Bible Commentaries

Isaiah 48:1-6 — Messiah before he was born (Luke 1:31). "My mouth like a sharp sword" This indicated that the words which would come out of the mouth of Messiah would be the instrument of his power, the words which would judge men and angels on the last day (John 12:48). This is "the word" that hurled the suns in space, that lifted up the Cross, that stilled the sea; and it is the word that shall summons all the dead who ever lived to receive the sentence of their eternal destiny on the occasion of the final judgment. "In

Lamentations 4:11-16 — and priests were corrupted. "They have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her" The sins of the false prophets and priests aided and encouraged great wickedness; but the actual killing of the innocent was accomplished by such kings as Manasseh (2 Kings 21:16). It is important to note that only Jeremiah could have written this. It is inconceivable that anyone except Jeremiah could have written Lamentations 4:13 without naming Jeremiah as a glorious exception to the general fact there stated.

Ezekiel 16:8-14 — the marriage of God to Israel, a metaphorical representation of the Sinaitic covenant and the choice of the nation as "God's Chosen People." "Then I washed thee with water" Commentators have struggled with this; but the explanation is in Ephesians 5:25 ff: "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself." Thus the marriage of Christ to his Bride the Church followed

Ezekiel 38:10-16 — luxurious preferences instead of evangelizing the world with it, as God commanded. Thus, the three reasons why God announced in this prophecy that he would bring upon them Gog and Magog are: (1) they have forsaken God's Word which alone was their defense; (2) they are doing nothing for God, but merely resting in ease and luxury, and (3) they have grown wealthy and complacent. Anyone who is familiar with the religious picture in America today can hardly miss seeing this. "That dwell in the middle of the

Ezekiel 8:1-4 — north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoked to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the image that I saw in the plain." "In the sixth year" "This date appears to be August-September, 592 B.C."G. R. Beasley-Murray in the New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 670. For a list of all the dates given in Ezekiel, see our introduction. Beasley-Murray calculated the interval from the first vision that came to Ezekiel at the river Chebar as "fourteen

Daniel 10:18-21 — of Greece shall come. But I will tell thee that which is inscribed in the writing of the truth: and there is none that holdeth with me against these but Michael your prince." "Lo, the prince of Greece shall come" and, "Michael your prince" (Daniel 10:21)." Here is a glimpse of the unseen world; and what seems to be indicated is that the nations of the world themselves are being monitored and to the extent of God's will being directed, influenced, or controlled by the mighty angels of God. It must

Daniel 11:1-21 — wealth. He prepared a great army and navy, invaded Greece, encountered total failure, suffered great losses at Thermopylae, Salamis (480 B.C.) and at Plataea and Mycale."H. A. Ironside, Lectures on Daniel the Prophet (New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers), p. 192 Note that hardly any of this is actually in the prophecy! "A mighty king" Alexander the Great (333:322 B.C.)." "The partition of Alexander's empire is described."A. R. Millard, The New Layman's Bible Commentary, Daniel (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing

Amos 5:19-20 — possibility of escape from the adverse judgment of God upon human wickedness. It must not be thought that Israel was totally wrong about the judgment day, for they were profoundly correct about two things: (1) there would indeed be such a day, and (2) it would also be a time of deliverance, joy and utmost felicity for the true Israel. Whatever their sources of this information, they were accurate in these important elements of the doctrine; and we have no alternative except to conclude that one

Habakkuk 2:14 — "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea." Without any doubt, "Habakkuk here prophesies the inauguration of the universal kingdom of Yahweh upon the earth."D. David Garland, op. cit., p. 261. This, of course, means the Church of Jesus Christ and the initiation of the reign of Our Lord on Pentecost, he having received shortly before that time, "All authority in heaven and upon earth" (Matthew 28:18-20). "Knowledge of the glory of Jehovah"

Zechariah 13:7 — ones." Here we are on solid ground. Christ said to the apostles on the occasion of his Passion: "All ye shall be offended in me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad" (Matthew 26:31; Mark 14:27). It is the proximity of this certain prophecy of Christ to Zechariah 13:6, above, which lends some credibility to the understanding of a prophecy of our Lord there; also, there is the oft-repeated indication that this entire section

