Bible Commentaries

2 Kings 11:1-12 — (Exodus 2). According to Josephus, Jehosheba hid Jehoash in a room used to store spare furniture and mattresses. [Note: Ibid.] The Carites (another spelling of Cherethites; cf. 2 Samuel 8:18; et al.) were special guards. The other guards (2 Kings 11:4) were priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 23:4). When the high priest crowned Jehoash (Joash), who was then seven years old, he gave him a copy of the Mosaic Law consistent with what the Law required (Deuteronomy 17:18-19). This is the basis for the British

Isaiah 5:30 — is also significant that the founding of Rome occurred about this time, since it was another power that God raised up to humble His people. "Thus Isaiah ends his preface. The message of the first two sections (Isaiah 1:2-31; Isaiah 2:1 to Isaiah 4:6) is that human sin cannot ultimately frustrate God’s purposes and that, in God, mercy triumphs over wrath. But the third section (Isaiah 5:1-30) poses a shattering question: When the Lord has done all (Isaiah 5:4), must the darkness of divine

Isaiah 65:17 — of everything He had said since Isaiah 56:1, that He would create a restored and renovated universe (cf. Genesis 1:1). Things will be so much better than they are now that people then will not even think about things as they used to be (cf. Romans 6:14; Revelation 21:4). This should motivate God’s people to obey Him in the present. Not only would God perform another Exodus, bringing Israel out of Babylon and into the Promised Land, but He would also create another Creation. Watts, who understood

Daniel 4:8 — elsewhere. The king described Daniel by using both his Hebrew and Babylonian names. This would have had the double effect of causing those who read this decree to recognize Daniel by his common Babylonian name, and to honor Daniel’s God (cf. Daniel 4:37). Nebuchadnezzar probably meant that "a spirit of the holy gods" (cf. Daniel 4:17)-in a pagan sense-indwelt Daniel, since he used a plural adjective (translated "holy") to describe the noun ("gods"). [Note: See Leupold,

Hosea 11:1 — The Lord reminded His people that when Israel was in its early days as a nation, like a youth, He loved the nation (cf. Exodus 4:22-23). As often, loving refers to choosing (cf. Genesis 12:2-3). God chose Israel for special blessing among the world’s nations and in this sense loved him. He called and led His "son" Israel out of bondage in Egypt (cf. Deuteronomy

Amos 7:14 — was not true of genuine prophets. It is possible that Amos meant that he was not the son of a prophet in the sense that he had not been trained in one of the schools of the prophets under the tutelage of a fatherly mentor (cf. 2 Kings 2:1-15; 2 Kings 4:1; 2 Kings 4:38; 2 Kings 5:22; 2 Kings 6:1-7; 2 Kings 9:1). [Note: B. Smith, p. 139, n. 56.] Rather Amos had previously earned his living in a totally unrelated occupation. He had been a herdsman and a nipper of sycamore figs. The term "herdsman"

Obadiah 1:16 — "day" on the Lord’s holy mountain, Jerusalem, when she failed to help her brother, Israel. Likewise, all the nations would have their "day" dominating Jerusalem and the Jews, during "the times of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). We live in "the times of the Gentiles." This period of history began when Nebuchadnezzar removed Israel’s sovereignty in 586 B.C. and will end when Jesus Christ returns to the earth and restores Israel’s sovereignty. During "the

Zephaniah 3:8 — and hastening that day (by our prayers and preaching, 2 Peter 3:11). The great outpouring of divine wrath on the earth predicted here will take place during the Tribulation, before our Lord returns to set up His kingdom (cf. Zephaniah 2:2; Zechariah 14:2; Revelation 16:14; Revelation 16:16). Zephaniah’s final reference to the destruction of nations all over the world (Zephaniah 3:8) brings the section of his prophecy that deals with judgment (Zephaniah 1:2 to Zephaniah 3:8) full circle. A    Judgment

Matthew 23:5-7 — disciples should not copy (cf. Matthew 6:1-18). "Phylacteries" were small boxes of leather or parchment in which the Jews placed copies of four Old Testament texts written on vellum (fine parchment, customarily Exodus 13:1-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; and Deuteronomy 11:13-21). They then tied these onto their foreheads and or forearms with straps to fulfill Exodus 13:9; Exodus 13:16, and Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18. God probably intended the Jews to interpret these commands figuratively,

