Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 15:1-34 — exterior waves of life, but we can’t control what’s inside us. I like 1 Cor.16:13, Paul’s final exhortation to the Corinthians, Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done w/love. 5 Imperatives: Sounds like military orders from a Commander to his Subordinates. [Watch, Stand Fast, Be Brave, Be Strong, & Love] Watch – Be ever on alert. Keep staying awake. Be on alert for our enemy. Be on alert for sin. Stand

Psalms 37:1-40 — But take heart! I have overcome the world. Jn.16:33 How do you battle fears, insecurities, frustrations with others? Lets hear from David. Title: Parachute = [Fr.] para(protection against) chute(fall) Here, an old man reviews the past (25) & gives us some wise counsel to keep us from second guessing God, when things just aren't going our way. David had battled with evil men. David knew the frustration of seeing the wicked prosper & the righteous suffer. There is no

Jeremiah 17:1-27 — them better seen. Diamond – Of course still the hardest of stones to cut or engrave any other stone. The altar – “was a place to remit sin not record it…yet it was even engraved there!” THE DENDROLOGOUS (5-8) Dendrology – The scientific study of trees! Is God Pro-Choice here?(Roe v Wade 25 yrs.) – 2 Choices! Curses[5,6]- or Blessings[7,8] The pivot word is TRUST{ie. places his faith in}! – On this everything turns,…where

Ezekiel 13:1-23 — – i.e. scavengers. Instead of being shepherds who faithfully led the flock, they were Jackals living on refuse. Spiritually speaking, the false prophets were religious scavengers, living among ruins they had made themselves. (5) The false prophets had not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it. Israel’s moral walls were ready to collapse, but the false prophets did nothing to help. WHITEWASHED WALLS! (8-16) (9) Hand – is a metaphor

Daniel 7:1-28 — comprehensive & detailed prophecy of future events to be found in the OT.” Walvoord Daniel traces the course of 4 great world powers right up to the climax of world history...the 2nd coming of J.C. This chapter takes place before ch.5 because Babylon hasn’t fallen yet. (553bc) The visions in ch.’s 7-12 were given at various times in Daniel’s career. They are grouped together after the historical section...because of their similarity in content. Chapter

Luke 19:11-27 — judgments. ASSIGNMENTS! (11-14) The parable of the 10 Minas/Pounds. Also, it is similar to but different from “The parable of the Talents”. The shekel was the basic unit of weight in the Hebrew system. Talent = 3,000 Shekels; Mina = 50 Shekels. Multiples of the Shekel was: the Mina & the Talent. Parable of Talents dealt w/ability(diff amounts given); Parable of Minas deal w/Faithfulness! The talents represent opportunities to use ability; and since we all

John 5:1-15 — Jerusalem. (2) The Sheep Gate – Today St Stephan's gate [Located northern wall close to the N.E. Corner] Just outside of St. Anne’s church (acoustics). Found in 1960. 2 adjacent pools. W/an area that enclosed them between the 2 pools(5 porticos/covered colonnades). The sick would congregate there in its shade Believe it to be the place as they found a fresco there w/an angel stirring the water{from 1889} believing that the early Christian era believed it to be there. Bethesda

John 6:1-21 — INTRO: Armando - to San Bernadino - 3 Jn.1,2; 5-8. In this chapter, we’re going to see Jesus perform 2 more impressive miracles, impossible feats. We’ve already watched him make clear water blush(turn to wine!); heal a boy from 20 miles away; & make a lame man walk. Today, He’ll

Romans 4:1-25 — say…“hmmm, who could I pick that would best prove that God’s righteousness comes from faith not works?” Interesting, Abraham is one of the few individuals that Judaism, Islam, & Christianity esteem as their father! Rom.4:2-5 Message So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re

1 Corinthians 6:1-20 — of lawsuits? No, maybe the Saint of Mediation? We as saints are to litigate, some matters! Saint Litigation not Secular Lawsuits! ​​​​​​​Note: 6 questions. Do you not know that…? (2,3,9; 15,16,19) Background: William Barclay tell us in his commentary “(The Greeks) were characteristically a litigious (li-tij-is) people. The law courts were one of their chief entertainment’s…In a Greek city, every man was more or less

