Bible Commentaries

Genesis 6:1 — 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, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Matthew

Exodus 26:31-37 — the perfect blending of the two colors to form the central panel of purple, symbolize the perfectly balanced person of Christ, completely man, and completely God, IMMANUEL."William R. Nicholson, The Calvary Miracles (Chicago: Moody Press, 1928), p. 7. 2.    This veil symbolizes the mysteries of the O.T. The purpose of the veil was to hide, to conceal, to deny access; and, as long as that veil was in place, many of the plainest teachings of the O.T. would remain hidden in darkness.

Isaiah 48:1-6 — 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 "ISRAEL" The proper interpretation of the Word of God must always take into account the Biblical pattern of using the same word for multiple meanings. See my discussion of this Biblical phenomenon in Vol. 1 of my

Jeremiah 18:18-20 — same satanic charges that were later directed against the Christ himself, and by the same satanic instruments, namely the false Jewish leaders. In fact, it was upon a false charge of blasphemy that Christ finally was sentenced to the Cross (John 19:7). Cheyne thought that, "They were satisfied with their false prophets, but that they were still afraid of Jeremiah, as Balak was afraid of Balaam (Numbers 23:25), and that therefore they would smite him with the tongue,' that is, with slanderous accusations."T.

Jeremiah 46:27-28 — in the project, must be ranked as the Greatest Miracle of All Time. "These two verses are a repetition of Jeremiah 30:10-11, with those variations which Jeremiah always made when quoting himself."Barnes' Notes (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), p. 257. Keil noted that, "This promise of salvation for Israel, coming at the close of this prophecy of the judgment on Egypt, is similar to the promise of salvation to Israel inserted in the threat against Babylon (Jeremiah 50:4-7; Jeremiah 51:5-6; Jeremiah

Jeremiah 48:5-10 — Horonaim" Whether fleeing to a high mountain or descending into the caves at Horonaim, the people would hear the cry of destruction. "`Luhith' is unknown";J. A. Thompson, The Bible and Archeology (Grand Rapid, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972) p. 703. but the mention of "ascent" suggests that it was some kind of summit, or high place. "Flee, save your lives, be like the heath in the wilderness" Textual uncertainties in Jeremiah 48:6 have led to several different translations here. "The

Ezekiel 3:4-9 — (Son of man) suggests it; (2) In this passage Ezekiel is sent "only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24); and again in this passage, (3) Ezekiel was told that Israel would not hear him, because they would not hear God (Ezekiel 3:7); and the exact duplicate of this was promised the apostles by Jesus Christ (John 15:20). Still another fundamental element of Jesus' teaching is in Ezekiel 3:6. "Surely, if I sent thee to them, they would hearken unto thee" "The thought here finds

Daniel 12:5-7 — wonders would come at the end of time, and times, and a half. Fortunately, we know exactly what this means. It is the totality of all the time between the First Advent of Jesus Christ and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. (See under Daniel 7:25 for an elaboration of this.) The most dreadful and terrible thing in this little paragraph is the raw prediction that, "THEY SHALL MAKE AN END OF BREAKING IN PIECES THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE." That cannot possibly have any reference to Antiochus

Hosea 4:15 — verse is an interpolation; but as Unger declared, "More recent criticisms tend to deny this… Actually, there is no compelling reason for denying to Hosea any of the prophecy."Merrill F. Unger, Unger's Bible Dictionary (Chacago: Moody Press, 1967), p. 502. The holy writers of the New Testament affirmed the utmost confidence in all that Hosea wrote. See Matthew 2:15; Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7; Luke 23:20; Romans 9:25; 1 Corinthians 15:55; and 1 Peter 2:10, all of which have references to Hosea

Hosea 5:2 — placed. Shittim is the place where Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:1 ff). The probability is that Hosea singled out sites at which leaders had led Israel into the worship of false gods, probably Baal.Ralph L. Smith, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1962), p. 27. None of the renditions cited above is actually contradictory to this understanding of the passage.