Luke 1:16-17 — Israel’s apostasy farther than it had ever gone by instituting Baal worship as Israel’s official religion. John would possess the same spirit and power that Elijah had. Moreover John would be the predicted predecessor of Messiah (Malachi 4:5-6; cf. Malachi 3:1). Jesus later explained that John fulfilled the prophecy of Messiah’s forerunner (Malachi 3:1). He would have completely fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah’s return if the Jews had accepted Jesus (Malachi 4:5-6; Matthew

Luke 11:4 — used the simple word "sins" (Gr. hamartia) rather then the Jewish idiom "debts" (Gr. opheilemata) that Matthew employed. The believer in Jesus has already received forgiveness from the guilt of his or her sins (cf. Luke 5:20; Luke 7:47; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 1:7). Therefore the forgiveness Jesus spoke of here is the forgiveness that is necessary for the maintenance of fellowship with the Father (cf. 1 John 1:5-10). A person’s unwillingness to forgive others who

John 1:29 — John used it 15 times. Probably his questioners had returned to Jerusalem by this time. The title "Lamb of God" presented Jesus as the Lamb that God would provide as a substitute sacrifice for people’s sins (Isaiah 53:7; cf. Genesis 4:4; Genesis 8:20; Genesis 22:8; Genesis 22:13-14; Exodus 12:3-17; Isaiah 53:12; 1 Peter 1:19). "It [the title "Lamb"] combines in one descriptive term the concepts of innocence, voluntary sacrifice, substitutionary atonement, effective

Acts 15:21 — settled the matter simply and quickly. But the apostles, who were Jews themselves, recognized that the law had no force any longer, and they did not try to impose it." [Note: Charles C. Ryrie, "The End of the Law," Bibliotheca Sacra 124:495 (July-September 1967):243. Cf. Mark 7:18-19; Luke 16:16; John 1:17; Acts 10:12; Romans 7:6; 10:4; 14:17; 1 Corinthians 8:8; 2 Corinthians 3:6-11; Galatians 3:19, 23; 4:9-11; 5:1; 6:2; Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 7:12; 9:10.] James was not putting

Acts 19:10 — of Pentecost. As a result of this three years of work, the local Christians preached the gospel and established churches all over the province of Asia. Among these were the churches of Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis in the Lycus Valley (Colossians 4:13), though evidently Paul did not personally plant them (cf. Colossians 2:1; Colossians 4:13). Perhaps the other churches mentioned in Revelation 2, 3 (i.e., Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia) got their start at this time too. "We

Acts 19:20 — former letter in 1 Corinthians 5:9. Then sometime later he wrote 1 Corinthians, probably near the spring of A.D. 56. Timothy travelled from Corinth to Ephesus, then evidently went back to Corinth, and returned later to Ephesus (Acts 18:5; 1 Corinthians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 16:10-11; Acts 19:22). Following Timothy’s visit to Corinth Paul evidently made a so-called "painful visit" to Corinth (2 Corinthians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 12:14; 2 Corinthians 13:1-2) and returned to Ephesus. Then he

Acts 20:28 — concluded his address with a challenge because of the Ephesian elders’ future responsibilities (Acts 20:28-31). The elders were to guard their own lives from the attacks of the adversary and then the lives of those under their care (cf. Ezekiel 34:12-16; 1 Peter 5:1-4). Paul used Jesus’ familiar figure of a flock of sheep to describe His followers (John 10:27; John 21:15; et al.). The term "elder" (Acts 20:17) came from Judaism and emphasized the dignity of the leader of God’s

Acts 4:5 — The "Council" (Acts 4:15) before which soldiers brought Peter and John the next day was the Sanhedrin, which was the senate and supreme court of Israel. It consisted of the high priest, who served as its presiding officer, and 70 other men. Its aristocratic members, the

1 Corinthians 10:23-1 — 4. The issue of marketplace food 10:23-11:1 As with the issue of marriage, however, Paul granted that there are some matters connected with idolatry that are not wrong. He next gave his readers some help in making the tough choices needed in view of the

1 Corinthians 3:17 — If any servant of the Lord tears down the church instead of building it up, God will tear him or her down (Acts 9:1-4). He usually does this by sending temporal discipline in one form or another (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:5). The Greek word translated "destroys" (phtheiro) also means "defiles." It is a very serious thing to destroy or defile a holy temple,

1 Corinthians 4:5 — place God will judge our lives is the judgment seat of Christ. If Paul’s references to his judgment by God in his epistles are any measure of how he regarded that event, he took it very seriously and thought about it often (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:14; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 4:8; et al.). "Paul lives in expectation of the imminent coming again of Christ." [Note: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,