2 Corinthians 10:1-18 — methods but spiritual one’s, he was seen as weak??? (2) Paul must again defend & vindicate his apostleship office, in these last 4 chapters. The attacks are coming from these self acclaimed “super-apostles” (11:5) in which he later identifies as “false apostles”(11:13). (3-6) We, like Paul, all walk in the flesh (i.e. we all have the weakness of the flesh) but he did not war after the flesh by depending on “fleshly wisdom, human abilities,

Ephesians 2:1-10 — Gogh, DaVinci, Rembrandt) we might say, it’s unique, timeless, one-of-a-kind, priceless, colorful, mysterious & that it beautifully communicates something. [we’ll see God thinks the same about us] Paul’s prayer (last week 15-23) refers to Gentiles (non-Jews) becoming part of God’s family. In this chapter, Paul discusses how that happens. Christ’s victory over evil powers makes reconciliation with God possible. This discussion has 2 parts: 1-10 and 11-22

Philemon 1:1-25 — week $31,000 came in. Overview: An appeal by Paul, to a godly friend Philemon, to graciously receive back his runaway slave Onesimus, who has become a Christian & whom Paul is now sending back to his master. CHRISTIANITY IN ACTION! (1-25) PAUL’S POSTCARD! (1-3) Though short in size(25 vs.), it’s long in truth! What makes up a Postcard? (show one) Whom it is from: Paul [A prisoner in Rome(under house arrest); wrote prob summer of 62ad, along w/Colossians] Whom

Hebrews 1:4-14 — there. Color blindness, or better yet, color vision deficiency (There is no actual blindness but there is a deficiency of color vision). In 2 Kings 6:8-23 Elisha was able to see the normally unseen beings but his servant couldn’t. (see vs.15-19) In Dothan. Elisha & servant. Syrian army surrounded them. Gods heavenly host surrounded them. Open his eyes that he may see. Why God gives some special glasses at times to be able to see them? so we’ll believe? We are going

James 5:1-12 — suicide. Ivar Kruegar - the head of the world’s greatest monopoly - committed suicide. All of these men had learned how to make money, but not one of them had learned how to live. (Paul Lee Tan; 7700 Illustrations p.824) Ch.5 answers, How should we live in the last days? - What does God want for our lives? James kicks into OT prophet mode as he denounces the very callous rich. He warns the rich & encourages the poor (i.e. the disenfranchised, the marginalized, those

1 Peter 2:13-17 — point at which it becomes sin to obey. Render to Caesar our civil obedience. When then is civil-disobedience? When its a sin against God. OT ex: Hebrew mid-wives asked to do genocide against lil Heb boys; NT ex: Peter, in Acts 5 was asked not to speak about Jesus, he responded, “We ought to obey God rather than man.” Come on Lord, why???...for the Lord’s sake… (13c) For the Lord sake - Our relation to Him affects everything! Col.3:17

Judges 16:1-31 — Temple Map1: Philistine Pentapolis. Gaza will be the key city here.Ekron, Gath, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza Map2: Hebron. And Sorek Valley/which separates children of Israel & Philistines. Every chapter begins w/our hero’s eye on a woman. (14,15,16) [he-man w/a she-weakness] ​​​​​​​It reminds us of Casaer’s famous, Veni, Vidi, Veci (came, saw, conquered). Samson went to Gaza, saw harlot, and he went in to her. A MADAM (1-3) ​​​​​​​(1)

Revelation 19:1-21 — for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” Eph.5:25,26 Her wedding gown is…her “righteous acts”! We seem to get a white garment at salvation, which is from Him! Then we make a dress on top of it! The 1st salvation; the 2nd Sanctification. Every “good

2 Samuel 17:1-29 — us. Where we left off: Absalom foolishly opted for the slow-moving attack against his father David. Which gave David time to escape & organize his forces at Mahanaim, east of the Jordan River. TWO ARMIES! (17:24-29) The Replacement! (24-26) (25) Absalom appoints Amasa to command the Israelite army in place of Joab. Amasa was David’s nephew & Joab’s cousin. How sad that son was fighting against father, uncle against nephew, cousin against cousin, & citizen against citizen. The

2 Samuel 9:1-13 — affection, sympathy, friendliness, patience, pleasantness, gentleness, and goodness. Henry Drummond said, “The greatest thing a man can do for his heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children.” Hesed דֶסֶחcould & should be translated “Grace”. What is Grace? What a ballet dancer has when she shows dignity & elegance? What we say before we eat...We say grace! What we are allowed when a payment is extended