Bible Commentaries

Genesis 6:1 — revealed in the N.T. NEW TESTAMENT LIGHT ON THIS CHAPTER The Flood was received as history. 1 Peter 3:20: "The longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls, were saved by water." 2 Peter 3:5-6: "This they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." Hebrews 11:7: "By faith Noah,

Exodus 20:15 — form of communal living, but thousands of years of experience have demonstrated invariably the futility and failure of all such systems. Jamestown Colony (1603), William Lane in South America (1883), Robert Owen on the banks of the Wabash, Indiana (1825), the Brook Farm Transcendentalists (1830), and, of course, the Russian fiasco (1917), are but a few of the historical failures. During the middle years of the 19th Century, "There were literally scores of such social experiments in North America alone."Clifton

1 Kings 17 overview — heavens that it rain not, and the power to turn water into blood, are clearly linked to Moses and Elijah. By his abrupt appearance in the Biblical narrative, "The Jews fancy that he was an angel sent from heaven,"Matthew Henry's Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 665. but James tells us that he was a man of like passions as ourselves (James 5:17). "Elijah is the most `supernatural' figure in the historical books of the O.T., but that does not make him unhistorical."Arthur S. Peake's Commentary, p. 302. "This chapter

Psalms 144 overview — enjoying great prosperity and peace following the defeat and death of Absalom. Upon the horizon of Israel's future, there still appeared the external threat of foreign enemies; and the psalmist includes a prayer unto God for their defeat (Psalms 144:5-8). There is no doubt whatever of the Davidic authorship as stated in the superscription. We have lost all patience with unreasonable denials of this and with arbitrary dating of the psalm in "post-exilic times."The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IV, p.

Leviticus 10:1-7 — God. These men were virtually saying, "Our fire is as good as yours, God! We don't need yours." This is an acted parable of the way secular man thinks about his relation to God."G. A. F. Knight, Leviticus (Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press, 1981), p. 58. The same author added that their sins came under the category of "sins with a high hand" and so were worthy of death. "Fire from before Jehovah… devoured them" (Leviticus 10:2). Certainly, this was a case of instantaneous divine judgment against

Isaiah 13 overview — proof of their arrogant denials. Kelley stated that, "This is one of the sections in the articles against the nations that must be dated later than the prophet Isaiah."Page H. Kelley, Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 235. Peake supposed that, "The prophecy must have been written near the close of the Exile."Peake's Commentary Series, p. 445. Why do such scholars "suppose" or "allege" such things? O, they say, "The historical situation presupposed in this chapter is

Isaiah 48:1-6 — the previous part of this sentence is an error. In this passage, God Almighty himself named the future Messiah "ISRAEL." We have already noted that Jesus Christ is indeed the great Anti-type of Israel; and Christ himself accepted this title in John 15:1 ff, where it is recorded that he said, "I AM THE TRUE VINE," the old fleshy Israel, the secular nation, of course, being the corrupt vine or degenerate vine as revealed in both Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21). MEANINGS OF THE WORD

Jeremiah 6 overview — poetic name for Jerusalem) shall be cut off (Jeremiah 6:2); she shall be encircled with tents (Jeremiah 6:3); the lengthening shadows mark the closing of the Day of God's Favor upon racial Israel (Jeremiah 6:4); her palaces shall be destroyed (Jeremiah 6:5); the military shall cast up a mound against her (Jeremiah 6:6); she shall be uninhabited, a desolation (Jeremiah 6:8); the vine of Israel shall be stripped and gleaned (Jeremiah 6:9); the wrath of God shall be poured out upon her children, the young

Deuteronomy 12 overview — Wright stated that Deuteronomy 12:1 "is the title of this section (Deuteronomy 12:12-28), and we do not encounter another major title until we come to Deuteronomy 29:1."Ernest G. Wright, The Interpreter's Bible, Deuteronomy (New York: Abingdon Press, 1954), p. 408. This strongly indicates that Moses considered this rather long section as a unit. Any orderly progression of the topics here considered is difficult to see, but, as Dummelow remarked: "As far as any orderly arrangement can be discovered,

