Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The altar of burnt offerings 27:1-8
  The height of this altar was 5 feet. This height has led some commentators to suggest that a step-like bench or ledge may have surrounded it on which the priests stood when they offered sacrifices.463In view of the command pr...
• The presumption of the people 14:39-45
  Having received their sentence from the Lord, the people then presumptuously proceeded to go up on their own to take the land (vv. 40-42)."They are like children who had broken a valuable vase and decided to make it better' b...
• Conclusion
  I believe the primary application of the Book of Job is that we do not need to know why God does what He does if we know Him. Job is a book that deals with persevering faith (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7).203"To sufferers in all ages the b...
• 2. Confidence in future deliverance 16:9-11
  16:9-10 Evidently David had received a special revelation from the Lord that he would not die then but would escape from whatever distress he was enduring (cf. v. 7a). The phrase "my glory rejoices"(NASB) means David rejoiced...
• 4. A final warning 50:22-23
  God let His people off with a warning. However, they should remember Him and the fact that He would judge them eventually. Heartfelt gratitude and obedience would honor God and bring His deliverance. Simply going through the ...
• 3. The call for divine judgment 82:8
  Asaph concluded this psalm by calling for God to judge the whole earth, not just Israel. The world then as now needed righteous judgment that only God, the righteous Judge, can provide. God's provision of Jesus Christ, to who...
• Purpose
  This book helps the reader develop a God-centered worldview and recognize the dangers of a self-centered worldview. It does not describe the life of faith or teach what the responsibilities of faith in God are. It also prescr...
• The divine enablement 57:14-21
  This pericope concludes the section begun at 56:1 dealing with the need for humility and holiness in the redeemed people of God. Isaiah explained that the basis of God's acceptance and blessing of His redeemed people was righ...
• The appeal 18:30-32
  18:30 In closing, God promised to judge each Israelite according to his or her own conduct. He urged His people to turn from their transgressions of His law so their sins would not prove to be what tripped them up as they jou...
• 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...
• The inevitable outcome 4:12-13
  4:12 The Israelites should prepare to meet their God because they had failed to repent (cf. Exod. 19:10-19; 2 Cor. 5:10). He would confront them with even greater punishments (cf. 3:11-15). They should prepare to meet Him, no...
• VI. Oracle five: The people's sin of robbing God 3:7-12
  The Lord had said that Israel's earlier history was a time when the priests and the people of Israel pleased Him (v. 4). Now He said that those early days were short-lived (cf. Exod. 32:7-9). In contrast to His faithfulness (...
• The disciple's relationship to wealth 6:19-34 (cf. Luke 12:13-34)
  6:19-21 In view of the imminence of the kingdom, Jesus' disciples should "stop laying up treasures on earth."329Jesus called for a break with their former practice. Clearly money is not evil. The wise person works hard and ma...
• The attitudes of the disciples 10:26-39 (cf. Luke 12:1-12)
  Even though Jesus' disciples would encounter hostile opposition, they should fear God more than their antagonists.10:26-27 The basis for confidence in the face of persecution is an understanding that whatever is presently hid...
• Jesus' institution of the Lord's Supper 26:26-30 (cf. Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)
  26:26 "And"introduces the second thing Matthew recorded that happened as Jesus and His disciples were eating the Passover meal, the first being Jesus' announcement about His betrayer (v. 21). Jesus took bread (Gr. artos, 4:4;...
• B. The King's resurrection ch. 28
  The resurrection is central to Christian theology (cf. 1 Cor. 15:12-19). However the Gospel evangelists did not deal with the theological implications of the resurrection but simply recorded the facts. The Apostle Paul wrote ...
• The plan of Jesus' family 3:20-21
  The picture the writer painted was of Jesus and his disciples in a house in Capernaum. Jews wanting healing or some other favor from Jesus barged right in the door. There were so many of them that Jesus could not even eat a m...
• The parable of the unworthy servant 17:7-10
  17:7-9 Jesus told this parable to teach His disciples that warning sinning disciples and forgiving those who sinned and repented was only their duty. It was not something for which they should expect a reward from God. The Ph...
