Bible Commentaries

Genesis 21:17 — THE LISTENING GOD ‘And God heard the voice of the lad.’ Genesis 21:17 A minister once said to a boy, ‘Can you pray? How did you pray?’ He said, ‘Sir, I begged.’ He could not have used a better word: praying is begging of God. Prayer is very much like a bow. The arrow is a promise; the string is faith. You use your

Genesis 31:6-7 — LIGHTS AND SHADOWS ‘With all my power I have served your father: and your father bath deceived me.’ Genesis 31:6-7 I. There is a reason for every step in our education, whether we see it or not, and, though Jacob could not have guessed it at the time, yet, as we look back, we can easily understand why his residence at Haran was suddenly closed, and his home

Genesis 32:24 — and flows, waxes and wanes. Jacob is not wholly Israel, Israel has not entirely swallowed up Jacob, during the present time; and in sign and witness to this the new name only partially supersedes and effaces the old. —Archbishop Trench. Illustration (1) ‘In times of trial we betake ourselves to God, and are justified in claiming His protection, so long as we can show that we are on His plan and doing His bidding. And it is in the agony of our dread that God achieves in us a revolution that dates a

Genesis 32:28 — matured holiness of him who is not religious only, but godly. How the work is to be done ‘thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter,’ when thou too hast wrestled with the angel and hast become a prince with God. —Dean Plumptre. Illustration (1) ‘It was in prayer specially that Jacob showed his princely character. What a nobility is attributed to prayer in this episode of Jacob’s life! What a description the text gives us of the royal attributes of prayer—that it sets in motion the sovereign

Genesis 37:3 — greeting to Joseph, as if now a brother should be too much enraged to say ‘good morning’ to us. When the demon of hatred takes possession of the heart, the fountain of speech is poisoned, and the waters that issue are bitter and deadly. Illustration (1) ‘A manifest principle observed by Mrs. Wesley in the education and training of her family was that of thorough impartiality. There was no pet lamb in her deeply interesting flock; no Joseph among her children to be decked out in a coat of many colours,

Genesis 39:9 — should be worn, and never be laid aside. The moment our allegiance is tested, the moment that the world requires what God forbids or forbids what God requires, we must stand to our arms, and admit no thought of a surrender. Dean Alford. Illustration (1) ‘Imprisoned for no cause on earth except for his innocency, Joseph becomes a type and pattern of all those who have trial of bonds, and endure them bravely and gently, according to the will of God. The victims of untoward circumstance, the captives

Genesis 6:6 — instead of leading them to do better, was taken advantage of. (d) God saw it all. Perhaps they forgot Him altogether, or else persuaded themselves that He was taking no notice. They said, ‘How doth God know? Can He judge through the dark cloud?’ ( Job 12:13; Psalms 73:11). But nothing is hidden from His sight, and He not only saw what men did, and heard what they said, but He read their very thoughts ( v. 5). Remark, that though sin had driven God out of man’s heart, and there was no longer that

Exodus 32:24 — is a vague and defective sense of personality. I cannot look for its cure anywhere short of that great assertion of the human personality which is made when a man personally enters into the power of Jesus Christ. Bp. Phillips Brooks. Illustration (1) ‘Of course, in one sense it was true that the calf had come out of the furnace, hut it was also true that Aaron had been the chief agent in its production. Yet, how true this is to nature! All of us are inclined to lay the blame of anything that we

Exodus 34:29 — holds good also regarding our work for God. Many a splendid silent work is done on earth, and the doer is perhaps unconscious of it, and may remain unconscious till the great day of the Lord shall reveal it. —Canon Teignmouth Shore. Illustrations (1) ‘ “Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone.” I would fain refuse as emphatically to magnify myself. For what have I which I have not received? If I am endowed with the spirit of power and love and discipline, if I am growing in the grace

2 Kings 6:1-2 — said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.’ 2 Kings 6:1-2 There are two conditions of real personal power in the world. One is the power of insight, and it is that which redeems life from being regarded as commonplace. Everything is tinged with heavenliness for those who see heaven’s light above all, and

