First things first, to get it out of the way, I have to say I was disappointed with the title. It IS terribly misleading. While reading the jacket and flipping through the pages will bring to light the true nature of the work, it's hard to not feel `lied' too when you expect one thing but get something totally different.
With that said, I believe this book stands alone and can be an invaluable tool for anyone `put off' or even intimidated by the Old Testament. Yancy does a wonderful job in tailoring a very readable book that puts into prospective the context in which the Old Testament was written. While reading this book, an air of excitement comes forth and the urge to pick the Bible and read through some section that Yancy details and sheds light on comes frequently. You actually begin to look at the books (ESPECIALLY the prophets) differently and that changes the whole way in which you read them. Yancy's insights and applications provide both guidance and encouragement for the average reader encountering the Old Testament.
The first chapter gives recognition to the much ignored and shunned Old Testament. Yancy is right on when he says that few Christians appreciate or realize how much the Old Testament goes hand in hand with the New. You can't get far in understanding the Son or the Spirit until you know the Father.
The chapter on Job took on greater significances for me, personally, after September 11th. Again and again the problems and questions surrounding pain and tragedy faces us day and night with answers sorely needed in the comforting process. Many Christians turn to the book of Job and the example of the man who lost everything through no fault of his own only to `pass his test' and receive double in reward. However many Christians use that example the wrong way and with the wrong message. Yancy does an admirable job is showing that the focus of the book is not in the pain that Job suffers but in the underlying message that we matter to God and sometimes we just don't see how our present circumstance fits into God's greater plan.
The chapter on Deuteronomy could have stayed away from the `Prince of Egypt' tie in but was an easy and enjoyable read none the less. In Chapter four, Yancy deals with the cursing the psalm quite well and I believe that it is this Chapter and the Chapter on the prophets that most changes the way you view those particular books after reading `The Bible Jesus Read'. It is truly eye opening to look at the psalm `over someone shoulders' and see them as conversations with God and then listen to God speak back in the prophets. It is incredibly profound and for those two chapters alone this book is worth the cost of purchase and time of reading.