• 7. The parable of the minas 19:11-27
  This parable serves in Luke's narrative as a conclusion to the section on salvation's recipients (18:9-19:27). It provides something of a denouement(i.e., a final unravelling of the plot) following the excellent example of Za...
• B. The early Galilean ministry 2:1-12
  John's account of the beginning of Jesus' public ministry highlights the fact that Jesus replaced what was old with something new (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). New wine replaced old water. Later a clean temple replaced a dirty one, a ne...
• 1. Jesus' first sign: changing water to wine 2:1-11
  The first miracle that Jesus performed, in His public ministry and in John's Gospel, was semi-public. Apparently only Jesus' disciples, the servants present, and Jesus' mother understood what had happened.2:1 The third day ev...
• Jesus' testimony about Himself 8:12-20
  8:12 The context of the events in this paragraph continues to be the temple during the feast of Tabernacles (v. 20, cf. 7:14). Jesus was speaking to the Jews who had assembled there some of whom were residents of Jerusalem an...
• The request for glorification 17:24-26
  17:24 Here Jesus' request clearly included the Eleven with all the elect. He wanted them all to observe (Gr. theorosin) the glory that the Father would restore to the Son following His ascension (v. 5; cf. 1 John 3:2). This a...
• 4. The sentencing of Jesus 19:1-16 (cf. Matt. 27:22-26; Mark 15:12-15; Luke 23:20-25)
  There is quite a bit of unique material in this pericope. This includes the details of the Roman soldiers' abuse of Jesus (vv. 1-5) and the situation that Pilate's learning that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God instigated (...
• Paul's appearance before Gallio 18:12-17
  18:12 An inscription found at Delphi in Central Greece has enabled scholars to date the beginning of Gallio's term as proconsul to July 1, 51 A.D.740Gallio was a remarkable Roman citizen from Spain. His brother, the Stoic phi...
• D The benefits of justification 5:1-11
  Paul's original readers would have had another question because of what he had written in chapters 1-4. Is this method of justification safe? Since it is by faith, it seems quite unsure. Paul next gave evidence that this meth...
• 1. Freedom from sin 6:1-14
  Paul began his explanation of the believer's relationship to sin by expounding the implications of our union with Christ (6:1-14). He had already spoken of this in 5:12-21 regarding justification, but now he showed how that u...
• The statement of the believer's condition 8:1-4
  8:1 "Therefore"introduces a conclusion based on everything that Paul wrote from chapter 3 on, not just chapter 7. He reaffirmed justification as the indispensable basis for sanctification.241A Christian must believe that he o...
• 3. Our present sufferings and future glory 8:18-25
  Paul proceeded to expound on the thought that he introduced at the end of verse 17. This passage gives a very wide perspective of God's great plan of redemption, which is the heart of Paul's theology.2648:18 In the light of e...
• 1. The folly of judging one another 14:1-12
  The apostle dealt first with the importance of not judging one another. This was a particular temptation to those Christians who believed that they should refrain from some practices that they believed were displeasing to God...
• B. Thanksgiving 1:4-9
  Paul followed his salutation with an expression of gratitude for his original readers, as he usually did in his epistles. In this case the focus of his thanksgiving was on God's grace in giving the Corinthians such great spir...
• Builders of God's temple 3:10-15
  3:10 In the new illustration Paul laid the foundation of the church in Corinth by founding the church, and others added the walls and continued building on that foundation. Paul's special mission from God was to found churche...
• Judging God's servants 4:1-5
  "The first paragraph (vv. 1-5) leads the way by making an application of the servant model and showing how that relates to their treatment of him [Paul]. He changes images from farm to household and insists that he is God'sse...
• Message6
  The subject of 2 Corinthians is ministry, the church's work of service in the world. This is the central concept Paul dealt with in this epistle. What did he say about ministry?He spoke of ministry in two ways. There is minis...
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-11A. Salutation 1:1-2B. Thanksgiving for comfort in affliction 1:3-111. Thanksgiving for comfort 1:3-72. Thanksgiving for deliverance 1:8-11II. Answers to insinuations about the sincerity of Paul's commitm...
