Read this book.
“Creation and the Persistance of Evil: The Jewish Divine Drama of Omnipotence” has, I have to say, become one of my favorite books in OT Studies. The reason I say this is because it opened up my conservative evangelical mind to the reality of some difficult things in the OT. Granted many conclusions or interpretive decisions that are made in the book may be called into question, he deals with many themes in the Hebrew scriptures that are often read over by mainline evangelicals which are critical to OT theology. Not only this, but the book will help all those who are unfamiliar with the warfare motifs in apocalyptic literature and allow them to begin making connections, not only in the OT genre, but in NT apocalyptic as well. Theologically the Christian may run into some difficulties, but keep the big picture in mind. Levenson is certainly a creative thinker but this is a very important book and there is much to be gleaned from it in terms of the mythopoeic background for many of the polemics in the Hebrew Bible.
I would recommend reading Jacob Neusner’s book, *A Rabbi Talks With Jesus*, as well as Pope Benedict’s book, *Jesus of Nazareth.*