Bible Commentaries

Jeremiah 42:19-22 — might improve the sense. This is not necessary at all, for two reasons: (1) these words are not simple past tense, but the prophetic tense in which the future is spoken of as having already occurred, so certain is the fulfillment of God's Word; and (2) by reason of the people's rushing headlong to get ready for their departure to Egypt during that ten days in which the prophet had waited for the word of Jehovah, Jeremiah had already learned their answer. They were fully determined to go to Egypt,

Jeremiah 42:9-12 — ye are afraid,; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land." From here through Jeremiah 42:22 Jeremiah revealed the prophetic word from God as doing the following things: (1) It promised them security and salvation if they would obey. (2) It warned them against disobedience. (3) It emphatically commanded them not to go down into Egypt. (4)

Jeremiah 48:45-47 — captive, and thy daughters into captivity. Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith Jehovah. Thus far is the judgment of Moab." The first two of these verses record the fulfillment of Balaam's prophecy against Moab in Numbers 21:28-30; Numbers 24:17, some of the very language of the Book of Numbers being here repeated, indicating once again that all of the Pentateuch (not merely Deuteronomy) was, even at this date, in the hands of Israel. As we have repeatedly noted, every

Jeremiah 50:11-16 — reveals that, although God prophesied the total and final desolation of Babylon, he did not prophecy that this would happen immediately. There would be a long period of her decline: (1) She would be the hindermost of the nations, but still a nation. (2) Then she would be: (a) a wilderness, (b) a dry land and (c) a desert. Many centuries were involved in the complete fulfillment of all that.

Lamentations 2:20-22 — all mankind! We are the people you rescued from Egypt! We are those to whom you gave the land of Canaan! We are thy Chosen People! Just look at us now! "Shall the women eat their fruit" Such a terrible thing had actually happened in Israel's history (2 Kings 6:28-29). "The fruit here is the children."The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 20. Matthew Henry's words regarding this prayer are priceless: "Prayer is a salve for very sore, even the sorest, a remedy for every malady, even the most grievous.

Ezekiel 12:21-25 — that, "In the last days, mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4).

Ezekiel 20:1-4 — command is given in the next clause. "Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers." "The Hebrew word here does not mean merely `to judge.'"George Barlow, The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1891), p. 217. It also includes the meaning of prosecuting a cause before a tribunal; and that was what Ezekiel was instructed here to do. These four chapters constitute the demonstration that, "The wickedness of Judah was now full."RHA, p. 833. Under the figure

Ezekiel 35:1-3 — against the Edomites: (1)    They had aided Babylon in their final conquest of Jerusalem. Taylor suggested that they bartered with Nebuchadnezzar, offering their support for portions of Judea after the conquest.J. B. Thompson, p. 225. (2)    Edom had attempted to annex Israel's territory. (3)    Her joyful exultation over Judah's fall was a shameful expression of her attitude toward God's people. (4)    The Edomites from

Daniel 6:19-23 — forth to do service for them that shall inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). Serving the interests of God's people is thus one of seven different functions set forth in the Bible as performed by angels. All seven are: (1) in the general sense, as here; (2) to watch over little children (Matthew 18:10); (3) to bear away the souls of the righteous in death (Luke 16:22); (4) to execute the punitive judgments of God upon the incorrigibly wicked (Acts 12:23); (5) to aid providentially in bringing sinners

Daniel 7:26-28 — evil of those wicked things that shall arise among earth's populations. But, in His own good time, THE JUDGMENT. "But the Judgment!" Yes there shall indeed be a final Judgment Day. This is one of the foundational doctrines of Christianity (Hebrews 6:2). The Judgment Day is extensively mentioned in the New Testament. That is the occasion when God will cast evil out of his universe, when Satan, and the Beast (all of the beasts), and the False Prophet (all false and immoral religion) shall be cast alive

