Bible Commentaries

Genesis 19 overview — and 19 "paint a vivid contrast between the respective patriarchal ancestors, Abraham and Lot, with an obvious moralistic intent (i.e., a demonstration that human initiatives-Lot’s choice-always lead to catastrophe)." [Note: Helyer, p. 84.] "In the development of the story two of the themes in counterpoint with Abraham and the Promise-the theme of Lot, the righteous man without the pilgrim spirit, and of Sodom, the standing example of worldly promise, insecurity (chapter 14) and

Isaiah 15 overview — people of God are cared for. The Philistia oracle confirmed this by insisting that the Davidic promises would be kept, and the Moab oracle corrects any impression that the hope expressed in the Davidic promises is exclusivist." [Note: Motyer, p. 149.] The literary structure of this oracle is generally chiastic, focusing the reader’s attention on security in Zion (Isaiah 16:4-5). It is very difficult to date. One writer believed this invasion took place around 718 B.C. when Sargon the Assyrian

Matthew 18 overview — 4. Instructions about the King’s personal representatives ch. 18 Chapter 18 contains the fourth major discourse that Matthew recorded (cf. chs. 5-7; ch. 10; Matthew 13:1-53; chs. 24-25), His Discipleship Discourse. This discourse continues Jesus’

Deuteronomy 6 overview — issuesGodwardManwardAUTHORITYCommandment 1(expounded in chs. 6-11)Commandment 5(expounded in Deuteronomy 16:18 to Deuteronomy 18:22)DIGNITYCommandment 2(expounded in ch. 12)Commandments 6, 7 & 8(expounded in chs. 19-21; Deuteronomy 22:1 to Deuteronomy 23:14; and Deuteronomy 23:15 to Deuteronomy 24:7 respectively)COMMITMENTCommandment 3(expounded in Deuteronomy 13:1 to Deuteronomy 14:21)Commandment 9(expounded in Deuteronomy 24:8-16)RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGESCommandment 4(expounded in Deuteronomy 14:22 to Deuteronomy

Colossians 2:15 — [Note: Homer Kent Jr., Treasures of Wisdom, pp. 88-89.] "Christ divested Himself at the cross of the evil powers which had struggled with Him so strongly throughout His ministry in attempts to force Him to abandon the pathway of the cross (cf. Luke 4:1-13; Matthew 16:22-23; Luke 22:53, etc.)." [Note: Johnson, 477:20.] The public display probably refers to Jesus’ disgracing the powers of evil when He died on the cross by bearing the sin that was their claim and hold on human beings. Christ

Colossians 2:2-3 — Jesus Christ the better he or she will be able to recognize and refute false doctrine. "Only a love which penetrates to the heart and wells up from the heart can sustain the sort of unity that Paul sought (see also . . . Colossians 1:4)." [Note: Dunn, p. 130.] God has revealed in Christ all that a person needs to know to establish a relationship with God. Thinking that the source of true spiritual wisdom is somewhere other than in Christ can produce terrible disorder in the

Colossians 3:11 — angelic mediation in God’s redemptive work (cf. Colossians 1:18-22; Colossians 2:18). He is everything in sanctification; hence legality and asceticism are out of place in the Christian life (cf. Colossians 2:16-23). He is our life (Colossians 3:3-4). Finally, He is everything necessary for human satisfaction; hence there is no need for philosophy, or the deeds of the old man (Colossians 1:26-28; Colossians 2:3; Colossians 2:9-10). He fills the whole life, and all else is hindering and harmful."

1 Timothy 3:14-15 — Paul wrote that he hoped to join Timothy soon. "A pseudonymous writer would hardly have put in this phrase. Paul’s hopes were not to be realized, but he did not know that." [Note: Robertson, 4:575.] In view of the context, Paul evidently was thinking of the local church when he spoke of it as a household and as a pedestal. [Note: See Robert A. Carlson, "An Evaluation of 1 Timothy 3:15 as a Pauline Description of the Nature and Task

2 Timothy 2:10 — message went forth (cf. Philippians 1:12-20). "The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still; His kingdom is forever." [Note: Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.] Paul had been the chief suppresser of the gospel (Acts 22:4; Acts 26:9-11). Now he was its chief promoter. He had been the greatest oppressor of the saints. Now he was the most greatly oppressed of them. "While the majority of the commentators understand the ’elect’ to refer to the unregenerate

2 Timothy 2:3-4 — expect more of the same. Paul urged him to submit to difficulties as a good soldier. The apostle used three illustrations to help Timothy appreciate the logical consistency of this exhortation (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:7; 1 Corinthians 9:10; 1 Corinthians 9:24). The first illustration is the soldier (cf. Ephesians 6:11-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8). Paul’s emphasis in this illustration was on the importance of remaining free from entanglement with other lesser goals and activities while serving the Lord.

