Bible Commentaries

Exodus 2:10 — the water."'Martin Noth, Exodus a Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962), p. 26. Indeed, indeed! What a quibble that is! "He became her son" It was from this circumstance that Moses received the royal education mentioned by Stephen (Acts 7:22). As Ellison pointed out, "If we deny the truth of this story, it is virtually impossible to understand how Moses could ever have reached his influential position."H. L. Ellison, Exodus (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, Reprint, 1982), p. 10.

Ezra 1 overview — prophesied the end of Israel's captivity, even foretelling the very name of the key instrument of God in the accomplishment of it, declaring emphatically that Cyrus would accomplish the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple (Isaiah 44:28 to Isaiah 45:7). Only those who are blinded by the false axiom of radical critics who deny the possibility of predictive prophecy can accept their unfounded, passionate, and vehement denials of this passage in Isaiah. There it stands! And here in Ezra, as well as

Job 8:11-15 — their water supply fails. This is only a thinly veiled allusion to the suddenness of those disasters that came to Job; and he brutally applied his illustration to Job, affirming that, "So it happens to the godless man, and the man that forgets God" (Job 7:13). "Whose trust is a spider's web" What Bildad says here, applying it to Job, of course, is that, "The hope of the ungodly man is as insubstantial as a spider's web."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 427. In these words, Bildad sees the false

Psalms 17:6-9 — under the shadow of thy wings, From the wicked that oppress me, My deadly enemies that compass me about." In these verses, David mentioned the fact that God would hear him, a truth established by countless times when God had indeed heard him (Psalms 17:6), and he also mentioned God's lovingkindness (Psalms 17:7), indicating here that David's appeal is premised and grounded, "Upon the Covenant Love of God who has time and again revealed himself as the Saviour of those who take refuge in him from their

Psalms 7 overview — OF CUSH A BENJAMITE) Addis believed that this Psalm was once two Psalms and that they have been welded together. The first five verses and the last six have the story of an innocent man, slandered, persecuted, and pursued with hatred; "and in Psalms 7:6-11 personified Israel asks for justice at God's hands, and begs him to summon all nations to the great assize (The Final Judgment), that they may attest the Divine Sentence that declares Israel innocent."W. E. Addis, Peake's Commentary on the Bible

Psalms 94:4-7 — blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another" (2 Kings 21:16). "Throughout the Near East, the protection of widows, orphans and strangers was held to be the most sacred duty of leaders."The New Layman's Bible Commentary, p. 667. "They prate" To prate is to speak idly, to chatter. The wicked were indulging in almost endless arrogant and idle speech against the righteous. "Jehovah will not see… the God of Jacob will not consider" Delitzsch thought that oppressors here

Isaiah 50:11 — out Christianity; but Rome soon learned that Christianity was indeed a true derivative of Judaism; and armed with that information, they decided to stamp out Judaism as well. The resulting Jewish war culminated in the utter destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. bythe armies of Vespasian and Titus. Thus the apostate, hardened, and rejected Israel perished in the flames they themselves had kindled. This may not be the only application of the passage, because it is always true that people who stir up troubles

Isaiah 55 overview — the exiles from Babylon. Every word of the chapter is Messianic. Cheyne's chapter heading here was as follows: "An affectionate invitation to the Messianic blessings (Isaiah 55:1-5); an exhortation to put away obstacles to their enjoyment (Isaiah 55:6-7); and a renewed confident assurance of the indescribable glory and felicity which await the true Israel (Isaiah 55:8-13)."T. K. Cheyne's Commentary, Vol. II, p. 58. We especially appreciate Cheyne's distinguishing between the two Israels, which is the

Joel 2:4 — "The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run. Revelation 9:7-12 has a remarkable elaboration of this same comparison of the locusts to "many horses rushing to war," even the sound of the locust's wings being compared to the noise of a cavalry charge. The impossibility of understanding John's words in Revelation

