Bible Commentaries

Ezekiel 27:1-3 — this chapter. The destruction of sinners always moves the heart of God, and it should also move the hearts of His spokespeople. Tyre had taken great pride and conceit in itself, and this was another cause of its judgment by God (cf. 26:2; Psalms 10:4; Proverbs 6:17; Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 16:18). Like Jerusalem, it considered itself perfect in beauty (Lamentations 2:15; cf. Ezekiel 28:1-17; Revelation 3:17).

Ezekiel 32:3 — The Lord announced that He would cast His net over Pharaoh using a large group of people as His instruments. In the Babylonian account of Creation, the Enuma elish (4:95), the god Marduk captured the chaos-monster Tiamat in a net and slew him. [Note: See Thomas, ed., p. 9.] God may have wanted the Jewish exiles in Babylon to see a parallel between what Ezekiel predicted and what the Babylonians believed. Fulfillment

Hosea 4:6 — God would destroy the Israelites because of their lack of knowledge of Himself. That is, they failed to acknowledge Him as their God (cf. Hosea 4:1). God would reject them as His priests on the earth, whose task it was to mediate the knowledge of God to the nations (Exodus 19:6), because they rejected the knowledge that He gave them in His law. He would abandon (forget) their children because

Amos 6:13 — The leaders felt very proud and confident because under Jeroboam II Israel had recaptured some territory that it had formerly lost to Aram (cf. 2 Kings 14:25). This included the town of Lo-debar in Transjordan (cf. 2 Samuel 9:4; 2 Samuel 17:27). Amos, however, cleverly made light of this feat by mispronouncing the city "Lo-dabar," which means "not a thing." They had taken nothing of

Amos 7:4 — in Israel (cf. Amos 1:9-10). What he saw may have been a scorching heat wave that resulted in a drought. The "great deep" is a phrase that refers to subterranean waters that feed springs (cf. Genesis 1:2; Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2; Genesis 49:25; Deuteronomy 8:7; Ezekiel 31:4). So intense was the fire that Amos saw that it dried up even these underground water reservoirs. Great heat with consequent drought was another of the punishments that the Lord warned of for covenant unfaithfulness

Nahum 2:13 — Invading armies would slay her young men. She would no longer devour other peoples like a lion does its prey. And messengers would no longer leave Nineveh with threats and to demand submission and taxes (cf. 2 Kings 18:17-25; 2 Kings 19:22; Isaiah 37:4; Isaiah 37:6).

Haggai 2:3 — The Lord asked if the older members of the restoration community who had seen Solomon’s temple, which perished 66 years earlier, did not think the present temple was nothing in comparison (cf. Zechariah 4:10). The Lord’s three questions forced the people to admit that the present temple was not as grand as the former one had been. The older returnees had made a similar negative comparison when the foundation of the temple was laid 16 years earlier

Zechariah 14:9 — In that day Yahweh would rule over the whole earth. He would be the only king; there would be no others. His name would be number one in the earth; there will be no other so-called gods (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4-5). This verse refers to Christ’s millennial kingdom (cf. Psalms 2; Daniel 2:44-45; Daniel 7:27; Matthew 6:9-10). "Israelites for generations had been singing ’The Lord reigns’ (Psalms 93; Psalms 97; Psalms 99), but it had been

Matthew 24:29 — "But" (NASB, Gr. de) introduces the contrast from the negative warning that preceded. At the very end of the Tribulation there will be signs in the sky. The sun and moon will darken and the stars will fall from the sky (Isaiah 13:9-10; Isaiah 34:4; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:31; Joel 3:15; Amos 8:9). This is probably the language of appearance. The "powers of the heavens" (NASB) or the "heavenly bodies" (NIV) probably is a collective reference to the sun, moon, and stars. [Note:

