Bible Commentaries

Genesis 1:5 — wisdom in remembering that God has revealed some things in the Bible which shed a great deal of light upon this very question: "But forget not this one thing, beloved, that ONE DAY is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as ONE DAY" (2 Peter 3:8). For a thousand years in thy sight are but as YESTERDAY when it is past, and as a watch in the night (Psalms 90:4). The apostle Paul referred to the entire present dispensation of the grace of God as "the DAY of salvation" (2 Corinthians

1 Kings 22:1-4 — horses as thy horses." "They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel" Not long after Benhadad's second defeat by Ahab, which ended in that "covenant" between Ahab and Benhadad, Ahab fulfilled his part of the "covenant" by providing 2,000 chariots and 10,000 infantry for an allied battle led by Benhadad against the threatening army of Assyrians.The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 345. This encounter was known as the battle of Qarqar (853 B.C.). The "three years" mentioned here

2 Kings 23:28-30 — land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead." The complex and troubled history of this particular period is an extensive study. The Assyrian empire was in a state of collapse. Nineveh had fallen in 612 B.C., and Pharaoh-necoh was ambitious to succeed Assyria as the world ruler. It is not exactly clear why Josiah felt it necessary to challenge the king of Egypt, but he did, losing his life as a result. Yes, God had promised through Huldah that Josiah

1 Chronicles 28:1-8 — it for an inheritance to your children after you forever." "I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father" This and the following verse positively indicate that David was here basing what he said upon his understanding of the prophecy in 2S:7; however, that prophecy said nothing at all resembling what David here declared. Solomon, in no sense whatever, was God's son, nor did God establish Solomon's throne for… ever. All that was happening in this chapter was taking place during

2 Chronicles 14:1-8 — This was most likely due in large part to the tremendous victory that God had given Abijah over Jeroboam. Judah had rest, "Until the invasion of Zerah in 896 B.C.; and this was God's reward for Asa's reforms."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, p. 402. The Chronicler gave much more space to Asa than was given in Kings; but this was not due to the Chronicler's having derived all of this, "from his Midrashic source,"International Critical Commentary, Chronicles, p. 380. a false allegation common enough

Psalms 21 overview — A COMPANION PSALM TO Psalms 20; A SONG OF THANKSGIVING; A MESSIANIC IMPLICATION IN Psalms 21:4. Before commenting on this psalm, this writer believes the following comment from Arno C. Gaebelein is an appropriate consideration. "This Psalm is Messianic. The Targum (The Chaldean

Leviticus 27 overview — The nature of this last chapter has led some to question the appropriateness of its placement in this context. Leviticus 26:46 appears to be the logical end of the book, and that makes this chapter to appear somewhat as an afterthought. It should be remembered, however, that Moses did not write five books; he wrote only one, not even dividing it into chapters. Such things

Isaiah 60:4-9 — the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee." Douglas pointed out vocabulary correspondence in Isaiah 2:2-4; Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 21:16-17; Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:26; Isaiah 2:6-22; and in Isa. 23:1,6.10,18),Ibid., pp. 392,393. with this paragraph. The same author pinpointed such correspondence throughout these last twenty-seven chapters with earlier chapters

Hosea 2:14 — probation"; and, in this, is seen the applicability of the passage to both Israels. That it is the new Israel with whom a new marriage covenant will be consummated becomes undeniably certain in the giving of a different name to the new bride in Hosea 2:22, below. A failure to discern this results in some fantastic conclusions. "Unlike the old conditional covenant of Sinai, the new covenant will be unconditional!"Ibid., p. 50. Such a view is contrary to every word of the New Testament. Salvation is

Zephaniah 1:5 — might all be summed up in a word, "apostasy" from the knowledge and worship of God. "Worship the host of heaven" Astrology and the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as practiced by the Assyrians and Babylonians, became common among Jewish idolaters (2 Kings 23:11; Jer. 19:13,32,29; Ezekiel 8:16). As Stephen said, "God turned and gave them up to serve the host of heaven" (Acts 7:42). "And swear by Jehovah and swear by Malcam" Worshipping God and any other god, or anything else, adds up to apostasy.

