Bible Commentaries

Genesis 22:1-2 — thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." "God did prove Abraham" This was the only thing that God ever commanded Abraham to do calling it a "test" or "proving" of his faith in connection with it. None of the other things God commanded and Abraham obeyed had the quality of this event as a TEST. For example, Abraham might have desired, from personal reasons, to leave Ur, etc. The offering of Isaac, however, was something

Genesis 32:3-12 — could suggest, dividing the companies, etc. (2)    Then he prayed one of the greatest prayers of his life, consisting of "an invocation (Genesis 32:10), thanksgiving (Genesis 32:11), petition (Genesis 32:12), and appeal to the divine faithfulness (Genesis 32:12), a classic model of O.T. devotion."John Skinner, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, 1910), p. 406. His confession of unworthiness should be included (Genesis 32:10). One is surprised that anyone

Psalms 88:1-9 — places" (Psalms 88:7); and "the deeps" (Psalms 88:7) are seven synonyms for the realm of the dead, or Hades; and the mind of the psalmist seems utterly overcome with the gloom of approaching death. "O God of my salvation" Surely this is an exclamation of faith in God, and the very fact of the psalmist's turning to God in prayer is an indelible mark of trust and devotion. "I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit" The psalmist here says that people have already written him off as a dead man. In

Leviticus 16:29-34 — people today? We are expected to respond to the Great Atonement provided for ourselves in the Great Antitype, of whom these ancient symbols were eloquent witnesses. As the author of Hebrews put it: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water… let us provoke one another to love and good works, not neglecting the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one

Leviticus 18:1-5 — and upon their fidelity in obeying them. It must also be received that the same thing is true now. Even the colossal truth that we are saved, not by our own righteousness, but by the righteousness of Jesus Christ does not alter this. Only an OBEDIENT faith can enable a Christian to continue in a saved condition (Romans 1:5; Romans 16:26). All of these things "are written for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:11); and the big thing that is written about Israel in the O.T. is simply this, that their

Ezekiel 34:25-31 — past history of mankind to all of the kings and tyrants who ever lived on earth. Every Lord's Day throughout the world, people of all races, tongues, and nations gather in millions of places to sing songs unto Him who is the Author and Finisher of our faith, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who is forever and ever Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Hosea 14:1 — prophetic of the New Israel to be identified with the kingdom of Christ, how should the word "return" be understood? It is a word that implies the restoration of a lost and broken fellowship; and it is appropriate here in its primary application to the few faithful in the apostate Israel who would indeed heed the summons, continue to wait for the kingdom of God, and in the times of Christ become the solid nucleus of the New Israel. The apostles themselves, as well as persons such as Nathaniel and Anna,

Amos 7:9 — This latter fact was one of the gross sins of Israel that would be exposed by God's plumb-line, of which Thorogood gives this excellent definition: "First, He was using the Law which he had given to the Israelites long before, as the standard of their faith and conduct. Secondly, He was using the prophets, such as Amos… Their preaching was a standard by which the Israelites could judge their own lives."Bernard Thorogood, A Guide to the Book of Amos (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1971), p. 80. One

Numbers 31:13-20 — institutions destroyed, there was simply no other way to accomplish it. Owens seemed to believe that the present morality of the human race is far superior to "this vestige of ancient Semitic religion that remains chaff amidst the wheat of ancient Israel's faith."John Joseph Owens, Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, Numbers (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970), p. 162. However, we do not believe that human morality is in any manner "above" what is written here. The godless humanism which widely prevails on

Matthew 3:1-2 — DIVISION 2 PREPARATION FOR HIS MESSIANIC WORK, THE HERALD, BAPTISM, TEMPTATION, AND HIS PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION BY JOHN THE BAPTIST Matthew 3:1—4:11 And in those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying Repent ye;

John 2:12 — away up in the balcony, somebody shouted, "The dogs don't like it!" That is the way it is, alas, with the gospel of Christ. As long as people prefer to commit fornication and drink liquor rather than serve the Lord, many a loving message of faith and salvation shall fail of its intended fruit. His mother and his brethren … This is the first mention of Jesus' brothers in John; and it is clear from John 7:5 that they did not yet believe in him. Regarding the question of whether or not

John 3:9 — resolution of all problems. Some of the questions which are similar to the one that Nicodemus raised here are: (1) How did God create the heavens and the earth? People strive in vain to answer this; but they cannot agree. It is enough for the child of faith to believe that "God spake, and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast" (Psalms 33:9). (2) How does God answer prayer? Does He answer by performing a miracle? How can prayer do any good when God already knows everything? We must confess

Acts 2:32 — This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we are all witnesses. The resurrection: This is the bedrock and cornerstone of the Christian faith, dogmatically affirmed in the five historical books of our holy religion, and the quibbles of sinful men with regard to variations in the records themselves are powerless to cast any shadow over the fact itself. What is needed is honesty in the

Romans 15:16 — Apostolical Epistles (Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1960), p. 131. but the Gentiles were made acceptable to God through the Spirit of God, as affirmed in this verse, that Spirit being sent by God into their hearts in consequence of their sonship through faith and obedience (Galatians 4:6). Thus, in the new Israel, no priest is needed to salt the offering. Paul performed no such service for converted Gentiles; he did not give them the Holy Spirit; and, whatever examples there are of the Holy Spirit's

Romans 8:4 — great purpose of Christ's redemptive act was this, that people might keep all the law of God. The purpose of salvation in Christ, far from being that of mere imputation from without of a righteousness to mankind through such a device as the sinner's faith, was, on the other hand, concerned with the enabling of people to observe all of God's commandments in a true spirit of love and obedience, such becoming possible through the means here presented, that of walking after the Spirit and not after the

Galatians 1:1 — the resurrection of Christ, "Paul paved the way J. W. McGarvey, The Standard Bible Commentary, Galatians (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Standard Publishing Company, 1916), p. 249. for the principal theme of the epistle, which is justification through the faith of Jesus Christ, rather than by the Law of Moses. One very hurtful interpretation of this verse is the following: Paul's commission came neither from a human source nor through man, but directly from and through God… Paul's gospel rested

1 Timothy 6:12 — Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. The military metaphor was a favorite of Paul's; putting on the whole armor of God, enduring hardness as a good soldier,

Hebrews 3:7-11 — their heart: But they did not know my ways; As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. THE SECOND EXHORTATION The quotation here is from Psalms 95:7 ff and introduces the second of a series of exhortations designed to bolster the lagging faith of the Hebrew Christians and to warn them against apostasy, the warning being strongly reinforced by the appeal to the analogous falling away which took place in that generation which entered the wilderness after their deliverance from Egypt but

1 Peter 1:1-2 — "This is the blood of the new testament shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:26). Another word is in order with reference to "obedience" as used by Peter in this phrase. Hart compared it to "the obedience of faith," as used by Paul in Romans 1:5; Romans 16:26, J. H. A. Hart, Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 40. indicating that in every instance of attributing salvation, whether

Revelation 20:15 — complete. John never allows us to forget it even for a moment. Almost every terrible scene is either begun, concluded or interrupted with a marvelous vision of the rejoicing saints in glory, these recurring scenes being injected proleptically to keep up the faith and the patience of the saved. In some ways, this is the most glorious book in the Bible. All of the struggles having been recounted, John will devote the final two chapters to a discussion of heaven, the eternal home of the redeemed. There is absolutely