Bible Commentaries

Exodus 32 overview — paragraphs being devoted to the narrative: (1)    the making of the calf (Exodus 32:1-6); (2)    Moses' intercession on behalf of Israel (Exodus 32:7-14); (3)    the wrath of Moses (Exodus 32:15-20); (4)    Aaron's excuses (Exodus 32:21-24); (5)    the faithfulness of the Levites (Exodus 32:25-29); and (6)    Moses' renewed intercession (Exodus 32:30-35). The critical strategy of trying

Psalms 122 overview — David wrote the psalm. Who would have been any more likely to do so than the king who made it his capital and built it? One alternative view is that the psalm is Davidic in the sense of its emphasis upon "the thrones of the house of David. (Psalms 122:5) Such questions cannot now be answered with any finality.

Psalms 94 overview — not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; and he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it" (Amos 5:18-20)? In spite of such a warning, it seems that Israel continued to cherish their illusions about the Judgment Day.

Isaiah 46 overview — place to another, had himself "carded" the Jews from their very beginning as a nation until that present time (Isaiah 46:1-4). Then God, through his prophet Isaiah, exposed in his usual forcible and elegant style, the absurdity of idolatry (Isaiah 46:5-7). Next he vigorously asserted the claims of the One True God as the one and only Unique Deity, citing as proof of his claims the miracles, and the prophecies with which Israel had been familiar for generations (Isaiah 46:8-10). God also reiterated

Jeremiah 44 overview — continued to be an almost unending series of tragedies. "The exact date of this chapter cannot be determined; but it came a long time after the events recorded in the preceding chapter."C. F. Keil in Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, p. 156. This conclusion is drawn from the fact that the Jewish immigrants as seen in this chapter were living in various cities from one end of Egypt to the other, indicating the passage of considerable time. Chapter divisions are: (1) Jeremiah warned the

Acts 14:4 — But the multitude of the city was divided; and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. City was divided … In Luke 12:51-53, Jesus had clearly foretold the divisions that would inevitably follow the faithful preaching of the word. This division invariably issues from the polarization of men's hearts, either toward the Lord or against him. The two divisions here are the

Acts 16:1-2 — reveal the good reputation of Timothy, not only in his home community of Lystra, but also in the more important city of Iconium as well. Mother was a Jewess … Her name was Eunice, Timothy's grandmother (Eunice's mother) being Lois (2 Timothy 1:5). Luke did not give the names, since he was primarily concerned with the racial problem relating to the circumcision of Timothy. Despite the fact of Timothy's father being a Greek, Eunice had reared him in the Hebrew faith; and, in this circumstance,

Acts 16:5 — of Vespasian and Titus removed the Jewish state, the daily sacrifices, and the temple itself in 70 A.D., a full twenty years later. The books of Hebrews and Romans were addressed, in part, to this very issue; and Galatians, written about this time (50 A.D.), is full of it. How strange it is that the Judaizers have never disappeared. Even now, nearly two millenniums afterward, the Judaizers are still in business: (1) attempting to bind sabbath-observance on Christians, (2) dragging instruments of

Romans 8 overview — on this fact thus: With a sharp turn, Paul now breaks off reflections on man under the Law; again, a "now" stands here as the signal of the new train of thought. Emil Brunner, The Letter to the Romans (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1956), p. 69. Actually, Paul here returned to a train of thought he had already followed in Romans 5 and Romans 6; but he took it up here again, following the interruption of Romans 7, that theme being the blessing and privilege of the life "in Christ."

1 Corinthians 15:46 — spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual. The time sequence here applies to people now, their first existence being merely physical, the natural life derived from the great progenitor Adam in whose "image" (Genesis 5:3) all people are born. God made Adam in God's image; but after the fall, it appears that people were not born in God's image (except in a limited sense), but in the image of the fallen ancestor. Hereditary depravity is not in this, but there is certainly

2 Corinthians 5:11 — God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. The fear of the Lord … One of the genuine errors of the King James Version was the rendition of this as "the terror" of the Lord. Paul used the same word in Ephesians 5:21, and Luke used it in Acts 9:1; but as Lipscomb said," `Fear' in all of these passages means reverence and devotion." David Lipscomb, Second Corinthians (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1937), p. 74. We persuade men … It is not

2 Corinthians 5:5 — this is the grossest error. In any language, a "token" may not be misconstrued as the full possession of God's gracious gift of the Spirit. Evidence of possession of this gift is found in the manifestation of the fruits mentioned in Galatians 5:22.

Ephesians 1:12 — used for ages often begin with this very fact. The Westminster Shorter Catechism has this: Question: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. Ibid., p. 726. See more on this under Galatians 1:5. Who had before hoped in Christ … This is generally interpreted to mean that the Jewish dispensation looked to the coming of Christ, hoping for the deliverance that he would bring. Anna and Simeon are representative of those who did this; but,

Ephesians 2:4-5 — through our trespasses … "This describes the existing state from which we were made alive with Christ." F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972), p. 104. The same thought is in Romans 5:10 where our being enemies was the existing state from which we were reconciled to God. By grace have ye been saved … In this Paul referred to salvation from past sins and induction into the kingdom of Christ. The apostle Peter mentioned this

Colossians 3:12 — longsuffering. Elect … holy … beloved … Ellis pointed out that these titles belonged in the Old Testament to the physical Israel of God, but that here they are applied "to the church, the true Israel." E. Earle Ellis, op. cit., p. 552. This writer also believes that "beloved," as in so many of Paul's letters, has reference to the love which the apostle himself had for the addressees, and that this is an incidental indication that Paul was indeed acquainted at Colossae. Heart

Hebrews 8:3 — English Bible (1961) with a suggested rendition of the clause that would make the situation completely unambiguous: "this one too must have had something to offer." Ibid., p. 164. For notes on "gifts and sacrifices" see under Hebrews 5:1.

James 5:5 — pleasures, called here "nourishing their hearts" and (b) to the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem, called here "a day of slaughter," the Old Testament expression meaning "the day of God's judgment" (Isaiah 34:6; Ezekiel 21:15); and let it be noted that the day had already arrived. Their sins continued in a day of slaughter, that is, up until the very moment of the impending judgment. As Carson put it, "They were like animals gorging themselves on the very day of their

2 Peter 3:6 — with water, perished: Wheaton stated the argument here as follows: "The argument used by the scoffers is phony. They have conveniently forgotten that God did intervene in judgment at the time of the Flood." David B. Wheaton, op. cit., p. 1257. God's intervention and interruption of the orderly process of nature in the cataclysmic event of the great flood proved several things, willfully put out of their minds by the scoffers: (1) It cannot be argued that God will not again interrupt the

1 John 4:18 — people are pleading for the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them; and (4) the banishment of all fear; and notice that last phrase made perfect in love. Is this anything less than the total God-like perfection enjoined by Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:48? Indeed, it is the same thing, exhibited, even as it was by the author of James, as God's basic requirement of all who would be saved! Impossible for people? Certainly, except in the manner revealed in Christ. To those who are "in Christ"

Revelation 19:13 — is dipped in blood because Christ shed his blood for mankind." E. M. Zerr, op. cit., p. 340. And his name is called the Word of God … "This is a title of Christ used only by the apostle John (John 1:1; John 1:14, 1 John 1:1; 1 John 5:7)." Charles Caldwell Ryrie, op. cit., p. 112. The apostle is thus linked with all three writings.