Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 14:11-13 — thing toward Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam." Jeroboam inquired of the prophet concerning one of his sons, but here he learned the fate of all of them, and these indeed were heavy tidings as the prophet had promised in 1 Kings 14:5.

Psalms 109:1-5 — described here as deceitful liars (Psalms 109:1-2). They are wicked men who hate him (Psalms 109:2-3). They are carrying on a vendetta against him and are returning hatred for his love, rewarding him evil for the good he has done them (Psalms 109:4-5).

Psalms 63:5-6 — to describe the soul's overwhelming desire for God and his healing fellowship. Jesus himself adopted both of these metaphors in the Sermon on the Mount. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). "The night watches" There were three of these, the first, middle, and last; and the sleeplessness of the beleaguered king would seem to be indicated by his being awake, thinking of God, during the night watches.

Psalms 79:8 — calamity. It was the long established tradition of wickedness reaching back through many generations that also entered into the fact of God's decision to liquidate the kingdom of Israel. "Let thy… mercies speedily meet us." See under Psalms 79:5, above, for comment on this.

Proverbs 24:1-2 — There is a strange attractiveness about evil. "Young people, and sometimes older people, are fascinated by the glamour and aura of success and power which sometimes clings to evil men."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), Vol. 5, p. 76. The wise should look beyond all of that and consider the ultimate fate of all wicked men.

Isaiah 24:21 — shall be punished on "that Day?" Jude gave us this inspired answer: "Angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he (God) hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Judges 1:5). That, of course, is the day when Satan and his angels, along with all who have chosen to serve Satan, shall be finally disposed of by God Himself.

Isaiah 28:7-8 — the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so there is no place clean." If Isaiah 28:5-6 are considered as a parenthesis, which they manifestly are, then these words are a continued description of the debaucheries of Ephraim. Some have tried to explain the drunkenness of Ephraim as A "spiritual" error; but the description of reeling,

Jeremiah 43 overview — found a better comment upon the incredible blindness of human politicians than the one afforded by this chapter. The chapter divisions are: (1) Judah's leaders reject God's word (Jeremiah 43:1-4); (2) Jeremiah and Baruch taken to Egypt (Jeremiah 43:5-7); (3) Prophecy of conquest of Egypt (Jeremiah 43:8-11); and (4) Prophecy against the gods of Egypt (Jeremiah 43:12-13).

Daniel 2 overview — outline of the chapter is as follows: (1) the occasion for the dream (Daniel 2:1); (2) the king's demand (Daniel 2:2-9), (3) the failure of all the wise men (Daniel 2:10-11); (4) the king's decree that they should all be put to death (Daniel 2:12-13); (5) Daniel's request for a delay (Daniel 2:14-16); (6) the dream and its interpretation revealed to Daniel (Daniel 2:19-23); (7) Daniel refers all glory to God for the revelation (Daniel 2:24-30); (8) Daniel relates the dream and its interpretation to

Matthew 12:12 — claim to any "excusable violations," but he claimed strict and wholehearted compliance with the law, the whole law. He said, "Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I came not to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). Certainly, healing was allowable on the sabbath day, or upon any other day. That principle was honored by the Pharisees, as it applied to animals; but, in their blindness, they rejected the same principle applied by Christ to a man!

Matthew 26:36 — saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I go yonder and pray. IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE What irony! Whereas the disciples were so sure they would not fail, even the Christ approached the cross with "strong cryings and tears" (Hebrews 5:7). It was the humanity of Christ that was in ascendancy from that hour and until death came upon him. As a man (and he was perfect man), he shrank from the ordeal of Calvary; and the common view that Christ wept only for the sins or sorrows of others

Mark 2:18 — are fasting, so what about you?" The Lord replied to their objection with a triple parable: (1) new cloth on old garment, (2) new wine-skins for new wine, and (3) drinkers of old wine care not for new wine. Only Luke gave the full parable (Luke 5:33-39).

Mark 3:6 — kingship of Herod. Normally, they were bitter enemies of the Pharisees; but these old foes made common cause against the Saviour. How they might destroy him … This does not mean that they decided to kill him, that having long ago been decided (John 5:18), but that they plotted on the mechanics of his murder, just how they were going to bring it about.

John 9:29 — We know that God hath spoken unto Moses: but as for this man, we know not whence he is. God hath spoken unto Moses … See article under John 5:39 with regard to knowing and yet not knowing the Scriptures. This man … we know not whence he is. Some have fancied that these words do not contradict what these hypocrites said earlier, "We know whence he is" (John 7:27); but of course

Acts 13:40-41 — therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken in the prophets: Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; For I work a work in your days, A work which ye shall in no wise believe, if one declare it unto you. The quotation here is from Habakkuk 1:5; and the admonition is to the effect that the unique, startling, and amazing facts of the gospel should not be the grounds of the people's rejecting them. Isaiah exclaimed, "Who hath believed our report?" (Isaiah 53:1), showing that the gospel

2 Corinthians 4 overview — Broomall has an interesting outline of this chapter, as follows: The hidden and the open (2 Corinthians 4:1-2). The blinded and the enlightened (2 Corinthians 4:3). Slaves and Master (2 Corinthians 4:5). Darkness and Light (2 Corinthians 4:6). The frail and the mighty (2 Corinthians 4:7). Trials and triumph (2 Corinthians 4:8-10). Death and life (2 Corinthians 4:11-12). The written and the spoken (2 Corinthians 4:13). The past and the future (2 Corinthians

Galatians 5:18 — but it simply could not do any good in the kind of warfare that must be won by the soul if people are to please God. The moral commandments of the Mosaic Law are to be fulfilled by Christians, no less than under the law of Christ (see under Galatians 5:14); and Paul's stress here is laid not upon the relaxation of such obligations, but upon the only manner of their fulfillment.

Ephesians 5:12 — which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. Although this verse is surely true of all wicked men, MacKnight, and others, have detected a close connection here with the various mystery cults of paganism. His paraphrase of Ephesians 5:11-12 brings this out thus: And have no fellowship with those who celebrate the heathen mysteries, which being transacted in the darkness of night are really the unfruitful works of darkness, as they bring no fruit to the initiated, except eternal death:

Ephesians 5:28-29 — their own wives as their own bodies. He that loves his own wife loveth himself: for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church. The analogy which had been in Paul's mind as far back as Ephesians 5:23, above, is about to be stated emphatically here and in the following four verses. First, there is the practical consideration that: just as Christ provides for every need of the church, nourishing and blessing her in all times and places by all means,

Philemon 1:15 — shouldest have him for ever; By this Paul affirms that perhaps the whole unfortunate event of the flight of the slave was providential, after all. Did not Joseph say to his brothers in Egypt, "God did send me before you to preserve life" (Genesis 45:5)? That thou shouldest have him forever … means simply that Philemon would now have his slave permanently, but there may also be included the thought of all the redeemed having fellowship with their own eternally in heaven. In the case at hand,