Matthew 11:2-3 — cometh, or look we for another? John had grown uncertain as to whether Christ was indeed the Messiah or not. The uncertainty probably arose from the following circumstances: (1) John had been cast into prison, and Christ had made no move to free him; (2) John was suffering cruel and unjust persecution and probably foresaw his approaching martyrdom; (3) Jesus' identity as the Messiah was not being proclaimed at that time with the dogmatic certainty which John doubtless expected; (4) the reasons for

Matthew 11:28 — I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shalt find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. THE GREAT INVITATION Again we have in this place, and in Matthew 11:27 preceding, words from Christ which demand that we hail him as God Incarnate, or a fool. That only he knows the Father, that he will give all the weary rest, that only those may know God to whom Christ reveals him — these are all statements that

Matthew 13:47-50 — in this and in that of the tares is stressed the puzzling containment within the church herself of both good and bad elements. This ought not, however, to appear overly strange to students of the word of God, because: (1) there was a Ham in the ark; (2) a Judas among the Twelve; (3) a man of sin in the temple of God; (4) a mystery Babylon within the historical perimeter of the church; (5) Esau contended with Jacob in the very womb of Rebekah; and, as in her case, the church may often cry, "Why

Matthew 18:15 — "upon what authority" is such a bold limitation grounded? It is significant that the view, when stated, is not supported by the Scriptures; and in some cases where Scriptures are cited, they simply do not apply. Thus, Macknight quoted 1 Timothy 5:20, "Them that sin, rebuke before all, that others may fear." But where is the authority in that for omitting the first and second admonitions? That the first and second admonitions do actually apply to "public" sins as well as private

Matthew 27:52 — saints. At first it seems those two events occurred simultaneously; but the next verse notes that it was "after his resurrection" that they actually came out of their graves and appeared in the city, thus the mention of the saints in Matthew 27:52 is for the purpose of revealing which graves were opened. This, of course, is a great miracle of discrimination. Incredulous scholars have sought in vain for evidence of an interpolation here, but none exists. Plummer said, "There is no textual

Mark 5:20 — he also, no doubt, identified as "Lord." No wonder it is said that "All men marveled." Lessons from this miracle include: (1) Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of the devil, and here was an outstanding example of it. (2) Jesus must choose for all men the area of the service they will render to his name; the man here was denied his request and given another assignment. (3) Men frequently need to begin at home the work of bringing others to Christ. (4) Men should beware

Luke 16:9 — instances of persons acquiring wealth innocently. But all wealth of this world is unrighteous, however acquired; and by this the wealth itself, not the possessor, is meant. 1.    Wealth deceives the owner into believing that it is his. 2.    It strongly tempts him to trust in riches. 3.    "In making a man depend on them for happiness, riches rob him of salvation and the glory of God."Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York:

John 6:20-21 — them, It is I; be not afraid. They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat; and straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going. John abbreviated this wonder by omitting Peter's walking on the water to go to Jesus (Matthew 14:28-31), and also Mark's record that the apostles' "heart was hardened" (Mark 6:52), a remark that proves the conflict between Christ and the apostles over the events on shore. Matthew gave the happy ending of the brief estrangement in his account

John 9:7 — as a type of sin. This does not mean that a blind man is a sinner but that the terrible handicap is a forceful illustration of sinful condition. Jesus said, "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Luke 6:39). See also 2 Peter 1:9 and Revelation 3:18. Thus, blindness is a Scriptural type of sin; and the detail of this sixth sign's deployment upon the sacred page compels the conclusion that this blind man's healing must be construed as typical of the far greater wonder

Philippians 4:6 — In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. In nothing be anxious … In Matthew 6:25-34, our Lord gave extensive admonition on the subject of anxiety; and reference is here made to the comment on those passages in my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 6:25 ff. In order to avoid anxiety here, Paul followed exactly the instruction given