Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 1. The possibility of restoration 30:1-10
  When banished to the ends of the earth, the Israelites could repent and return to Yahweh in their hearts purposing to obey Him again (vv. 1-2). In that event God would do several things for them. He would bring them back to t...
• The gathering of Jewish and Gentile believers 27:12-13
  27:12 The Lord would assemble the remnant of His people from the Promised Land as a farmer gathers up (gleans, cf. 24:13) his crops. Not only will He destroy His enemies then, but He will gather redeemed Israelites into His k...
• The certainty of redemption 42:10-43:7
  God had not forgotten nor was He unable to deliver His people. Their redemption was certain."This vision of what God will accomplish through his Servant is so exciting that Isaiah breaks into the ecstatic hymn of praise (vv. ...
• The two baskets of figs ch. 24
  24:1 This prophetic message came to Jeremiah after Nebuchadnezzar had taken King Jehoiachin (Coniah, Jeconiah, cf. 22:24) and many of the other royal counselors, craftsmen, and smiths (or artisans) captive to Babylon in 597 B...
• Jacob's distress and deliverance 30:4-11
  30:4 This oracle concerns all the Israelites, those of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.30:5-6 A time of great terror, dread, and unrest was coming. Men would behave as though they were in labor; they would hold themse...
• An illustration of Israel's restoration 37:1-14
  This well-known apocalyptic vision of the valley of dry bones pictures the manner in which Yahweh would restore His people.473This may be the best known section of the Book of Ezekiel."Few other passages have suffered more fr...
• Genre
  Daniel is a book of prophecy."Among the great prophetic books of Scripture, none provides a more comprehensive and chronological prophetic view of the broad movement of history than the book of Daniel. Of the three prophetic ...
• B. Daniel's vision of the 70 sevens ch. 9
  This chapter records a third vision that Daniel received (cf. chs. 7, 8). The vision itself occupies only a small part of this chapter (vv. 24-27), but the verses that precede it prepare for it and connect with it."In many re...
• A. Israel's spiritual renewal and deliverance 2:28-32
  2:28-29 After this, namely, after the deliverance from the northern invader just described, God promised to pour out His Spirit on all mankind without gender, age, class, or position distinction.29In Old Testament times God g...
• Zion's future greatness 4:6-8
  4:6 In "that day"the Lord also promised to assemble His people whom He had allowed the nations to abuse. This will occur when He turns the tide for Israel and begins to bless her, namely, at the beginning of the Millennium.Th...
• Plan and Structure
  Matthew often grouped his material into sections so that three, five, six, or seven events, miracles, sayings, or parables appear together.27Jewish writers typically did this to help their readers remember what they had writt...
• Outline
  I. The introduction of the King 1:1-4:11A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17B. The King's birth 1:18-25C. The King's childhood 2:1-231. The prophecy about Bethlehem 2:1-122. The prophecies about Egypt 2:13-183. The prophecies about...
• 1. The setting of Jesus' ministry 4:12-16
  Comparison of John's Gospel and Matthew's shows that Jesus ministered for about a year before John the Baptist's arrest. John had criticized Herod Antipas for having an adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife (...
• 3. Jesus' supernatural power 8:23-9:8
  Matthew's first group of miracles (vv. 1-17) demonstrated that Jesus possessed the messianic power to heal physical ailments. His second group (8:23-9:8) shows even greater powers in other realms: disaster, demons, and diseas...
• The explanation of the parable of the weeds 13:36-43
  Matthew separated the explanation of this parable from its telling in the text (vv. 24-30). He evidently did this to separate more clearly for the reader the parables Jesus spoke to the multitudes from the parables He told Hi...
• The cost and reward of discipleship 16:24-27 (cf. Mark 8:34-38; Luke 9:23-26)
  Jesus proceeded to clarify the way of discipleship. In view of Jesus' death His disciples, as well as He, would have to die to self. However, they could rejoice in the assurance that the kingdom would come eventually. Glory w...