• The sincerity of Paul's conduct 1:12-14
  In this first sub-section, which is transitional, Paul's intention was to convince the Corinthians that his recent actions arose from sincere motives.1:12 He first claimed generally that his actions did not arise from the mot...
• Thanksgiving for a share in Christ's triumph 2:14-17
  "The passage that follows (2:14-7:4) is the longest coherent section within 2 Corinthians and is, arguably, the centerpiece of the entire letter. Nonetheless, it is not freestanding, but continuous with what precedes it."109P...
• 3. The sufferings and supports of a minister of the gospel 4:7-5:10
  Paul proceeded to explain further the nature of ministry under the New Covenant so his readers would understand his ministry and theirs better. The nature of Christianity is paradoxical. Second Corinthians explains more of th...
• The contrast between our present and our future dwellings 5:1-10
  Paul continued to give reasons why we need not lose heart. The themes of life in the midst of death and glory following as a result of present suffering also continue.What about the believer who dies before he or she has foll...
• 4. The life of a minister of Christ 5:11-6:10
  The section of this epistle that expounds the glory of the Christian ministry (2:14-6:10) builds to a climax in the following verses (5:11-6:10). Here Paul clarified the driving motive, the divine mission, the dynamic message...
• The constraining love of Christ 5:11-15
  5:11 Respect for the Lord since He would be his judge (v. 10) motivated Paul to carry out his work of persuading people to believe the gospel. A healthy sense of our accountability to God should move us to fulfill our calling...
• The new creation 5:16-17
  5:16 Paul now illustrated how Christ's love had changed his viewpoint. Since his conversion, he had stopped making superficial personal judgments based only on external appearances (cf. v. 12). Previously he had looked at peo...
• The ministry of reconciliation 5:18-21
  This section and the first two verses of chapter 6 constitute the crux of Paul's exposition of the apostolic office (2:14-7:4) and of the entire letter.1895:18-19 The basis of this total change (new attitudes, v. 16, and new ...
• Paul's example as an ambassador of Christ 6:1-10
  6:1 Since God appeals to the unsaved through heralds of the gospel (5:20), the herald is in that sense a partner with God in His work of bringing people into final reconciliation.198Evangelism is a joint effort of the Lord an...
• The counter-balancing caution 6:14-7:1
  The Corinthians had a tendency to respond to Paul's teachings by first resisting them and then going overboard in applying them inappropriately. They had done this in dealing with the incestuous man (1 Cor. 5). Consequently P...
• Paul's encouragement at their response 7:5-13a
  Paul returned to the subject of his meeting Titus in Macedonia (2:13), which he had left to expound new covenant ministry (2:14-6:10) and to urge acceptance of his ministry (6:11-7:4).7:5 When he had arrived in Macedonia Paul...
• 3. Reply to the charge of intrusion 10:12-18
  Paul defended his right to preach the gospel in Corinth and denied his critics' claim that they had been responsible for what God had done through Paul there. He did this to vindicate his former actions and to prepare for fut...
• 3. Paul's service and sufferings 11:16-33
  To answer his critics and prove the extent of his own service and sufferings for Christ, Paul related many of his painful experiences as an apostle.11:16 Paul apologized again for having to resort to mentioning these experien...
• 4. Special revelations Paul received 12:1-10
  Paul had cited his freedom to minister without the Corinthians' financial support and his sufferings in ministry as grounds for boasting. He next mentioned the special visions and revelations that God had granted him. He refe...
• 1. Paul's concerns 12:19-21
  12:19 The first part of this verse may have been a statement or a question. The meaning is the same in either case. Paul said what he did, especially in 10:1-12:18, primarily to build up the Corinthian believers in their fait...
• 2. Paul's warnings 13:1-10
  13:1 There are at least four possibilities about what Paul meant by the two or three witnesses that would confirm his credibility and his critics' guilt. First, he may simply have been saying that the church would pass judgme...
• Bibliography
  Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament. 4 vols. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, n. d.Balge, Richard D. "Exegesis of 2 Corinthians 9:1-7."Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly 85:3 (Summer 1988):220-29.Barclay, William. The Let...
