Bible Commentaries

Exodus 1:8-14 — hopeless. "The children of Israel are more and mightier than we" This statement of Pharaoh confirms the fact of the numerical strength of Israel. Egypt at that time could hardly have had any less than two or three million citizens. Therefore, the figure of over 600,000 fighting men (Numbers 2:32), indicating a population in excess of 2,000,000, is perfectly reasonable in the light of what Pharaoh said here. "Let us deal wisely with them" Pharaoh did not fear an armed uprising of Israel, for they were without

Exodus 7:8-10 — law' in the temple (2 Chronicles 34:14). During the Babylonian exile, Daniel read of the `curse written in the law of Moses' (Daniel 9:11). Ezra the priest set up Passover services for the returning remnant `as it is written in the book of Moses' (Ezra 6:18). The O.T. ends with Malachi's exhortation, `Remember the law of my servant Moses' (Malachi 4:4). Definitive for the Christian is the fact that Jesus quoted from Exodus 20:11, using the introduction, `For Moses said' (Mark 7:10; Luke 20:37). The

Isaiah 9:1-7 — invasions; and Isaiah's prophecy here shows that the treatment of the lands of these tribes was worse than that of some of the others, and that they would also be the first to enjoy the benefits of Christ's kingdom. Look at this passage from Matthew 4:12-16 - When Jesus heard that John was delivered up he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the

Ezekiel 24:15-18 — the near future."WE, p. 342. Such a canard is no less a denial of God's Word than Satan's arrogant falsehood, that, "Ye shall not surely die." For Biblical references to the types of actions mentioned here as expressions of sorrow see: Leviticus 10:6 (leaving off headtire), Isaiah 20:2 (the bare feet); Leviticus 13:45 (the covered lip). Deuteronomy 26:14, Jeremiah 16:7 (the meal in the house of mourning), etc. The meaning of Ezekiel's being commanded not to demonstrate mourning is that: "The context

Ezekiel 35:7-9 — am Jehovah." "Him that passeth through and him that returneth" This is an old expression equivalent to "all that go to and fro," "all comers and goers," "all the buyers and the sellers." "It means `everybody without exception.'"J. B. Thompson, p. 226. The total desolation of Edom has come to pass in the most startling manner. The National Geographic Magazine a few years ago ran an article with many graphic pictures of the desolated capital of ancient Seir, Petra. It still seems incredible that a

Daniel 10:1-3 — great warfare" Young has pointed out that the meaning of "great" in this phase is "for a long time." "The word has now been found on the tablets of Mari in the sense of 'time.'"Robert D. Culver, Abingdon Bible Commentary, Daniel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 796. Robert D. Culver is correct in the opinion that Daniel's fasting here was not due to asceticism, but applied to a special reason for his mourning.John Joseph Owens, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, Daniel (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971),

Hosea 5:1 — to accomplish this! If the New English Bible is followed in Hosea 5:2, then there are three place-names in this opening statement. Myers identified them thus: Tabor is, of course, Mount Tabor, at the northern end of the plain of Esdraelon (Judges 4:6), Mizpah was probably the one in Gilead (Judges 10:17); Shittim was the site of the Israelite camp before crossing the Jordan, about a dozen miles northeast of Jericho (Joshua 2:1).Jacob M. Myers, The New Layman's Bible Commentary,, Vol. 14 (Atlanta:

Hosea 7:7 — usage of the oven metaphor, as follows: (1) They are like the banked fire ready to flare up at the slightest chance, Hosea 7:4. (2) They were an oven fire, waiting while preparations are being completed, using the occasion to plan new evil, Hosea 7:6. (3) They "are hot as an oven"; their evil passions are a vicious, burning lust. Commenting on this multiple use of such a figure of speech, McKeating wrote: "Hosea's exploitation of metaphor is masterful, though the Hebrew technique of using the same

Amos 4:11 — out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah." In a sense, Sodom and Gomorrah were surely "cities among" the Israelites; and yet, despite the fact that Israel was actually "more corrupt than they (Sodom and Gomorrah)" (Ezekiel 16:47 f), God had nevertheless spared them. This truth, that Israel was worse than Sodom and Gomorrah is seldom stressed, but it is profoundly evident in the Bible; and the only reason that God spared Israel, as far as we are able to discern, was that

