Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 15:1-34 — – When under attack stand fast in the faith & yield not an inch. [See that your belief is sound, also see that your belief is applied in yur life] If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for everything. Eph.6:13,14a Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,… Be Brave – (lit. act like men, grow up) In time of battle, play a hero’s part. No

1 Kings 8:1-53 — it will be at Jesus’ Return. One day we will be in this same cloud...Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thes.4:17 The cloud, the glory = His acceptance of this place. I will make my home with you. SOLOMON’S SPEECH (12-21) ​​​​​​​Dark Cloud - usually associated with trouble or punishment, but here

Esther 2:1-23 — ch.2…the beautiful Esther. ESTHER’S SELECTION (1-18) ESTHER’S INTRODUCTION (1-7) A Lonely King (1) After these things – What things? After his disastrous expedition to Greece. i.e. his naval defeat at Salamis (480bc); his humiliation at Plataea (pla-tee-a, in Greece) [479bc]; he returned lonely & nostalgic The historian Herodotus describes the king’s life after his military defeat as one of sensual overindulgence. He even started messing around

Esther 6:1-14 — from the king that night. Behind the scenes: God gave the king Insomnia; Led the Chronicler to the record about Mordecai; & also had Haman arrive at just the right time. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. Ps.121:4 Interesting, that while God was doing this all behind the scenes, Esther, Mordecai, & all the Jews had no clue this was going on. Today God is still working behind the scenes…on your behalf! Stop asking, why aren’t

Leviticus 15:1-33 — Intro: Discharge(24 x’s); Unclean(29 x’s); Bathe in water(11 x’s) Is this really still an issue??? Yes! – In most 3rd world countries. I’ve seen: lady urinate next to her a chair right after a conference on hygiene. – syringes

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 — exceedingly small. If God does not correct injustice in time, He has appointed a time for it to be dealt with. Solomon later says, God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. Eccl.12:14 nlt Jesus said, For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed

Jeremiah 17:1-27 — something? You said there is no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?" "It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion replied. "It's just my nature." Sin – It’s our nature! Let’s look at 4 people & 1 fine day that Jeremiah points us to. The Engraver; The Dendrologous; The Incurable Disease; The Incredible Doctor; The Sabbath Day. THE ENGRAVER (1-4) Engrave – To imprint, make a deep impression. Vs.1 - Sin sticks!

Ezekiel 40:1-49 — cleansed; The land would be restored to beauty & fruitfulness; There would be a new city, a new temple, & a new priesthood serving the Lord in holiness. Title: Defeat, Dismay…but One Day! i.e. You can hold onto the promise in Jn.17:24 Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; This should also stimulate holy living. (Holy is used 35 x’s in ch.41-48) “For Christians heaven

Ezekiel 41:1-26 — cleansed; The land would be restored to beauty & fruitfulness; There would be a new city, a new temple, & a new priesthood serving the Lord in holiness. Title: Defeat, Dismay…but One Day! i.e. You can hold onto the promise in Jn.17:24 Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; This should also stimulate holy living. (Holy is used 35 x’s in ch.41-48) “For Christians heaven

Ezekiel 42:1-20 — cleansed; The land would be restored to beauty & fruitfulness; There would be a new city, a new temple, & a new priesthood serving the Lord in holiness. Title: Defeat, Dismay…but One Day! i.e. You can hold onto the promise in Jn.17:24 Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; This should also stimulate holy living. (Holy is used 35 x’s in ch.41-48) “For Christians heaven

Ezekiel 43:1-27 — cleansed; The land would be restored to beauty & fruitfulness; There would be a new city, a new temple, & a new priesthood serving the Lord in holiness. Title: Defeat, Dismay…but One Day! i.e. You can hold onto the promise in Jn.17:24 Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; This should also stimulate holy living. (Holy is used 35 x’s in ch.41-48) “For Christians heaven

Nahum 1:1-15 — city…Nineveh! {a “ticking time bomb” of a message!} Remember God used the Assyrians(Nineveh is the capitol) as a tool to deal with Judah. {But, they took it too far in their cruelty} The Assyrians had destroyed Samaria(only 40 years after Jonah’s visit). - They displaced the 10 tribes. - 21 years later they assaulted Judah. Even taking their king Manasseh, put a hook through his nose, bound him w/shackles, & carried him off to the then subordinate land of Babylon.

