Bible Commentaries

Proverbs 30:11-14 — Agur sketched four verbal pictures and simply placed them side by side in these verses to illustrate the folly of arrogance. He had demonstrated humility himself (Proverbs 30:2-4; Proverbs 30:7-9). Each thing listed begins with dor ("generation") meaning a class or group of people (cf. Matthew 11:16). [Note: Ross, p. 1121.] The numerical sequence creates a cumulative effect, namely, a feeling of growing intensity.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 — Solomon’s second recommendation was diligent work (cf. John 9:4). He viewed work as is a privilege that the dead do not have. Probably toil connected with the curse on nature is in view here. We will be active in service in heaven, for example, but this will not be work as we know it now (Revelation 22:3). If you think work is not a blessing, spend some time talking with someone who has been out of work for a long time.

Jeremiah 18:17 — Yahweh would scatter His people from their land before the enemy, as when the strong east wind (the sirocco, cf. Jeremiah 4:11; 13:34) blew the tumbleweeds in the windy months. Their enemy would also come from the east, specifically Babylon, though the soldiers would descend on them from the north. Yahweh would turn His back on His people when this calamity fell; He would offer them no help or favor (cf. Jeremiah 2:27; Numbers 6:24-26).

Jeremiah 25:5-6 — The message of all these prophets had been to turn from evil lifestyles and activities. If the people did, the Lord would allow them to remain in their land indefinitely. They were to reject the pagan deities and handmade gods that they served and worshipped, because these angered Yahweh (cf. Matthew 4:10). If they did, He would do them no harm. It is possible that "the work of your hands" is a general reference to their actions. The expression is ambiguous.

Jeremiah 8:12 — These leaders were not in the least ashamed of their conduct, not even enough to blush. Therefore the Lord would cause them to fall when the rest of the people fell in the coming invasion (cf. Jeremiah 6:12-15). "Could men reach a stage of apostasy where they would never repent? Yes they could, and Judah had reached that point [cf. Hebrews 6:4-6]." [Note: Thompson, p. 301.] This passage is a scathing indictment of Judah’s spiritual leaders.

Lamentations 1:5 — and over again he [Jeremiah] affirmed that the Lord Himself had decreed (Lamentations 1:17; Lamentations 2:17; Lamentations 3:37-38) and sent the calamity (Lamentations 1:5; Lamentations 1:12-15; Lamentations 2:1-8; Lamentations 3:1; Lamentations 3:43-45; Lamentations 4:11)." [Note: Chisholm, p. 359.] The city was devoid of children since they were in captivity.

Ezekiel 3:12-13 — The Lord’s Spirit next lifted Ezekiel up and he heard a loud rumbling sound behind him. The sound was the sound of voices that blessed God for His glory (cf. Revelation 4-5). He also heard the sound of the cherubims’ wings and the sound of the wheels rumbling. He was having another vision. [Note: See Edward J. Young, My Servants, the Prophets, pp. 182-87.] "This was no psychic levitation, but a subjective

Ezekiel 36:27 — God would, fourth, also put His Spirit within the Israelites and cause them to obey His commands carefully (cf. Ezekiel 11:19-20; Ezekiel 18:31; Ezekiel 37:14; Ezekiel 39:29; Jeremiah 31:31; Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:17-18; Romans 7:7 to Romans 8:4; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18; Hebrews 8:6 to Hebrews 10:39). This is a coming of the Holy Spirit on Israel in the future, not His coming on the church at Pentecost.

Ezekiel 40:14-15 — The height of the doorframes surrounding the main gate was 60 cubits (100 feet). This may seem extraordinarily tall to modern readers, but imposing gates were common in the great cities of antiquity. The gate system’s walls wrapped around from the main wall of the temple enclosure to the doorjambs that framed the doorway into the courtyard (Ezekiel 40:9). The total length of the passageway from the front gate to the doorway into the courtyard was 50 cubits (83 feet 4 inches).

Ezekiel 41:21-22 — The doorposts between the vestibule and the holy place were square and identical. The altar in the holy place was completely wooden and was three cubits (5 feet) high and two cubits (3 feet 4 inches) square. It stood before the Lord’s presence there. Its function is also obscure, but it may correspond to the altar of incense or the table of showbread in Israel’s earlier tabernacle and temples. If so, it has some connection with prayer and or remembrance.