2 Chronicles 30:5 — treat the Gospel invitation. The King’s letter carriers bring the message to tens of thousands of young people. What will the answer be? V. Those who turn to the Lord will find Him ready always to hear their prayers and bless them. Illustrations (1) ‘Hezekiah was one of the three most perfect kings of Judah, and one of the best and wisest men who ever sat on any throne. He was a statesman with large and noble aims; he was a military leader of remarkable skill; like David, only in a lesser degree,

Leviticus 10:3 — HOLY REVERENCE AND GODLY FEAR ‘I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me.’ Leviticus 10:3 Spectacular shows do not change hearts. The Israelites are worshipping a calf, and debauched in lust, in less than forty days after Sinai. And notwithstanding three thousand had died there, Nadab and Abihu, who went into the pavilion of God on the

Jeremiah 29:11 — GOD’S THOUGHTS OF PEACE ‘The thoughts that I think toward you.’ Jeremiah 29:11 I. God thinking of us in our need.—‘I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.’ ‘ Yet’ is an interpolation of the English version. It would be nearer the truth to say, ‘ therefore the Lord thinketh upon me.’ Why is it necessary to emphasise

Matthew 1:18-25 — TWO GREAT TRUTHS ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise … He called His Name Jesus.’ Matthew 1:18-25 The verses (18 to 25) begin by telling us two great truths. They tell us how the Lord Jesus Christ took our nature upon Him, and became man. They tell us also that His birth was miraculous: His mother Mary was a virgin. I. A great mystery.—These

Matthew 9:36 — Church. We give our money; we need to give ourselves. Never will the masses be won until every Christian is a worker. II. United prayer.—He stirred up His disciples to pray. When the Church prays for men, men will be sent. III. Method (St. Matthew 10:1-5).—He sent forth the Twelve. In this development of our Lord’s ministry there are four great principles which should guide the Church in all time. ( a) Selection. The Twelve were chosen and trained before being sent forth. ( b) Association. ‘Two

Deuteronomy 26:11 — ‘ALWAYS REJOICING’ ‘And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee.’ Deuteronomy 26:11 It is our duty to give unstinted welcome to every visit of enjoyment with which we may be favoured. We frequently allow streams of refreshment or exhilaration to run past us without dipping into or tasting them; we blunderingly overlook many a cup

Deuteronomy 4:9 — our warrant. Our knowledge, in fact, is but faith; we have no grounds for knowing as of ourselves, but great grounds for believing that God’s appointed evidence is true, and that in believing it we are trusting Him. Dr. Thos. Arnold. Illustration (1) ‘This is part of God’s counsel to Israel, through His servant Moses, just before he was parted from them on Mount Nebo. It is a counsel which, when spoken by worldly lips, has in it often a very selfish meaning: a maxim on which is built many an earthly

Deuteronomy 6:5 — union—wedded union. And so through this mystery of union the love grows fond, intense, eternal. Our whole being gathers itself up to one focus, and the demand of the text becomes possible, and the duty becomes a necessity. Rev. Jas. Vaughan. Illustration (1) ‘How shall I love God? With the love of a newborn soul. There is a family, spiritual and divine. I am brought into it by a supernatural grace and a stupendous change. Formerly I was outside the home; now I am within. I breathe a thousand tendernesses.

Judges 9:8 — men, who are striving for every sort of personal elevation and advantage.—By the picture in this parable I want you to scorn the principles they act upon, and to know that, by God’s grace, you stand on a moral elevation far above them. Illustrations (1) ‘The true political lesson of Jotham’s parable is surely this:—that the highest places in the State should be given only to the best men; that the bramble should never be permitted to usurp the place of the olive or the vine, and that the vine and

Ruth 2:17 — THE DILIGENT GLEANER ‘So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of barley.’ Ruth 2:17 I. Notice, first, the good providence of God as illustrated in the story of Ruth and Naomi.—Who was more forlorn than Naomi when she set out, penniless and a widow, both her sons dead, to return into the land of Judah? God finds the widow friends,