Nahum 1:2 — unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to every man according to his deeds" (Romans 2:5-6). "Because of these things (the works of the flesh) the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 5:6). D.    John, whose writings abound with such admonitions as "love one another," and who identified God

Haggai 2:2-3 — with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until all the house was finished: also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:21-22)." Some have estimated the cost of Solomon's Temple somewhere between three and five billion dollars! "This house" Haggai did not view the efforts of his generation as the construction of a new Temple, but as the rebuilding of the old one. As

Matthew 15:5-6 — worship, something helpful. (4)    Eventually, it is stressed and emphasized to the detriment of what it is supposed to "aid." (5)    It achieves, through long usage, a status of equality with God's word. (6)    It is finally performed, occasionally, but later, always, instead of God's commandment. (7)    Finally, it blooms as a presumptuous, rebellious contradiction of God's word, and is constantly honored in place

Deuteronomy 5:1-33 — (the books of the Pentateuch) are indeed the "Books of Moses." "A growing number of present-day scholars affirm that it (the Pentateuch) is essentially Mosaic."Edward P. Blair, The Layman's Bible Commentary, Deuteronomy (Richmond: John Knox Press, 1964), p. 32. One thing that is hastening a more general acceptance of the traditional view of the date and authorship of the O.T. is the type of arguments the critical scholars frequently make. Note the following: "Jehovah made not this covenant with our

Luke 16:1 — … stands for God, as the vast majority of commentators agree; and despite the objection of Barclay that "The rich man himself was something of a rascal,"William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1953), p. 216. and Plummer's opinion that "The rich man has no special significance,"Quoted by Norval Geldenhuys, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), p. 418. it is nevertheless the standing

John 1:51 — his earthly visitation. (See Genesis 28:12.) The emphasis upon "Son of man" here, rather than upon "Son of God" was probably due to Jesus' purpose of reserving emphasis on the latter until the time of Peter's confession (Matthew 16:13 f). The meaning of both titles carries the implication of Christ's deity; but "Son of God," in the popular mind, was too closely associated with "King of Israel," in the exact manner of Nathaniel's confession; and it was not time

John 10:34-36 — Jesus referred: God standeth in the congregation of God; He judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, And respect the persons of the wicked? … I said, Ye are gods, And all of you sons of the Most High (Psalms 82:1-2; Psalms 82:6). The unjust judges of Israel were the subject of these verses, God calling them "gods" in order to stimulate and encourage them to render just judgments. Of course, those men were "sons of the Most High" in the sense ordinary; but

1 Corinthians 12:10 — Ananias and Sapphira, saying that "The miracles of mercy stand higher in God's esteem than those which execute his judgments and mete out punishment." J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on 1 Corinthians (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1916), p. 123. Prophecy … Gifts of prophecy, including the ability to foretell future events, were the endowment of certain Christians in the apostolic age; and there would appear to have been two orders of these, the higher including those mentioned

Hebrews 10:29 — to describe the apostate has led some to suppose that only the most shameful and incorrigibly wicked are included in the author's thoughts. Thus, Thomas affirms that "It is obvious that this is no case of ordinary backsliding, but, as in Hebrews 6, of willful and persistent apostasy." W. H. Griffith Thomas, op. cit., p. 136. On the other hand, there may be another intention of these holy words, namely, to show what dreadful guilt attaches to such ordinary lapses as forsaking the assembly

Hebrews 12:28-29 — mercy. F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 385. Of the utmost importance is the proper identification of the "kingdom that cannot be shaken," as mentioned here. It is the same as that church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matthew 16:18). Certainly this identification is of eternal consequence, and it is the prayer of this writer that the following discussion of it might aid some soul in arriving at such a certainty. CONCERNING THE KINGDOM THAT CANNOT BE SHAKEN The church of the

Revelation 7:4-8 — redeemed Jews (literally) is absolutely preposterous. See chapter introduction, above, under (1). Theories which would read these 144,000 as, "the total number of the martyrs that must be completed before the prayers of those in heaven (Revelation 6:11) could be answered," Martin Rist, op. cit., p. 419. are equally preposterous and are founded upon an inadequate conception of God who simply cannot be properly viewed as approving any specified number of martyrs. It is not martyrs that God desires,