Bible Commentaries

Genesis 14:18 — be guided by the N.T. writers and by our Lord himself."William Neil, Harper's Bible Commentary (New York: Harper and Row, 1975), p. 43. The N.T., of course, has a magnificent discussion of this event in Hebrews, where it is mentioned in Hebrews 5:5-6; Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 6:20, and repeatedly throughout Hebrews 7. The only other reference to Melchizedek in the Bible is in Psalms 110:4. This account in Hebrews is discussed thoroughly in my commentary on Hebrews, Hebrews 5:5—7:28, to which

Exodus 19:4-6 — Exodus 19-24. Honeycutt outlined these chapters thus: "Meeting God… Exodus 19; the Law of God… Exodus 20-23; and Sealing the Covenant… Exodus 24."Roy L. Honeycutt, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, Exodus (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1969), p. 390. This organization of these chapters is exceedingly important, for as Fields observed, the order of the procedures here follows the pattern of covenants dating well into the 2nd millennium B.C. (1,500 B.C.), and not the pattern of covenants

Exodus 28:1-5 — greater part of it deals with the special vestments of the High Priest. There are six paragraphs: (1)    summary of the High Priest's garments (Exodus 28:1-5); (2)    instructions for making the ephod (Exodus 28:6-15); (3)    directions for the breastplate (Exodus 28:16-30), (4)    how the robe was made (Exodus 28:31-35) (5)    the manner of making the mitre (Exodus 28:36-39), and (6)    the

Isaiah 35:8-10 — most glorious passages in all the Word of God is these three verses. "The glory of this passage is enhanced, if that is possible, by its setting as an oasis between the visionary waste of Isaiah 34 and the history of war, sickness and folly in Isaiah 36-39."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 609. Another glorious thing about this chapter was pointed out by Kelley who wrote: "Attention has often been called to the numerous parallels between Isaiah 35 and those found in Isaiah 40-66. The themes shared

Isaiah 6:9-13 — the northern kingdom; but "Even Judah, under certain circumstances, is addressed contemptuously as `this people' in Isaiah 8:11; Isaiah 28:11; Isaiah 28:14, and Isa. 39:13,14."T. K. Cheyne, Prophecies of Isaiah, Vol. 1 (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1886), p. 40. What is prophesied in this passage is the judicial hardening of Israel in their rebellion against God. The prophecy is stated in different forms. Here it appears imperatively; but in other places the prophecy is referred to as self-accomplished

Ezekiel 38:17-23 — their own words, but the Word of God. "That prophesied that I would bring thee (Gog) against them (Israel)" Some believe this is a reference to prophecies that may have been lost;Anton T. Pearson in Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 757. but Keil stated that, "It is evident enough that there is no reference here to lost prophecies about Gog and Magog, but to general prophecies that are met with throughout the Old Testament."Ibid., p. 169. Moses, the greatest of the Old Testament

Matthew 13:55-56 — countless others of the greatest minds ever known on earth. (5) It was moral cowardice. The gossips of Nazareth did not have the moral courage to kneel at the feet of Jesus. The rich young ruler did so, but the citizens of Nazareth had no such grace. (6) It was the opiate of the people. Where have we heard that before? Unbelief sealed Nazareth off from what was happening in the world. It was an escape mechanism by which they avoided doing anything. If they had believed, it would have involved them

John 9:5 — or rejected by men, for the very existence of light carries the inherent requirement that men shall walk in it. Jesus summed it up thus: "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me may not abide in darkness" (John 12:46). IV.    Jesus is the light of the world eternally, for even in heaven, "the Lamb is the light" of the eternal city (Revelation 21:23). Bonar's hymn catches the mystery of this thought perfectly: Light of the world, forever,

Romans 3:31 — of God. One of the first heresies was to the effect that it did release people from moral obligations. The Nicolaitans taught that faith voided the moral law; and Jezebel taught that it was all right for believers to commit fornication (Revelation 2:6; Revelation 2:20). Such teaching was false, of course; for faith imposes even stricter standards of morality than those taught under the law of Moses. Thus, Christ said, (4)    Ye have heard it was said to them of old time (in the

