing I’ve learned as I study the stories of all the women in the Bible is that each of the stories is all a part of a bigger story. While they each have their own unique story, combined, they give us a wider glimpse into the character of God and His plans from the beginning.

Tracing His Promise by author Donna Amidon breaks down twenty-five images from the Bible and shows how they illustrate the story of Jesus and His plan from the beginning.

Jesse Tree

The Bible study is based on the Jesse tree ornaments. I don’t know about you, but I had never heard of Jesse trees, but the tradition goes back to medieval times. The twenty-five ornaments are used to tell the full story of Christmas.

Jesse tree gets its name from Jesse, the father of King David, and is inspired by Isaiah 11:1-4.

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall ^]grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

Isaiah 11:1-4

The Jesse tree ornaments are a way to lead up to the celebration of Christmas by providing an advent activity that ties in a Scripture and an ornament that illustrates the passage.

Tracing His Promise Features

Tracing His Promise can be read on its own as daily readings or can be used as a Bible study. As a Bible study, you can go as deep as you want, digging into the Scripture or just using it for a quick read. Eith way will work.

Donna Amidon’s style is very conversational. She’s a seminary graduate and a teacher at Back to the Bible, but her writing is practical and easy-to-understand. In addition to being a Bible scholar, she’s a pastor’s wife and worship leader.

The book drew me in from the introduction. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more. It didn’t take too long to realize this was something I wanted to continue reading, and this was something I would learn from.

The book is broken up into twenty-five chapters, one for each day of December leading up to Christmas.

Each daily read begins with the Scripture passage, followed by an anecdote that leads into the study of the passage. This is practical teaching with life application interspersed. At the end of each day’s reading are review questions and a tie-in to the Jesse tree.

Tracing His Promise Review

This is an excellent book for proving a better understanding of the Bible and God’s plan. It shows how intertwined it all is and how much thought went into God’s will from the beginning.

Tracing His Promise would be an excellent Christmas gift for anyone wanting to add to their undestanding of Christmas and what it all means. It’s a great choice for Bible study groups or book clubs searching a book to lead into the holiday season. It would also be good for moms who want to teach their children that Christmas is more than Santa and presents.

At the back of the book is a chart that includes the different ornaments to go with each day. A quick search brought up lots of online resources for buying or making your own ornaments.