Bible Commentaries

Proverbs 15:2 — with responsible speech. "When you summarize what Proverbs teaches about human speech, you end up with four important propositions: (1) speech is an awesome gift from God; (2) speech can be used to do good; (3) speech can be used to do evil; and, (4) only God can help us use speech to do good." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 111.]

Isaiah 1:16-17 — Having shown what God does not want, Isaiah now told the people what He does want (cf. Isaiah 66:1-4; Isaiah 66:17). His demands are short and simple in contrast to the elaborate rituals described above (cf. Deuteronomy 10:12-13; Micah 6:8). Three negative commands relate to the past and five positive ones to the future. Washing (Isaiah 1:16) is symbolic

Isaiah 11:4 — ancient world because the poor could not afford to bribe their judges, and they possessed little political influence. But Israel’s coming king would do what was right for the poor and be fair with the afflicted (cf. Revelation 1:5; Revelation 3:14). His words of judgment would result in the death of the wicked rather than giving them preferential treatment for what they could do for the judge (cf. Isaiah 55:10-11; Genesis 1:3; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 1:16; Revelation 19:15;

Isaiah 2:22 — 2:22 This section (Isaiah 2:5-22) closes as it opened, with an exhortation, this one being negative. Isaiah called on his hearers to stop trusting in man. His life, after all, comes from God, who should be trusted (cf. Genesis 2:7; Genesis 7:22; Psalms 146:4). Human beings have no real value as objects of trust. Idolatry is but a result of man’s self-glorification, not its cause. Human beings will never bring about Israel’s glorious destiny. Only God can and will do that. This verse, like

Isaiah 3:1 — "For" ties this section to the argument of Isaiah 2:6-22. "Behold" (Heb. hinneh) commonly introduces a threat in prophetic material. The multiple names of God again hint at judgment to come (cf. Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 10:16; Isaiah 10:33; Isaiah 19:4). God was going to remove what was essential from Judah and Jerusalem. "Supply" (Heb. mash’en) and "support" (Heb. mash’ena) are masculine and feminine forms of the same word in

Isaiah 32:16-17 — Justice and righteousness will be everywhere. The effects of this righteousness will be peace, rest, and security (cf. Isaiah 11:4-9). This will come about because people will be right with God (cf. Isaiah 30:15). "The person who has received the grace of God’s forgiveness is at peace with God. Knowing himself to be at peace with the Sovereign of the universe, it is

Isaiah 51:9 — delivering power in action for His people as His "arm" (cf. Isaiah 51:5; Isaiah 53:1). His arm had defeated the Egyptians and Pharaoh in the Exodus in the past, here described respectively as Rahab (lit. proud one, cf. Isaiah 30:7; Psalms 87:4) and the dragon (cf. Ezekiel 29:3). Rahab and the dragon were also part of the mythological lore of the ancient Near East. By using these names, Isaiah was undoubtedly stressing Yahweh’s ability to overcome all the pagan gods and every other power

Isaiah 53:1-3 — The Servant despised 53:1-3 Expositors have called this chapter the holy of holies of Isaiah. It is also the middle chapter in part two of the book (chs. 40-66). Most of the approximately 80 references to Isaiah in the New Testament come from this chapter. [Note: A. Martin, Christ in . . ., part 2, p. 12] It is the most quoted or alluded to Old Testament chapter in the New Testament. "Beyond question,

Isaiah 54:4 — God’s third command (cf. Isaiah 54:1-2) was not to fear. These were not idle promises; God would stand behind them and bring them to pass. Sarah initially felt ashamed because she did not believe the Lord would give her a child (Genesis 18:12-14; cf. Genesis 16:4; 1 Samuel 1:6; 1 Samuel

Isaiah 8:4 — distinctly, Assyria (Tiglath-pileser III) would carry off the wealth of Damascus and Samaria (in 732 B.C.; cf. Isaiah 7:15-16; 2 Kings 15:29). This brought to a close a 200-year period in which the Aramean Kingdom played a leading role. [Note: Watts, p. 114.] Thus Syria and Israel would not only fail in their attempt to bring Judah under their power (cf. Isaiah 7:6), but the king of Assyria would bring them under his power. This second promise is almost identical to the earlier one in Isaiah 7:4-9. Perhaps

Isaiah 9:1 — Assyrian invaders. It was a melting pot and home to many Gentiles, as well as Jews, because the international highway between Mesopotamia and Egypt passed through it. Glory came to this region later when Jesus lived and ministered there (cf. Matthew 4:13-16). But it will enjoy even greater glory during Messiah’s earthly reign, as will all of the Promised Land.