Ezekiel 43:14 — The square altar rose above its foundation in three tiers, the largest one below, the next largest one above it, and the smallest one on top. The first, largest stage was two cubits (3 feet 4 inches) high and one cubit (20 inches) smaller than the foundation on each of its four sides. The second tier was four cubits (6 feet 8 inches) high and one cubit (20 inches) smaller than the first tier on each of its four sides.

Daniel 5:11-12 — As before, Daniel had not accompanied the other wise men whom the king had summoned (cf. Daniel 4:6-8). The reason for this is unclear, but the effect in the event and in the narrative is that it sets Daniel off as unique. Clearly Belshazzar did not know Daniel personally. Perhaps Daniel had left public service by this time. When really severe crises arise, it is often the man or woman of God that others turn to for answers.

Daniel 6:11 — Daniel’s colleagues knew about his prayer habits (cf. Philippians 4:6). They contrived to observe him praying in his own house, somehow, to enable them to give eyewitness testimony that they had seen him violate the king’s order. Did they suppose that Daniel would deny that he had been praying? They expected that the edict would not deter him from his regular devotional habit-even though it might cost him his life! What a testimony Daniel had among his fellow workers!

Daniel 8:13 — The holy ones (Heb. qados) that Daniel heard conversing were evidently angels (cf. Daniel 4:17). Here the transgression in view seems to be that of Antiochus, not the Jews (cf. Daniel 8:12). It causes horror among the Jews because it involves desecration of the sanctuary (Daniel 8:11). The holy place is the temple, and the host is the Jews. The angel wanted to know how long the desecration of the sanctuary and the persecution of the Jews would last.

Hosea 14:5 — The Lord would descend on Israel with blessing like the dew. Instead of being dry and withered (Hosea 13:15) Israel would blossom like the prolific spring lily (or crocus, cf. Song of Solomon 2:2). The Israelites would become as beautiful as an olive tree that is not only attractive but the source of beneficial products (cf. Psalms 52:8; Jeremiah 11:16). Israel would take root and grow strong, like a cedar of Lebanon (cf. Song of Solomon 4:11).

Hosea 7:6 — The princes eagerly plotted to overthrow the king. Their anger with him smoldered for a long time and was not obvious to him, like a fire hidden in an oven (Hosea 7:4), but at the proper time it flared up and consumed him and his supporters. Hosea saw this happen four times. Shallum assassinated Zechariah, Menahem assassinated Shallum, Pekah assassinated Pekahiah, and Hoshea assassinated Pekah (2 Kings 15:10; 2 Kings 15:14; 2 Kings 15:25; 2 Kings 15:30).

Hosea 8:6 — From Israel, of all people, had come the pagan idol. A human craftsman had fashioned it, so the idol was not the true God (cf. Isaiah 40:18-20; Isaiah 44:9-20). When Jeroboam I originally presented these idols to the people of Israel, he said, "Behold your gods, O Israel" (1 Kings 12:28; cf. Exodus 32:4). These idols, represented here as the calf of Samaria, would be broken to pieces, demonstrating the impotence of the gods.

Amos 5:6 — Amos, as well as the Lord (Amos 5:4), invited the Israelites to seek the Lord by doing good and refraining from evil so they might live (cf. Amos 5:14-15). The alternative would be God’s judgment breaking forth and unquenchably consuming the whole house of Joseph (i.e., the Northern Kingdom, whose main tribe was Ephraim, a son of Joseph). "Fear of judgment may not be the highest motive for obeying God, but the Lord will accept it." [Note: Ibid.]

Amos 9:8 — As the sovereign Lord looked over all the kingdoms of the earth, He noticed those of them that were sinful and determined to destroy them because of their wickedness. He would do to Israel what He would do to any other sinful nation (cf. Amos 3:1-2). Yet He promised not to destroy completely the house of Jacob (the Northern Kingdom, because of the covenant He had made with Israel; cf. Amos 5:4-6; Amos 5:14-15).

Zephaniah 2:8 — Probably Zephaniah linked Moab and Ammon because both nations descended from Lot (Genesis 19:30-38) as well as because both lay to Judah’s east. Both nations had taunted and reviled the Israelites from their earliest history. They had repeatedly lifted themselves up as enemies of God’s chosen people (cf. Numbers 22; Numbers 24:17; Judges 3:12-14; Judges 10:7-9; Judges 11:4-6; 1 Samuel 11:1-11; 2 Samuel 10:1-14; 2 Kings 3).