John 3:1-2 — God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him. Nicodemus … means innocent blood, or victor over the people,Herbert Lockyer, All the Men of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Company, 1958), p. 259. depending upon whether the name is Greek or Hebrew. He was a wealthy Pharisee, member of the Sanhedrin, teacher of theology, and known as a "ruler of the Jews," a title reserved in Rabbinic literature "for a great man, or a prince."Brooks

Acts 11:25-26 — view. The disciples were called Christians … The importance of this makes it imperative to study more fully both the name "disciples" and the name "Christian," which replaced it. CONCERNING DISCIPLES "Disciples" occurs 72 times in Matthew, 44 times in Mark, 38 times in Luke, 77 times in John, and 30 times in Acts — 261 times in the first five books of the New Testament; but it is not used even once in the last 22 books of the New Testament. The significance of

Romans 5:3-4 — well. It extends to what would naturally be supposed to be the very opposite of a ground for glorying — to the persecutions that we have to undergo as Christians. Ibid. A comparison of what Paul wrote in these verses with what he wrote in Romans 5:2 reveals a circle: hope-tribulation-stedfastness-approvedness-hope, thus showing that the attainment of the glorious final hope depends upon the soul's response to tribulations. What a sacred light this sheds upon the sorrows and disciplines of the Christian's

Galatians 1:2-3 — the contrary, as Wesley put it, "This phrase must be regarded as belonging exclusively to the greeting, and not to the exhortations which follow it. John Wesley, One Volume New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972), in loco. It is pointless to speculate on the identity of these "brethren." We simply do not know. Churches of Galatia… It is remarkable that Paul did not address them as churches "of God" or "of Christ," possibly

Galatians 1:8 — heaven… McGarvey pointed out that the word of Christ was superior to that of angels who had ministered the old covenant, and "The sayings of Jesus were weightier than the words of angels in this very respect." J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 251. This probably accounts for Paul injecting the thought of angels into this passage. Also, as Cole said, "Paul may be using this word to show them the possibility of Satan himself appearing as an angel of light to deceive them." R. A. Cole,

Ephesians 1:10 — cit., p. 18. Fullness of times … This is a reference to the fact that God scheduled all of the events of time and history, whether sacred or profane, in advance. The first Advent of Christ (Galatians 4:4), the events of our Lord's ministry (John 2:4; John 17:1), the resurrection of the dead (John 5:28), the eternal judgment (Acts 17:31), the rise, growth and subsidence of nations (Acts 17:26), and the Second Advent of Christ with the summing up of God's total purpose in him, as glimpsed in this

Joshua 5:1 — would give us," in Joshua 5:6, these usages of the first person plural identify the author as an eye-witness and participant in the events here narrated. Plummer speaks of those who have "emended the text,"Alfred Plummer, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 2, Joshua (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 77. but our own view of "scholarly emendations" is that they are absolutely irresponsible and should be rejected. Who has licensed any "scholar," of whatever ability, to change the

2 Timothy 3:5 — apostate religion that shall characterize the last days. Outsiders are not primarily in view here, but those who hold a form of godliness. "Paul here described a class of people who went under the name of Christ." David Lipscomb, op. cit., p. 229. Hervey quoted Alford thus, "This command shows that the apostle treats the symptoms of the last times as in some respects present." A. C. Hervey, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950),

Titus 3:1 — see my Commentary on Romans, pp. 446-451. The authority of human government is of God, and the Christian is instructed to be obedient because such is God's will. Paul's words here are a brief summary of the teaching in Romans 13:1 ff and in 1 Peter 2:13 ff. Such orders as these are always appropriate, but perhaps they were especially so in Crete. "The Cretans were very dissatisfied with Roman rule, and showed signs of revolt, according to Polybius and Plutarch." Don DeWelt, Paul's Letters

2 Samuel 11:6-13 — impossible that a rumor of his wife's adultery had reached Uriah."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 307. Of course, there seems to have been a stern prohibition against sexual relations on the part of soldiers who were consecrated to warfare (1 Samuel 21:5), but that does not appear to this writer as a sufficient explanation of Uriah's behavior in this episode. "Send me Uriah the Hittite" David had only one purpose in this, namely, that of bringing Uriah home so that the child to be born to Bathsheba