• 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; 13:1-53; chs. 24-25), His Discipleship Discourse. This discourse continues Jesus' instruction of His disciples that He began in 17:14...
• VI. The official presentation and rejection of the King 19:3--25:46
  This section of the Gospel continues Jesus' instruction of His disciples in preparation for their future (19:3-20:34). Then Jesus presented Himself formally to Israel as her King with His triumphal entry (21:1-17). This resul...
• 4. Instruction about Jesus' passion 20:17-19 (cf. Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-34)
  There is a theological connection between this section and the former one. The death of Jesus provided the basis for God's gracious dealings with believers in His Son. This connection is clear to Matthew's readers because Mat...
• B. Jesus' presentation of Himself to Israel as her King 21:1-17
  Jesus came to Jerusalem to present Himself formally to the leaders of Israel as the nation's Messiah. He did this when He entered Jerusalem as Isaiah and Zechariah predicted Messiah would appear."Jesus entered Jerusalem for t...
• D. The King's rejection of Israel ch. 23
  Israel's rejection of Jesus as her King was now unmistakably clear. Her leaders had consistently refused to accept Him. Their rejection was a rejection of Jesus' person (22:42). It contrasts sharply with the disciples' confes...
• The seventh woe 23:29-36
  23:29-30 By building monuments to the prophets and other righteous people that their forefathers had martyred, the Pharisees were saying that they would not have killed them if they had been alive then. These construction pro...
• 3. Jesus' lamentation over Jerusalem 23:37-39 (cf. Luke 13:34-35)
  This lamentation should help us realize that the judgment Jesus just announced in such strong language was not something that delighted Him. It broke His heart. This is also clear from His personalizing the people in Jerusale...
• 1. The setting of these revelations 24:1-3 (cf. Mark 13:1-4; Luke 21:5-7)
  24:1 The connective "and"(NASB, Gr. kai) ties what follows to Jesus' preceding denunciation of the generation of Jews that rejected Him and the divine judgment that would follow (23:36-39). However the "apocalyptic"or "eschat...
• 3. Jesus' general description of the future 24:7-14 (cf. Mark 13:8-13; Luke 21:10-19)
  Jesus proceeded to give His disciples a general picture of conditions just before He will return to end the present age and inaugurate His kingdom.24:7-8 Wars, famines, and earthquakes will anticipate the end of the present a...
• 4. The abomination of desolation 24:15-22 (cf. Mark 13:14-20)
  Having given a general description of conditions preceding His return and the end of the present age, Jesus next described one particular event that would be the greatest sign of all.24:15 "Therefore"or "So"(Gr. oun) ties thi...
• 5. The second coming of the King 24:23-31 (cf. Mark 13:21-27; Luke 21:25-28)
  Jesus proceeded to explain to His disciples that His coming would terminate the Great Tribulation.24:23-24 "Then"means "at that time,"namely at the end of the Great Tribulation (v. 2). Jesus warned the disciples about people ...
• The parables of one taken and one left behind 24:40-41 (cf. Luke 17:34-35)
  Having explained the importance of the signs leading up to His return and the responses to those signs, Jesus next explained the respective consequences of the two responses.Many Christians who have read these verses have ass...
• Jesus' fourth passion prediction and the plot to betray Him 26:1-5 (cf. Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-2)
  26:1-2 These verses record the fourth major prediction of Jesus' death that He gave His disciples (cf. 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19). Matthew just finished recording Jesus' claim to judge humankind (25:31-46). Now he wrote that ...
• The trial before the Sanhedrin 26:57-68 (cf. Mark 14:53-65; Luke 22:54, 63-65)
  Matthew omitted Jesus' hearing before Annas (John 18:12-14, 19-23). Quite possibly Annas lived in one wing of the same building in which the Sanhedrin met.102826:57 Josephus wrote that the building in which the Sanhedrin norm...