• V. CONCLUSION 6:11-18
  In this section Paul summarized some of his more important points. He also appealed to his readers again to urge them to follow through and to put into practice what he had taught them."Before concluding his letter Paul retur...
• The believer's position in Christ 1:3
  Christians should bless or praise (Gr. eulogetos, speak well of) God the Father for bestowing these blessings. Paul was thinking of God as both the Father of believers (v. 2) and the Father of His Son (v. 3). God has already ...
• The new man 4:20-32
  Paul turned from how not to walk to the positive responsibility Christians have to live in holiness.4:20 In contrast to unsaved Gentiles, Christians' minds are no longer dark, they are no longer aliens from God, and their hea...
• B. Prayer 1:9-11
  Paul had already written that he prayed for the Philippians (vv. 3-4). Now he explained what he prayed so his readers would know specifically what the apostle was asking God to do for them. In response to God's working in the...
• 2. Paul's anticipated deliverance 1:19-26
  At this point Paul's thinking turned from what had already occurred because of his imprisonment to what he anticipated happening in the future. He referred to this so his readers would uphold him in their prayers and feel enc...
• Paul's greater goal 3:8-11
  3:8 Paul had regarded his advantages over other people as what put him in a specially good position with God. However, he had come to realize that absolutely nothing apart from Jesus Christ's work on the cross was of any valu...
• Paul's persistent zeal 3:12-14
  3:12 Paul had said that he had not already grasped the intimate knowledge of His Savior that he sought to obtain (v. 10). He did not want his readers to understand him as saying that his conversion brought him into the intima...
• 1. As experienced by the Colossians 1:21-23
  The apostle moved on next to the application of Christ's reconciliation.1:21-22 The church at Colosse was predominantly a Gentile congregation as is evident from Paul's description of his readers' preconversion condition. Pau...
• C. The false doctrines of men 2:16-23
  Having revealed what believers have in Christ, Paul next pointed out the errors of the false teachers more specifically to help his readers identify and reject their instruction."Sad to say, there are many Christians who actu...
• Paul's plan 2:17-20
  2:17-18 Paul and his companions had to leave Thessalonica prematurely, and for Paul the separation was an especially sorrowful one. He compared it to being bereft (lit. orphaned). He felt torn from his spiritual children. How...
• Paul's prayer 3:11-13
  This prayer illustrates Paul's genuine concern for the Thessalonians, and it bridges the narrative material in chapters 1-3 and the parenetic material in chapters 4-5.633:11 Paul summarized the content of his prayer in the fo...
• 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. Paul's role in the last days 4:6-8
  Paul revealed that he was about to die to impress on Timothy further the importance of remaining faithful to the Lord.4:6 Paul believed that he would die very soon. He used two euphemistic expressions to describe his death. F...
• Rationale 3:3-8
  3:3 To motivate his readers to obey these commands Paul encouraged them by reminding them of the way they used to be. They had already come a long way. Each characteristic he mentioned in this verse contrasts with one he had ...
• C. The Possibility of Rest for God's People 4:1-14
  The writer returned again from exhortation to exposition. He now posed the alternatives of rest and peril that confronted the new people of God, Christians.127The writer warned his readers so they would not fail to enter into...
• 2. The warning of judgment 10:26-31
  The writer turned from positive admonition to negative warning to highlight the seriousness of departing from the Lord."Between the imperatives of vv. 22-25 and 32, 35, the author describes, more fully than in 2:2f.; 6:4-6, t...
• I. INTRODUCTION 1:1
  The writer identified himself for the original recipients of this epistle and greeted them to introduce himself to his readers.James (lit. Jacob) was probably the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ who evidently became a b...
• 6. The implication of our own judgment 2:12-13
  2:12 The law of liberty (1:25) is the law of God that liberates us now. It is the same as the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2) in contrast to the Mosaic Law. As free as we are under the law of Christ, we need to remember that God wil...
• 5. James' rebuttal 2:19-23
  2:19 James refuted the argument of the objector stated in verse 18. Genuine faith does not alwaysresult in good works. The demons believe that what God has revealed about Himself is true. The Shema(Deut. 6:4) was and is the p...
