Bible Commentaries

Genesis 27:34 — fácilmente. Pensó en recuperar la bendición de Dios, no con ayuno y oración, sino con sabrosas carnes, festejando y divirtiéndose. I. El clamor de Esaú es el clamor de alguien que ha rechazado a Dios, y quien a su vez ha sido rechazado por Él. Él era: (1) profano y (2) presuntuoso. Fue profano al vender su primogenitura, presuntuoso al reclamar la bendición. Tal como era Esaú, ahora son demasiados cristianos. Descuidan la religión en sus mejores días; renuncian a su primogenitura a cambio de lo que

1 Kings 12:21-24 — A FUTILE ENDEAVOUR ‘And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, … to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.’ 1 Kings 12:21-24 I. We must not suppose that the sentence which affirms that this great calamity of the rending of the kingdom was from the Lord is an isolated one, or that it can be explained into some general notion that all men’s doings, good or evil,

1 Kings 13:33 — JEROBOAM’S SIN ‘After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way.’ 1 Kings 13:33 ‘After this thing,’ viz., such a succession of miracles and prophecies as we can hardly find elsewhere in the Bible. Jeroboam saw four or five miracles together, and yet turned not from his evil way. I. He had two warnings—the rent altar,

1 Kings 17:9 — THE UNEXPECTED IN LIFE ‘Arise, get thee to Zarephath.… I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee.’ 1 Kings 17:9 I. Notice how God often takes us by unexpected roads.—From Cherith, by the command of God, Elijah was sent to the little town of Zarephath. Now Zarephath was a Sidonian town. It lay on the sea-coast between Tyre and Sidon. It was not a place

1 Kings 18:26 — PRIESTS ‘And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, bear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.’ 1 Kings 18:26 The conduct of the priests of Baal is in many respects well fitted to put to shame the disciples of Christ. I. Notice, first, their zeal.—They were willing to suffer and cut themselves with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out.

1 Kings 9:4 — A MOMENTOUS ‘IF’! ‘If thou wilt walk before Me.’ 1 Kings 9:4 I. Special privileges and blessings conferred upon us make our responsibility greater.—Twice God appeared to Solomon in a vision, granting him honours and favours. He accepted the king’s work in building the Temple and answered his prayer

2 Kings 5:18 — THE COMPROMISES OF LIFE ‘When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon.’ 2 Kings 5:18 Here we find Naaman making an excuse, it is said, for dissembling his religious convictions, and Elisha accepting the plea. He is convinced that Jehovah is the true God, but is not prepared to make any sacrifice for his faith. What is this but to

Ezra 4:1 — THERE ARE MANY ADVERSARIES ‘The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin.’ Ezra 4:1 I. The return from captivity would be viewed with mingled feelings by the Samaritans and those transplanted from the East by Esar-Haddon, king of Assyria.—Since they are termed ‘the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin,’ it is not necessary to suppose

Job 3:17 — THE BETTER WORLD ‘There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.’ Job 3:17 This text speaks to us over nearly four thousand years. Job lived in days when the light of truth was dim; the Sun of righteousness had not yet risen above the horizon; Jesus had not yet brought life and immortality to light; and thus it is possible

Psalms 87:1 — THE HOLY HILLS ‘Her foundations are upon the holy hills.’ Psalms 87:1 (Prayer Book Version) The Psalmist, in his lovely songs, speaks to us sometimes as an historian, at other times as a prophet. There is yet another mode of interpretation, which belongs, indeed, to all Scripture, but especially to the Psalms, that which

Ezekiel 2:7-8 — stones into bread, but waited till the angels came to minister to Him. God gave you your wonderful endowments, faculties, and powers; and assuredly He will feed you with food convenient for you. ‘Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.’ Illustrations (1) ‘Ezekiel’s career as a prophet began in the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. He was then in his thirtieth year. For seven years he denounced the continued sin of the nation at home, with which some of the exiles doubtless sympathised, and exhorted,

Hosea 13:7 — THE JUDGMENT OF GOD’S ANGER ‘I will be unto them as a lion.’ Hosea 13:7 I. Apostasy from Jehovah, which appears here also as Israel’s chief sin, brought death upon them: they died ( Hosea 13:1).—This conception sounds the depths of the subject. Outwardly regarded, they lived long, even after they gave themselves up

Amos 5:8 — Amos 5:8 ‘Seek the Lord, and ye shall live.’ But who and what is the Lord, when and by whom is He to be found? ‘Seek not Bethel,’ with its dumb and powerless idol calf, ‘seek Him that maketh the seven stars and Orion,’ etc. I. Where is God revealed?—(1) God is revealed in the heavens. Amos was a shepherd, and many a brilliant starry sky had he seen when pursuing his nightly occupation of watching by the sheep-cotes under the cloudless Eastern heavens. Pleiades and Orion are mentioned in the Bible

Obadiah 1:17 — POSSESSING OUR POSSESSIONS ‘The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.’ Obadiah 1:17 As long as Edom invaded and annoyed the house of Jacob the people were unable to possess their possessions in peace. But its dominion was to be ended, and then there would be no cloud in the sky, no barrier to their uninterrupted joy. I. There

Mark 1:15 — THE OLD, OLD SERMON ‘Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ Mark 1:15 It is important to notice the nature of Christ’s preaching. He came saying, ‘Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’ I. The old sermon.—This is that old sermon which all the faithful witnesses of God have continually preached from the very beginning

Mark 3:1 — FAITH AND UNBELIEF CONTRASTED ‘There was a man there which had a withered hand.’ Mark 3:1 The narrative, like the whole of Mark’s Gospel, is marked by picturesqueness. I. The obedience of faith is exhibited. ( a) This man was obedient in the presence of a great foe. ‘And He saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth’;

1 Corinthians 1:18 — THE RELIGION OF REDEMPTION ‘The preaching of the Cross.’ 1 Corinthians 1:18 Christianity is the religion of redemption; it is for that reason that the Apostle gives as the motto and the summary of the Gospel this little sentence in the text, ‘The preaching of the Cross.’ For the Cross is the symbol, as it

1 Corinthians 5:6 — THE EFFECT OF A LITTLE LEAVEN ‘Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?’ 1 Corinthians 5:6 The subject of sin pervades the entire Bible, either directly or indirectly, by precept or example, and following in its course, our Prayer Book adopts the same line of teaching, so as even to appropriate a particular portion of the

1 Timothy 5:4 — CHRISTIANITY IN THE HOME ‘Learn first to shew piety at home.’ 1 Timothy 5:4 The test of a man’s piety is to be found in the home. It is a common complaint of to-day that men and women show their Christianity everywhere but at home and among their own people. I. The claims of home.—The home and home relatives and

1 Samuel 26:11 — KINGLY BEHAVIOUR ‘The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed.’ 1 Samuel 26:11 I. Here we have another instance of David acting on high principles (cf. 24).—Make this the chief point in the sermon. When feeling, and even policy, urged him to the wrong, principle kept him right. Compare Joseph’s temptation. However