Bible Commentaries

Genesis 14:18-20 — secret of understanding this place when he declared that: "We must be guided by the N.T. writers and by our Lord himself."[13] The N.T., of course, has a magnificent discussion of this event in Hebrews, where it is mentioned in Hebrews 5:5,6,10; 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 reference is made for those

Genesis 28:10-17 — vowed to kill him, so he was fleeing from his home and native land in order to escape. He was the heir of great wealth, but this journey would appear to have been taken on foot with minimal provisions. The mention of "bread ... and clothing" (Genesis 28:20) is equivalent to, "just enough to subsist on."[7] He no doubt felt rejected, ashamed, and frightened. But that night, God appeared to him in a dream. As the author of Hebrews said (Hebrews 1:1), God spoke to the fathers "in various ways."

1 Kings 12:25 — made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up unto the altar to burn incense." "Jeroboam built Shechem" (1 Kings 12:25) This was one of the two capitals that Jeroboam established for his kingdom. It was not only rich in the traditions and history of Israel, but it was a control point on the trade routes to the East. The other capital was Penuel, a "Trans-jordanic

1 Kings 20:1 — against Benhadad. This change of emphasis is seized upon by some critics as "evidence of another source," but that explanation of the change is not correct. The apparent change is only apparent, there being no genuine change whatever. In 1 Kings 20 God is still trying to convince Ahab that Jehovah is the true God (1 Kings 20:13,28). Elijah was not really available in this situation, because, as we saw in the last chapter, he declared that, "It is enough," thus believing that any further

Nehemiah 5:6 — that Nehemiah disciplined himself in the control of his anger. He carefully laid the plans by which he would put an end to their abuses. "Ye exact usury, every man of his brother" (Nehemiah 5:7). This was a heartless violation of God's law (Exodus 22:25), which forbade God's people to charge interest on any loan to a brother Israelite. "He reminded the rulers and nobles that his own conduct had been the opposite of theirs; and that when he had seen Jewish slaves offered for sale in Gentile markets,

Isaiah 43:1 — There is a dramatic change in this chapter from the severe rebukes and denunciations of Israel in Isaiah 42, where Israel appears as the blind and deaf servant, to the glorious comfort promised the people of God in this chapter. Many Christians have made this chapter their favorite of the whole prophecy of Isaiah. However, it should never be overlooked

Joel 3:1 — (not in literal Jerusalem). All men during this phase of divine history will be caught up in "the valley of decision," where will be determined their destiny as servants either of Christ, or of the devil. The final section of this chapter (Joel 3:18-21) is a figurative presentation of the wonderful spiritual blessings available in the kingdom of heaven. Joel 3:1 "For behold in those days, and at that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem. "In those days, and at that

Amos 9:8 — Every sinful kingdom, especially the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom of Israel. The ultimate application of this to the whole world of wicked and unbelieving humanity is dramatically detailed in the prophecy of Revelation (Revelation 19:11-21). In the case of the kingdoms of the Jews, the very initiation of their kingdom under Saul was a rejection of God (1 Samuel 8:7); reciprocally, this was also their rejection of their own status as "God's chosen people," a term that henceforth

Jonah 3:5 — thus: "To believe God means to believe what God says, to be the truth; to believe in God expresses not belief only, but that belief resting and trusting in God; it combines hope and trust with faith and love, since without love there cannot be trust."[21] That the people of Nineveh should have done such a thing as that which is here related must be accounted one of the wonders of all time. That a lone Jewish prophet, a member of a hated and despised race, who reciprocated in every way the hostility

Mark 13:2 — specific commandment to his entire army forbidding its demolition, intending to preserve it as a "monument to the empire."<footnote>James Macknight, A Harmony of the Four Gospels (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1950), p. 412. </footnote> Therefore, Christ was here stating the purpose and intention of Almighty God. Since the destruction of the temple must then be viewed as contrary to the will of both the Jews and the Romans, being accomplished by providential circumstances