Jeremiah 12:1 — answers from righteous Yahweh, and he approached the Lord in prayer as though he were in court. He wanted to know why God allowed the wicked to prosper and the treacherous to live in ease (cf. Job 21:7; Psalms 37; Psalms 73:3-5; Psalms 73:12; Psalms 94:3; Habakkuk 1:12-17). It appeared to the prophet that the Lord, as well as Israel, had broken covenant (cf. Psalms 1:3-4). "The problem of the prosperity of the wicked in the light of God’s righteousness is not directly solved here or elsewhere

Jeremiah 14:22 — hope was in Him. He had brought calamity, and He alone could bring blessing. "His [Jeremiah’s] appeals were directed to: (1) a tender physician-’Hath thy soul loathed Zion? Why . . . is no healing for us?’ (Jeremiah 14:19); (2) a forgiving God-’We have sinned against thee’ (Jeremiah 14:20); (3) an honor-preserving throne-’Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us’ (Jeremiah 14:21); (4) an omnipotent Creator-’We

Jeremiah 19:1-6 — symbolic act (cf. Jeremiah 13:1-11). This incident may have occurred between 609 and 605 B.C. "In ch. 18 God explains to Jeremiah that sovereign grace is able to take the marred vessel (Israel) and remake it a vessel of usefulness (Jeremiah 19:4). But to the elders, in ch. 19, the prophet declares that their generation will be irreparably destroyed like a smashed fragile vessel, and the fragments taken to Babylon. That generation of the nation was not restored to the land (Jeremiah 19:10-13)."

Jeremiah 31:2 — When the Israelites would seek rest from the attacks of their enemies (cf. Jeremiah 6:16; Exodus 33:14; Deuteronomy 3:20; Joshua 1:13; Joshua 1:15; Joshua 22:4; Isaiah 63:14), they would find it in the wilderness (cf. Jeremiah 2:2; Revelation 12:14-16). [Note: Another view sees this as a reference to the captivity of the Northern Kingdom (e.g., Thompson,

Jeremiah 50:17 — of Assyria, Shalmanezer, had scattered the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom like sheep (in 722 B.C.; 2 Kings 17:1-6; 2 Kings 18:9-12), and the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had done worse to the Judahites in the south (in 605-581 B.C.; Jeremiah 4:7; 2 Kings 24). He had broken their bones-not just scattered the people but also slain them. "Politically, the intrigues and treacheries of Judah’s kings (’shepherds’, as the Old Testament regards them) had brought Assyria and

Jeremiah 52:17-18 — at the entrance to the temple (1 Kings 7:15-22), the wheeled stands for the priests to wash their tools in (1 Kings 7:27-36), the sea (reservoir) for the water in the courtyard with which the priests washed themselves (1 Kings 7:23-26; 2 Chronicles 4:6), and the utensils used in the temple service (1 Kings 7:40; 1 Kings 7:45). The sea was about 15 feet in diameter, seven and a half feet high, and three inches thick. The wheeled stands and their bowls carried about 104 gallons of water each. Thus

Lamentations 1:1 — Jeremiah bewailed the abandoned city of Jerusalem that had once been so glorious and independent. Sitting alone is sometimes a picture of deep sorrow and mourning (cf. Lamentations 2:10; Ezra 9:3; Nehemiah 1:4). Now the city was as solitary as a widow and as servile as a forced laborer. It had changed in three ways: numerically, economically, and socially. "Jerusalem, a city which used to be close to God, has been changed by the choice of significant

Ezekiel 2:7 — work is not always in terms of the amount and frequency of visible response. Success is to be measured in terms of our obedience to the words, commands, and will of God regardless of the visible results [cf. Matthew 25:21; Matthew 25:23; 1 Corinthians 4:2]." [Note: Cooper, p. 77.] "Rare is the person who can set out on a task knowing that people will hate him or her for doing it. But this is exactly what Ezekiel was called to do. His faithfulness stands as a challenge to ours." [Note:

Ezekiel 9:1 — In his vision Ezekiel heard the Lord (cf. Ezekiel 9:4) cry out loudly for the executioners (guards), who would punish the people of Jerusalem, to draw near to Him with their weapons in hand. The Lord had predicted that the people would cry out to Him for mercy with a loud voice (Ezekiel 8:18), but first