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 — of the entire body; and our head, which is Christ, having paid the penalty of death for sin, the whole spiritual body (the church) has likewise paid it in the person of Christ. That is what is meant by being dead to sin by the body of Christ (Romans 6:11). There are four things mentioned by Paul in this passage which belong to the Christian by virtue of his being "in Christ." Wisdom of God. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). The person "in

1 Corinthians 5:7 — points of likeness and unlikeness. I.    Points of likeness: a.    In both the Jewish passover and the passover of Christians (who is Christ), there is the death of a sinless, blameless victim (John 14:30; John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15). b.    In both, there is the design of deliverance from the wrath of God; in the Jewish Passover, it was from the destruction of the death angel, and for Christians it is from God's eternal wrath (Romans 1:18). c.    In

1 Corinthians 7:20-21 — desire to improve their economic or social status. There is something of what Paul wrote to Timothy in this admonition here: "Godliness with contentment is great gain … having food and covering we shall be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:6-8). Even if thou canst become free, use it rather … There is an amazing uncertainty among the wisest scholars as to what Paul meant by this, and this is reflected in the various versions. RSV: If you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of

2 Corinthians 6:1 — being again lost … the dangerous error of predestination, which asserts that grace cannot be lost, is unknown to Scripture. Philip E. Hughes, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), p. 217. In fairness to Hughes, it should be noted that he rejected this, declaring that Olshausen's opinion "can only have been dictated by prejudice … the doctrine of predestination is certainly not unknown in Scripture." Ibid.

Hebrews 2:3 — it; (2) the greatness of the disaster from which it rescues the sinner; (3) the greatness of the eternal reward in heaven provided by it; (4) the greatness of the Saviour's love that underlies it; (5) the greatness of the adversary who opposes it; (6) the greatness of that multitude who shall receive it; and (7) the greatness of those certainties upon which it is grounded. The contrast in this verse is between the sinners of the Old Testament and the New Testament, leading to the conclusion that

Hebrews 9:3 — And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies. The only access to that Holy of Holies was through the veil, a description of which is afforded by Exodus 26:31 ff. It was this veil which was parted in twain from the top to the bottom at the time of our Lord's crucifixion (Matthew 27:51), thus being brought into focus to reveal an astonishing weight of symbolism. THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE The three colors of

1 Peter 2:9 — (Revelation 14:13). A royal priesthood … Jesus Christ is the true king, and therefore those "in Christ" are a royal priesthood, being themselves also, through their union with Christ, in a sense, even "kings" (Revelation 1:6). A holy nation … Nothing can diminish the obligation of Christians to be in fact what their lawful title implies, i.e., a truly "holy" nation. It is the absolute and invariable necessity of this that underlies the oft-repeated dictum

2 Peter 2:1 — the same thing Peter prophesied here (Matthew 7:15-23). A number of Old Testament references to the false prophets of the Old Israel were cited by Barclay, thus: William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 314. The false prophets said, Peace, Peace, when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). Its priests teach for hire, and its prophets divine for money (Micah 3:11). The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; they are confused with wine (Isaiah

Revelation 19:11 — Faithful and True … This seems to be one of the few places in Revelation where all the opinions meld into one. This is a description of the Lord Jesus Christ. We also identify him with the rider of the white horse in the first seal (Revelation 6:2). It is objected that those seals are judgments; but what is the scene here if it is not a judgment, not merely a judgment, but the final and last judgment? The judgment in the seals (Revelation 6:2) was due to the preaching of the truth, an odor

Revelation 22:16 — I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright, the morning star. Up to this verse, we have been studying God's authentication of this prophecy (Revelation 22:6-15). See outline under Revelation 22:6. This verse through Revelation 22:19 is the authentication of Jesus the Lord. "Revelation again takes on the aspect of a legal document. Note the legal formula, "I Jesus,' showing that Jesus is bearing

1 Samuel 1:1-8 — referred to here. "Elkanah … an Ephraimite" Elkanah was an Ephraimite only in the sense that he lived in the hill country of Ephraim. He was most certainly a Levite as positively indicated in the account of his ancestry given in 1 Chronicles 6:33. Furthermore, as Keil pointed out, the very name "Elkanah" identifies him as a Levite. "All of the Elkanahs mentioned in the O.T. (with a single exception) can be proved to have been Levites."C. F. Keil, Keil and Delitzsch's Old Testament Commentaries,