• 1. The hope of our salvation 1:3-5
  1:3 Peter called his readers to bless (praise) God for giving us a living hope. This undying hope rests on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because He lives, we shall live. Our new birth gave us this resurrected life of Chri...
• 2. A life of reverence 1:17-21
  Peter continued the exposition of Leviticus 19 that he began in verse 16.48"Peter's point is that if he and his readers have a special relationship to God by virtue of their calling and their new birth, then it is all the mor...
• 3. Wives' respect for their husbands 3:1-6
  Having explained before how Christians should conduct themselves in the world, Peter next gave directions about how Christian wives and husbands should behave. He did this to help his readers identify appropriate conduct in f...
• A. The Need for a Reminder 1:12-15
  Peter next returned to the subject of God's promises (v. 4). He developed the importance of the Scriptures as the resource of the believer. He did so to enable his readers to appreciate their value and to motivate them to dra...
• A. The Characteristics of False Teachers 2:1-3
  2:1 "The people"in view are God's people in Old Testament times, the times to which Peter had just been referring (1:19-22). False prophets in Old Testament times sought to lead God's people away from the revelations of the t...
• 1. Renouncing sin 1:8-2:2
  John continued a structural pattern that he established in the previous section (vv. 6-7) in which he used pairs of clauses to present a false assertion followed by his correction.1:8 This second claim (cf. v. 6) is more seri...
• The practice of love 4:17-20
  4:17 Our love becomes complete in the sense that we can now have confidence as we anticipate our day of judgment (i.e., the evaluation of our works at Christ's judgment seat; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Cor. 5:10). The characteristic o...
• 5. Promise 2:26-29
  The prize for faithfulness was the privilege of reigning with Christ in His earthly kingdom (cf. 1:6; 12:5; 19:15; Ps. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4-6). As with the promises in the other letters, this one is probably for all ...
• The worship of God 4:9-11
  4:9 Whenever it is appropriate and possible the four living creatures give praise to eternal God. They glorify and honor Him for His perfections, and they thank Him for His great works, especially His creation (v. 11).4:10 Th...
• 4. The judgment of the wicked 20:11-15
  20:11 This "And I saw"introduces something else John saw in this vision (cf. 19:11, 17, 19; 20:1, 4, 12; 21:1, 2). The continuation of chronological progression seems clear from the continued use of "And"to introduce new info...
• C. The testimony of Jesus and John's response 22:12-20
  22:12 Jesus Christ repeated His promise to return soon (v. 7, cf. 1:3; 22:20)."Nowhere is a date set, nor was there any definite promise that the consummation would occur within the lifetime of the first century Christians. N...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• An Impossibility Made Possible
  Can the Ethiopian change his skin?'--Jer. 13:23.If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.'--2 Cor. 5:17.Behold, I make all things new.'--Rev. 21:5.PUT these three texts together. The first is a despairing question to whi...
• Tent And Building
  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.'--2 Cor. 5:1.KNOWLEDGE and ignorance, doubt and certitude, are remarkably...
• The Patient Workman
  Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.'--2 Cor. 5:5.THESE words penetrate deep into the secrets of God. They assume to have read the riddle of life. To Paul everything which we experience, outwardly or in...
• The Old House And The New
  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.'--2 Cor. 5:8.THERE lie in the words of my text simply these two things; the Christian view of what death is, and the Chr...
• Pleasing Christ
  We labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of Him.' 2 Cor. 5:9.WE do not usually care very much for, or very much trust, a man's own statement of the motives of his life, especially if in the statement he tak...
• The Love That Constrains
  The love of Christ constraineth us.'--2 Cor. 5:14.IT is a dangerous thing to be unlike other people. It is still more dangerous to be better than other people. The world has a little heap of depreciatory terms which it flings...
• I. First, This Central Injunction, Into Which All The Moral Teaching Drawn From The Second Coming Of Christ Is Gathered--Let Us Be Sober.
  Now, I do not suppose we are altogether to omit any reference to the literal meaning of this word. The context seems to show that, by its reference to night as the season for drunken orgies. Temperance is moderation in regard...