• 4. The King's final instructions to His disciples 28:16-20 (cf. Mark 16:15-18; 1 Cor. 15:6)
  Whereas the chief priests used bribe money to commission the soldiers to spread lies, the resurrected Jesus used the promise of His power and presence to commission His disciples to spread the gospel.1091This is the final add...
• Bibliography
  Abbott-Smith, G. A. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1937.Albright, W. F. and Mann, C. S. Matthew. The Anchor Bible series. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.Alford, Henry. The Greek Testa...
• 5. The certainty of these events 21:29-33 (cf. Matt. 24:32-35; Mark 13:28-31)
  Jesus told the parable of the fig tree to illustrate the certainty of what He had prophesied. He then gave other assurances of fulfillment. Luke omitted Jesus' statement that no one would know the day or hour when He would re...
• Peter's defense 2:14-21
  2:14-15 Peter, again representing the apostles (cf. 1:15), addressed the assembled crowd. He probably gave this speech in the Temple outer courtyard (the court of the Gentiles). He probably spoke in the vernacular, Aramaic or...
• The Abrahamic Covenant 7:2-8
  Stephen began his defense by going back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, and to the Abrahamic Covenant, God's foundational promises to the Jews.7:2-3 Stephen called for the Sanhedrin's attention addressing his hea...
• 4. The assurance of victory over death 15:50-58
  Paul brought his revelation of the resurrection to a climax in this paragraph by clarifying what all this means for the believer in Christ. Here he also dealt with the exceptional case of living believers' transformation at t...
• B. The Rapture 4:13-18
  Paul next turned to another subject on which his readers needed instruction in view of their newness in Christ (cf. 3:10). He outlined the immediate hope of his readers. He did this to explain that those of their number who h...
• C. Personal watchfulness 5:1-11
  In view of the imminency of Christ's return Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to be ready to prepare them to meet the Lord at any time."The former [paragraph, i.e., 4:13-18] offered instruction concerning the dead in Christ; th...
• B. Encouragement to persevere 1:5-10
  These verses explain what God's future righteous judgment is.1:5 Paul explained that suffering for Christ demonstrates the believer's worthiness to participate in God's kingdom. A hot fire under gold ore separates the gold fr...
• 2. The superiority of the New Covenant 12:18-24
  The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant by comparing it with the Old Covenant using the figure of two mountains: Sinai and Zion.12:18-21 These verses describe the giving of the Old Covenant at Mt. ...
• Message9
  If I were to boil down the message of this epistle into one sentence it would be this. Fellowship with God is the essence of eternal life.Both the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John deal with eternal life. John wrot...
• Historical background
  The opening verses of the book state that "John"wrote it (1:1, 4, 9; cf. 22:8). >From the first century to the present day almost all orthodox scholars have concluded that this means the Apostle John.1Two noteworthy exception...
• 1. The sealing of 144,000 Israelites 7:1-8
  The scene continues to be on earth.7:1 The phrase "after this"(Gr. meta touto) indicates that what follows is a new vision (cf. 4:1). The general chronological progression of the visions suggests that the events John saw now ...
• Introduction to the seven trumpet judgments 8:2-6
  8:2 John saw someone, perhaps God, give seven trumpets to a group of seven angels standing before the heavenly throne (cf. 1:4; 3:1; 8:6; 15:1). Exactly who these angels were is not clear. Some interpreters have identified th...
• 2. The return of Christ to earth 19:11-16
  On the one hand, the return of Jesus Christ to the earth is the climax of all that has preceded. On the other, it is the first of seven final things that John saw and recorded. These things were Christ's return, Satan's captu...
• 3. The destruction of the wicked on earth 19:17-21
  19:17 John saw next an angel standing in the sun, a conspicuous position in which all the birds could see him. He cried loudly for all the birds flying in midheaven to assemble (cf. Ezek. 39:4, 17). Jesus referred to the same...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• St. Matthew 9-28
  Matthew 9-28
• The Vineyard And Its Keepers
  Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34. And w...