Twelve Unlikely Heroes

Twelve Unlikely Heroes: How God Commissioned Unexpected People in the Bible and what He Wants to Do with You by John MacArthur outlines the lives of 12 figures from the Bible who proved to be heroic though they may have seemed ordinary.  Those profiled are drawn from the Old Testament, such as Joseph and Gideon, and the New Testament, like John the Baptist.  Though the biographies are predominately from the Old Testament.  Many will be familiar with like Joseph but the book also includes more obscure figures like Enoch and Onesimus.  Though these heroes were all very different people, MacArthur shows how all were people of faith and acted on God’s direction. 

Overall Twelve Unlikely Heroes is clear and easy to read.  Some of the chapters are balanced more towards Christian living teachings, like the Enoch chapter, due to a lack of biographical information.  Other chapters, like Joseph, are more heavy on biography due to the vast amount of primary and secondary material available.  Honestly, the chapters that were the least effective for me were Joseph and Miriam, which was really heavy on Moses, because they cover material that others have presented from pulpits, videos and other books.  It was profiles for James, Mark, and Onesimus that were the most effective to me since they are figures we hear less about.  I also appreciated MacArthurs use of tradition and church history to help expand on the Biblical information we have on these figures, while be transparent to their source.  Overall, Twelve Unlikely Heroes is accessible book that could serve as a good introduction to the lives of these early heroes.    

Review Copy Provided by Thomas Nelson