Hebrews 4:12 — After we die, or experience the Rapture, God will do a spiritual postmortem on us at the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). He will examine our innermost attitudes and motives. The "scalpel" He will use is His Word. The Word of God is "living" because it is the word of the living God (Hebrews 3:12), and it is "active"

James 2:15-16 — 2. James’ illustration 2:15-16 As he did before (James 2:2-4), James provided a concrete situation to illustrate his point (James 2:15-16). He envisioned a situation that may very well have taken place in his church in Jerusalem where there were many poor saints (Romans 15:25-31; 1 Corinthians 16:3). All the

James 2:21 — This verse at first seems to contradict other verses that say God declared Abraham righteous when Abraham believed God’s promise (Genesis 15:1-6; Romans 4:1-5). The solution to the problem lies in the meaning of "justified." This word always means to declare someone righteous in the sight of the law, not to make someone righteous in his or her conduct (cf. Exodus 23:7; Deuteronomy 25:1; 1 Kings

1 Peter 2:21 — Part of the Christian’s calling (1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 2:9) includes suffering (cf. 2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus Christ suffered for His righteous conduct at the hands of sinners (cf. Matthew 26:67; Mark 14:65). We too can expect that our righteous behavior will draw the same response from the ungodly of our day (Matthew 11:29; Matthew 16:24; Luke 14:27; Acts 14:22). Whereas Jesus’ atonement set an example for us, it accomplished much more than that.

1 Peter 2:24 — cross. Peter taught that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and laid down His life as payment for those sins (i.e., penal substitution; cf. Deuteronomy 21:23). He viewed Jesus’ cross as an altar on which a sacrifice was placed. [Note: Bigg, p. 147.] We could translate the second part of this verse as follows: ". . . that, having broken with our sins, we might live for righteousness." Jesus Christ’s death separated our sins from us. Consequently we can now live unto

2 Peter 1:8 — Failure to do so will make us "useless" (Gr. argous) in God’s hands as His tools in the world (cf. James 2:20; cf. Matthew 20:3; Matthew 20:6), and "unfruitful" (Gr. akarpous) as communicators of His life (John 15:2; John 15:4; cf. Mark 12:12-14; Mark 12:20-26). This is so even though we have received everything necessary for godly living through the knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 1:3). "Render you neither useless nor unfruitful" is a litotes, a figure of speech that

Jude 1:7 — ends is the fruitage of infidelity. Such is the development of apostasy. Unbelief, rebellion against God and his revealed truth, immorality and anarchy. These steps may be traced in our own times." [Note: Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible, 4:179-80. See also Richard Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude, p. 616; Morgan, 2:2:198.] They are also observable in the history of Israel in the Old Testament.

Revelation 14:20 — judgment, Babylon is evidently not the city in view. It is instead Jerusalem. The Old Testament predicted that a final battle would take place near Jerusalem, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (i.e., the Kidron Valley just to the east of Jerusalem; Joel 3:12-14; Zechariah 14:4; cf. Revelation 11:2). It seems probable that blood will literally flow up to the height of horses’ bridles (about four and one-half feet) in some places in that valley. Obviously many people will have to die for this amount of

Revelation 5:9 — God’s plan of the ages led these 28 angels to sing a new (Gr. kainen, lit. fresh, distinctive in quality, rather than recent) song of praise. It may be new in the sense that it celebrates His death that inaugurated a new covenant. [Note: Mounce, p. 147.] However, I think it was probably new in the sense that it represented new praise for a new deliverance about to take place. "This [i.e., "a new song"] is a well-known expression in the psalms, relating to songs sung on festal occasions

Revelation 7:4 — The specific references to Israel and the names of the 12 Israelite tribes strongly suggest that the nation of Israel is in view rather than the church. [Note: For a discussion of the accuracy of the number 144,000, see Christopher R. Smith, "The Tribes of Revelation 7 and the Literary Competence of John the Seer," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 38:2 (June 1995):213-18.] Most posttribulationists and amillennialists believe the 144,000