Bible Commentaries

Exodus 25:22 — into the world and established His Church in the world for the very purpose of bringing all to Him. This is the message that the Bible has brought to men in past ages; this is the message that it brings to them now. Rev. F. D. Maurice. Illustration (1) ‘God has established a Way by which the humblest and least worthy may draw near and consult Him at all times. The study of the Ark, the Mercy-seat, the Cherubim, the Holy of Holies, and the means by which approach could be made to the hidden Presence,

Exodus 40:35 — to discern. If He does not go before us, we had better stay where we are. ‘If Thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.’ But if we are conscious that we are following the leading of God, we may venture forward without fear. Illustration (1) ‘The highest that thought can compass, or words express—God with us. This is the one all-pervading idea. Thus through all their wanderings these people literally dwelt “under the shadow of the Almighty.” Emphasise the condescension of Him who fills

2 Kings 2:21 — AT THE SPRING OF THE WATERS ‘He went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there.’ 2 Kings 2:21 ‘The spirit of Elijah,’ they said, ‘doth rest on Elisha.’ It was true, yet who is not struck with the difference, with the contrariety, between them? At first sight the succession is a deterioration. The glow, the rush, the genius, the inspiration,

2 Kings 24:10 — THE GOD-FORSAKEN CITY ‘The city was besieged.’ 2 Kings 24:10 When wrong has been going on for some time it gathers a momentum, which gets beyond men’s power to control. It is like a carriage without a brake descending a steep hill. All is easy and pleasant at first, but as the descent continues the carriage

1 Chronicles 29:5 — WILLING SERVICE ‘Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?’ 1 Chronicles 29:5 This old-time question comes to us with special force and fitness on the day on which we commemorate the life of St. Matthew. At the call of the Master—‘Follow Me’—he rose and left all and followed Christ; he consecrated his service,

2 Chronicles 33:12 — GODLESS AND GODLY ‘Worse than the heathen.’ ‘In affliction he besought the Lord his God.’ 2 Chronicles 33:9; 2 Chronicles 33:12 I. It is fearful to think into what depths of wickedness it is possible to fall.—The story of Manasseh frightens us. He had a good father and was brought up amid holy influences. Yet when he became king he turned away from all that was good and beautiful

2 Chronicles 33:9 — GODLESS AND GODLY ‘Worse than the heathen.’ ‘In affliction he besought the Lord his God.’ 2 Chronicles 33:9; 2 Chronicles 33:12 I. It is fearful to think into what depths of wickedness it is possible to fall.—The story of Manasseh frightens us. He had a good father and was brought up amid holy influences. Yet when he became king he turned away from all that was good and beautiful

Psalms 126:2 — GODLY MIRTH ‘Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.’ Psalms 126:2 The Jews when, by God’s mercy, they were once more settled in the land of promise, gave way to the same feeling of which we are conscious when we are excited by pleasure, by prosperity, by unexpected success. Either mirth must be altogether forbidden

Psalms 133:1 — CHRISTIAN UNITY ‘Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.’ Psalms 133:1 Some things are good, but not pleasant; others are pleasant, but not good; it is not easy to combine the two qualities; but in unity both converge; pleasantness and the highest good. This our Lord intended for His Church; this He prayed for (see

Psalms 69:23 — here! How unlike the mild, tender, charitable spirit of our Master, Christ! How unfit to be repeated by Christians who have been taught in the school of Christ!’ This, and the like of this, is what is said, and it proceeds upon two leading mistakes. (1) The first is that the New Testament was meant somehow to abrogate the Old. (2) The second is that God’s love is in some kind of way the antagonist of His justice; that He cannot be really just without ceasing to love; that He cannot love without trifling

Leviticus 25:23 — experiences of life may be desperately trying, but they need never separate us from God’s providence and love. This is one of the great commonplaces of Scripture. It hardly needs to be illustrated, but it very much requires to be believed. Illustrations (1) ‘In the text are the lessons of God’s proprietorship and our stewardship, the transiency of our stay and the need of whole-hearted trust.’ (2) ‘Seek to cultivate as a joy and strength the consciousness that the Lord of the land is ever with you. Whoever

Numbers 13:2 — THE DIVINE AND HUMAN PARTNERSHIP ‘Search the land which I give.’ Numbers 13:2 I. The divine and human partnership.—The Israelites had now reached the very border of the Promised Land. But, before actually entering in, Moses, like a prudent leader, sent out twelve men—one man from each tribe—to see what manner of land it was,

Numbers 17:5 — DRY STICKS OR FRUITFUL BOUGHS? ‘The man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom.’ Numbers 17:5 I. The controversy about the Priesthood demanded a final and authoritative settlement.—For the removal of all doubts and the silencing of all objections, a notable miracle was wrought in the budding of Aaron’s rod. There was no room left for man:

Deuteronomy 15:11 — THY POOR BROTHER ‘If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.’ Deuteronomy 15:7-8; Deuteronomy 15:11 I. ‘God has made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell upon the face of the whole earth.’—This is the announcement of a grand fact, which has never yet been successfully disproved. This relates man to man everywhere,

Deuteronomy 15:7-8 — THY POOR BROTHER ‘If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.’ Deuteronomy 15:7-8; Deuteronomy 15:11 I. ‘God has made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell upon the face of the whole earth.’—This is the announcement of a grand fact, which has never yet been successfully disproved. This relates man to man everywhere,

Deuteronomy 27:12-13 — EBAL AND GERIZIM ‘Gerizim to bless … Ebal to curse.’ Deuteronomy 27:12-13 I. Our redemption is by an act of God’s mighty grace and strength.—We cannot add to it or detract from it, we must simply accept it. But our enjoyment of the land of blessedness is dependent on our obedience. The milk and honey of that land will

Deuteronomy 5:33 — Presence is dwelling. The alternative is between a faith which shall belong to men as men, which shall concern all their ordinary pursuits, toils, relations—the alternative is between such a faith and absolute atheism. Rev. F. D. Maurice. Illustration (1) ‘Man needs a mediator. Conscious of the evil of his heart and life, he dares not face the All Holy. But there is a Mediator, a Daysman; not a servant, however noble and faithful, but the Son, who can lay a hand upon each. He has gone near, and has

Joshua 24:15 — A DECISION MADE ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ Joshua 24:15 These were the brave and faithful words of a brave and faithful man—words that were brave as regards men, words that were brave as regards God. Joshua, the great leader of the army and the people of Israel, having won for them secure possession of

2 Samuel 14:14 — BANISHED BUT NOT EXPELLED ‘For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet both He devise means that His banished be not expelled from him.’ 2 Samuel 14:14 I. God’s heaviest punishment is separation from Himself.—There are degrees of separation—degrees in intensity and degrees in duration. There are two great divisions: the banished and the expelled. The banished wish to come back, the expelled do

2 Samuel 21:10 — QUICKENING OF DAVID’S CONSCIENCE BY RIZPAH’S EXAMPLE ‘And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, … and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.’ 2 Samuel 21:10 I. Consider first the Divine dealings with the house of Saul and the people of Israel.—The famine was because Saul and his bloody house had slain the Gibeonites. It was a consequence of that act of his. But the famine was not the punishment of Saul,