Hosea 1:3 — took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived and bare him a son." "Gomer" This is one of a number of names in the Bible that were given to both men and women. Gomer was the firstborn son of Japheth and the head of many families (Genesis 10:2-3; 1 Chronicles 1:5-6; and Ezekiel 38:6). The name Crimea, familiar in English history, is derived from Gomer whose descendants conquered and settled Cappadocia by the time of the seventh century.Herbert Lockyer, All the Men of the Bible (Grand Rapids,

Hosea 12:3 — reference to Jacob in this passage seems to have been with a double purpose: (1) for demonstrating that the cunning, deceit, and guile of the Israel in Hosea's day was in character with that of the old "heel catcher" from whom they had all descended, and (2) in order to emphasize that, with all of Jacob's faults, he did honor the promises of God, struggled with God to receive his blessings, tenaciously fought onward against all obstacles in order to receive the blessing. "Took his brother by the heel"

Hosea 2:13 — and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith Jehovah." "Saith Jehovah" Note the last words first! It is not Hosea, but the eternal God who delivers the prophecy of these pages. Hosea only spoke as he was moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). "I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim" "It is the cult of Baal which is Israel's harlotry."James Luther Mays, op. cit., p. 43. There is a picture in this verse of what went on in the worship of Baal. Sensuous women ornamented themselves

Hosea 8:12 — "I wrote for him the ten thousand things of my law; but they are counted as a strange thing." This statement clearly assumes that Hosea knew a written form of Torah. Its precise content can only be guessed from clues like Hosea 4:2 with its reflection of the Decalogue.James Luther Mays, op. cit., p. 122. Of course, there is another way to KNOW exactly what was in that TORAH, and that is by reading the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament. Only that source will answer to "the

Joel 2:29 — "And also upon the servants and upon the handmaidens in those days will I pour out of my Spirit. It should be noted that beginning with the previous Joel 2:28, this portion of Joel (to the end of the chapter) forms a separate chapter in the Hebrew version of the Bible, giving four chapters instead of three in that version. This refers to the universality of membership in the Lord's church and the consequent

Amos 5:1 — people of God the impossibility of averting the threatened destruction, and to take away from the self-secure sinners the false foundations of their trust."C. F. Keil, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), p. 277. To make his message still more powerful, Amos actually uttered it in the tone and meter of the traditional funeral service known by all the people; and Hammershaimb, along with others, supposes that the occasion was that of a popular feast at Bethel: "We

Obadiah 1:21 — circumcision, and required to read the law of Moses! but far more is meant. Today, in the times of the regeneration, Jesus Christ our Lord and his holy apostles upon twelve thrones are "judging the twelve tribes of the children of Israel" (Matthew 19:28). All mankind, as well as "Mount Esau" are accountable and responsible to that judgment! "The kingdom shall be the Lord's (KJV)" No earthly achievement could ever fulfill this. Only the worldwide dominion of Jesus Christ could be meant by such a declaration.

Jonah 2:4 — 1837), p. 704. Now the Babylonian army had completed the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C., after a siege of 18 months, consequent upon Zedekiah's rebellion."International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Chicago: Howard-Severance Company, 1915), p. 2934. However, the moral and spiritual ruin of the temple had occurred much earlier under Rehoboam, Abijah, and Asa, in whose reigns the golden treasures of the temple had been robbed and all kinds of abominations introduced into its services,Ibid. leaving

Micah 4:3 — peace and prosperity envisioned here will ensue. No! It is of that new society, the church of God in Christ, that the prophet spoke here. "Micah was here describing the character of that kingdom ruled from the spiritual Zion."Homer Hailey, op. cit., p. 205. It has been gloriously fulfilled in that the kingdom of Christ has come down through history without any reliance whatever upon the military weapons which are the stock in trade of the unconverted. This great truth is not nullified by the violation

Nahum 1:1 — violence, and treachery. This time, there ,would be no repentance and no commutation of the sentence of death upon them. "Nineveh" (For a discussion of the nature, size, and fortifications of Nineveh see in my commentary on the minor prophets, Vol. 1, pp. 280-282.) One of the greatest cities of antiquity, it was situated upon the Tigris River at its junction with two lesser streams, and for an extended period was the most powerful city on earth. Any prophecy of the doom of such a city must have appeared