Bible Commentaries

Genesis 6:3 — evidently the years that God would give humankind before the flood. [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 1:136.] They probably do not indicate a reduction in the normal human lifespan to 120 years. [Note: However Mathews, p. 335; Westermann, p. 376; Wenham, pp. 142, 146-47; et al. defended the shortening of life view.] "The judgment is that God will not endlessly and forever permit his life-giving spirit to enliven those who disorder his world. The breath of life (Genesis 2:7; Psalms 104:29-30) remains

Genesis 9:1-17 — family of humanity, indicating that the blessing continues through the progeny of the Sethite line. Also Genesis 8:20 to Genesis 9:17 possesses lexical and thematic connections with the ratification of the Sinai covenant by Moses and the elders (Exodus 24:4-18)." [Note: Ibid., p. 398. See also Kenneth Mulzac, "Genesis 9:1-7: Its Theological Connections with the Creation Motif," Journal of the Adventist Theological Society 12:1 (Spring 2001):65-77.]

Exodus 20:22-33 — 4. The stipulations of the Book of the Covenant 20:22-23:33 "It is worth noting that the stipulations are enfolded within matching frames that stress the exclusivity of Yahweh (Exodus 20:22-23; cf. Exodus 23:24-25; cf. Exodus 23:32-33), His presence

Psalms 15:5 — who is walking in the will of God. The rabbis identified 613 commands in the Mosaic Law. Isaiah mentioned six that are very important (Isaiah 33:15-16), Micah listed three (Micah 6:8), and Habakkuk boiled them down to one, namely, faith (Habakkuk 2:4). A believer needs to make sure he is walking in the will of God consistently to enjoy fellowship with God and stability in his life. [Note: See Swindoll, pp. 47-55.]

Leviticus 9:1-6 — offered the previous seven days. This indicated again that the Levitical offerings did not provide a permanent covering for sin (cf. Hebrews 10:1). The purpose of these sacrifices was that the glory of the Lord might appear to His people (Leviticus 9:4; Leviticus 9:6; cf. Exodus 16:10). The glory of the Lord is His visible presence (in symbol) among His people (cf. Exodus 24:16-17).

Isaiah 34 overview — 4. The consequences of Israel’s trust chs. 34-35 This section concludes the major section of Isaiah that deals with God’s sovereignty over the nations of the world (chs. 13-35). Here the lessons stand out clearly. Pride leads to humiliation,

Isaiah 39:7 — mind-for some descendants. As usual, God’s promise of judgment contained some hope. This prediction of Hezekiah’s descendants became true of the king’s physical seed: his son Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:11), King Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:12), and King Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:7). It also became true of many of Hezekiah’s people, his children in that sense, when Nebuchadnezzar carried three deportations of Judahites off to Babylon (cf. 2 Kings 24:12-16; 2 Chronicles 33:11; Daniel 1:3-4;

Isaiah 53:4-6 — The Servant wounded 53:4-6 It becomes clear in this stanza of the song that the Servant’s sufferings were not His own fault, as onlookers thought. They were for the sins of humankind and resulted in our healing. Furthermore, He would not merely suffer because of the sins

Jeremiah 11:3-4 — Yahweh, Israel’s God, announced a curse on any of His people who did not obey the covenant that He gave their forefathers when He liberated them from their Egyptian hardships (cf. Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 11:28; Deuteronomy 27:26; Deuteronomy 28:15-19; Deuteronomy 29:20-21; 1 Kings 8:51; Isaiah 48:10). At that time, the Lord had commanded the Israelites to listen to His voice and to be completely obedient (cf. Exodus 19:5-6). By promising

Jeremiah 3:17 — interest in the ark, in that day, will be: the Lord Himself will be enthroned in Jerusalem. The whole city will be known as "The Throne of the LORD," not just the ark (cf. Leviticus 16:2; Leviticus 16:13; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalms 80:1; Ezekiel 48:35). "There is unquestionably a Messianic expectation here (cf. Jeremiah 5:18; Jeremiah 31:1; Jeremiah 33:16; Hosea 3:5, etc.)." [Note: Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 66.] People from the Gentile nations would also come to Jerusalem, as

Ezekiel 11:16 — Babylon. "Even in drastic judgment, as in the case of the dispersion of Israel, God provides for His people a place of refuge. This refuge, called here ’a little sanctuary [AV],’ is the LORD Himself (cp. Psalms 90:1; Psalms 91:9; Isaiah 4:6). So with all of God’s own, Gentile as well as Jew, in the midst of deserved judgment there is still a sanctuary of refuge and peace in Him." [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 848.]