Zechariah 8:1-23 — TOMORROW! (1-8) ​​​​​​​His Jealousy! (1,2) His strong love for His bride! His New City! (3) Here is promise is to rebuild a “different” city…dedicated to truth & holiness. His Safety! (4,5) Here he focuses on the people not the buildings. The elderly would sit safely in the sunny streets & the young would play w/o fear. Oh, the day of rest! J - "Oh how good…is it to work for God in the day-time, and at night

Matthew 12:1-21 — Intro: Matthew’s Gospel flows logically from his theme...that Jesus is the Messiah of the OT. Ch’s 1,2 reported the birth of Jesus, and demonstrated its harmony with Old Testament messianic prophecy. Ch’s 3,4 affirmed Jesus’ full identity with humanity - and His victory over every human weakness. Surely this Person can lead us to victory too. Ch’s 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, contained Jesus’ explanation of the lifestyle appropriate

Matthew 18:1-14 — Christ. Oh, and aren’t we just as wrong to think of the kingdom of God as having gradations, or levels, or class, or rank? Isn’t it false humility to say, I’ll be the one in the back cleaning the clouds. ...is the greatest (4) - Jesus here explains that everybody is Great inside. There are no little souls inside the kingdom. Mt.11:11 I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of

Matthew 4:12-25 — righteous or those who are sinners?​​​​​​​ Those who have the most light or those who are living the darkest lives? SUN RISING (12-17) ​​​​​​​Insert John 1-4 here, in between vs.11 & 12. Slide7 Galilee - Galuthe, in Aramaic means captivity. [About 40m.w x 70m. long. 204 villages,​​​​​​​ 15,000 each, about 3 mill in region] This Northern region was known

Ephesians 5:22-33 — want to be. Avoid clicking off “doesn’t apply to me”. Avoid hoping your spouse is listening. Remember, It’s ultimately about Christ & His Church. Please give me grace, I can’t say everything about marriage in 45 minutes. Please also note, as I will be talking about gender roles in a marriage, I need to bring up the topic of gender confusion today. But my desire is to deal with it biblically & sensitively, as many of our youth & many w/in the church

Ephesians 5:22-33 — want to be. Avoid clicking off “doesn’t apply to me”. Avoid hoping your spouse is listening. Remember, It’s ultimately about Christ & His Church. Please give me grace, I can’t say everything about marriage in 45 minutes. Please also note, as I will be talking about gender roles in a marriage, I need to bring up the topic of gender confusion today. But my desire is to deal with it biblically & sensitively, as many of our youth & many w/in the church

1 Samuel 1 overview — happening. Huge disgrace in the day to not have a son to pass on your name. Hannah(Grace) - And she needed God’s grace to handle her burdens. Peninnah(Ruby) – (3) 15 mile trek to Shiloh. Eli - Jehovah is High; My God. (4,5) He would give portions - meat a rarity in the typical Israelite diet. Each wife would be given a portion of meat that corresponds to the number of children to which she had given birth. For Hannah, just one more reminder of her barrenness! WOMEN

2 Samuel 14:1-33 — Setting, & Springing The Trap! (1-20) ​​​​​​​BAITING THE TRAP! (1-3) Joab devises a plan to bring Absalom back to Israel. The village of Tekoah was about 12 miles south of Jerusalem. SETTING THE TRAP! (4-11) This woman approaches David, pretending that one of her 2 sons killed the other. She asks for mercy upon the survivor. David guarantees that her son will be allowed to safely return. This woman was both wise & a good actress. A perfectly