Luke 12:1 — Pharisee's house where he had just dined. The leaven of the Pharisees … is plainly identified here as hypocrisy; but Jesus used the same word in Matthew 16:6 as a reference to the teaching of that group (see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 16:5-6). Why should not Jesus have done this? The word is fully applicable to both. As Godet said, "Leaven is the emblem of every active principle, good or bad, which possesses the power of assimilation."F. A. Godet, Commentary on the Gospel of

Acts 8:12 — But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Preaching the good tidings concerning the kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ … Acts 8:5 related that Philip preached "the Christ" unto them; and the message of the kingdom and the name of Christ, mentioned here, was the same as preaching Christ, mentioned there. That this message of Christ and his kingdom included the commandment

Romans 3:28 — even going so far as to capitalize Law, thus referring it exclusively to Moses' law. Greathouse noted that: Here (in Romans 3:28) is the basis for the Protestant doctrine of sola fide, "by faith alone." William M. Greathouse, op. cit., p. 95. This great Protestant heresy came about from a stubborn failure to heed a number of surpassingly important considerations. (1)    Both at the beginning (Romans 1:5) and the end (Romans 16:26) of Romans Paul hurled forth like a great

Philippians 4:6 — In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. In nothing be anxious … In Matthew 6:25-34, our Lord gave extensive admonition on the subject of anxiety; and reference is here made to the comment on those passages in my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 6:25 ff. In order to avoid anxiety here, Paul followed exactly the instruction given by

Colossians 2:16 — drink … feast day … new moon … sabbath day … All of these refer to Jewish observances; as Macknight said, "Some of these were enjoined in the Law, and others by private authority." James Macknight, op. cit., p. 538. Of particular importance is the appearance of the sabbath commandment in this list. "Although the article the is not in the Greek, it clarifies the meaning; Paul was resisting the Judaizers who insisted on legalistic sabbath observance."

Hebrews 1:14 — considered appropriate to set forth some of the basic scriptural teachings concerning them. They are innumerable (Hebrews 12:22); and from such impressions as may be gathered from our Saviour's reference to "legions of angels" (Matthew 26:53) and the use of words like "archangel" (Jude 1:1:9), as well as from our Lord's making angels of little children to be of the highest rank in heaven (Matthew 18:10), it is inferred that the angelic host are an organized company, or kingdom;

Hebrews 11:32-33 — the altar of Baal, and with only a handful of men, delivered Israel from the ravages of the Midianites (Judges 6—7). Gideon was visited and encouraged by an angel, and followed closely the instructions leading to his great victory. Barak (Judges 5) is a surprise in the list, since he refused to take the field of battle against Sisera unless the prophetess Deborah went with him; yet, as Bruce says: His very refusal may have been in its way a token of faith; his insistence on having Deborah was

Hebrews 12:1 — Publishing House, 1938), p. 424; Macknight wrote, "The apostle did not mean to insinuate that the saints in the other world know what we are doing in this." James Macknight, Apostolic Epistles (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1960), p. 568. Cargill went so far as to say, "The word `witness' never means spectator." Robert L. Cargill, Understanding the Book of Hebrews (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1967), p. 115. It is certain that Cargill's view is not sustained by passages like

Hebrews 12:23 — To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. For some of the implications of "firstborn," see under Hebrews 1:5 and Hebrews 1:6. The general assembly and church of the firstborn is a designation for the whole community of the redeemed in heaven and on earth; and because of the classes of beings, other than people, mentioned here as being citizens of that place,

Hebrews 12:5-6 — applied to it here, and is not to be understood as any mock trial or superficial difficulty; but the child of God is confronted with actual tribulations designed to test the hearts of all them that pass through them. The chastening of Israel (Isaiah 1:5-6) showed "wounds and bruises"; and the true Christian bears in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus (Galatians 6:16). The purpose of chastisement, as revealed in the following verses, is totally benevolent and springs from the infinite love

Hebrews 5:5-6 — David) and the priestly Messiah (the Messiah of Aaron). F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 94. The author of Hebrews then did a dramatic, unheard of thing. Having already argued from Psalms 110:1-2 for the universal kingship of Christ the Messiah (Hebrews 1:5), at this point in the epistle he returned to that same Psalms 110 to bring in the fourth verse from which he also proclaimed the universal high priesthood of Christ, showing him to be not of Aaron's line, but an independent high priest of universal