Amos 1:3 — "For three transgressions… yea, for four" This is a stylized expression, or idiom, having the meaning of, "for many, or for more than enough."H. Wheeler Robinson, Abingdon Bible Commentary (New York: Abingdon Press, 1929), p. 777. As used here, it denotes, "not a small, but a large number of crimes, or ungodliness in its worst form."C. F. Keil, op. cit., p. 242. Of course, "Some critics have taken the terms literally, and have tried to identify that particular number of transgressions

Jonah 4:2 — slightest influence in arresting the sinful course of Israel. As Butler said, "Everything of this sort had already been tried with Israel, and still their hearts waxed hard and cold."Paul T. Butler, Minor Prophets (Joplin: College Press, 1968), p. 257. "Gracious… merciful… slow to anger… etc." How terrible is the thought that Jonah made these very attributes of the loving God the basis of rejecting his will! "Jonah is here quoting the `Thirteen Attributes' (Exodus 34:6-7 and

Micah 2:10 — unholy. He also extended the teaching to include Christians today. "To continue in fellowship with what is opposed to God's mind will result in desolation."H. A. Ironside, Notes on the Minor Prophets (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, reprint, 1979), p. 228. It can scarcely be denied that such an idea is in the passage. "Perhaps here likewise the sense is that there can be no resting place in Canaan for those who have violated the terms of the covenant. Once more, Micah appears to envisage deportation

Zechariah 8:14-15 — instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them (Jeremiah 18:7-10)." No factor of the divine providence is any more ignored or denied than is this one. All of God's promises, either for destruction or for blessing are contingent, always, invariably, and eternally contingent upon the status of the recipient with

Malachi 3:11 — cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts." "The notable thing about this entire description of the manifestation of God's favor is that the only blessings mentioned are of a material character."J. M. Powis Smith, op. cit., p. 73. It would seem that God decided to meet the people on their own level. Since they do not appreciate anything except material prosperity, that also would be revealed to them as a blessing from God and from God only. Let them return to God, and he would

Malachi 4:1 — devil and his angels" (Matthew 12:42). Peter spelled it out at some length, "The heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:7). It is of no consequence whatever that wicked men simply do not believe this; God will accomplish it just the same. "But a righteous God would not destroy all men!" That is what the ante-diluvian world thought; and the same God who promised that he

Matthew 12:29 — after the Lord allowed it (Luke 22:31). (5) Satan and his angels are reserved "in chains of darkness" until the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:4). (6) He sowed tares in the wheat, but could do so only "while men slept" (Matthew 13:25). (7) He snatches the word of God from men's hearts, but he can do so only when hearts are hardened (Matthew 13:4). From these and countless other implications in the Scriptures, it may be positively concluded that Satan does not share control of the universe

Matthew 6:14-15 — will your Father forgive your trespasses. This is a reiteration of the divine prerequisite for forgiveness, namely, a forgiving heart. This is an absolute condition. True, Luke quoted our Lord as saying, "If he repent, forgive him" (Luke 17:3); but this applies specifically in those cases where a brother is tempted to withhold forgiveness even from one who has repented and must not be construed as an amelioration of the condition laid down here. It appears that forgiveness actually has

Mark 14:64 — condemnation is inherent in their immediate march upon Pilate with a demand for his crucifixion, in whose presence it was finally resolved that the only grounds they had for demanding Jesus' death was that "he made himself the Son of God" (John 19:7).

Luke 6:2 — be blind to the fact that both Christ and his disciples were totally innocent of these false charges. Even Ash writes that "their wrong was not theft,"Anthony Lee Ash, The Gospel according to Luke (Austin, Texas: Sweet Publishing Company, 1972), p. 111. requiring the deduction that it was presumably something else; but the disciples did nothing wrong. Jesus emphatically said of them that they were "guiltless" (Matthew 12:7).

2 Samuel 21:15-17 — the Philistine and killed him. Then David"s men adjured him, `You shall no more go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.'" Here again the exact time of this episode is unknown; and, "Part of the text here is corrupt."Ibid., p. 377. David was often critical of his nephews, the sons of Zeruiah, but on this occasion Abishai saved his life. Josephus tells us that, "David was totally exhausted and that he had fallen to the ground at the time the giant turned back to slay him, but