Mark 6:17 — Galilee and Perea with the title of tetrarch, but he was popularly called "king." He reigned from 4 B.C. to 39 A.D. He founded Tiberias on the western shore of Galilee. This is the ruler that Jesus referred to as "that fox" (Luke 13:32); and it was to him that Pilate sent Jesus during the trials prior to the crucifixion. His first marriage was to a daughter of Aretas, the Arabian king; but on a visit to Rome he met Herodias his brother’s wife (Philip, not the tetrarch), whom

Luke 20:9-18 — is this that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner? Every one that falleth on that stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will scatter him as dust. Parallels: Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12. THE PARABLE OF THE WICKED FARMERS II. This great parable is the central member of a trilogy of magnificent parables, all three of which were spoken by Jesus to set forth the rebellious behavior of official Israel. The full trilogy

Romans 3:21 — to discharge that debt to all mankind he had acknowledged in 1:14, and he would do it by preaching that gospel. Apart from the law ... Whiteside and others are quick to point out that Paul here used a term which includes more than the law of Moses,[24] but, as pointed out under Romans 3:20, the impossibility of procuring justification under God's divine law automatically argues the impossibility of such a thing's being possible under any other similar kind of law; and, therefore, the translators

1 Corinthians 11:34 — died for our sins; and it is that historical event which anchors and perpetuates the Lord’s Supper; and thus the historicity of Christ’s death and resurrection is demonstrated and proved throughout all times and places by this sacred rite. 2.    Prospective. The ancient pagan god of war was the two-faced Janus (from whence the name of the month January), facing in both directions, forward and backward. In a far more wonderful manner, the Lord’s Supper faces toward

Joshua 17:7 — Carmel."[11] "En-dor ..." (Joshua 17:11). "En-dor is the modern Endur 4 miles south of Mount Tabor. Assigned to Manasseh, it was never wrested from the Canaanites. The witch of En-dor, of whom Saul inquired before his last battle (1 Samuel 28:3-7) was probably of this Canaanite stock, for the Hebrews had tried to do away with such practices.[12] "Taanach, the modern Tel Taannak, guards a pass over Mount Carmel. Israel defeated the king of this place; but Manasseh, the tribe to which it

Hebrews 2:14 — and blood, but they have been made partakers of flesh and blood; thereby making a distinction between what constitutes the essential and eternal part of man's nature, and what is merely accidental, and in which we now live, as in a clay tabernacle (2 Corinthians 5:1).[19]SIZE> Here is the explanation of the mingled love and pity that humankind have for animals, flesh and blood being the common bond between them, and man's higher self the impassable gulf that separates them. A sympathetic

1 Peter 4:7 — is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM Such a verse as this, along with many others similar to it, is a problem to some people. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand" (Romans 13:12), "The Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4:5), "The coming of the Lord is at hand" (James 5:8), "It is the last hour" (1 John 2:18), "The time is near" (Revelation 1:3). What is actually meant by all such expressions in the New Testament? Throughout

Judges 11:34 — burnt-offering, but a dedication of her to the service of God in the tabernacle located in those days at Shiloh. (1) Jephthah was a man who had the Spirit of God, and that alone would never have allowed him to offer his daughter as a burnt-offering. (2) Jephthah was thoroughly familiar with the Book of the Law of Moses and the laws governing sacrifices. In that Law, the first-born, who were required to be "offered" to Jehovah, were never offered as a burnt-offering, but they were "redeemed" by the

Judges 4:4 — deduction would have made Jonah a citizen of Nineveh! "The palm of Deborah" (Judges 4:5). "This may be a confused memory of another Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, who was buried under an oak in the same district of Ephraim at Bethel (Genesis 35:8),"[12] No, the sacred author of Judges, whom we believe to have been Samuel, was not the man with the "confused memory"; it was the author of the Layman's Bible Commentary comment just cited! The tree under which that first Deborah was buried was an oak,

Revelation 6:7-8 — pardoned for asking whether the Lamb who lets such horrors loose on the world is really the same person as the Jesus of the gospel story."<footnote> G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 82.</footnote> A comment like that is grounded in blindness to the great mercy of God evident even in these four judgments; and also, there is a blindness to the truth that it was not the Lamb who let loose the horrors - that epic mistake belongs