Mark 13:27 — implies the resurrection of Old Testament saints (Daniel 12:2) and Tribulation saints who have died (Revelation 6:9-11). Probably Christians, saints of the church age who have gone to heaven at the Rapture or death, will return with Him (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Saints living on the earth when Jesus returns will also assemble to Him (cf. Matthew 25). Jesus pictured all believers converging to Him at His second coming whether alive or dead, on earth or in heaven. He will become the universal center of attention,

Mark 5:42 — When Jesus restored life, recovery was instantaneous (Gr. euthys, twice in this verse), not gradual, as was also true with former prophets (cf. 1 Kings 17:19-20; 2 Kings 4:33). Perhaps Mark mentioned the girl’s age because she was 12 and the woman whom Jesus had just healed had suffered with her affliction for 12 years (Mark 5:25). The woman had begun living when she should have died from her incurable condition.

Luke 13:1 — "reported" or "told." Some Galileans had been in Jerusalem offering sacrifices at the temple. This may have been at Passover since only then did non-priests offers sacrifices. [Note: J. Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus, p. 207, footnote 4.] Pilate, the Roman governor of the province of Judea, may have killed them beside the altar in the temple courtyard. However the figure of speech that Luke used to describe Pilate’s action permits a somewhat looser interpretation. There are no

Luke 19:47-48 — 3. A synopsis of Jesus’ teaching in the temple 19:47-48 (cf. Mark 11:18) Luke stressed the rejection and hostility of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus as He taught daily in the temple courtyards. The common people, however, were very receptive to His instruction. This contrast between popular acceptance

Luke 22:22 — Jesus then affirmed again that He was going to die and thereby fulfill God’s plan (cf. Acts 2:23; Acts 10:42; Acts 17:31; Romans 1:4). Luke used a strong word (Gr. horismemon, "determined" or "decreed") to stress God’s sovereignty in these affairs. The title "Son of Man" helped the disciples appreciate that this was part

Luke 24:27 — beginning in the Law and the Prophets sections of the Hebrew Bible. What an exposition of the Scriptures this must have been! It is no wonder that they later commented that their hearts burned within them as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them (Luke 24:32). Jesus’ method of bringing spiritual illumination to these disciples is a paradigm that the apostles followed in their preaching, as is clear from Acts. It centered on explaining the meaning of what God had revealed. This method is still essential

Luke 4:36-37 — Again Luke noted the amazement of the observers (Gr. thambos, wonder mixed with fear). The people questioned the powerful word (Gr. logos, Luke 4:32) of Jesus marked by authority (Gr. exousia) and power (Gr. dynamei) over unclean spirits (i.e., demons). Perhaps Luke stressed the "word" of Jesus because the Greeks put much stock in the power of a great person’s words, people such

Luke 6:12-49 — C. Jesus’ teaching of His disciples 6:12-49 Luke gave his readers an overview of Jesus’ ministry (Luke 4:14 to Luke 5:11) and then presented His relationship to His opponents (Luke 5:12 to Luke 6:11). Next he described Jesus’ relationship with His disciples (Luke 6:12-49). He arranged

Luke 9:34 — The cloud was undoubtedly the shekinah, the visible vehicle for God’s localized presence during the wilderness wanderings (Exodus 13:21-22; Exodus 16:10; Exodus 24:16; Exodus 40:34-38). It would also accompany the Son of Man’s coming (Isaiah 4:5; Daniel 7:13). Its presence is another indication that the Second Coming is in view. The Greek word episkiazo ("overshadow," also in Luke 9:34 but translated

John 5:30-47 — 4. The Father’s witness to the Song of Solomon 5:30-47 Jesus now returned to develop a theme that He had introduced previously, namely, the Father’s testimony to the Son (John 5:19-20). Jesus proceeded to cite five witnesses to His identity,

John 6:17-18 — The disciples’ ultimate destination was Capernaum, which Mark called Bethsaida (Mark 6:45). Evidently this western Bethsaida ("Fishtown") was very close to, or even part of, Capernaum. [Note: Edersheim, 2:3-4.] When Jesus did not appear by nightfall, they decided to travel on to Capernaum without Him. In John’s Gospel darkness