Hosea 9:7 — prophet is a fool, the man that hath the spirit is mad, for the abundance of thine iniquity, and because the enmity is great." In a word, the judgment is to fall upon Israel for their sins; and the reason for this is spelled out line by line in 2 Kings 17:7-18. That sacred account of what they had done to incur the awful judgment about to fall includes the following; They worshipped the female sex-goddess, Asherim, under every green tree in Israel. They forsook all the commandments of God. They sacrificed

Zephaniah 2:15 — In this, she stands alone, mistress among nations, a type of the powers of this world which deify themselves and defy the Lord."<32a> This is also revealed as the attitude of the great whore depicted in the prophecy of Revelation (Revelation 18:7). "These words also echo Isaiah (Isaiah 47:8)."Robert Jamieson, Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961), p. 836. In our study of Nahum, above, it was pointed out that Assyria, the second head of the

Zechariah 10:12 — "And I will strengthen them in Jehovah; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith Jehovah." "I will strengthen them in Jehovah" The big words in this whole chapter are IN JEHOVAH, here and in Zechariah 10:7. God is not promising to put sinful old Israel back in Canaan, but to put them "in Jehovah," "in the Lord," "in Christ." This is a technical expression which cannot mean anything else except the union of baptized believers "in Christ." All of the vain

Matthew 26:15 — silver. 3.    It will be weighed out. 4.    It will be cast unto the potter. 5.    "Cast" indicates it will be thrown. 6.    The potter will eventually receive it. 7.    The recipient will do the casting. 8.    The whole transaction will occur in the temple (the house of the Lord). Even a casual student of the New Testament knows that every detail of that remarkable group

Matthew 3:11 — (1 Corinthians 15:29). 4.    The baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11, see above). 5.    The baptism of fire (Matthew 3:11, see above). 6.    The baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 19:3). 7.    The baptism of the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-16; Matthew 28:18-20). In spite of the fact that all these baptisms find mention in the New Testament, there is, nevertheless, but ONE baptism in force. See Ephesians 4:4. To determine

Mark 15:42 — Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath. THE BURIAL OF JESUS The day before the sabbath … This is generally understood to mean that it was Friday, but the scriptures do not teach any such thing. See in my Commentary on Luke under Luke 22:7. WHAT DAY WAS JESUS CRUCIFIED? This question, admittedly difficult, actually relates to the promise Jesus made in Matthew 12:40 that he would be "in the heart of the earth three days and three nights"; and the importance of it is such that

Mark 4:3-9 — exclamation points bracketing the parable first and last, and thus indicating its very great importance. Seeds … (in Mark 4:8), being plural, and thus contrasting with "some" and "other" seed mentioned in Mark 4:4 and Mark 4:7, is important, according to Cranfield,C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel according to St. Mark (Cambridge: The University Press, 1966), p. 150. who saw in this an indication of a great harvest, the size of the harvest, in his view, being the great message

John 13:2 — Matt. 4:2; 8:26,32; 112:29; 28:11,15. Judas Iscariot, Simon's son … CONCERNING JUDAS ISCARIOT Judas was named one of the Twelve by Jesus and, along with the others, was commissioned to "heal the sick and raise the dead" (Matthew 10:7); and it must therefore be inferred that at the time of his call Judas was not evil. However, by the time of the great defection recorded in John 6, Judas had fallen. "One of you is a devil" (John 6:70), Jesus said, which is sometimes amended

Hebrews 7:1-3 — but whose priesthood was that of an altogether different order from the one enjoyed by the Levites. In the verses before us, Melchizedek is said to be like "unto the Son of God," and that Christ is after the likeness of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:14), indicating clearly that Christ must be understood as the antitype of Melchizedek, making all the things of Melchizedek's life typical of certain things in the life of Jesus Christ. The likeness is noted in the following study. MELCHIZEDEK AND JESUS The

Revelation 17 overview — SECTION V (Revelation 17—19) This mighty chapter, more than any other in the word of God, kindled the courage and fired the zeal of the great martyrs and reformers who led the rebellion against the tyranny of the Medieval church, re-opened the New Testament for all the