Ezekiel 25:6-7 — them that Yahweh is God. "Oracles against foreign nations are always implicitly oracles of encouragement for God’s people." [Note: Stuart, p. 250.] Jeremiah predicted that Yahweh would restore the fortunes of the Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:6). This occurred briefly after the Exile. Tobiah was a Persian governor of Ammon during the postexilic period (cf. Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 4:7). But restoration of this region will also take place in the Millennium (cf. Jeremiah 46:26-28;

Ezekiel 29:6-7 — to help the Israelites. They had proved to be as weak a support as one of the reeds that grew along the banks of the Nile (cf. Exodus 2:3). People used a staff as a cane or walking stick for support when they walked on rough terrain (cf. Zechariah 8:4; Mark 6:8; Hebrews 11:21). But when the Judahites had relied on the Egyptians this ally had broken and had even injured God’s people (cf. 2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 36:6; Jeremiah 37:7). As a crutch, Egypt was worse than useless. The Israelites, of

Ezekiel 36:26 — hardness of heart and give them soft hearts (i.e., regenerate them; cf. Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 18:31; 2 Corinthians 3:3-6). Perhaps this passage was in the Lord Jesus’ mind when He spoke to Nicodemus about the new birth. [Note: Cf. Kaiser, p. 242.] The heart stands for the whole person-mind, will, and emotions (cf. Ezekiel 2:4; Ezekiel 3:7)-and the spirit describes the motivation that drives thought and conduct. "The temptation to find the fulfillment of the ’new heart’ and

Ezekiel 37:18-19 — When Ezekiel’s audience asked him what his symbolic act represented (cf. Ezekiel 4:1; Ezekiel 5:1; Ezekiel 12:9; Ezekiel 17:12; Ezekiel 20:49; Ezekiel 24:19), he was to tell them that the Lord said He would combine the two parts of Israel into one whole nation (cf. Isaiah 11:12-13; Jeremiah 3:18; Hosea 1:11). This promise refutes

Daniel 8:20-22 — Gabriel identified the ram with the two horns as Media and Persia (cf. Daniel 8:3-4), not just Media as many liberal interpreters insist because of their second-century composition hypothesis. The goat, here further described as shaggy, represents Greece (cf. Daniel 8:5-7), not Persia as many liberals contend. The large horn on the

Hosea 1:11 — "Hosea," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 1381-82.] When this happens it will be a great day for Jezree. As Jezreel was a place of former victory for Israel (Judges 7), so it would be again in the future (cf. Isaiah 9:4-7; Isaiah 41:8-16; Joel 3:9-17; Amos 9:11-12; Revelation 19:11-21). The leader in view is probably Jesus Christ (cf. Hosea 3:5; Jeremiah 30:21), so this is probably a messianic prophecy.

Hosea 5:1 — Hosea called on the Israelite priests, the whole population of Israel, and the royal household to hear this message from Yahweh (cf. Hosea 4:1). The following word of judgment applied to all of them because they had been as a snare to birds in the Northern Kingdom. Their policies and practices had trapped many people in idolatry and its consequent bondage and destruction. There was an Israelite

Hosea 7:12 — the central-southern portions of the nation not yet controlled by Assyria. Within a few years (i.e., sometime in the mid-720s) he stopped tribute payments to Assyria and appealed for support to a temporarily resurgent Egypt (1 [sic 2] Kgs 2 Kings 17:2-4). This was the ’mixed up’ foreign policy ’among the nations’ (Hosea 7:8) of a dying people (Hosea 7:9)." [Note: Ibid., p. 117.]

Deuteronomy 32:19-25 — (Deuteronomy 32:21) are those that had no divine calling as a people as Israel did. There is no other nation like Israel in the sense that it is the people of God. Fire (Deuteronomy 32:22) is the symbol of God’s wrath and judgment (cf. Deuteronomy 4:24; Exodus 3:2; Hebrews 12:29).